M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul Selected as Israel’s First King
9 There was a man from Benjamin named Kish, Abiel’s son, the grandson of Zeror and great-grandson of Aphiah’s son Becorath. A prominent man[a] from Benjamin, 2 he had a son named Saul, who was a choice and handsome[b] young man. There was no one among the Israelis as handsome as he, and he was a head taller[c] than any of the other people.
3 The donkeys belonging to Kish, Saul’s father, were lost, and Kish told his son Saul, “Take one of the young men with you, get up, and go look for the donkeys.” 4 He went through the hill country of Ephraim and through the region of Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they went through the region of Shaalim, but they were not there. They also went through the territory of the descendants of Benjamin, but they did not find them.
5 When they entered the region of Zuph, Saul told the[d] young man with him, “Come on, let’s go back so my father does not stop worrying[e] about the donkeys and become anxious about us.”
6 The young man[f] said, “Look, there’s a man of God in this town. The man is respected, and everything he predicts happens. Now, let’s go there. Perhaps he can tell us about the[g] journey on which we have set out.”
7 Saul told the[h] young man, “Look, we could go, but what could we bring the man? The bread is gone from our bags, and there is no present to bring to the man of God. What do we have with us?”
8 The young man answered Saul again, “Look here! I have in my hand a quarter shekel[i] of silver. I’ll give it to the man of God, and he will tell us about our journey.”
9 (Previously in Israel, a person would say when he went to inquire of God, “Come on! Let’s go to the seer!” because the person known as a prophet[j] today was formerly called a seer.)
10 Saul told his young man, “That’s a good suggestion! Come on, let’s go!” Then they entered the town where the man of God was.
11 As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women going out to draw water, and they told them, “Is the seer here?”
12 They answered them: “Yes, he’s right there ahead of you. Hurry, for he came to town just today because there is a sacrifice for the people on the high place today. 13 When you come into town you can find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people don’t eat until he arrives, because he must bless the sacrifice and then after that those who are invited will eat. So go up right now because you can find him now.” 14 They went up to the town, and as they were coming to the center of the town, Samuel was coming out to meet them, on his way[k] up to the high place.
The Lord’s Revelation to Samuel
15 Now one day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had revealed to[l] Samuel: 16 “About this time tomorrow I’ll send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him as Commander-in-Chief[m] over my people Israel. He’ll deliver my people from the control[n] of the Philistines, because I’ve seen the suffering of[o] my people and because their cry has come up to me.” 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about. This man will rule over my people.”
18 As Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, he said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
19 Samuel answered Saul: “I’m the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, and eat with me today. In the morning I’ll send you away and tell you everything that is on your mind. 20 Now as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, don’t give any thought to them, because they’ve been found. Meanwhile, to whom is all Israel looking, if not to you and all of your father’s household?”
21 Saul answered: “Am I not a descendant of Benjamin from the least of the tribes of Israel? Isn’t my family the least important of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why have you spoken to me like this?”
22 Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them to a room where he gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, of whom there were about 30 men. 23 Then Samuel told the cook, “Bring the portion that I gave you, the one I told you to set aside.” 24 The cook picked up the thigh and what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Then Samuel[p] said, “Here is what is left! Set it before you and eat, for it has been kept for you until the appointed time, about which I said,[q] ‘I’ve invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25 When they had come down from the high place into town,[r] Samuel[s] spoke to Saul on the roof. 26 They got up early in the morning, and about daybreak Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get up and I’ll send you off.” Saul got up and the two of them, he and Samuel, went outside. 27 As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel told Saul, “Tell your young man to go ahead of us and when he has gone ahead, stop for a while so I may declare God’s word to you.”
Now We are Released from the Law
7 Don’t you realize, brothers—for I am speaking to people who know the Law—that the Law can press its claims over a person only as long as he is alive? 2 For a married woman is bound by the Law to her husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. 3 So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man.
4 In the same way, my brothers, through the Messiah’s[a] body you also died as far as the Law is concerned, so that you may belong to another person, the one who was raised from the dead, and may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living according to our human nature,[b] sinful passions were at work in our bodies[c] by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law by dying to what enslaved us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit, not under the old writings.
The Law Shows Us What Sin Is
7 What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn’t have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn’t have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, “You must not covet.”[d] 8 But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead. 9 At one time I was alive without any connection to[e] the Law.[f] But when the rule was revealed, sin sprang to life, 10 and I died. I found that the very rule that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity provided by the rule, deceived me and used it to kill me. 12 So then, the Law[g] itself is holy, and the rule is holy, just, and good.
The Problem of the Sin that Lives in Us
13 Now, did something good bring me death? Of course not! But in order that sin might be recognized as being sin, it used something good to cause my death, so that through the rule, sin might become more exposed as being[h] sinful than ever before. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am merely human,[i] sold as a slave to sin.[j] 15 I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. 16 Now if I practice what I don’t want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good. 17 As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I don’t do the good I want to do, but instead do the evil that I don’t want to do. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.
21 So I find this to be a principle:[k] when I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me. 22 For I delight in the Law of God in my inner being, 23 but I see in my body[l] a different principle[m] waging war with the Law in my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that exists in my body.[n] 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is infected by[o] death? 25 Thank God through Jesus the Messiah,[p] our Lord, because with my mind I myself can serve the Law of God, even while with my human nature[q] I serve the law of sin.
Prophecies against the Nations
46 This is[a] the message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.
Prophecies against Egypt: Its Defeat at Carchemish
2 To Egypt: Concerning the army of King Pharaoh Neco of Egypt, which was encamped by the Euphrates River at Carchemish and which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of the reign of[b] Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah.
3 “Prepare buckler and shield,
and advance into the battle!
4 Harness the horses!
Riders, mount up!
Take your[c] positions with your[d] helmets!
Polish lances,
and put on armor!
5 Why am I seeing this?[e]
They’re terrified,
they have turned back.
Their warriors are crushed,
and they take flight.
They don’t look back.
Terror is on every side,”
declares the Lord.
6 “The swift cannot flee,
nor can the strong escape.
In the north, beside the Euphrates River,
they stumble and fall.
7 Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge?
8 Egypt is rising like the Nile,
like rivers whose waters surge.
He says, ‘I’ll rise and cover the land.[f]
I’ll destroy the city and its inhabitants.’
9 Horses, get up!
Chariots, drive furiously!
Let the warriors go forward,
Ethiopia and Put, who carry shields,
and the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
10 That day belongs to the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
It is a day of vengeance to take vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour and be satisfied,
and will drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north,
by the Euphrates river.
11 Go up to Gilead and get balm,[g]
virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you multiply remedies,
but there is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your disgrace,
and your cry of distress fills the earth.
Indeed, one warrior stumbles over another,
and both of them fall down together.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s Conquest of Egypt
13 This is the message that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to conquer[h] the land of Egypt.
14 “Announce in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol.
Proclaim also in Memphis and Tahpanhes.
Say, ‘Take your positions and be ready,
for the sword will devour all around you.’
15 Why are your warriors prostrate?
They don’t stand[i] because the Lord has brought them down.
16 They repeatedly stumble and fall.
They say to each other, ‘Get up!
Let’s go back to our people
and to the land of our birth,
away from the oppressor’s sword.’
17 There they’ll cry out,
‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is just a big noise.
He has let the appointed time pass by.’[j]
18 As certainly as I’m alive and living,” declares the King,
whose name is the Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
“Indeed, one will come like Tabor among the mountains
and like Carmel by the sea.
19 Prepare your baggage for exile,
daughter living in Egypt,
for Memphis will become a desolate place.
It will become a ruin without inhabitant.
20 Egypt is a beautiful calf,[k]
but a horsefly from the north is surely coming.
21 Even the mercenary troops in her ranks
are like a fattened calf.
They too will turn around,
and will flee together.
They won’t stand,
for the day of their disaster is coming on them,
the time of their punishment.
22 Her cry will be like that of a fleeing serpent
when they come in strength.
They’re coming to her with axes like woodcutters.
23 They’ll cut down her forest, though it’s impenetrable,”
declares the Lord,
“for they’re more numerous than locusts,
and there are too many of them to count.
24 The daughter of Egypt will be put to shame,
she will be given into the hands of the people from the north.”
25 The Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel says, “Look, I’m going to punish Amon of Thebes, Pharaoh, Egypt, its gods and its kings, Pharaoh, and those who trust in him. 26 I’ll give them to those who are seeking their lives and to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his officers.[l] Then afterwards, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past,” declares the Lord.
Israel will be Delivered
27 “As for you, my servant Jacob, don’t be afraid,
and Israel, don’t be dismayed.
For I’ll deliver you from a distant place,
and your descendants from the land of their captivity.
Jacob will return.
He will be undisturbed and secure,
and no one will cause him to fear.
28 “As for you, my servant Jacob, don’t be afraid,
and Israel, don’t be dismayed,”
declares the Lord, “for I am with you.
Indeed, I’ll make an end of all the nations
where I scattered you;
but I won’t make an end of you!
I’ll discipline you justly,
but I’ll certainly not leave you unpunished.”
To the Director: To the tune of[a] “Doe of the Dawn”.
A Davidic Psalm.
God Delivers His Suffering Servant
22 My God! My God!
Why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from delivering me—
from my groaning words?
2 My God, I cry out to you throughout the day,
but you do not answer;
and throughout the night,
but I have no rest.[b]
3 You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried out to you and escaped;
they trusted in you and were not put to shame.
6 But as for me,
I am only a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by people.
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they gape at me with open mouths
and shake their heads at me.
8 They say,[c] “Commit yourself to the Lord;
perhaps the Lord[d] will deliver him,
perhaps he will cause him to escape,
since he delights in him.”
9 Yet, you are the one who took me from the womb,
and kept me safe on my mother’s breasts.
10 I was dependent on you from birth;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be so distant from me,
for trouble is at hand;
indeed, there is no deliverer.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me;
the vicious bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 Their mouths are opened wide toward me,
like roaring and attacking lions.
14 I am poured out like water;
all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax, melting within me.
15 My strength is dried up like broken pottery;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth,[e]
and you have brought me down to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of those who practice evil has encircled me.
They gouged[f] my hands and my[g] feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They look at me;
they stare at me.
18 They divide my clothing among themselves;
they cast lots for my clothing!
19 But as for you, Lord, do not be far away from me;
My Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword;
my precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Deliver me from the mouth of the lion,
from the horns of the wild oxen.
You have answered me.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you, saying,[h]
23 “All who fear the Lord, praise him!
All the seed of Jacob, glorify him!
All the seed of Israel, fear him!
24 For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person;
he does not hide his face from him,
but he hears him when he cries out to him.”
25 My praise in the great congregation is because of you;
I will pay my vows before those who fear you.[i]
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him,
“May you[j] live forever!”
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord;
all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the Lord.
28 Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the Lord;
he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission.
All those who are about to go down to the grave[k]
will bow down in submission,
along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive.
30 Our[l] descendants will serve him,
and that generation will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and declare his righteousness
to a people yet to be born;
indeed, he has accomplished it!
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