M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem(A)
15 After David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for Elohim’s ark and set up a tent for it. 2 Then David insisted that only the Levites carry Elohim’s ark because Yahweh had chosen them to carry Yahweh’s ark and to serve him forever.
3 David called together all Israel at Jerusalem to bring Yahweh’s ark to the place he had prepared for it. 4 David also called together Aaron’s descendants and the Levites. 5 Leading Kohath’s descendants was Uriel, who came with 120 of his relatives. 6 Leading Merari’s descendants was Asaiah, who came with 220 of his relatives. 7 Leading Gershom’s descendants was Joel, who came with 130 of his relatives. 8 Leading Elizaphan’s descendants was Shemaiah, who came with 200 of his relatives. 9 Leading Hebron’s descendants was Eliel, who came with 80 of his relatives. 10 Leading Uzziel’s descendants was Amminadab, who came with 112 of his relatives.
11 David called for the priests Zadok and Abiathar and for the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levite families. You and your relatives must perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy. Then bring the ark of Yahweh Elohim of Israel to the place I prepared for it. 13 Because you weren’t there the first time, Yahweh our Elohim struck us. We hadn’t dedicated our lives to serving him in the way he designated.”
14 So the priests and the Levites made themselves holy in order to move the ark of Yahweh Elohim of Israel. 15 The Levites carried Elohim’s ark on their shoulders. They used poles as Moses had commanded according to Yahweh’s instructions.
16 David told the Levite leaders to appoint some of their relatives to serve as musicians. They were expected to play music on harps, lyres, and cymbals to produce joyful music for singing. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman, son of Joel, and from his relatives they appointed Asaph, Berechiah’s son. From their own relatives, Merari’s descendants, they appointed Ethan, son of Kushaiah. 18 In addition, they appointed their relatives from the second division: Zechariah,[a] Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah. Obed Edom and Jeiel were appointed gatekeepers. 19 The musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were appointed to play bronze cymbals. 20 Zechariah, Jaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were appointed to play harps according to alamoth.[b] 21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were appointed to play lyres and to conduct the sheminith.[c] 22 Chenaniah, a Levite leader, instructed others how to sing prophetic songs because he was skilled at it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24 The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer blew trumpets in front of Elohim’s ark. Obed Edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.
25 So David, the leaders of Israel, and the army’s commanders joyfully went to get the ark of Yahweh’s promise from Obed Edom’s house. 26 Because Elohim helped the Levites who carried the ark of Yahweh’s promise, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was dressed in a fine linen robe, as were all the Levites who carried the ark, the Levites who were singers, and Chenaniah, the leader of the musicians’ prophetic songs. David also wore a linen ephod.[d]
28 All Israel brought the ark of Yahweh’s promise with shouts of joy and the sounding of rams’ horns, trumpets, cymbals, harps, and lyres. 29 When the ark of Yahweh’s promise came to the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked out of a window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, so she despised him.
Don’t Favor Rich People over Poor People
2 My brothers and sisters, practice your faith in our glorious Lord Yeshua Christ by not favoring one person over another. 2 For example, two men come to your worship service. One man is wearing gold rings and fine clothes; the other man, who is poor, is wearing shabby clothes. 3 Suppose you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say to him, “Please have a seat.” But you say to the poor man, “Stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor at my feet.” 4 Aren’t you discriminating against people and using a corrupt standard to make judgments?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Didn’t God choose poor people in the world to become rich in faith and to receive the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 6 Yet, you show no respect to poor people. Don’t rich people oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Don’t they curse the good name of Yeshua, the name that was used to bless you?
8 You are doing right if you obey this law from the highest authority: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” 9 If you favor one person over another, you’re sinning, and this law convicts you of being disobedient. 10 If someone obeys all of God’s laws except one, that person is guilty of breaking all of them. 11 After all, the one who said, “Never commit adultery,” is the same one who said, “Never murder.” If you do not commit adultery but you murder, you become a person who disobeys God’s laws.
12 Talk and act as people who are going to be judged by laws that bring freedom. 13 No mercy will be shown to those who show no mercy to others. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
We Show Our Faith by What We Do
14 My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him? 15 Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food 16 and one of you tells that person, “God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough.” If you don’t provide for that person’s physical needs, what good does it do? 17 In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.
18 Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.
20 You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless? 21 Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar? 22 You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did. 23 The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abraham’s approval by God.” So Abraham was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes. 25 The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God’s approval because of what she did.
26 A body that doesn’t breathe[a] is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.
The Lord Will Sift Israel out of All the Nations
9 I saw Adonay standing by the altar, and he said:
Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations shake.
Cut off everyone’s head.
I will kill with a sword all who are left.
None of them will be able to get away.
None of them will be able to escape.
2 Even if they dig their way into Sheol,
my hand will take them from there.
Even if they go up to heaven,
I will bring them down from there.
3 Even if they hide on top of Mount Carmel,
I will look for them and take them from there.
Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea,
I will command a sea snake to bite them.
4 Even if they go into exile ahead of their enemies,
I will command a sword to kill them.
I will keep my eyes on them
so that I can bring disaster on them and not help them.
5 Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth touches the earth.
It quakes, and all who live on it mourn.
All of it rises like the Nile
and sinks like Egypt’s river.
6 The one who builds stairs up to heaven
and sets their foundation on the earth,
the one who calls for the water in the sea
and pours it over the face of the earth—
His name is Yahweh.
7 You people of Israel are like the people from Sudan, says Yahweh.
Didn’t I bring Israel from Egypt?
Didn’t I bring the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir?
8 I, Adonay Yahweh, have my eyes on this sinful kingdom.
I will wipe it off the face of the earth.
But I won’t totally destroy the descendants of Jacob, declares Yahweh.
9 I’m going to give the order.
I will sift the nation of Israel out of all the nations
as if I were using a sieve.
Not one pebble will fall to the ground.
10 All the sinners among my people are thinking,
“Destruction will not catch up to us or run into us.”
In spite of this, they will be killed with swords.
The Lord Will Restore His People
11 On that day I will set up David’s fallen tent.
I will repair the holes in it.
I will restore its ruined places.
I will rebuild them as they were a long time ago.
12 They will capture the few survivors of Edom
and all the other nations that were under my authority,
declares Yahweh, who will do these things.
13 The days are going to come, declares Yahweh,
when the one who plows will catch up to the one who harvests,
and the one who stomps on grapes will catch up to the one who plants.
New wine will drip from the mountains
and flow from all the hills.
14 I will restore my people Israel.
They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them.
They will plant gardens and eat their fruit.
15 I will plant the people of Israel in their land,
and they won’t be uprooted again from the land that I gave them,
says Yahweh your Elohim.
The Devil Tempts Jesus(A)
4 Yeshua was filled with the Holy Spirit as he left the Jordan River. The Spirit led him while he was in the desert, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. During those days Yeshua ate nothing, so when they were over, he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 Yeshua answered him, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone.’”[a]
5 The devil took him to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. 6 The devil said to him, “I will give you all the power and glory of these kingdoms. All of it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 So if you will worship me, all this will be yours.”
8 Yeshua answered him, “Scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
9 Then the devil took him into Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. He said to Yeshua, “If you are the Son of God, jump from here! 10 Scripture says, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you to watch over you carefully. 11 They will carry you in their hands so that you never hit your foot against a rock.’”
12 Yeshua answered him, “It has been said, ‘Never tempt the Lord your God.’”[b]
13 After the devil had finished tempting Yeshua in every possible way, the devil left him until another time.
Nazareth Rejects Jesus(B)
14 Yeshua returned to Galilee. The power of the Spirit was with him, and the news about him spread throughout the surrounding country. 15 He taught in the synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 Then Yeshua came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual he went into the synagogue on the day of worship. He stood up to read the lesson. 17 The attendant gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it read:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is with me.
He has anointed me
to tell the Good News to the poor.
He has sent me[c]
to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin
and the restoring of sight to the blind,
to forgive those who have been shattered by sin,
19 to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Yeshua closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue watched him closely. 21 Then he said to them, “This passage came true today when you heard me read it.”
22 All the people spoke well of him. They were amazed to hear the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
23 So he said to them, “You’ll probably quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ and then say to me, ‘Do all the things in your hometown that we’ve heard you’ve done in Capernaum.’” 24 Then Yeshua added, “I can guarantee this truth: A prophet isn’t accepted in his hometown.
25 “I can guarantee this truth: There were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time. It had not rained for three-and-a-half years, and the famine was severe everywhere in the country. 26 But God didn’t send Elijah to anyone except a widow at Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. 27 There were also many people with skin diseases in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time. But God cured no one except Naaman from Syria.”
28 Everyone in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. 29 Their city was built on a hill with a cliff. So they got up, forced Yeshua out of the city, and led him to the cliff. They intended to throw him off of it. 30 But Yeshua walked right by them and went away.
Jesus Forces an Evil Spirit out of a Man(C)
31 Yeshua went to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and taught them on a day of worship. 32 The people were amazed at his teachings because he spoke with authority.
33 In the synagogue was a man possessed by a spirit, an evil demon. He shouted very loudly, 34 “Oh, no! What do you want with us, Yeshua from Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 Yeshua ordered the spirit, “Keep quiet, and come out of him!” The demon threw the man down in the middle of the synagogue and came out without hurting him.
36 Everyone was stunned. They said to one another, “What kind of command is this? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits, and they come out.”
37 So news about him spread to every place throughout the surrounding region.
Jesus Cures Simon’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others(D)
38 Yeshua left the synagogue and went to Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever. They asked Yeshua to help her. 39 He bent over her, ordered the fever to leave, and it went away. She got up immediately and prepared a meal for them.
40 When the sun was setting, everyone who had friends suffering from various diseases brought them to him. He placed his hands on each of them and cured them. 41 Demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But Yeshua ordered them not to speak. After all, they knew he was the Messiah.
Spreading the Good News(E)
42 In the morning he went to a place where he could be alone. The crowds searched for him. When they came to him, they tried to keep him from leaving. 43 But he said to them, “I have to tell the Good News about the kingdom of God in other cities also. That’s what I was sent to do.”
44 So he spread his message in the synagogues of Judea.[d]
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.