M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Nathan Rebukes David(A)
12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said, “There were two men in a certain city. One was wealthy, but the other was poor. 2 The wealthy man had a very large flock and herd, 3 but the poor man had nothing except a single small ewe lamb that he had acquired. He nourished it and raised it together with himself and his sons. From his crumbs, it would eat; from his cup, it would drink; and in his arms it would lie. It was like a daughter to him.
4 “There came a visitor to the wealthy man, but he was unwilling to take from his own flock or herd to prepare a meal for the wanderer who had come to him. Instead he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared food for the wanderer who had come to him.”
5 David became very angry because of this man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die. 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7 Then Nathan told David, “You are this man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you as king over Israel and I rescued you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave to you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms, and I gave to you the house of Israel and Judah. If this were too little, I would have continued to do for you much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and you took his wife as a wife for yourself. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
11 “Thus says the Lord: See, I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house. I will take your wives before your eyes and will give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 Although you did it secretly, I will do this thing before all of Israel, and under the sun.”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”
15 Then Nathan went to his house. The Lord struck the child that the wife of Uriah had born for David, and he became sick. 16 David entreated God on behalf of the child. He fasted for a period, and he would go in and lie throughout the night on the ground. 17 The elders of his house stood beside him to rouse him from the ground, but he was not willing, nor would he consume food with them.
18 The child died on the seventh day, and the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child had died. They said, “When the child was alive, we would speak to him, but he would not acknowledge our voices. Now how can we say to him, ‘The child is dead’? He may do harm.”
19 When David noticed that his servants were whispering to one another, he perceived that the child was dead. So he asked his servants, “Is the child dead?”
They said, “He is dead.”
20 So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his garments. Then he entered the house of the Lord and worshipped. He then went in to his own house. When he asked, they set down food for him and ate.
21 His servants said to him, “What is this thing you have done? You fasted and wept for the sake of the living child, but when the child died, you arose and ate food.”
22 He explained, “As long as the child was alive, I fasted and wept because I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me, so that the child may live.’ 23 But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Am I able to bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
The Birth of Solomon
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife. He went to her and lay with her, so that she conceived a son. They named him Solomon, and the Lord loved him. 25 So He sent a word by way of the prophet Nathan that he should be named Jedidiah for the sake of the Lord.
26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and assumed control of the royal city. 27 So Joab sent messengers to David and reported, “I have fought against Rabbah, and I have occupied the water supply of the city. 28 Now gather the remainder of the people, lay siege to the city, and take it. Otherwise, I myself will capture the city, and it will be called by my name.”
29 So David gathered all of the people and they went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. 30 David took the crown of their king from his head, and its weight was a talent[a] of gold and precious stone. It was placed upon the head of David. He brought out large quantities of plunder from the city. 31 He brought out the people who were in it, and he put them to work with saws, and iron picks, and iron axes, and sent them to work in the brick kiln. Thus he did to all of the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all of the people returned to Jerusalem.
5 We know that if our earthly house, this tent, were to be destroyed, we have an eternal building of God in the heavens, a house not made with hands. 2 In this one we groan, earnestly desiring to be sheltered with our house which is from heaven. 3 Thus being sheltered, we shall not be found unsheltered. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we wish to be unclothed, but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal might be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has created us for this very thing is God, who also has given to us the guarantee of the Spirit.
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Instead, I say that we are confident and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 9 So whether present or absent, we labor that we may be accepted by Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his recompense in the body, according to what he has done, whether it was good or bad.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men. But we are revealed to God, and I trust we are also revealed in your consciences. 12 For we are not commending ourselves again to you. Instead, we give you occasion to boast on our behalf, that you may have something to answer those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13 If we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge: that if one died for all, then all have died. 15 And He died for all, that those who live should not from now on live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
16 So from now on we do not regard anyone according to the flesh. Yes, though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet we do not regard Him as such from now on. 17 Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new. 18 All this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them, and has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you in Christ’s stead: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
A Lament for Israel’s Princes
19 Moreover take up a lamentation for the officials of Israel, 2 and say:
What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions;
she nourished her whelps.
3 When she brought up one of her whelps,
he became a lion
and learned to catch his prey;
he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him;
he was taken in their pit,
and they brought him with chains
to the land of Egypt.
5 Now when she saw as she had waited
that her hope was lost,
then she took another of her whelps
and made him a young lion.
6 He went up and down among the lions;
he became a young lion,
and learned to catch the prey,
and devoured men.
7 He destroyed their fortified palaces,
and he laid waste their cities;
and the land and its fullness
were appalled by the noise of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him
on every side from their provinces,
and spread their net over him;
he was taken in their pit.
9 They put him in a cage with hooks
and brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him in hunting nets,
so that his voice would be heard no more
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
planted by the waters;
it was fruitful and full of branches
by reason of many waters.
11 It had strong rods
for the scepters of those who rule.
And its stature
was exalted above the clouds,
so it appeared in its height
with the multitude of its branches.
12 But it was plucked up in fury,
it was cast down to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong rod was broken and it withered;
the fire consumed it.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty ground.
14 Fire has gone out from its branch;
it has devoured its shoots and fruit,
so that there is no strong rod in it,
a scepter to rule.
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
Psalm 64
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
guard my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked,
from the throng of the workers of iniquity;
3 they sharpen their tongue like a sword,
and bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 that they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They harden themselves in an evil matter;
they talk privately of laying snares;
they say, “Who will see them?”
6 They devise injustice,
saying “We have perfected a secret plot.”
Both the inward thought of man and the heart are deep.
7 But God will suddenly shoot them with an arrow;
they will be wounded.
8 They will bring ruin on themselves
by their own tongues;
all who see them will flee away.
9 All people will fear,
and declare the work of God;
they will wisely consider His deeds.
10 The righteous will be glad in the Lord,
and seek refuge in Him,
and all the upright in heart will glory.
Psalm 65
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Praise awaits You, O God, in Zion;
and to You a vow will be fulfilled.
2 O You who hears prayer,
to You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities are stronger than me;
as for our transgressions, You atone for them.
4 Blessed is the man You choose and allow to draw near;
he will dwell in Your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
even of Your holy temple.
5 In righteousness You will answer us gloriously,
O God of our salvation,
You, who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
and of those who are afar off on the sea;
6 who established the mountains by His strength,
being clothed with might;
7 who stills the noise of the seas,
the noise of their waves,
and the tumult of peoples.
8 Those who dwell in the uttermost parts
are in awe because of Your signs;
You make the going out of the morning and evening rejoice.
9 You visit the earth, and water it;
You enrich it
with the river of God, which is full of water;
You prepare their grain,
for thus You have established it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly;
You settle its ridges;
You soften it with showers;
You bless its sprouting.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
and Your paths drip abundance.
12 They drip on the pastures of the wilderness,
and the hills clothe themselves with rejoicing.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
the valleys also are covered with grain;
they shout for joy, they also sing.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.