M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

17 ¶ Now it came to pass, as David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan, the prophet, Behold, I dwell in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD under curtains.

² Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thy heart for God is with thee.

³ And it came to pass the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

⁴ Go and tell David my slave, Thus hath the LORD said, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in,

⁵ for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.

⁶ Wherever I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedars?

⁷ Now, therefore, thus shalt thou say unto my slave David, Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, I took thee from the sheepfold, from following the sheep that thou should be ruler over my people Israel;

⁸ and I have been with thee wherever thou hast walked and have cut off all thy enemies from before thee and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.

⁹ Likewise I have ordained a place for my people Israel and have planted him that he dwell by himself and no longer be moved; neither shall the sons of iniquity waste them any more, as before,

¹⁰ since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I have humbled all thy enemies and announce unto thee that the LORD will build thee a house.

¹¹ And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled to go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

¹² He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne eternally.

¹³ I will be his father, and he shall be my son; and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee;

¹⁴ but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom for ever, and his throne shall be established for evermore.

¹⁵ According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

¹⁶ ¶ And David, the king, came and sat before the LORD and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me here?

¹⁷ And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O God, for thou hast also spoken of thy slave’s house for a great while to come and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.

¹⁸ What more can David add asking thee to glorify thy slave? For thou knowest thy slave.

¹⁹ O LORD, for thy slave’s sake and according to thy own heart, thou hast done all this greatness, in making known all thy great things.

²⁰ O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

²¹ And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to ransom to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out the Gentiles from before thy people, whom thou didst redeem out of Egypt?

²² For thy people Israel didst thou make thy own people for ever, and thou, LORD, didst become their God.

²³ Therefore, now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy slave and concerning his house be established for ever and do as thou hast said.

²⁴ Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, that it may be said, The LORD of the hosts, God of Israel, is God unto Israel; and let the house of David thy slave be established before thee.

²⁵ For thou, O my God, hast told thy slave that thou wilt build him a house; therefore, thy slave has found in his heart to pray before thee.

²⁶ And now, LORD, thou art God and hast promised this goodness unto thy slave;

²⁷ now it has pleased thee to bless the house of thy slave, that it may be before thee for ever; for thou, O LORD, hast blessed it, and it shall be blessed for ever.

4 ¶ Where do the wars and disputes come from among you? Is it not from here, that is to say, of your lusts which fight in your members?

² Ye covet and have not; ye murder, and have envy and cannot obtain; ye fight and war and have not that which ye desire because ye ask not.

³ Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your pleasures.

⁴ Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore that desires to be a friend of the world, makes himself the enemy of God.

⁵ Do ye think that the scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy?

⁶ But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble.

⁷ Submit yourselves, therefore, 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, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

⁹ Be afflicted and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

¹¹ ¶ Murmur not against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil of his brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law; but if thou judge the law, thou art not a keeper of the law, but a judge.

¹² There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou to judge another?

¹³ Come now, ye that say, Today and tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain;

¹⁴ and ye do not know what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? Certainly it is a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

¹⁵ Ye ought to say instead, If the Lord wills, and if we live, we shall do this or that.

¹⁶ But now ye boast in your arrogance; all such glory is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore sin is still in the one that knows to do good and does not do it.

1 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,

² Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

³ But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD and went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish fleeing from the presence of the LORD.

⁴ ¶ But the LORD caused a great wind to rise up in the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship thought she would be broken.

⁵ And the mariners were afraid, and everyone called unto his god, and they cast forth the vessels that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; he lay and was fast asleep.

⁶ So the shipmaster came to him and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that he will have compassion upon us that we not perish.

⁷ And each one said to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

⁸ Then they said unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, why this evil is come upon us; What is thine occupation? and from where dost thou come? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

⁹ And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, God of the heavens, who has made the sea and the dry land.

¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD because he had told them.

¹¹ ¶ Then they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea rose higher and was wroth.

¹² And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you; for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to turn the ship to land, but they could not; for the sea rose higher and was wroth against them.

¹⁴ And they cried unto the LORD and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for the soul of this man, and do not lay upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee.

¹⁵ So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from her raging.

¹⁶ Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD and made vows.

¹⁷ Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

6 ¶ And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first that he went through the grain fields and his disciples plucked the ears of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands.

² And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?

³ And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when he and those that were with him were hungry,

⁴ how he went into the house of God and did take and eat the showbread and gave also to those that were with him, which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?

⁵ And he said unto them, The Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.

⁶ And it came to pass also on another sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.

⁷ And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him.

⁸ But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, Rise up and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.

⁹ Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good or to do evil? to save a person or to destroy them?

¹⁰ And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other.

¹¹ And they were filled with madness and talked one with another about what they might do to Jesus.

¹² ¶ And it came to pass in those days that he went out into the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God.

¹³ And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples; and of them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles:

¹⁴ Simon (whom he also named Peter) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,

¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon called Zelotes

¹⁶ and Judas the brother of James and Judas Iscariot, who also was the traitor.

¹⁷ And he came down with them and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;

¹⁸ and those that were tormented with unclean spirits were healed.

¹⁹ And the whole multitude sought to touch him, for there went virtue out of him and healed them all.

²⁰ ¶ And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹ Blessed are those that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are those that weep now, for ye shall laugh.

²² Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the sake of the Son of man.

²³ Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers treated the prophets in the same manner.

²⁴ But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

²⁵ Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.

²⁶ Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers treat the false prophets.

²⁷ ¶ But I say unto you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸ bless those that curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you.

²⁹ And unto the one that smites thee on the one cheek offer also the other, and to the one that takes away thy cloak defend not thy coat also.

³⁰ Give to everyone that asks of thee, and of the one that takes away thy goods ask them not to return them.

³¹ And as ye desire that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

³² For if ye love those who love you, what grace shall ye have? for sinners also love those that love them.

³³ And if ye do good to those who do good to you, what grace shall ye have? for sinners also do even the same.

³⁴ And if ye lend to those of whom ye hope to receive, what grace shall ye have? for sinners also lend to sinners to receive as much again.

³⁵ But rather love ye your enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again, and your reward shall be great; and ye shall be the sons of the Most High, for he is kind even unto the unthankful and to the evil.

³⁶ Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

³⁷ ¶ Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven;

³⁸ give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye measure out it shall be measured to you again.

³⁹ And he spoke a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the pit?

⁴⁰ The disciple is not above his master, but any one that is as the master shall be perfect.

⁴¹ And why dost thou behold the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but not perceive the beam that is in thine own eye?

⁴² Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself dost not behold the beam that is in thine own eye? Hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.

⁴³ For a good tree does not bring forth corrupt fruit; neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

⁴⁴ For every tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush do they gather grapes.

⁴⁵ The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil, for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

⁴⁶ And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

⁴⁷ Whosoever comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you to whom he is like:

⁴⁸ he is like a man who built a house and dug deep and laid the foundation upon rock; and when the flood arose, the river beat vehemently upon that house and could not shake it, for it was founded upon rock.

⁴⁹ But he that hears and does not do is like a man that built a house upon the earth without a foundation against which the river beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.