M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
19 [a] Joab was told that the king was crying and mourning Absalom. 2 So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the troops because they heard that day that the king was grieving for his son. 3 So that day the troops crept back into the city like soldiers creep back ashamed after they’ve fled from battle. 4 The king covered his face and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, my son Absalom! Oh, Absalom, my son! My son!”
5 Joab came to the king inside and said, “Today you have humiliated all your servants who have saved your life today, not to mention the lives of your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your secondary wives, 6 by loving those who hate you and hating those who love you! Today you have announced that the commanders and their soldiers are nothing to you, because I know that if Absalom were alive today and the rest of us dead, that would be perfectly fine with you! 7 Now get up! Go out and encourage your followers! I swear to the Lord that if you don’t go out there, not one man will stick with you tonight—and that will be more trouble for you than all the trouble that you’ve faced from your youth until now.”
8 So the king went and sat down in the city gate. All the troops were told that the king was sitting in the gate, so they came before the king.
David returns to Jerusalem
Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled to their homes. 9 Everyone was arguing throughout Israel’s tribes, saying, “The king delivered us from our enemies’ power, and he rescued us from the Philistines’ power, but now he has fled from the land and from controlling his own kingdom.[b] 10 And Absalom, the one we anointed over us, is dead in battle. So why do you say nothing about bringing the king back?”
11 When the things that all the Israelites were saying reached the king,[c] David sent a message to the priests Zadok and Abiathar: “Say the following to the elders of Judah: ‘Why should you be the last to bring the king back to his palace?[d] 12 You are my relatives! You are my flesh and bones! Why should you be the last to bring the king back?’ 13 And tell Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and bones too? May God deal harshly with me and worse still if you don’t become commander of my army from now on instead of Joab!’”
14 So he won over the hearts of everyone in Judah as though they were one person, and they sent word to the king: “Come back—you and all your servants.” 15 So the king came back and arrived at the Jordan River. Judah came to Gilgal to meet the king and bring him across the Jordan.
16 Gera’s son Shimei, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, hurried down with the people of Judah to meet King David. 17 A thousand men from Benjamin were with him. Ziba too, the servant of Saul’s house, along with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, rushed to the Jordan ahead of the king 18 to do the work of ferrying[e] over the king’s household and to do whatever pleased him.
Gera’s son Shimei fell down before the king when he crossed the Jordan. 19 He said to the king, “May my master not hold me guilty or remember your servant’s wrongdoing that day my master the king left Jerusalem. Please forget about it, Your Majesty,[f] 20 because your servant knows that I have sinned. But look, I am the first person from the entire family of Joseph to come down today and meet my master the king.”
21 Zeruiah’s son Abishai responded, “Shouldn’t Shimei be put to death for that—for cursing the Lord’s anointed?”
22 But David said, “My problems aren’t yours, you sons of Zeruiah. Why are you becoming my enemy today? Should anyone in Israel be put to death today? Don’t I know that today I am again king over Israel?”
23 Then the king told Shimei, “You will not die.” And the king swore this to him.
24 Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson, also came down to meet the king. He hadn’t taken care of his feet, trimmed his beard, or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. 25 When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Mephibosheth, why didn’t you go with me?”
26 “My master and king,” Mephibosheth answered, “my servant abandoned me! Because your servant is lame, I asked my servant, ‘Saddle a donkey for me[g] so I can ride and go to the king.’ 27 So Ziba has slandered your servant to my master and king, but my master and king is a messenger of God. So do whatever seems best to you. 28 Even though all the members of my grandfather’s family were nothing short of demonic[h] toward my master and king, you still put your servant with those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to beg for still more from the king?”
29 “You don’t need to talk any more about this,” the king said to him. “I order you and Ziba to divide the property.”
30 Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take all of it, since my master and king has come home safely.”
31 Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim. He accompanied the king to the Jordan River to send him off there. 32 Barzillai was very old, 80 years of age. He had supported the king during his stay at Mahanaim because Barzillai was a very wealthy man.
33 The king said to Barzillai, “Come over the Jordan with me. I will provide for you at my side in Jerusalem.”
34 But Barzillai said to the king, “How many years do I have left that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 35 I am now 80 years old. Do I know what is good or bad anymore? Can your servant taste what I eat or drink? Can I even hear the voices of men or women singers? Why should your servant be a burden to my master and king? 36 Your servant will cross a short way over the Jordan with the king, but why should the king give me such a reward? 37 Let your servant return so I may die in my own town near the grave of my parents. But here is your servant Chimham. Let him cross over with my master and king, and treat him as you think best.”
38 The king said, “Okay. Chimham will cross over with me, and I will treat him as I[i] think best. And I will do for you anything you desire from me.”
39 So all the people crossed over the Jordan River, and the king stayed behind.[j] The king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and then Barzillai went back to his home. 40 When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Chimham went with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel escorted the king across.
41 Then everyone in Israel came and said to the king, “Why did our relatives the people of Judah steal you away, and bring the king and his household across the Jordan River, along with all of his soldiers?”
42 Then all the people of Judah answered the Israelites, “Because the king is our relative! Why are you angry at us about this? Have we taken any of the king’s food? Has he given us any gifts?”
43 But the Israelites answered the people of Judah, “We have ten shares in the monarchy! What’s more, we are the oldest offspring, not you![k] So why have you disrespected us? Weren’t we the first to talk about bringing back our king?”
But the words of the people of Judah were even harsher than the words of the Israelites.[l]
Paul’s visions and revelations from the Lord
12 It is necessary to brag, not that it does any good. I’ll move on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don’t know whether it was in the body or out of the body. God knows. 3-4 I know that this man was caught up into paradise and that he heard unspeakable words that were things no one is allowed to repeat. I don’t know whether it was in the body or apart from the body. God knows. 5 I’ll brag about this man, but I won’t brag about myself, except to brag about my weaknesses.
6 If I did want to brag, I wouldn’t make a fool of myself because I’d tell the truth. I’m holding back from bragging so that no one will give me any more credit than what anyone sees or hears about me. 7 I was given a thorn in my body because of the outstanding revelations I’ve received so that I wouldn’t be conceited. It’s a messenger from Satan sent to torment me so that I wouldn’t be conceited.
8 I pleaded with the Lord three times for it to leave me alone. 9 He said to me, “My grace is enough for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.” So I’ll gladly spend my time bragging about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power can rest on me. 10 Therefore, I’m all right with weaknesses, insults, disasters, harassments, and stressful situations for the sake of Christ, because when I’m weak, then I’m strong.
11 I’ve become a fool! You made me do it. Actually, I should have been commended by you. I’m not inferior to the super-apostles in any way, even though I’m a nonentity. 12 The signs of an apostle were performed among you with continuous endurance through signs, wonders, and miracles. 13 How were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself wasn’t a financial burden on you? Forgive me for this wrong!
Paul’s plans to visit and a warning
14 Look, I’m ready to visit you a third time, and I won’t be a burden on you. I don’t want your things; I want you. It isn’t the children’s responsibility to save up for their parents but parents for children. 15 I will very gladly spend and be spent for your sake. If I love you more, will you love me less?
16 We all know that I didn’t place a burden on you, but in spite of that you think I’m a con artist who fooled you with a trick. 17 I haven’t taken advantage of you through any of the people I sent to you, have I? 18 I strongly encouraged Titus to go to you and sent the brother with him. Titus didn’t take advantage of you, did he? Didn’t we live by the same Spirit? Didn’t we walk in the same footsteps?
19 Have you been thinking up to now that we are defending ourselves to you? Actually, we are speaking in the sight of God and in Christ. Dear friends, everything is meant to build you up. 20 I’m afraid that maybe when I come you will be different from the way I want you to be, and that I’ll be different from the way you want me to be. I’m afraid that there might be fighting, obsession, losing your temper, competitive opposition, backstabbing, gossip, conceit, and disorderly conduct. 21 I’m afraid that when I come again, my God may embarrass me in front of you. I might have to go into mourning over all the people who have sinned before and haven’t changed their hearts and lives from what they used to practice: moral corruption, sexual immorality, and doing whatever feels good.
Against Tyre
26 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the Lord’s word came to me:
2 Human one, because Tyre laughed at Jerusalem:
“The gate of the peoples is broken,
she lies open before me,
she is destroyed, but I will succeed!”
3 The Lord God now proclaims:
Tyre, I’m now against you!
Just as the sea hurls up its waves,
I will bring many nations up against you.
4 When they destroy the walls of Tyre
and throw down its towers,
I will scrape off all its dirt
and make it into a bare rock,
5 a place for drying nets
in the middle of the sea.
I have spoken! This is what the Lord God says.
It will become prey for the nations,
6 and its towns around it
will be put to the sword.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 The Lord God proclaims:
I’m bringing Nebuchadrezzar against Tyre,
the king of Babylon from the north,
the greatest of all kings,
with horses, chariots, and charioteers,
an assembly, a great army.
8 The towns around you he will destroy with the sword.
Then he will build towers against you,
erect siege ramps against you,
and set up shields.
9 He will pound his battering ram against your walls;
with crowbars he will tear down your towers.
10 The dust from all his horses will cover you
when he enters your gates
as one who enters a breached city.
Your walls will quake
at the thundering of the charioteers and chariot wheels.
11 His horses’ hooves will trample all your courtyards;
he will cut down your people with the sword,
and the monuments to your strength he will bring down[a] to the ground.
12 They will destroy your wealth, plunder your goods,
tear down your walls, and raze your fine houses.
Your stone, lumber, and rubble they will dump into the sea.
13 I will bring an end to your cacophonous songs;
the sound of your lyres will never be heard again.
14 I will make you into a bare rock, a place for drying nets,
and you will never be rebuilt.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
This is what the Lord God says.
A lament for Tyre
15 The Lord God proclaims to Tyre: Won’t the coastlands quake at the news of your downfall, when the wounded groan, and when the slaughter in your midst goes on and on? 16 All the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, remove their royal robes, and strip off their fine garments. They will be clothed only in terror as they sit on the ground. They will be so terrified, they won’t stop shuddering because of you. 17 They will sing a lament for you, and they will say:
How you have perished, queen of the sea,
city once praised,
who once dominated the sea,
she and her rulers,
who spread their terror abroad,
every one of them.
18 Now the wastelands tremble on the day of your fall.
Your expulsion horrifies the islands of the sea.
19 The Lord God proclaims: When I turn you into ruins like uninhabitable cities, when the deep sea washes over you and the raging seas cover you, 20 I will lead you down into the pit, to the everlasting people. I will install you in the world below,[b] in the everlasting ruins, with those who go down to the pit. And so you will neither rule nor radiate splendor in the land of the living. 21 I will terrify you, and you will disappear. You will be sought but never found again. This is what the Lord God says.
Psalm 74
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
74 God, why have you abandoned us forever?
Why does your anger smolder
at the sheep of your own pasture?
2 Remember your congregation
that you took as your own long ago,
that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—
remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 March to the unending ruins,
to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
they set up their own signs there!
5 It looked like axes raised
against a thicket of trees.[b]
6 And then all its carvings
they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
7 They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
8 They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
9 We don’t see our own signs anymore.
No prophet is left.
And none of us know how long it will last.
10 How long, God, will foes insult you?
Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
11 Why do you pull your hand back?
Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
12 Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
13 You split the sea with your power.
You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
14 You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
15 You split open springs and streams;
you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
16 The day belongs to you! The night too!
You established both the moon and the sun.
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
Summer and winter? You made them!
18 So remember this, Lord:
how enemies have insulted you,
how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
19 Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
20 Consider the covenant!
Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
21 Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
22 God, rise up! Make your case!
Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
23 Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
the racket of your adversaries that never quits.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible