M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
God Establishes His Covenant with David(A)
17 After David had settled down to live in his palace, he[a] spoke with the prophet Nathan. “Look, here I am living in this[b] cedar palace, but the ark of the Lord’s covenant remains surrounded by curtains!”
2 “Do everything you have in mind,”[c] Nathan replied to David, “because God is with you.”
3 But later that same night, this message came to Nathan from God:
4 “Go tell David, my servant, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘“You won’t be building a house[d] for me to inhabit, will you? 5 After all, I haven’t lived in a house from the day I brought out Israel until today. Instead, I’ve lived from tent to tent and from one place to another.[e] 6 Wherever I’ve moved within all of Israel, did I ever ask even one judge of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people, ‘Why haven’t you built me a cedar house?’”’
7 “Now therefore this is what you are to tell my servant David:
‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: “I took you from the pasture myself—from tending sheep—to become Commander-in-Chief[f] over my people Israel.
8 “‘“Furthermore, I have remained with you everywhere you have gone, annihilating all your enemies right in front of you. I will make your reputation[g] great, like the reputation[h] of the great ones who have lived on[i] earth. 9 I will establish a homeland[j] for my people Israel, planting them in a secure location where they will never be disturbed anymore. Wicked people[k] will not oppress them as happened in the past, 10 during the time I had commanded judges to administer[l] my people Israel. I’ll also grant you deliverance from all your enemies.
“‘“I’m also announcing to you that the Lord also will himself build a house[m] for you. 11 It will come about that when your life[n] is complete and you go to join your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring[o] after you, who is related to one of[p] your sons, and I will fortify his kingdom. 12 He will build a temple dedicated to me, and I will make his throne last forever. 13 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to me. I will never remove my gracious love from him as I did from the one who preceded you. 14 I will confirm him in my Temple and in my kingdom forever, and his throne will remain secure forever.”’”
15 Using precisely these words, Nathan communicated this complete oracle to David.
David’s Prayer(B)
16 Then King David went in, sat down in the presence of the Lord, and said:
“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my household,[q] since you have brought me to this? 17 Furthermore, this is a small thing to you, God, and yet you have spoken concerning your servant’s household for a great while to come, and you have seen in me the fulfillment[r] of man’s purpose, Lord God.
18 “What more can David say to you about how you are honoring your servant, and you surely know your servant. 19 Lord, for the sake of your servant, and consistent with your heart, you have done all of these great things and are now making these[s] great things known.
20 “Lord, there is no one like you, and we have heard from no god other than you. 21 What other one nation on the earth is like your people Israel, God, which you have redeemed from slavery to become your own people, making a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You did awesome miraculous deeds, driving out nations that stood in their way. 22 You took[t] your people Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.
23 “And now, Lord, let what you have spoken concerning your servant and his household be done forever—and let it be done just as you’ve promised. 24 May your name be made great and honored forever: The Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, is God for Israel, and may the family of David your servant stand before you forever.
25 “Because of you, my God, I have been bold to pray to you, as you have told your servant that you will build him a dynasty. 26 And now, Lord, you are God, and you have promised all of these good things to your servant. 27 Furthermore, it has pleased you to bless the dynasty of your servant, so that it will continue in place forever in your presence, because when you, Lord, grant a blessing, it is an eternal blessing.”
Stop Fighting with Each Other
4 Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they? 2 You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them! 3 You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God[a] caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?[b] 6 But he gives all the more grace. And so he says,
“God opposes the arrogant
but gives grace to the humble.”[c]
7 Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. 8 Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.
Do Not Criticize Each Other
11 Do not criticize each other, brothers. Whoever makes it his habit to criticize his brother or to judge his brother is judging the Law and condemning the Law. But if you condemn the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but its judge. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge—the one who can save and destroy. So who are you to judge your neighbor?
Do Not Boast about Future Plans
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money.” 14 You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead you should say, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live—and do this or that.” 16 But you boast about your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, anyone who knows what is right but fails to do it is guilty of sin.
Jonah is Called to Go to Nineveh
1 Now this message from the Lord came to Amittai’s son Jonah:[a] 2 “Get up and go to Nineveh, that great city! Then cry out in protest[b] against it, because their evil has come to my attention.”[c]
Jonah Runs from God’s Call
3 But Jonah got up and fled from the Lord to Tarshish.[d] He went down to Joppa, secured passage on a ship bound for Tarshish, paid the fare, and boarded, intending to go with the mariners[e] to Tarshish to escape from the Lord. 4 Then the Lord sent[f] a great wind over the sea, and a severe storm broke out. It seemed as if the ship were[g] about to break up. 5 At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel. But Jonah had gone down into the vessel’s hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain approached him, and told him, “What are you doing asleep? Get up! Call on your gods! Maybe your[h] god will think about us so we won’t die!”
7 Meanwhile, each crewman told another, “Come on! Let’s cast lots to find out whose fault it is that we’re in this trouble.” So they cast lots, and the lot indicated Jonah! 8 So they interrogated him: “Tell us, why has this trouble come upon us? What’s your occupation? Where’d you come from? What’s your home country? What’s your nationality?”
9 “I’m a Hebrew,” he replied, “and I’m afraid of the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea—along with the dry land!”
10 In mounting terror, the men asked him, “What have you done?” The men were aware that he was fleeing from the Lord, because he had admitted this to them.
Jonah is Thrown Overboard
11 Because the sea was growing more and more stormy, they asked him, “What do we have to do to you so the sea will calm down for us?”
12 Jonah[i] told them, “Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, because I know that it’s my fault that this mighty storm has come[j] upon you.” 13 Even so, the crewmen rowed hard to bring the ship toward dry land, but they were unsuccessful, because the sea was growing more and more stormy.
14 At last they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us perish because of this man’s life, and do not hold us responsible for innocent blood, because you, Lord, have done what pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and made vows.
17 [k]Now the Lord had prepared a large sea creature[l] to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the sea creature for three days and three nights.
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath(A)
6 One time Jesus[a] was walking through some grain fields on a Sabbath.[b] His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what isn’t lawful on Sabbath days?”[c]
3 Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions became hungry? 4 How was it that he went into the house of God, took the Bread of the Presence and ate it, which was not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and then gave some of it to his companions?”
5 Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals a Man with a Paralyzed Hand(B)
6 Once, on another Sabbath, Jesus[d] went into a synagogue and began teaching. A man whose right hand was paralyzed was there. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus[e] closely to see[f] whether he would heal on the Sabbath, in order to find a way of accusing him of doing something wrong. 8 But Jesus[g] knew what they were thinking. So he told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Get up, and stand in the middle of the synagogue.”[h] So he got up and stood there.
9 Then Jesus asked them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”
10 He looked around at all of them and then told the man,[i] “Hold out your hand.” The man[j] did so, and his hand was restored to health. 11 The others were furious[k] and began to discuss with each other what they could do to Jesus.
Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles(C)
12 Now it was in those days that Jesus[l] went to a mountain to pray, and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 When daylight came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also called apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James (the son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot), 16 Judas (the son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).
Jesus Ministers to Many People(D)
17 Then Jesus[m] came down with them and stood on a level place, along with many of his disciples and a large gathering of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Even those who were being tormented by unclean spirits were being healed. 19 The entire crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing all of them.
Jesus Pronounces Blessings and Judgment(E)
20 Then Jesus[n] looked at his disciples and said,
“How blessed are you who are destitute,
because the kingdom of God is yours!
21 How blessed are you who are hungry now,
because you will be satisfied!
How blessed are you who are crying now,
because you will laugh!
22 “How blessed are you whenever people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because your reward in heaven is great! That’s the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.
24 “But how terrible it will be for you who are rich,
because you have had your comfort!
25 How terrible it will be for you who are full now,
because you will be hungry!
How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now,
because you will mourn and cry!
26 “How terrible it will be for you when everyone says nice things about you, because that’s the way their ancestors used to treat the false prophets!”
Teaching about Love for Enemies(F)
27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who insult you. 29 If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one as well, and if someone takes your coat, don’t keep back your shirt, either. 30 Keep on giving to everyone who asks you for something, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not insist on getting it back. 31 Whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what thanks do you deserve? Why, even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners do that. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to get something back, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back what they lend. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind even to ungrateful and evil people. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Judging Others(G)
37 “Stop judging, and you’ll never be judged. Stop condemning, and you’ll never be condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A large quantity, pressed together, shaken down, and running over will be put into your lap, because you’ll be evaluated by the same standard with which you evaluate others.”
39 He also told them a parable: “One blind person can’t lead another blind person, can he? Both will fall into a ditch, won’t they? 40 A disciple is not better than his teacher. But everyone who is fully-trained will be like his teacher.
41 “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you don’t see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
A Tree is Known by Its Fruit(H)
43 “A good tree doesn’t produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree doesn’t produce good fruit, 44 because every tree is known by its own fruit. People[o] don’t gather figs from thorny plants or pick grapes from a thorn bush. 45 A good person produces good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person produces evil from an evil treasure, because the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.”
The Two Foundations(I)
46 “Why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but don’t do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what everyone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 They are like a person building a house, who dug a deep hole to lay the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house but couldn’t shake it, because it had been founded on the rock.[p] 49 But the person who hears what I say[q] but doesn’t act on it is like someone who built a house on the ground without any foundation. When the floodwaters pushed against it, that house[r] quickly collapsed, and the resulting destruction of that house was extensive.”
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