M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul’s Battles against the Philistines
13 Saul was 30[a] years old when he began to reign, and he ruled for 42[b] years over Israel. 2 Saul chose for himself 3,000 men from Israel. There were 2,000 with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He had sent the rest of the people home.[c]
3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine garrison[d] in Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land: “Listen, Hebrews!” 4 All Israel heard the report,[e] “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison[f] and Israel has also become repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the people were summoned to Saul at Gilgal.
5 The Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people as numerous as the sand on the seashore. And they advanced and camped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in distress (for the people were in difficult circumstances), the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in crags, in tombs, and in pits. 7 Hebrews went across the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead, but Saul remained in Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling.
8 Saul[g] waited seven days for the appointment set by Samuel. When Samuel did not arrive at Gilgal, as the people began to scatter from Saul,[h] 9 Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering and the peace offering to me,” and he offered the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to meet and greet him.
11 Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul replied, “When? I saw that the people were scattering from me, that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash. 12 I[i] thought, ‘The Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal but I’ve not sought the favor of the Lord,’ so I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”
13 Then Samuel told Saul, “You have acted foolishly. You haven’t obeyed the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, 14 but now your kingdom won’t be established. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as Commander-in-Chief[j] over his people because you didn’t obey that which the Lord commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel got up and went from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul mustered the people present with him, about 600 men. 16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the people present with them remained in Geba of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Michmash. 17 Raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three companies. One company turned in the direction of[k] Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 one company turned in the direction of[l] Beth-horon, while the one company turned toward the border[m] that overlooks the valley of Zeboiim toward the desert.
The Philistine Monopoly on Metal Working
19 No blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel because the Philistines thought, “This will keep the Hebrews from making swords or spears.” 20 Everyone in Israel would have to go to the Philistines so each person could sharpen his plow, his mattock, his axe, and his sickle.[n] 21 The charge was one pin[o] for plows, mattocks, three pronged forks,[p] and axes, or for setting the goads. 22 On the day of battle, none of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan were armed with swords or spears, but Saul and his son Jonathan did have[q] them. 23 Now a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass of Michmash.
God’s Love for His People
11 So I ask, “God has not rejected his people, has he?” Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he chose[a] long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah,[b] when he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and demolished your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.”[c] 4 But what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for myself 7,000 people who have not knelt to worship Baal.”[d] 5 So it is at the present time: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if this is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of actions. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.
7 What, then, does this mean?[e] It means that Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, but the selected group obtained it while the rest were hardened. 8 As it is written,
“To this day God has put them into[f] deep sleep.
Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear.”[g]
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a punishment for them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and keep their backs forever bent.”[h]
The Salvation of the Gentiles
11 And so I ask, “They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?” Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the gentiles to make the Jews[i] jealous. 12 Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their fall means riches for the gentiles, how much more will their full participation mean!
13 I am speaking to you gentiles. Because I am an apostle to the gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in the hope that I can make my people[j] jealous and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection results in reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance bring but life from the dead? 16 If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches.
17 Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not boast about being better than[k] the other[l] branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 That’s right! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you remain only because of faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid![m] 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you, either.
22 Consider, then, the kindness and severity of God: his severity toward those who fell, but God’s kindness toward you—if you continue receiving his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off. 23 If the Jews[n] do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in. 24 After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree!
The Restoration of Israel
25 For I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith.[o] 26 In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
27 This is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”[p]
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake, but as far as election is concerned, they are loved for the sake of their ancestors. 29 For God’s gifts and calling never change. 30 For just as you disobeyed God in the past but now have received his mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they, too, have now disobeyed. As a result, they may[q] receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you. 32 For God has locked all people in the prison of their own disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
In Praise of God’s Ways
33 O how deep are God’s riches,
and wisdom, and knowledge!
How unfathomable are his decisions
and unexplainable are his ways!
34 Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become his advisor?[r]
35 Or who has given him something
only to have him pay it back?”[s]
36 For all things are from him, by him, and for him.
Glory belongs to him forever! Amen.
Prophecies against Babylon
50 This is[a] the message that the Lord spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans.
2 “Declare and proclaim among the nations.
Lift up a banner and proclaim.
Don’t conceal anything.[b]
Say, ‘Babylon will be captured.
Bel[c] will be disgraced,
and Marduk will be destroyed.
Her idols will be disgraced,
and her filthy images will be destroyed.’
3 For a nation from the north will go up against her.
It will make her land into an object of horror,
and no one will live in it.
Both people and animals will wander off,
and they’ll leave.
4 In those days, and at that time,”
declares the Lord,
“the people of Israel will come together
with the people of Judah.
They’ll be weeping as they travel along,
and they’ll be seeking the Lord their God.
5 They’ll ask the way to Zion,
turning their faces in that direction.
They’ll come[d] and join themselves to the Lord
in an everlasting covenant that won’t be forgotten.
6 My people have become lost sheep.
Their shepherds have led them astray,
turning them toward the mountains.
They go from mountain to hill.
They have forgotten their resting place.
7 All who find them devour them,
but their enemies say, ‘We’re not guilty,
because they have sinned against
the Lord, the habitation of righteousness,
the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.’
8 Move away from the middle of Babylon,
and go out of the land of the Chaldeans.
Be like male goats at the head[e] of the flock.
9 Indeed, I’m going to stir up
and bring against Babylon
a great company of nations
from the land of the north.
They’ll deploy for battle against her,
and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like a skilled warrior;
they won’t miss their targets.[f]
10 The Chaldeans will become plunder,
and all who plunder them will get more than enough,”
declares the Lord.
11 “Though you rejoice, though you exult,
you plunderers of my inheritance,
though you skip around like a heifer in the grass[g]
and neigh like stallions,
12 your mother will be greatly devastated,
she who gave birth to you will be ashamed.
She will become the least of the nations,
a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 Because of the anger of the Lord
she won’t be inhabited,
but will be utterly devastated.
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified
and will scoff[h] because of all her wounds.
14 Deploy the troops all around Babylon.
All who bend the bow, shoot at her
and spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the Lord.
15 Raise a battle cry against her on every side.
She has surrendered,[i] her pillars have fallen,
her walls are thrown down.
For this is the vengeance of the Lord.
Take vengeance on her;
as she has done, do to her.
16 Eliminate from Babylon the one who plants seeds
and the one who uses the sickle at harvest time.
Because of the oppressor’s sword, let each one turn
toward his own people and flee to his own land.”
Hope for Israel
17 “Israel is a scattered flock, driven out by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria, and then afterward[j] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon gnawed[k] his bones. 18 Therefore this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Look, I’m about to judge the king of Babylon and his land, just as I’ve judged the king of Assyria. 19 I’ll bring Israel back to his pasture. He will graze on Carmel, on Bashan, on Mt. Ephraim, and on Gilead—his hunger will be satisfied. 20 In those days and at that time,’ declares the Lord, ‘the iniquity of Israel will be searched for, but there will be none; and the sin of Judah, but none will be found, because I’ll pardon those I leave as a remnant.’”
God’s Judgment on Babylon
21 “Go up against the land of Merathaim[l]
and the inhabitants of Pekod.[m]
Kill them with swords, and completely destroy them,”
declares the Lord,
“and do everything that I’ve commanded you.
22 The noise of battle is in the land,
and great destruction.
23 How the hammer of all the earth is cut off and broken!
How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!
24 I’ll set a trap for you,
and you will be caught, Babylon,
but you don’t realize it.
You will be found and also seized,
because you challenged the Lord!
25 “The Lord will open his armory,
and bring out the weapons of his anger.
Indeed, a work of the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies
will be in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come to her from afar.[n]
Open up her barns.
Pile her up like heaps of grain,
and completely destroy her.
Don’t leave any survivors.
27 Put all her bulls to the sword,
let them go down to the slaughter.
How terrible for them because their day has come,
the time of their judgment.
28 “The sound of fugitives and refugees
will come from the land of Babylon
to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God,
vengeance for his Temple.
29 “Summon many to Babylon,
all those who bend the bow.
Camp all around her,
let no one escape.
Repay her according to her deeds.
Do to her just as she has done.
For she has behaved arrogantly against the Lord,
against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore, her warriors will fall in her streets,
and all her soldiers will be silenced on that day,”
declares the Lord.
31 “Look, I’m against you, arrogant one,”
declares the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies.
“Indeed your day is coming,
the time of your judgment.
32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and there will be no one to lift him up.
I’ll set fire to his cities,
and it will devour everything around him.”
33 This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says:
“The people of[o] Israel are oppressed,
along with the people of [p] Judah.
All their captors have held on to them
and refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer[q] is strong,
the Lord of the Heavenly Armies is his name.
He will vigorously plead their case
in order to bring rest to the earth,
but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword against the Chaldeans,”
declares the Lord,
“and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
against her officials and her wise men.
36 A sword against the diviners.[r]
They’ll be made fools.
A sword against her warriors.
They’ll be shattered.
37 A sword against her horses, against her chariots,[s]
and against all the foreign troops[t] in her midst.
They’ll become women.
A sword against her treasures.
They’ll be plundered.
38 A drought against her waters.
They’ll dry up.
For it’s a land of idols,
and they go mad over their terrifying images.
39 Therefore the desert creatures
along with hyenas will live there.
They’ll live in it with ostriches,
but people won’t live in it again.
They won’t inhabit it from generation to generation.
40 Just as when God overthrew Sodom,
Gomorrah, and their neighbors,”
declares the Lord,
“so also no one will live there.
No human being will reside in it.
41 “Look, people are coming from the north.
A great nation and many kings will be stirred up
from the ends of the earth.
42 They grab bow and spear.
They’re cruel and show no mercy.
Their sound roars like the sea,
as they ride on horses
deployed like men ready for battle
against you, daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard the news about them,
and his hands hang limp.
Distress has seized him,
like a woman in labor.
44 “Look, like a lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan to a pasture that grows year round,[u] so I’ll drive them away from her in an instant, and I’ll appoint whomever is chosen over her. Indeed, who is like me? Who gives me counsel? Who is the shepherd who will stand against me?” 45 Therefore, hear the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, and the strategy that he devised against the land of the Chaldeans. Surely they’ll drag the little ones of the flock away. Surely their pasture will be desolate because of them. 46 At the shout that Babylon has been seized, the earth will be shaken, and the cry will be heard among the nations.
Davidic
A Prayer for Help
28 To you, Lord, I cry out!
My Rock, do not refuse to answer me.[a]
If you remain silent,
I will become like those who descend into the Pit.[b]
2 Hear the sound of my supplications when I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with those who practice iniquity,
who speak peace to their neighbors
while harboring evil in their hearts.
4 Reward them according to their deeds;
according to the evil of their actions.
Reward them based on what they do;[c]
give them what they deserve.
5 Because they do not understand the deeds of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
He will tear them down and never build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord!
For he has heard the sound of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him,
and I received help.
My heart rejoices,
and I give thanks to him with my song.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people;[d]
he is a refuge of deliverance for his anointed.
9 Deliver your people
and bless your inheritance!
Shepherd them
and lift them up forever!
A Davidic Psalm.
Praise to the Majestic Lord
29 Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings;
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord wearing holy attire.
3 The voice of the Lord was heard[e] above the waters;
the God of glory thundered;
the Lord was heard[f] over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord snaps the cedars;[g]
the Lord snaps the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them stagger like a calf,
even Lebanon and Sirion[h] like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord shoots out flashes of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the voice of the Lord shakes[i] the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord causes deer to give birth,
and strips the forest bare.
In his Temple all of them shout, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sat enthroned over the flood,
and the Lord sits as king forever.
11 The Lord will give strength to his people;
the Lord will bless his people with peace.
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