M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel Appoints Saul
10 Samuel took a jar of olive oil. He poured the oil on Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has appointed you to be leader of his people Israel. You will rule over the people of the Lord. You will save them from their enemies all around. This will be the sign that the Lord has appointed you as leader of his people. 2 After you leave me today, you will meet two men. They will be near Rachel’s tomb on the border of Benjamin at Zelzah. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you were looking for have been found. But now your father has stopped thinking about his donkeys. He is worrying about you. He is asking, “What will I do about my son?”’
3 “Then you will go on until you reach the great tree at Tabor. There three men will meet you. They will be on their way to worship God at Bethel. One man will be carrying three young goats. The second man will be carrying three loaves of bread. And the third one will have a leather bag full of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread. You will accept the bread from them. 5 Then you will go to Gibeah of God. There is a Philistine camp there. When you come near this town, a group of prophets will come out. They will be coming from the place of worship. And they will be playing harps, tambourines, flutes and lyres. And they will be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the Lord will enter you with power. You will prophesy with these prophets. You will be changed into a different man. 7 After these signs happen, do whatever you find to do. God will help you.
8 “Go ahead of me to Gilgal. I will come down to you. Then I will offer whole burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. But you must wait seven days. Then I will come and tell you what to do.”
Saul Made King
9 When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart. All these signs came true that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, Saul met a group of prophets. The Spirit of God entered him. And he prophesied with the prophets. 11 People who had known Saul before saw him prophesying with the prophets. They asked each other, “What has happened to Kish’s son? Is even Saul one of the prophets?”
12 A man who lived there said, “Who is the father of these prophets?” This became a famous saying: “Is even Saul one of the prophets?” 13 When Saul finished prophesying, he went to the place of worship.
14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?”
Saul said, “We were looking for the donkeys. When we couldn’t find them, we went to talk to Samuel.”
15 Saul’s uncle asked, “Please tell me. What did Samuel say to you?”
16 Saul answered, “He told us the donkeys had already been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about his becoming king.
17 Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. 18 He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I led Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control. And I saved you from other kingdoms that were troubling you.’ 19 But now you have rejected your God. He saves you from all your troubles and problems. But you said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us.’ Now come, stand before the Lord in your tribes and family groups.”
20 Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near. And the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Samuel had them pass by in family groups, and Matri’s family was chosen. Then he had each man of Matri’s family pass by. And Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for Saul, they could not find him. 22 Then they asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?”
The Lord said, “Yes. He’s hiding behind the baggage.”
23 So they ran and brought him out. When Saul stood among the people, he was a head taller than anyone else. 24 Then Samuel said to the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. There is no one like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained the rights and duties of the king. He wrote the rules in a book and put the book before the Lord. Then he told the people to go to their homes.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. God touched the hearts of certain brave men who went along with him. 27 But some troublemakers said, “How can this man save us?” They hated Saul and refused to bring gifts to him. But Saul kept quiet.
Life in the Spirit
8 So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not judged[a] guilty. 2 I am not judged guilty because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made me free. It made me free from the law that brings sin and death. 3 The law was without power, because the law was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that others use for sin. He sent his Son to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. 4 He did this so that we could be right as the law said we must be. Now we do not live following our sinful selves, but we live following the Spirit.
5 Those who live following their sinful selves think only about things that their sinful selves want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about the things that the Spirit wants them to do. 6 If a person’s thinking is controlled by his sinful self, then there is death. But if his thinking is controlled by the Spirit, then there is life and peace. 7 This is true because if a person’s thinking is controlled by his sinful self, then he is against God. He refuses to obey God’s law. And really he is not able to obey God’s law. 8 Those people who are ruled by their sinful selves cannot please God.
9 But you are not ruled by your sinful selves. You are ruled by the Spirit, if that Spirit of God really lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, then he does not belong to Christ. 10 Your body will always be dead because of sin. But if Christ is in you, then the Spirit gives you life, because Christ made you right with God. 11 God raised Jesus from death. And if God’s Spirit is living in you, then he will also give life to your bodies that die. God is the One who raised Christ from death. And he will give life through[b] his Spirit that lives in you.
12 So, my brothers, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves. We must not live the way our sinful selves want. 13 If you use your lives to do the wrong things your sinful selves want, then you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit’s help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, then you will have true life.
14 The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. 15 The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us children of God. And with that Spirit we say, “Father, dear Father.”[c] 16 And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say that we are God’s children. 17 If we are God’s children, then we will receive the blessings God has for us. We will receive these things from God together with Christ. But we must suffer as Christ suffered, and then we will have glory as Christ has glory.
Our Future Glory
18 We have sufferings now. But the sufferings we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will be given to us. 19 Everything that God made is waiting with excitement for the time when God will show the world who his children are. The whole world wants very much for that to happen. 20 Everything that God made was changed to become useless. This was not by its own wish. It happened because God wanted it. But there was this hope: 21 that everything God made would be set free from ruin. There was hope that everything God made would have the freedom and glory that belong to God’s children.
22 We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain, like a woman ready to give birth. 23 Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God’s promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children. I mean we are waiting for our bodies to be made free. 24 We were saved, and we have this hope. If we see what we are waiting for, then that is not really hope. People do not hope for something they already have. 25 But we are hoping for something that we do not have yet. We are waiting for it patiently.
26 Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us. The Spirit speaks to God with deep feelings that words cannot explain. 27 God can see what is in people’s hearts. And he knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way that God wants.
28 We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him.[d] They are the people God called, because that was his plan. 29 God knew them before he made the world. And God chose them to be like his Son. Then Jesus would be the firstborn[e] of many brothers. 30 God planned for them to be like his Son. And those he planned to be like his Son, he also called. And those he called, he also made right with him. And those he made right, he also glorified.
God’s Love in Christ Jesus
31 So what should we say about this? If God is for us, then no one can defeat us. 32 God let even his own Son suffer for us. God gave his Son for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things. 33 Who can accuse the people that God has chosen? No one! God is the One who makes them right. 34 Who can say that God’s people are guilty? No one! Christ Jesus died, but that is not all. He was also raised from death. And now he is on God’s right side and is begging God for us. 35 Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can troubles or problems or sufferings? If we have no food or clothes, if we are in danger, or even if death comes—can any of these things separate us from Christ’s love? 36 As it is written in the Scriptures:
“For you we are in danger of death all the time.
People think we are worth no more than sheep to be killed.” Psalm 44:22
37 But in all these things we have full victory through God who showed his love for us. 38-39 Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from the love God has for us. Not death, not life, not angels, not ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, or anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A Message About the Philistines
47 The Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is about the Philistine people. It came before the king of Egypt attacked the city of Gaza.
2 This is what the Lord says:
“See, the enemy is gathering in the north like rising waters.
They will become like an overflowing stream.
They will cover the whole country like a flood.
They will cover the towns and the people living in them.
Everyone living in that country
will cry for help.
The people will cry painfully.
3 They will hear the sound of the running horses.
They will hear the noisy chariots.
They will hear the rumbling chariot wheels.
Fathers will not help their children to safety.
Those fathers will be too weak to help.
4 The time has come
to destroy all the Philistines.
It’s time to destroy all who are left alive
who could help Tyre and Sidon.
The Lord will soon destroy the Philistines.
He will destroy those left alive from the island of Crete.
5 The people from Gaza will be sad and shave their heads.
The people from Ashkelon will be made silent.
Those left alive from the valley,
how long will you cut yourselves?[a]
6 “You cry, ‘Sword of the Lord,
how long will you keep fighting?
Return to your holder.
Stop! Be still.’
7 But how can the sword of the Lord rest?
The Lord gave it a command.
The Lord has ordered it
to attack the city of Ashkelon and the seacoast.”
The Lord the Shepherd
A song of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I have everything I need.
2 He gives me rest in green pastures.
He leads me to calm water.
3 He gives me new strength.
For the good of his name,
he leads me on paths that are right.
4 Even if I walk
through a very dark valley,
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your shepherd’s staff comfort me.
5 You prepare a meal for me
in front of my enemies.
You pour oil of blessing on my head.[a]
You give me more than I can hold.
6 Surely your goodness and love will be with me
all my life.
And I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
A Welcome for God into the Temple
A song of David.
24 The earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.
The world and all its people belong to him.
2 He built it on the waters.
He set it on the rivers.
3 Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those with clean hands and pure hearts.
They must not have worshiped idols.
They must not have made promises in the name of a false god.
5 It is they who will receive a blessing from the Lord.
The God who saves them will declare them right.
6 They try to follow God.
They look to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
8 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord, strong and mighty.
The Lord, the powerful warrior.
9 Open up, you gates.
Open wide, you aged doors.
Then the glorious king will come in.
10 Who is this glorious king?
The Lord of heaven’s armies—
he is the glorious king. Selah
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.