M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Birth of Samuel
1 A certain man lived in Ramathaim-zophim, which is in the hill country of Ephraim. He was Jeroham’s son Elkanah, the grandson of Elihu and grandson of Tohu, who was the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; the name of one was Hannah and the name of the other was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 That man would go up from his town each year to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phineas served as priests of the Lord. 4 On the day when Elkanah offered sacrifices, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters, 5 but he would give twice as much to Hannah because he loved her.
Now the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Her rival would provoke her severely so that she complained loudly[a] because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 Elkanah[b] would do this year after year, as often as Hannah[c] went up to the house of the Lord. Likewise, Peninnah[d] would provoke her, and Hannah[e] would cry and would not eat. 8 Elkanah her husband told her, “Hannah, why are you crying and why don’t you eat? Why are you upset?[f] Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
9 Hannah got up after she had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the chair by the doorpost of the tent[g] of the Lord. 10 Deeply distressed, she prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 11 Hannah[h] made a vow: “Lord of the Heavenly Armies, if you just look at the misery of your maid servant, remember me, and don’t forget your maid servant. If you give your maid servant a son,[i] then I’ll give him to the Lord[j] for all the days of his life,[k] and a razor is never to touch[l] his head.”
12 As she continued to pray in the Lord’s presence, Eli was watching her mouth. 13 Hannah[m] was praying inwardly.[n] Her lips were quivering, and her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14 Eli told her, “How long will you stay drunk? Put away your wine!”
15 “No, sir!”[o] Hannah replied. “I’m a deeply troubled[p] woman. I’ve drunk neither wine nor beer. I’ve been pouring out my soul in the Lord’s presence. 16 Don’t consider your maid servant a worthless woman. Rather, all this time I’ve been speaking because I’m very anxious and distressed.”
17 “Go in peace,” Eli answered. “May the God of Israel grant the request you have asked of him.”
18 She said, “Let your servant[q] find favor in your eyes.” Then she[r] went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.[s]
19 They got up early the next morning and worshipped in the Lord’s presence, and then they returned and came to their house at Ramah. Elkanah had marital relations with[t] his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 By the time of the next year’s sacrifice,[u] Hannah had become pregnant and had borne a son. She named him Samuel[v] because she said,[w] “I asked the Lord for him.”
Hannah Dedicates Samuel to the Lord
21 Then Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the yearly sacrifice to the Lord and pay his vow. 22 Hannah did not go up because she had told her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence and remain there[x] forever.”[y]
23 “Do what you want,”[z] Elkanah told her. “Stay until you have weaned him, only may the Lord bring about what you’ve said.”[aa] So Hannah[ab] stayed and nursed her son until she had weaned him. 24 Then, when she had weaned him, she brought him[ac] up with her to Shiloh,[ad] along with a three-year-old bull,[ae] an ephah[af] of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh, and the boy[ag] was young.[ah] 25 They slaughtered the bull and brought the boy[ai] to Eli.
26 Hannah[aj] said, “Sir,[ak] as surely as you are alive, I’m the woman who stood before you here praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this boy, and the Lord granted me the request I asked of him. 28 Now[al] I’m dedicating[am] him to the Lord, and as long as he lives,[an] he will be dedicated[ao] to the Lord.” Then they worshipped[ap] the Lord there.
Greetings from Paul
1 From:[a] Paul, a servant of Jesus the Messiah,[b] called to be an apostle and set apart for God’s gospel, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding[c] his Son. He was a descendant of David with respect to his humanity 4 and was declared by the resurrection from the dead to be the powerful Son of God according to the spirit[d] of holiness—Jesus the Messiah,[e] our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and a commission as an apostle to bring about faithful obedience among all the gentiles for the sake of his name. 6 You, too, are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus the Messiah.[f]
7 To: Everyone in Rome,[g] loved by God and called to be holy.[h]
May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[i] be yours!
Paul’s Prayer and Desire to Visit Rome
8 First of all, I thank my God through Jesus the Messiah[j] for all of you, because the news about your faith is being reported throughout the world. 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you 10 in my prayers at all times, asking that somehow by God’s will I may at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I am longing to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong, 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles. 14 Both to Greeks and to barbarians,[k] both to wise and to foolish people, I am a debtor. 15 That is why I am so eager to proclaim the gospel to you who live in Rome,[l] too.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,[m] because it is God’s power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well. 17 For in the gospel[n] God’s righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “The righteous will live by faith.”[o]
God’s Wrath against Sinful Humanity
18 For God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s[p] invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people[q] are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things,[r] and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Though claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
24 For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts[s] of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged God’s truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural. 27 In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.[t]
28 Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. 32 Although they know God’s just requirement—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.
The Fall of Jerusalem and the Capture of Zedekiah
39 This is how Jerusalem was captured:[a] In the tenth month of the ninth year of the reign of[b] Zedekiah king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. 2 On the ninth day of the fourth month, in the eleventh year of the reign of[c] Zedekiah, the wall of[d] the city was breached. 3 All the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate, including[e] Nergal-sarri-usur, governor[f] of Sinmagir,[g] Nabu-sarrussu-ukin the high official,[h] Nergal-sarri-user, the chief official,[i] and[j] all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.
4 When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled and went out of the city at night through the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls. Then he went out on the road toward the Arabah. 5 The Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho. When they seized him they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed judgment on him. 6 At Riblah, the king of Babylon executed Zedekiah’s sons right[k] before his eyes. He[l] also executed all the nobles of Judah. 7 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze fetters to take him to Babylon.
8 The Chaldeans burned the palace and the houses of the people with fire, and they broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the Babylonian guard, took into exile in Babylon the rest of the people who remained in the city, those who had deserted to Nebuchadnezzar, and the rest of the people who remained. 10 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who did not have anything, and he gave them vineyards and fields on that day.
Jeremiah’s Release from Prison
11 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard: 12 “Take him, look after him, and don’t do anything to harm him. Rather, do for him whatever he tells you.” 13 So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, Nebushazban, the high official, Nergal-sar-ezer, the chief official, and all the officials of the king of Babylon sent for Jeremiah.[m] 14 They sent for Jeremiah[n] and took[o] him from the courtyard of the guard. They handed him over to Ahikam’s son Gedaliah, the grandson of Shaphan, to take him home. So he remained among the people.
Ebed-melech Rewarded
15 This message from the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was confined in the courtyard of the guard: 16 “Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: ‘This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Look, I’m going to fulfill my promise against this city for disaster rather than for good, and on that day it will happen before your eyes. 17 But I’ll deliver you on that day,” declares the Lord. “You won’t be given into the hands of the men you fear. 18 For I’ll surely deliver you, and you won’t fall by the sword. Your life will be spared[p] because you trusted me,” declares the Lord.’”
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Deliverance
13 How long? Lord, will you forget me forever?[a]
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I struggle in my soul at night
and have sorrow in my heart during the day?
How long will my enemy rise up against me?
3 Look at me!
Answer me, Lord, my God!
Give light to my eyes!
Otherwise, I will sleep in death;
4 Otherwise, my enemy will say,
“I have overcome him;”
Otherwise, my persecutor will rejoice
when I am shaken.
5 As for me, I have trusted in your gracious love,
my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
for he has dealt bountifully with me.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
The Fool and God’s Response
14 Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and commit evil deeds;
not one of them practices what is good.
2 The Lord looks down from the heavens upon humanity[b]
to see if anyone shows discernment as he searches for God.
3 All have turned away,
together they have become corrupt;
no one practices what is good, not even one.
4 Will those who do evil ever learn?
They devour my people like they devour bread,
and never call on the Lord.
5 There they are seized with terror,
because God is with those who are[c] righteous.
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