M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Ark(A)
13 So David conferred with the captains of the thousands and of the hundreds and with every leader. 2 Then he said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and to the Lord our God, let us send word to the rest of our brothers throughout all the land of Israel along with the priests and the Levites in their cities, that they might join us here. 3 Then let us bring the ark of the Lord our God back to us, for we did not seek it during the days of Saul.” 4 Then all the assembly agreed to do it because the thing seemed right in the eyes of all the people.
5 So David assembled all Israel, from Shihor in Egypt as far as the entrance to Hamath, in order to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. 6 And he went up with all Israel to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath Jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up the ark of God, the Lord who dwells between the cherubim, where His name is called.
7 They transported the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab with Uzzah and Ahio driving the cart 8 while David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, performing songs on lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
9 When they had come as far as the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah stretched out his hand to take hold of the ark because the oxen had stumbled on the path. 10 Then the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and He struck him because he reached his hand out to touch the ark. Thus, Uzzah died there before God.
11 Now David was angry because the Lord struck out against Uzzah, so he called that place Perez Uzzah, as it is to this day.
12 David was afraid of God that day, saying, “How can I ever bring the ark of God to myself?” 13 So David stopped moving the ark of God to himself in the City of David and diverted it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite, 14 and while the ark of God stayed in his house three months, the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all he had.
David Established at Jerusalem(B)
14 Then Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar wood, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him. 2 So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel because his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel.
3 Now David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David became the father of more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of the children who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.
David Defeats the Philistines
8 Now when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek out David, but David heard and went out to them. 9 So the Philistines came and raided the Valley of Rephaim. 10 Then David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You give them into my hand?”
The Lord answered, “Go up against them, and I will give them into your hand.”
11 And they went up to Baal Perazim, and David struck them down there. Then David said, “God broke through my enemies by my hand as the breaking through of waters.” Therefore they named that place Baal Perazim. 12 They abandoned their gods there, and David said that they should be burned with fire.
13 Now the Philistines raided the valley once more. 14 And David again inquired of God, and God answered him: “Do not go up after them, but turn around behind them and come to them in front of the balsam trees. 15 Whenever you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, you will advance the battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 16 David did just as God commanded him, and they struck the camp of the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer.
17 So the fame of David went out in all the lands, and the Lord put the dread of him on all the nations.
Salutation
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad:
Greetings.
Faith and Wisdom
2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, 3 knowing that the trying of your faith develops patience. 4 But let patience perfect its work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without criticism, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without wavering. For he who wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed with the wind. 7 Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
Poverty and Riches
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, 10 but the rich in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a burning heat and it withers the grass, and its flowers fall, and its beauty perishes. So will the rich man wither away in his ways.
Trial and Temptation
12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he is tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt anyone. 14 But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. 15 Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no change or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 Therefore, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and remaining wickedness and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man viewing his natural face in a mirror. 24 He views himself, and goes his way, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in his deeds.
26 If anyone among you seems to be religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Basket of Fruit
8 This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. 2 He said, “Amos, what do you see?”
And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”
Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon My people Israel. I will forgive them no more.
3 “The songs of the temple shall become wailings on that day,” says the Lord God. “The corpses shall be many, cast down everywhere. Hush!”
Against the Greedy
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy
to make the poor of the land fail,
5 saying,
“When will the New Moon be over,
so that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
that we may open the wheat sales,
making the ephah[a] too small,
and the shekel[b] too heavy,
cheating with dishonest scales,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver,
the needy for a pair of sandals,
and sell the refuse as wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 Will not the land tremble because of this,
and everyone mourn who lives on it?
It will all rise up like the Nile,
and be tossed around, then sink
like the Nile of Egypt.
9 On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun go down at noon,
and darken the earth in mid-daylight;
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning,
and all your songs into dirges;
I will put sackcloth upon all loins,
and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only child,
and its end like a bitter day.
11 The time is coming, says the Lord God,
when I will send a famine on the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They will wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they will run back and forth to seek the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13 On that day
the beautiful maidens and the young men
will faint with thirst.
14 Those who swear by Ashimah of Samaria, and say,
“By the life of your god, O Dan,”
and, “By the life of the way of Beersheba”—
they shall fall
and never rise again.
The Preaching of John the Baptist(A)
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Traconitis, and Lysanias was the tetrarch of Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He came into the region surrounding the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make His paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be brought low;
and the crooked shall be made straight
and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”[a]
7 Then he said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You children of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruit worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is put to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 The people asked him, “What then must we do?”
11 John answered, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none. And he who has food, let him do likewise.”
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?”
13 He said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed you.”
14 Then the soldiers likewise demanded of him, “And what must we do?”
He said to them, “Do no violence to anyone nor accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages.”
15 As the people were in expectation, and everyone reflected in their hearts upon John, whether he might be the Christ or not, 16 John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water. But One mightier than I is coming, the strings of whose shoes I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into His granary. But He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 18 Then he preached many other things in his exhortation to the people.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, 20 added also this above them all: He locked John up in prison.
The Baptism of Jesus(B)
21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son. In You I am well pleased.”
The Genealogy of Jesus(C)
23 Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph,
who was the son of Heli, 24 who was the son of Matthat,
who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Melchi,
who was the son of Jannai, who was the son of Joseph,
25 who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Amos,
who was the son of Nahum, who was the son of Esli,
who was the son of Naggai, 26 who was the son of Maath,
who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Semein,
who was the son of Josech, who was the son of Joda,
27 who was the son of Joanan, who was the son of Rhesa,
who was the son of Zerubbabel, who was the son of Shealtiel,
who was the son of Neri, 28 who was the son of Melchi,
who was the son of Addi, who was the son of Cosam,
who was the son of Elmadam, who was the son of Er,
29 who was the son of Joshua, who was the son of Eliezer,
who was the son of Jorim, who was the son of Matthat,
who was the son of Levi, 30 who was the son of Simeon,
who was the son of Judah, who was the son of Joseph,
who was the son of Jonan, who was the son of Eliakim,
31 who was the son of Melea, who was the son of Menna,
who was the son of Mattatha, who was the son of Nathan,
who was the son of David, 32 who was the son of Jesse,
who was the son of Obed, who was the son of Boaz,
who was the son of Salmon, who was the son of Nahshon,
33 who was the son of Amminadab, who was the son of Ram,
who was the son of Hezron, who was the son of Perez,
who was the son of Judah, 34 who was the son of Jacob,
who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham,
who was the son of Terah, who was the son of Nahor,
35 who was the son of Serug, who was the son of Reu,
who was the son of Peleg, who was the son of Eber,
who was the son of Shelah, 36 who was the son of Cainan,
who was the son of Arphaxad, who was the son of Shem,
who was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech,
37 who was the son of Methuselah, who was the son of Enoch,
who was the son of Jared, who was the son of Mahalalel,
who was the son of Cainan, 38 who was the son of Enosh,
who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam,
who was the son of God.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.