M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jonathan Intercedes for David
19 Saul told his son Jonathan and all his officials[a] to kill David, but Saul’s son Jonathan was very fond of[b] David. 2 So Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you. In the morning be careful and stay hidden in a secret place. 3 I’ll go out and stand by my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to my father about you. If I find out what he intends to do,[c] I’ll tell you.”
4 Jonathan spoke to his father Saul favorably about David. “The king shouldn’t wrong his servant David because he has not wronged you and because what he has done has been very beneficial for you. 5 He risked his life[d] and struck down the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a spectacular deliverance for all Israel. You saw that and rejoiced, so why would you do wrong and shed innocent blood[e] by killing David without cause?” 6 Saul listened to Jonathan, and swore by the life of the Lord that David[f] would not be killed. 7 Jonathan summoned David and told him all this.[g] Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David[h] served him[i] as before.
Saul Again Tries to Kill David
8 The war continued and David went out to fight against the Philistines. He thoroughly defeated them,[j] and they fled before David.[k] 9 The evil spirit from the Lord attacked Saul while he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand and David was playing the lyre. 10 Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he jumped away from Saul and the spear stuck in the wall. That night David escaped and fled.
Michal Helps David Escape
11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him so they could kill him in the morning. David’s wife, Michal, told him, “If you don’t escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be put to death.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he escaped and fled. 13 Then Michal took the household idol[l] and laid it on the bed with a cover of goat hair placed at its head. Then she covered it with clothes.
14 When Saul sent the messengers to take David, Michal said, “He’s sick.”
15 Then Saul sent messengers to check on[m] David. He told them, “Bring him to me on the bed so I may kill him.”[n] 16 The messengers went in, and there was the household idol in the bed with the cover of goat hair at its head!
17 Then Saul told Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this and let my enemy go so he could escape?”
Michal told Saul, “He told me, ‘Let me go or I’ll kill you!’”[o]
Saul Prophesies at Ramah and David Escapes
18 David escaped and fled. He came to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went and stayed at Naioth. 19 It was reported to Saul saying, “David is at Naioth in Ramah right now.” 20 Saul sent messengers to take David, and they saw a group of prophets caught up in prophetic ecstasy,[p] with Samuel standing beside them leading them. Then the Spirit of God came on Saul’s messengers, and they also were caught up in prophetic ecstasy.[q]
21 They reported this to Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also were caught up in prophetic ecstasy.[r] 22 Then Saul himself went to Ramah, and he arrived at the large well that is in Secu. He asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
Someone[s] replied, “They’re at Naioth in Ramah.” 23 Saul went to Naioth in Ramah, and the Spirit of God came on him also. He continued in prophetic ecstasy[t] until he came to Naioth in Ramah. 24 He also removed his clothes and was caught up in prophetic ecstasy[u] right in front of Samuel! He fell down naked and remained there all that day and all night. That is why people say,[v] “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Paul Greets the Church in Corinth
1 From:[a] Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah[b] Jesus[c] by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.
2 To: God’s church in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified by the Messiah[d] Jesus and called to be holy,[e] together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah[f]—their Lord[g] and ours.
3 May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[h] be yours!
You are Rich
4 I always thank my[i] God for you because of the grace of God given you by the Messiah[j] Jesus. 5 For by him you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 while our testimony about the Messiah[k] has been confirmed among you. 7 Therefore, you don’t lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus the Messiah[l] to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong until the end, so that you will be blameless on the Day of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.[m] 9 Faithful is the God by whom you were called into fellowship with his Son Jesus the Messiah,[n] our Lord.
Divisions in the Church
10 Brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah,[o] I urge all of you to be in agreement[p] and not to have divisions among you, so that you may be perfectly united in your understanding and opinions. 11 My brothers, some members of Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that there are quarrels among you. 12 This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,”[q] or “I belong to the Messiah.”[r]
13 Is the Messiah[s] divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? You weren’t baptized in Paul’s name, were you? 14 I thank God[t] that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the family of Stephanas. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For the Messiah[u] did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with eloquent wisdom, so the cross of the Messiah[v] won’t be emptied of its power.
The Messiah is God’s Power and Wisdom
18 For the message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the intelligence of the intelligent I will reject.”[w]
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn’t he? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God,[x] God was pleased to save those who believe through the nonsense of our preaching. 22 Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach the Messiah[y] crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to gentiles, 24 but to those who are called,[z] both Jews and Greeks, the Messiah[aa] is God’s power and God’s wisdom. 25 For God’s nonsense is wiser than human wisdom,[ab] and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.[ac]
26 Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,[ad] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is nonsense in the world to make the wise feel ashamed. God chose what is weak in the world to make the strong feel ashamed. 28 And God chose what is insignificant in the world, what is despised, what is nothing, in order to destroy what is something, 29 so that no one[ae] may boast in God’s presence. 30 It is because of God[af] that you are in union with the Messiah[ag] Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written, “The person who boasts must boast in the Lord.”[ah]
Zion’s Punishment
4 How tarnished the gold has become,
the finest gold debased!
Sacred stones[a] have been scattered
at every street corner.
2 Though the precious people of Zion
were like fine gold,
how they are valued like clay vessels,
the handiwork of a potter!
3 Even wild animals nurse,
suckling their young;
but the women of my people are cruel,
like ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The nursing child’s tongue
cleaves to its palate from thirst.
Young children beg for bread,
but no one gives them any.
5 Those who enjoyed delicacies
lie desolate in the streets.
Those who were reared wearing purple
scavenge in piles of trash.
6 The guilt of my cherished people surpasses the sin of Sodom,
which was overthrown in a moment,
without a hand to help her.
7 Her princes[b] were purer than snow,
whiter than milk.
Their bodies were more ruddy[c] than rubies,
their beards like the color of precious stones.
8 Now their faces are blacker than coal;
they are unrecognized in the streets.
Their skin clings to their bones;
it has become dry like a stick.
9 Those who die by the sword are better off
than those who die from starvation,
who slowly waste away like those pierced through
for lack of food from the fields.
10 With their own hands, compassionate women
boil their own children—
they become their food—
when my beloved people were[d] destroyed.
11 The Lord has exhausted his wrath,
pouring out his fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion,
consuming its foundations.
12 None of the kings of the earth would have believed,
nor the world’s inhabitants,
that the adversary and the enemy
could have breached the gates of Jerusalem.
13 Due to the sins committed by her prophets,
and the iniquities of her priests
who shed in her midst,
the blood of the righteous,
14 people stagger around in the streets like the blind,
defiled by blood
unclean so that no one is able
to touch their clothing.
15 “Go away! Unclean!”
they shouted at them.
“Go away! Go away! Don’t touch!”
When they fled away and wandered,
those among the nations decreed,
“They cannot live here!”
16 The Lord himself separated them;
he will do nothing more for them.
They did not respect their own priests;
they did not honor their elders.
17 Our eyes failed,
searching in vain for hope;
we kept watching and looking
for a nation that would not help.
18 Our steps were closely stalked,
so we couldn’t travel on our own streets.
Our end is near,
our days are over;
indeed, our end has come.
19 Our pursuers were swifter
than soaring eagles;[e]
they pursued us over the mountains,
lying in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 The Lord’s anointed,
the breath of our life,
was captured in their pits.
About him we had said,
“Under his protection we will survive
among the nations.”
21 Celebrate and rejoice, you women[f] of Edom,
who live in the land of Uz.
But to you the cup also will pass—
you will become drunk and stripped naked.
Davidic
A Prayer for Deliverance
35 Argue my case,[a] Lord,
against those who argue against me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up the buckler[b] and the shield,
and rise up to help me.
3 Take out the spear and the ax to confront the one who pursues me;
say to me, “I am your deliverer!”
4 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and disgraced;
let those who plot evil against me be driven back and confounded.
5 Make them like the chaff before the wind,
as the messenger of the Lord pushes them aside.
6 May their path be dark and slippery,
as the messenger of the Lord tracks them down.
7 Without justification they laid a snare for me;
without justification they dug a pit to trap me.
8 Let destruction come upon them[c] unawares,
and let the net that he hid catch him;
let him fall into destruction.
9 My soul will rejoice in the Lord
and be glad in his deliverance.
10 All my bones will say,
“Lord, who is like you?
Who delivers the weak from the one who is stronger than he,
and the weak and the needy from the one who wants to rob him?”
11 False witnesses stepped forward
and questioned me concerning things
about which I knew nothing.
12 They paid me back evil for good;
my soul mourns.
13 But when they were sick,
I wore sackcloth, humbled myself with fasting,
and prayed from my heart repeatedly for them.[d]
14 I paced about as for my friend or my brother,
and fell down mourning as one weeps for one’s mother.
15 But when I stumbled,
they rejoiced and gathered together.
They gathered together against me—
attackers whom I did not know.
They tore me apart and would not stop.
16 Malicious mockers[e]—
they gnashed[f] their teeth against me.
17 Lord, how long will you just watch?
Rescue me from their destruction,
my precious life from these young lions.
18 Then I will give you thanks in front of the great congregation;
in the midst of the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies gloat over me,
nor let those who hate me without justification mock me with their eyes.
20 For they do not speak peace;
they devise clever lies against the peaceful people of the land.
21 They open their mouth wide against me,
claiming, “Yes! Yes! We saw him do[g] it with our own eyes!”
22 You see this, Lord,
so do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me!
23 Wake up! Arouse yourself to vindicate me
and argue my case, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me according to your righteousness, Lord my God!
But do not let them gloat over me.
25 Don’t let them say in their hearts,
“Yes! We got what we wanted.”
Don’t let them say,
“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Instead, let those who gloat over the evil directed against me
be ashamed and confounded together;
Let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and dishonor.
27 Let those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and rejoice!
Let them continuously say,
“Magnify the Lord, who delights in giving peace to[h] his servant.”
28 My tongue will declare your righteousness
and praise you all day long.
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