M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Wants to Build a Temple

7 King David was living in his palace. And the Lord gave him peace from all his enemies around him. ² David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar wood. But the Ark of the Covenant of God is still kept in a tent!”

³ Nathan said to the king, “Go and do what you really want to do. The Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that night the Lord spoke his word to Nathan. The Lord said, ⁵ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the person to build a house for me to live in. ⁶ I did not live in a house when I brought the Israelites out of Egypt. I have been moving around all this time with a tent as my home. ⁷ I have continued to move with the tribes of Israel. But I have never asked their leaders who take care of them to build me a house of cedar wood.’

⁸ “You must tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: I took you from the pasture when you were following the sheep. I took you to become leader of my people, the Israelites. ⁹ I have been with you everywhere you have gone. I have defeated your enemies for you. I will make you as famous as any of the great men on the earth. ¹⁰ Also I will choose a place for my people, the Israelites. I will plant them so they can live in their own home. They will not be bothered anymore. Wicked people will no longer make them suffer as they have in the past. ¹¹ Wicked people continued to do this even when I appointed judges. But I will give you peace from all your enemies. I also tell you that I will make your descendants kings of Israel after you.

¹² “‘Your days will come to an end, and you will die. At that time I will make one of your sons the next king. ¹³ He will build a temple for me. I will make his kingdom strong forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will use other people to punish him. They will be my whips. ¹⁵ But I will not stop loving him. I took away my love and kindness from Saul. I removed Saul when I turned to you. ¹⁶ But your family and your kingdom will continue forever before me. Your rule will last forever.’”

¹⁷ Nathan told David everything he had heard.

David Prays to God

¹⁸ Then King David went in the tent and sat in front of the Lord. David said, “Lord God, why have you made me so important to you? Why have you made my family important? ¹⁹ But that was not enough for you, Lord God. You have also said these kind things about my future family. I am your servant. Lord God, this is not the usual way you talk to people.

²⁰ “What more can I say to you? Lord God, you love me, your servant, so much! ²¹ You have done this wonderful thing because you said you would. You have done it because you wanted to. And you have decided to let me know all these great things. ²² This is why you are great, Lord God! There is no one like you. There is no God except you. We have heard all this ourselves! ²³ And there are no others like your people, the Israelites. They are the one nation on earth that God chose to be his people. You used them to make your name well-known. You did great and wonderful miracles for them. You went ahead of them and forced other nations and their gods out of the land. You freed your people from slavery in Egypt. ²⁴ You made the people of Israel your very own people forever. And, Lord, you became their God.

²⁵ “Now, Lord God, keep the promise you made about my family and me, your servant. Do what you have promised. ²⁶ Then you will be honored forever. And people will say, ‘The Lord of heaven’s armies is God over Israel!’ And the family of your servant David will continue before you.

²⁷ “Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, you have shown things to me. You have said, ‘I will make your family great.’ So I, your servant, am brave enough to pray to you. ²⁸ Lord God, you are God, and your words are true. And you have promised these good things to me, your servant. ²⁹ Please, bless my family. Let it continue before you forever. Lord God, you have said these wonderful things. With your blessing let my family be blessed forever.”

Paul Answers Those Who Accuse Him

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.

Also from Timothy our brother in Christ.

To the church of God in Corinth, and to all of God’s people in the whole country of Southern Greece:

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul Gives Thanks to God

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy. And he is the God of all comfort. ⁴ He comforts us every time we have trouble, so that we can comfort others when they have trouble. We can comfort them with the same comfort that God gives us. ⁵ We share in the many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ. ⁶ If we have troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we have comfort, then you also have comfort. This helps you to accept patiently the same sufferings that we have. ⁷ Our hope for you is strong. We know that you share in our sufferings. So we know that you also share in the comfort we receive.

⁸ Brothers, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in the country of Asia. We had great burdens there that were greater than our own strength. We even gave up hope for life. ⁹ Truly, in our own hearts we believed that we would die. But this happened so that we would not trust in ourselves. It happened so that we would trust in God, who raises people from death. ¹⁰ God saved us from these great dangers of death. And he will continue to save us. We have put our hope in him, and he will save us again. ¹¹ And you can help us with your prayers. Then many people will give thanks for us—that God blessed us because of their many prayers.

The Change in Paul’s Plans

¹² This is what we are proud of, and I can say with all my heart that it is true: In all the things we have done in the world, we have done everything with an honest^[a] and pure heart from God. And this is even more true in what we have done with you. We did this by God’s grace, not by the kind of wisdom the world has. ¹³ For we write to you only what you can read and understand. And I hope that ¹⁴ as you have understood some things about us, you may come to know everything about us. Then you can be proud of us, as we will be proud of you on the day our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

¹⁵ I was very sure of all this. That is why I made plans to visit you first. Then you could be blessed twice. ¹⁶ I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia. Then I planned to visit you again on my way back. I wanted to get help from you for my trip to Judea. ¹⁷ Do you think that I made these plans without really thinking? Or maybe you think I make plans as the world does, so that I say “Yes, yes,” and at the same time “No, no.”

¹⁸ But since you can believe God, then you can believe that what we tell you is never both “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ The Son of God, Jesus Christ, that Silas and Timothy and I preached to you, was not “Yes” and “No.” In Christ it has always been “Yes.” ²⁰ The “Yes” to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen”^[b] through Christ to the glory of God. ²¹ And God is the One who makes you and us strong in Christ. God made us his chosen people. ²² He put his mark on us to show that we are his. And he put his Spirit in our hearts to be a guarantee for all he has promised.

²³ I tell you this, and I ask God to be my witness that this is true: The reason I did not come back to Corinth was that I did not want to punish or hurt you. ²⁴ I do not mean that we are trying to control your faith. You are strong in faith. But we are workers with you for your own happiness.

Story of the Vine

15 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “Human being, what good is the wood of the vine? Is it better than the wood of a tree in the forest? ³ Can wood be taken from the vine to make anything? Can you use it to make a peg on which to hang something? ⁴ The vine is thrown into the fire for fuel. The fire burns up both ends and starts to burn the middle. Then is it useful for anything? ⁵ When the vine was whole, it couldn’t be made into anything. When the fire has burned it completely, it certainly cannot be made into anything.”

⁶ So this is what the Lord God says: “Out of all the trees in the forest, I gave the wood of the vine as fuel for fire. In the same way I have given up the people who live in Jerusalem. ⁷ I will turn against them. They came through one fire. But fire will still destroy them. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord. ⁸ So I will make the land empty. This is because the people have not been loyal, says the Lord God.”

Trusting God for Help

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Dove in the Distant Oak.” A miktam of David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.

A Prayer in Troubled Times

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A miktam of David when he escaped from Saul in a cave.