M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul is Anointed King
10 Samuel took a flask of oil, poured it on Saul’s[a] head, kissed him, and said, “The Lord has anointed you Commander-in-Chief[b] over his inheritance, has he not? 2 When you leave me today, you will find two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. They’ll tell you, ‘The donkeys you went to look for have been found. Now your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys[c] and he’s anxious about you. He’s asking, ‘What will I do about my son?’ 3 Then you’ll go on further from there and come to the oak at Tabor. There three men going up to the Lord at Bethel will meet you. One will be herding[d] three young goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a bottle[e] of wine. 4 They’ll greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you’re to accept from them.
5 “After that you will come to Gibeath-elohim[f] where the Philistine garrison is. As you arrive there at the town, you’ll meet a band of prophets coming down from the high place with a harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre being played in front of them, and they’ll be prophesying. 6 The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you’ll prophesy with them and be changed into a different person. 7 When these signs occur,[g] do whatever you want[h] to do, because the Lord is with you. 8 You are to go down ahead of me to Gilgal, and then I’ll come down to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. You are to wait seven days until I come to you to let you know what you are to do.”
The Spirit of God Comes on Saul
9 Now it happened as Saul[i] turned his back to leave Samuel, that God gave him another heart,[j] and all these signs occurred on that day. 10 When they arrived there at Gibeah,[k] a band of prophets was right there to meet them. The Spirit of God came upon Saul,[l] and he prophesied[m] along with them. 11 When all those who had known Saul previously saw that he was there among the prophets prophesying, the people told one another, “What has happened to Kish’s son? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12 A man from there answered: “Now who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Saul’s uncle told him and to his young man, “Where did you go?”
He said, “To look for the donkeys, and when we saw that they couldn’t be found, we went to Samuel.”
15 Then Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel told you.”
16 Saul told his uncle, “He actually told us that the donkeys had been found,” but he did not tell him about the matter of kingship about which Samuel had spoken.
Saul is Proclaimed King
17 Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah. 18 He told the Israelis, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the power[n] of Egypt and from the power[o] of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God who delivers you from all your troubles and difficulties. You have said, ‘No![p] Instead, appoint a king over us.’ Now present yourselves in the Lord’s presence by your tribes and families.”
20 Samuel brought forward all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, and the family of Matri was chosen. Finally, Kish’s son Saul was chosen, but when they looked for him, they couldn’t find him. 22 So they inquired further of the Lord, “Has the man come here yet?”
The Lord said, “He is here, hiding among the baggage.”
23 They ran and brought him from there. When he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the others by a head.[q] 24 Then Samuel told all the people, “Do you see the man whom the Lord has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people.”
Then all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained to the people the regulations[r] concerning kingship. He wrote them in a scroll and placed it in the Lord’s presence. Then Samuel sent all the people to their own houses. 26 Saul also went to his house in Gibeah, and the soldiers[s] whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But some troublemakers[t] said, “How can this man deliver us?” They despised him and did not bring him a gift. But Saul[u] remained silent.
The Ammonites Threaten Jabesh-gilead
28 Meanwhile, Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been severely oppressing the descendants of Gad and descendants of Reuben, gouging out their right eyes and not allowing Israel to have a deliverer. No one was left among the Israelis across the Jordan whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. However, 7,000 men had escaped from the Ammonites and entered Jabesh-gilead.[v]
The Spirit Gives Life
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah[a] Jesus.[b] 2 For the Spirit’s law of life in the Messiah[c] Jesus has set me[d] free from the Law of sin and death. 3 For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity,[e] he condemned sin by being incarnate, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to human nature but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace. 7 That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God’s Law because it is powerless to do so. 8 Indeed, those who are under the control of human nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God’s Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah,[f] he does not belong to him. 10 But if the Messiah[g] is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit[h] is alive due to righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then the one who raised the Messiah[i] from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Consequently, brothers, we are not—with respect to human nature, that is—under an obligation to live according to human nature. 13 For if you live according to human nature, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you continuously put to death the activities of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba![j] Father!” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with the Messiah[k]—if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
God’s Spirit Helps Us
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God’s children, 20 because the creation has become subject to futility, though not by anything it did.[l] The one who subjected it did so in the certainty[m] 21 that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage in order to share the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that all the rest of creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time. 23 However, not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit also groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For we were saved with this hope in mind.[n] Now a hope that can be observed is not really hope, for who hopes for what can be seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet observe, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
26 In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us[o] with groans too deep for words, 27 and the one who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit[p] intercedes for the saints according to God’s will.[q] 28 And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together[r] for good.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son[s] might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
31 What, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice[t] for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son,[u] won’t he? 33 Who will accuse God’s elect? It is God who justifies! 34 Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah[v] Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.
35 Who will separate us from the Messiah’s[w] love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death[x] do this?[y] 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being put to death all day long.
We are thought of as sheep headed for slaughter.”[z]
37 In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours[aa] in union with the Messiah[ab] Jesus, our Lord.
A Prophecy against the Philistines
47 This is[a] the message from the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza. 2 This is what the Lord says:
“Look, waters are rising from the north,
and they’ll become an overflowing river.
They’ll overflow the land and all that fills it[b]—
the city and those that live in it.
People will cry out,
and all those living in the land will wail.
3 At the sound of the galloping hooves of his horses,[c]
at the rumbling of his chariots,
the clatter of his wheels,
fathers won’t turn back for their[d] children
because their hands are weak,
4 for the day is coming to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
every helper who remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant of the coastlands of Caphtor.[e]
5 Baldness[f] is coming to Gaza.
Ashkelon is silenced.
Remnant of their valley,
how long will you gash yourself?[g]
6 Ah, sword of the Lord,
how long before you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard,
be at rest, be silent!
7 How can it be quiet,
when the Lord has ordered disaster
to come to Ashkelon and the seashore?
That’s where he has assigned it.”
A Davidic Psalm.
The Lord Shepherds His People
23 The Lord is the one who is shepherding me;
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass;
he guides me beside quiet waters.
3 He revives my life;
he leads me in pathways that are righteous
for the sake of his name.[a]
4 Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness,[b]
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me,
even in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Truly, goodness and gracious love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will remain in[c] the Lord’s Temple forever.[d]
A Davidic Psalm.
A Song for the King of Glory
24 The earth and everything in it exists for the Lord—
the world and those who live in it.
2 Indeed, he founded it upon the seas,
he established it upon deep waters.[e]
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?[f]
Who may stand in his Holy Place?
4 The one who has innocent hands and a pure heart;
the person who does not delight in what is false
and does not swear an oath deceitfully.
5 This person[g] will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation that seeks him.
Those who seek your face
are the true seed of[h] Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads,[i] gates!
Be lifted up, ancient doors,
so the King of Glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads,[j] gates!
Be lifted up, ancient doors,
so the King of Glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of Glory?
The Lord of the heavenly armies—
He is the King of Glory.
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