M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David Plans to Build a Temple

7 ^(A)Now it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, ² that the king said to ^(B)Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in ^(C)a house of cedar, but the ark of God ^(D)dwells within tent curtains.” ³ Nathan said to the king, “^(E)Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But in the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, ⁵ “Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord, “^(F)Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? ⁶ For ^(G)I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about ^(H)in a tent, even in a ^[a]tabernacle. ^7 (I)Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, ^(J)which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’

God’s Covenant with David

⁸ “Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “^(K)I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, ^(L)to be ruler over My people Israel. ^9 (M)I have been with you wherever you have gone and ^(N)have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. ¹⁰ I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and ^(O)will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, ^(P)nor will the ^[b]wicked afflict them any more as formerly, ¹¹ even ^(Q)from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and ^(R)I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that ^(S)the Lord will make a house for you. ^12 (T)When your days are complete and you ^(U)lie down with your fathers, ^(V)I will raise up your ^[c]descendant after you, who will come forth from ^[d]you, and I will establish his kingdom. ^13 (W)He shall build a house for My name, and ^(X)I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ^14 (Y)I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; ^(Z)when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, ¹⁵ but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, ^(AA)as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ^16 (AB)Your house and your kingdom shall endure before ^[e]Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁸ Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “^(AC)Who am I, O Lord ^[f]God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? ¹⁹ And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, ^(AD)for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. And ^(AE)this is the ^[g]custom of man, O Lord God. ²⁰ Again what more can David say to You? For ^(AF)You know Your servant, O Lord God! ^21 (AG)For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know. ²² For this reason ^(AH)You are great, O Lord God; for ^(AI)there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, ^(AJ)according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ And ^(AK)what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and ^(AL)to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before ^(AM)Your people whom ^(AN)You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? ²⁴ For ^(AO)You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and ^(AP)You, O Lord, have become their God. ²⁵ Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as You have spoken, ^26 (AQ)that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You. ²⁷ For You, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have ^[h]made a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘^(AR)I will build you a house’; therefore Your servant has found ^[i]courage to pray this prayer to You. ²⁸ Now, O Lord God, You are God, and ^(AS)Your words are truth, and You have ^[j]promised this good thing to Your servant. ²⁹ Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord God, have spoken; and ^(AT)with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

Introduction

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)by the will of God, and ^(D)Timothy our brother,

To ^(E)the church of God which is at ^(F)Corinth with all the ^[a]saints who are throughout ^(G)Achaia:

^2 (H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

^3 (I)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(J)God of all comfort, ⁴ who ^(K)comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in ^[b]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For just ^(L)as the sufferings of Christ are ^[c]ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. ⁶ But if we are afflicted, it is ^(M)for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; ⁷ and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that ^(N)as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.

⁸ For ^(O)we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our ^(P)affliction which came to us in ^[d](Q)Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; ^9 [e]indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; ¹⁰ who ^(R)delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, ^[f]He ^(S)on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, ¹¹ you also joining in ^(T)helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by ^(U)many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Integrity

¹² For our ^[g]proud confidence is this: the testimony of ^(V)our conscience, that in holiness and ^(W)godly sincerity, ^(X)not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. ¹³ For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand ^(Y)until the end; ¹⁴ just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in ^(Z)the day of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁵ In this confidence I intended at first to ^(AA)come to you, so that you might ^[h]twice receive a ^[i](AB)blessing; ^16 [j]that is, to ^(AC)pass ^[k]your way into ^(AD)Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be ^(AE)helped on my journey to Judea. ¹⁷ Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose ^(AF)according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? ¹⁸ But as ^(AG)God is faithful, ^(AH)our word to you is not yes and no. ¹⁹ For ^(AI)the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and ^(AJ)Silvanus and ^(AK)Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes ^(AL)in Him. ²⁰ For ^(AM)as many as are the promises of God, ^(AN)in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is ^(AO)our Amen to the glory of God through us. ²¹ Now He who ^(AP)establishes us with you in Christ and ^(AQ)anointed us is God, ²² who also ^(AR)sealed us and ^(AS)gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a ^[l]pledge.

²³ But ^(AT)I call God as witness ^[m]to my soul, that ^(AU)to spare you I did not come again to ^(AV)Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we ^(AW)lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are ^(AX)standing firm.

Jerusalem like a Useless Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, how is the wood of the ^(A)vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make ^[a]anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel? ^4 [b]If it has been put into the ^(B)fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for ^[c]anything? ⁵ Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into ^[d]anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into ^[e]anything! ⁶ Therefore, thus says the Lord ^[f]God, ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; ⁷ and I ^(C)set My face against them. Though they have ^(D)come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. ⁸ Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have ^(E)acted unfaithfully,’” declares the Lord God.

Supplication for Deliverance and Grateful Trust in God.

For the choir director; according to ^[a]Jonath elem rehokim. A ^[b]Mikhtam of David, ^[c]when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.

For the choir director; set to ^[u]Al-tashheth. A ^[v]Mikhtam of David, ^[w]when he fled from Saul in the cave.