M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
17 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick twelve thousand men, and I will go after David tonight. 2 I will attack him while he is tired and weak, and I will throw him into a panic. All the troops with him will run off. I promise to kill the king alone, 3 and I will bring all the people back to you like a bride comes back to her husband.[a] It’s only one man’s life you are seeking; everyone else can be at peace.”
4 This plan seemed excellent to Absalom and the Israelite elders.
Hushai’s advice
5 But Absalom said, “Call Hushai from Erek. Let’s hear what he has to say as well.” 6 When Hushai from Erek arrived, Absalom said to him, “This is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow it or not? What do you say?”
7 Hushai said to Absalom, “This time, the advice Ahithophel has given isn’t right. 8 You know that your father and his men are warriors,” he continued, “and they are as desperate as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Your father is a seasoned fighter. He won’t spend the night with his troops. 9 Even now he has probably hidden himself in one of the caves or some other place. When some of the troops[b] fall in the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘The soldiers who follow Absalom have been defeated!’ 10 Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like a lion’s, will melt in fear because all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are brave. 11 So I would advise that all the Israelites, from Dan to Beer-sheba—a group as countless as sand on the seashore—be summoned to join you, and that you yourself go into battle. 12 When we attack him wherever he might be, we will fall on him like dew that falls on the ground. No one will survive—not him and not one of the soldiers who are with him! 13 If he retreats into a city, all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it into a valley until not even a pebble of it will be found.”
14 Then Absalom and everyone in Israel agreed, “The advice of Hushai from Erek is better than Ahithophel’s advice.” This was because the Lord had decided to counter Ahithophel’s good advice so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.
Hushai warns David
15 Hushai told the priests Zadok and Abiathar, “Here is what Ahithophel advised Absalom and the Israelite elders, and here is what I advised. 16 Now send word immediately to David and tell him, ‘Don’t spend the night in the desert plains. You must cross over immediately. Otherwise, the king and all the troops who are with him will be swallowed up whole.’”
17 Jonathan and Ahimaaz were standing by at En-rogel. A female servant would come and report to them, and they would then travel and report to King David because they couldn’t risk being seen entering the city. 18 But a boy saw them and reported it to Absalom. So the two of them left immediately and came to a man’s house at Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. 19 The man’s wife took a covering and spread it over the well’s opening, then scattered grain over it so no one would notice. 20 When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house they demanded, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?”
The woman told them, “They crossed over the stream.”[c] They looked for them but found nothing, so they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After they had left, Jonathan and Ahimaaz climbed out of the well. They went and reported to King David, “Get up! Cross the water immediately because Ahithophel has made plans against you!” 22 So David and all the troops who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River. By daybreak there was no one left who hadn’t crossed the Jordan.
23 Meanwhile, once Ahithophel saw that his advice hadn’t been followed, he saddled his donkey and went home to his own town. He gave instructions to his household, then hanged himself and died. He was buried in his father’s tomb.
24 David had reached Mahanaim by the time Absalom and all the Israelites who were with him crossed the Jordan River. 25 Absalom had put Amasa in charge of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, an Ishmaelite[d] who had married Abigail, who was Nahash’s daughter and the sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26 Israel and Absalom camped in the territory of Gilead.
27 When David arrived in Mahanaim, Nahash’s son Shobi, who was from Rabbah of the Ammonites; Ammiel’s son Machir, who was from Lo-debar; and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28 brought couches, basins, and pottery, along with wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils, 29 honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd so that David and the troops who were with him could eat. They said, “The troops have grown hungry, tired, and thirsty in the wilderness.”
Paul’s personal request for obedience
10 I, Paul, make a personal request to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ. I’m shy when I’m with you, but I’m bossy when I’m away from you! 2 I beg you that when I’m with you in person, I won’t have to boss you around. I’m afraid that I may have to use that kind of behavior with those people who think we live by human standards. 3 Although we live in the world, we don’t fight our battles with human methods. 4 Our weapons that we fight with aren’t human, but instead they are powered by God for the destruction of fortresses. They destroy arguments, 5 and every defense that is raised up to oppose the knowledge of God. They capture every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 Once your obedience is complete, we are ready to punish any disobedience.
7 Look at what is right in front of you! If anyone is sure about belonging to Christ, that person should think again. We belong to Christ just like that person. 8 Even if I went on to brag about our authority, I wouldn’t be ashamed of it. The Lord gave us that authority to build you up and not to destroy you.
9 I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to intimidate you with my letters. 10 I know what some people are saying: “His letters are severe and powerful, but in person he is weak and his speech is worth nothing.” 11 These people need to think about this—that when we are with you, our actions will show that we are the same as the words we wrote when we were away from you. 12 We won’t dare to place ourselves in the same league or to compare ourselves with some of those who are promoting themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they have no understanding.
13 We won’t take pride in anything more than what is appropriate. Let’s look at the boundaries of our work area that God has assigned to us. It’s an area that includes you. 14 We aren’t going out of bounds, as if our work area doesn’t extend as far as you. We were the first ones to travel as far as Corinth with the gospel of Christ. 15 We don’t take pride in what other people do outside of our boundaries. We hope that our work will be extended even more by you as your faith grows, until it expands fully (within the boundaries, of course). 16 We hope that our work grows even to the point of the gospel being preached in places beyond Corinth, without bragging about what has already been done in another person’s work area. 17 But, the one who brags should brag in the Lord.[a] 18 It isn’t the person who promotes himself or herself who is approved but the person whom the Lord commends.
The useless pot
24 In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the Lord’s word came to me: 2 Human one, write down today’s date, because today the king of Babylon has set up camp at Jerusalem—today! 3 Compose a parable for the rebels’ household and say to them, The Lord God proclaims:
Put on the pot, set it on,
and fill it with water.
4 Add meat to it,
every good piece.
With shoulder and thigh,
the meatiest bones, fill it up.
5 Take the flock’s best animal;
arrange the wood[a] beneath it.
Bring it to a rolling boil,
and cook its bones in it.
6 The Lord God proclaims: Horror! You bloody city, you corroded pot; pot whose corrosion can’t be removed! Empty it piece by piece. She is rejected[b] 7 because her blood is still with her. She didn’t pour it out on the ground so that it could be covered with dirt, but she spread it out on a bare rock. 8 In order to arouse wrath, to guarantee vengeance, I will spread her blood on a bare rock, never to be covered.
9 So now the Lord God proclaims:
Horror! You bloody city!
I myself will add fuel to the fire!
10 Pile on the wood, light the fire, and cook the meat.
Season it well and let the bones be charred.
11 Let the pot stand empty on its coals
until it’s so hot that its copper glows,
its impurities melt in it,
and its corrosion is consumed.
12 It’s a worthless task.
Even by fire its great corrosion isn’t removed.
13 How your betrayals defile you! I cleansed you, but you didn’t come clean from your impurities. You won’t be clean again until I have exhausted my anger against you. 14 I, the Lord, have spoken! It’s coming, and I’ll do it. I won’t relent or have any pity or compassion. Your punishments will fit your ways and your deeds! This is what the Lord God says.
Ezekiel’s wife dies
15 The Lord’s word came to me: 16 Human one, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you in a single stroke. Don’t mourn or weep. Don’t even let your tears well up. 17 Sigh inwardly; be deathly still. Don’t perform mourning rites, but bind on your turban and put your shoes on your feet. And don’t cover your upper lip or eat in human company.
18 I spoke with the people in the morning, and by evening my wife was dead. The next morning I did as I was commanded. 19 The people asked, “Won’t you tell us what your actions mean for us?”
20 So I said to them, The Lord’s word came to me: 21 Say to the house of Israel, the Lord God proclaims: I’m about to make my sanctuary impure, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes. Your heart’s desire, the sons and daughters you left behind, will fall by the sword. 22 You will do as I have done. You will neither cover your upper lip nor eat in human company. 23 Your turbans will be on your heads, your sandals on your feet. You won’t mourn or weep. You will waste away in your guilt, all of you groaning to each other. 24 Ezekiel is your sign. You will do everything that he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord God.
25 And you, human one: On the day that I take from them their proud stronghold—their crowning joy, the delight of their eyes—and their sons and daughters, whose fate weighs on them, 26 on that day, a refugee will come to you so that you yourself will hear the news. 27 On that day your mouth will be opened to the refugee, and you will speak and no longer be silent. You will be their sign, and they will know that I am the Lord.
Psalm 72
Of Solomon.
72 God, give your judgments to the king.
Give your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 Let him judge your people with righteousness
and your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring peace to the people;
let the hills bring righteousness.
4 Let the king bring justice to people who are poor;
let him save the children of those who are needy,
but let him crush oppressors!
5 Let the king live[a] as long as the sun,
as long as the moon,
generation to generation.
6 Let him fall like rain upon fresh-cut grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Let the righteous flourish throughout their lives,
and let peace prosper until the moon is no more.
8 Let the king rule from sea to sea,
from the river to the ends of the earth.
9 Let the desert dwellers bow low before him;
let his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute;
let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts.
11 Let all the kings bow down before him;
let all the nations serve him.
12 Let it be so, because he delivers the needy who cry out,
the poor, and those who have no helper.
13 He has compassion on the weak and the needy;
he saves the lives of those who are in need.
14 He redeems their lives from oppression and violence;
their blood is precious in his eyes.
15 Let the king live long!
Let Sheba’s gold be given to him!
Let him be prayed for always!
Let him be blessed all day long!
16 Let there be abundant grain in the land.
Let it wave on the mountaintops.
Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon.
Let it thrive like grass on the land.
17 Let the king’s name last forever.
Let his name endure as long as the sun.
Let all the nations be blessed through him and call him happy.
18 Bless the Lord God, the God of Israel—
the only one who does wondrous things!
19 Bless God’s glorious name forever;
let his glory fill all the earth!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David, Jesse’s son, are ended.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible