M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel Anoints Saul
10 Samuel took a jar of the special oil and poured the oil on Saul’s head. Samuel kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has anointed you to be the leader over the people who belong to him. You will control the people. You will save them from the enemies that are all around them. He has anointed you to be ruler over his people. Here is a sign that will prove this is true:[a] 2 After you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel’s tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. The two men will say to you, ‘Someone found the donkeys you were looking for. Your father stopped worrying about his donkeys. Now he is worrying about you. He is saying: What will I do about my son?’”
3 Samuel said, “Then you will go until you come to the large oak tree at Tabor. Three men will meet you there. They will be on their way to worship God at Bethel. One man will be carrying three young goats. The second man will be carrying three loaves of bread. And the third man will have a leather bag full of wine. 4 These three men will say hello to you. They will offer you two bread offerings reserved for priests,[b] and you will accept that bread. 5 Then you will go to Gibeath Elohim. There is a Philistine fort in that place. When you come to this town, a group of prophets will come out. These prophets will come down from the place for worship.[c] They will be prophesying.[d] They will be playing harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres. 6 Then the Lord’s Spirit will come on you with great power. You will be changed. You will be like a different man. You will begin to prophesy with these prophets. 7 After that happens, you can do whatever you choose to do, because God will be with you.
8 “Go to Gilgal before me. Then I will come there to you. And I will offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. But you must wait seven days. Then I will come and tell you what to do.”
Saul Becomes Like the Prophets
9 Just as Saul turned to leave Samuel, God turned Saul’s life around. All these things happened that day. 10 When Saul and his servant came to Gibeath Elohim, Saul met a group of prophets. God’s Spirit came on Saul with great power, and Saul prophesied with the prophets. 11 Some of the people who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets. So they asked each other, “What has happened to Kish’s son? Is Saul also one of the prophets?”
12 A man living in Gibeath Elohim said, “Yes, and it seems that he is their leader.”[e] That is why this became a famous saying: “Is Saul also one of the prophets?”
Saul Arrives Home
13 After Saul finished prophesying, he went to the place of worship.
14 Saul’s uncle asked Saul and his servant, “Where have you been?”
Saul said, “We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we went to see Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me, what did Samuel say to you?”
16 Saul answered, “Samuel told us the donkeys were already found.” He did not tell his uncle everything. Saul did not tell him what Samuel said about the kingdom.
Samuel Announces Saul as King
17 Samuel told all the Israelites to meet together with the Lord at Mizpah. 18 Samuel told the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘I led Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control and from the other kingdoms that tried to hurt you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God. Your God saves you from all your troubles and problems. But you said, ‘No, we want a king to rule us.’ Now come, stand before the Lord in your family groups and tribes.”
20 Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near. Then Samuel began to choose the new king. First, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Samuel told each family in the tribe of Benjamin to pass by. Matri’s family was chosen. Then Samuel told each man in Matri’s family to walk by. Saul son of Kish was chosen.
But when the people looked for Saul, they could not find him. 22 Then they asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?”
The Lord said, “Saul is hiding behind the supplies.”
23 The people ran and took Saul out from behind the supplies. Saul stood up among the people. He was a head taller than anyone else.
24 Samuel said to all the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. There is no one like Saul among the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained the rules of the kingdom to the people. He wrote the rules in a book and put the book before the Lord. Then Samuel told the people to go home.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. God touched the hearts of brave men who then began to follow Saul. 27 But some troublemakers said, “How can this man save us?” They said bad things about Saul and refused to bring gifts to him. But Saul said nothing.
Nahash, King of the Ammonites
King Nahash of the Ammonites had been hurting the tribes of Gad and Reuben. Nahash poked out the right eye of each of the men and did not allow anyone to help them. He poked out the right eye of every Israelite man living in the area east of the Jordan River. But 7000 Israelite men ran away from the Ammonites and came to Jabesh Gilead.[f]
Life in the Spirit
8 So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you[a] free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death. 3 The law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin. God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. 4 He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.
5 People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do. 6 If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace. 7 Why is this true? Because anyone whose thinking is controlled by their sinful self is against God. They refuse to obey God’s law. And really they are not able to obey it. 8 Those who are ruled by their sinful selves cannot please God.
9 But you are not ruled by your sinful selves. You are ruled by the Spirit, if that Spirit of God really lives in you. But whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ. 10 Your body will always be dead because of sin. But if Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life, because Christ made you right with God. 11 God raised Jesus from death. And if God’s Spirit lives in you, he will also give life to your bodies that die. Yes, God is the one who raised Christ from death, and he will raise you to life through his Spirit living in you.
12 So, my brothers and sisters, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves. We must not live the way our sinful selves want. 13 If you use your lives to do what your sinful selves want, you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit’s help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, you will have true life.
14 The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. 15 The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again and causes us to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us God’s chosen children. And with that Spirit we cry out, “ Abba,[b] Father.” 16 And the Spirit himself speaks to our spirits and makes us sure that we are God’s children. 17 If we are God’s children, we will get the blessings God has for his people. He will give us all that he has given Christ. But we must suffer like Christ suffered. Then we will be able to share his glory.
We Will Have Glory in the Future
18 We have sufferings now, but these are nothing compared to the great glory that will be given to us. 19 Everything that God made is waiting with excitement for the time when he will show the world who his children are. The whole world wants very much for that to happen. 20 Everything God made was allowed to become like something that cannot fulfill its purpose. That was not its choice, but God made it happen with this hope in view: 21 That the creation would be made free from ruin—that everything God made would have the same freedom and glory that belong to God’s children.
22 We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain like a woman ready to give birth to a child. 23 Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God’s promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children. I mean we are waiting for our bodies to be made free. 24 We were saved to have this hope. If we can see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. People don’t hope for something they already have. 25 But we are hoping for something we don’t have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently.
26 Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. He begs God for us, speaking to him with feelings too deep for words. 27 God already knows our deepest thoughts. And he understands what the Spirit is saying, because the Spirit speaks for his people in the way that agrees with what God wants.
28 We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. These are the people God chose, because that was his plan. 29 God knew them before he made the world. And he decided that they would be like his Son. Then Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. 30 God planned for them to be like his Son. He chose them and made them right with him. And after he made them right, he gave them his glory.
God’s Love in Christ Jesus
31 So what should we say about this? If God is for us, no one can stand against us. And God is with us. 32 He even let his own Son suffer for us. God gave his Son for all of us. So now with Jesus, God will surely give us all things. 33 Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one! God is the one who makes them right. 34 Who can say that God’s people are guilty? No one! Christ Jesus died for us, but that is not all. He was also raised from death. And now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. 35 Can anything separate us from Christ’s love? Can trouble or problems or persecution separate us from his love? If we have no food or clothes or face danger or even death, will that separate us from his love? 36 As the Scriptures say,
“For you we are in danger of death all the time.
People think we are worth no more than sheep to be killed.” (A)
37 But in all these troubles we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us. 38-39 Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A Message About the Philistine People
47 This is the message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet about the Philistines. This message came before Pharaoh attacked the city of Gaza.
2 This is what the Lord says:
“Look, the enemy is gathering in the north[a] like rising water.
They will come like a river spilling over its banks.
They will cover the whole country like a flood.
They will cover the towns and the people living in them.
Everyone in the country will cry for help.
Everyone will cry out in pain.
3 They will hear the sound of running horses,
the noisy chariots, the rumbling wheels.
Fathers will not be able to protect their children.
They will be too weak to help,
4 because the time has come to destroy all the Philistines.
The time has come to destroy Tyre and Sidon’s remaining helpers.
The Lord will destroy the Philistines,
the survivors from the Island of Crete.[b]
5 The people from Gaza will be sad and shave their heads.
The people from Ashkelon will be silenced.
Survivors from the valley, how long will you cut yourselves?[c]
6 “Sword of the Lord, you have not stopped.
How long will you keep fighting?
Go back into your scabbard[d]!
Stop! Be still!
7 But how can the sword of the Lord rest?
The Lord gave it a command.
He commanded it to attack
the city of Ashkelon and the seacoast.”
A song of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I will always have everything I need.[a]
2 He gives me green pastures to lie in.
He leads me by calm pools of water.
3 He restores my strength.
He leads me on right paths[b] to show that he is good.
4 Even if I walk through a valley as dark as the grave,[c]
I will not be afraid of any danger, because you are with me.
Your rod and staff[d] comfort me.
5 You prepared a meal for me in front of my enemies.
You welcomed me as an honored guest.[e]
My cup is full and spilling over.
6 Your goodness and mercy will be with me all my life,
and I will live in the Lord’s house[f] a long, long time.[g]
A song of David.
24 The earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.
The world and all its people belong to him.
2 He built the earth on the water.
He built it over the rivers.
3 Who can go up on the Lord’s mountain[h]?
Who can stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those who have not done evil,
who have pure hearts,
who have not used my name[i] to hide their lies,
and who have not made false promises.
5 Good people ask the Lord to bless others.
They ask God, their Savior, to do good things.
6 They try to follow God.
They go to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Gates, proudly lift your heads!
Open, ancient doors,
and the glorious King will come in.
8 Who is the glorious King?
He is the Lord, the powerful soldier.
He is the Lord, the war hero.
9 Gates, proudly lift your heads!
Open, ancient doors,
and the glorious King will come in.
10 Who is the glorious King?
The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King. Selah
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International