M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Davidic Covenant(A)
17 Now it happened as David dwelt in his house that he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am dwelling in a house of cedar while the ark of the Lord is under curtains.”
2 So Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 But it happened on that same night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying,
4 Go and tell David My servant: Thus says the Lord: You will not build a house for Me to dwell in, 5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day when I brought Israel up even until this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from tabernacle to tabernacle. 6 Wherever I have gone in all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to the any of the judges of Israel that I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?
7 And now say this to My servant David: Thus says the Lord of Hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following after the flock, to be ruler over My people Israel, 8 and I have been with you wherever you went, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Also I will make your name like the names of the greatest on earth. 9 And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and I will plant them there where they will dwell securely and tremble no more, so that the sons of wickedness will not oppress them just as before 10 from the time when I commanded the judges of My people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies.
And I declare to you the Lord will build a house for you. 11 Then it will be when your days are full and you go to your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you from your own sons. His kingdom I will establish. 12 He is the one who will build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. I will not take away My favor from him as I did from the one who was before you. 14 I will assign him a place in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established for all time.
15 Thus, Nathan spoke to David all these words and according to all this vision.
The Prayer of David(B)
16 Then King David came and sat before the Lord, and he said,
“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? 17 This was something small in Your eyes, God, but You have spoken concerning the house of Your servant for a great while to come and have regarded me with the status of a great man, O Lord God.
18 “What more can David speak to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19 O Lord, for the sake of Your servant and according to Your own heart You have done all these great things and made known all these great things.
20 “O Lord, there is none like You, and there is no god besides You as we have heard with our ears. 21 Who is like Your people Israel, a nation on earth whom God has redeemed for Himself as a people to make for Yourself a great name by great and awesome deeds in driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 For You made Your people Israel for Yourself for a people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
23 “And now, Lord, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it endure forever and do just as You have spoken. 24 Let Your name endure and be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God to Israel.’ And let the house of David Your servant be established before You.
25 “For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build a house for him. Therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. 26 And now, O Lord, You are God, and You have promised this good word to Your servant. 27 Now, You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant that it may be forever before You. For You, O Lord, have blessed it, and it shall be blessed forever.”
Friendship With the World
4 Where do wars and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your lusts that war in your body? 2 You lust and do not have, so you kill. You desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask, and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your passions.
4 You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “He yearns jealously for the spirit that lives in us”[a]? 6 But He gives more grace. For this reason it says:
“God resists the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.”[b]
7 Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to dejection. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Judging a Brother
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. He who speaks evil of his brother and judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. 12 There is one Lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
Warning Against Boasting
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit,” 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you are rejoicing in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, it is sin.
The Call of Jonah
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, the great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before Me.”
3 But Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found there a ship going to Tarshish. He paid its fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and a mighty storm came upon the sea, so that the ship was in danger of breaking up. 5 Then the sailors were afraid, and each cried to his god. They tossed the ship’s cargo into the sea in order to lighten the load.
But Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6 The captain came to him and said, “What are you doing asleep? Get up, call to your god! Perhaps your god will consider us, so that we will not perish.”
7 The sailors said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this disaster has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
8 Then the sailors said to Jonah, “Tell us why this disaster has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And from what people are you?”
9 Jonah replied, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were very afraid and said to him, “What is this you have done?” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them.
11 Then they said to Jonah, “What shall we do to you, so that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing stormier.
12 So Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and toss me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you. For I know that it is on my account this great storm has come upon you.”
13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring the ship to land, but they could not do it, for the sea grew more tempestuous against them. 14 Then they cried to the Lord and said, “Please, Lord, do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not make us guilty for innocent blood, for You, Lord, have done as it pleased You.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the sea. Then the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Therefore the men were very afraid of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
The Prayer and Deliverance of Jonah
17 Now the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath(A)
6 On the second Sabbath after the first, He went through the grain fields, and His disciples plucked and ate the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 Some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? 4 He went into the house of God, and took and ate the ritual bread, and also gave it to those who were with him. This was not lawful, but for the priests only to eat.” 5 Then He said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
The Man With a Withered Hand(B)
6 On another Sabbath, when He entered the synagogue and taught, there was a man whose right hand had withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees watched Him to see whether He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find an accusation against Him. 8 But He knew their thoughts, and He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise and stand in front.” So he rose and stood in front.
9 Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
10 Then looking around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 11 But they were filled with madness and discussed with each other what they might do to Jesus.
The Choosing of the Twelve Apostles(C)
12 In these days He went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 When it was day, He called for His disciples, and of them He chose twelve, whom He named apostles: 14 Simon, whom He named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Ministering to a Great Crowd(D)
17 He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great crowd of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, 18 including those who were vexed by unclean spirits. And they were healed. 19 The whole crowd tried to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all.
Blessings and Woes(E)
20 He lifted up His eyes on His disciples, and said:
“Blessed are you poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you shall laugh.
22 Blessed are you when men hate you,
and when they separate you from their company and insult you,
and cast out your name as evil,
on account of the Son of Man.
23 “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for indeed, your reward is great in heaven. For in like manner their fathers treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are filled,
for you shall hunger.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you, when all men speak well of you,
for so their fathers spoke of the false prophets.
Love for Enemies(F)
27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer also the other. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And of him who takes away your goods, do not ask for them back. 31 Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
32 “For if you love those who love you, what thanks do you receive? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you receive? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks do you receive? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much in return. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and the evil. 36 Be therefore merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Judging Others(G)
37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give unto you. For with the measure you use, it will be measured unto you.”
39 He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is trained will be like his teacher.
41 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not see the beam that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit(H)
43 “A good tree does not bear corrupt fruit, nor does a corrupt tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is known by its own fruit. Men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a wild bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bears what is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bears what is evil. For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
The Two Housebuilders(I)
46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show whom he is like: 48 He is like a man who built a house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, but could not shake it, for it was founded on rock. 49 But he who hears and does not obey is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently. Immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.