M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David becomes king[a]
11 Then all the Israelites came to David at Hebron. They said to him, ‘We all belong to the same family as you do. 2 In the past, even when Saul was our king, you led the Israelites in war. The Lord your God said to you, “You will take care of my people, as a shepherd takes care of his sheep. You will rule over my people, Israel.” ’
3 So King David made an agreement with the leaders of Israel when they came to him at Hebron. They made promises in the Lord's name. Then they anointed David to be king over Israel. The Lord had told Samuel that this would happen.
David and his men attack Jerusalem
4 David and the whole Israelite army marched to attack Jerusalem. At that time, the city was called Jebus. The people who lived there were called Jebusites. 5 The Jebusites said to David, ‘You will never get into our city.’ But David did get in and he took Zion, the city's strong place. It is now called the City of David.
6 David had said to his soldiers, ‘The man who attacks the Jebusites first will become the captain of my army.’ Zeruiah's son Joab attacked first. So he became the captain of the army.
7 David went to live in the strong place of the city. So people called it ‘The City of David’. 8 David built more houses all around it, from the edge of the hill to the city's walls. Joab built up again the other buildings in the city. 9 David became more and more powerful because the Lord Almighty was with him.
David's brave soldiers
10 These were the leaders of David's brave soldiers. They helped to make David's kingdom strong, so that he ruled over all the people in Israel. That is what the Lord had promised. 11 This is the list of David's brave soldiers:
Jashobeam belonged to Hakmoni's clan. He was the leader of David's officers. He used his spear to fight against 300 men in one battle and he killed all of them.
12 Eleazar was also a leader among the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. He was Dodo's son, who belonged to Ahoah's clan. 13 Eleazar was with David at Pas-Dammim. The Philistine soldiers were ready to attack the Israelites. There was a field there with a lot of barley. The Israelites ran away from the Philistines. 14 But David and Eleazar stood in the middle of the field to stop the Philistines taking it for themselves. They killed the Philistines. The Lord saved them. He caused them to win a great battle.
15 There were 30 leaders among David's soldiers. Three of them went to be with David at Adullam's cave where there was a big rock. A group of Philistine soldiers had made their camp in Rephaim valley. 16 David was in his strong safe place. A group of Philistine soldiers had made their home in Bethlehem. 17 David was very thirsty. He said, ‘I want someone to bring water from the well near Bethlehem's gate for me to drink.’ 18 So the three soldiers fought through the Philistine camp and they reached Bethlehem's gate. They took some water from the well there and they carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it. He poured it on the ground as an offering to the Lord. 19 He said, ‘God knows that it is not right for me to drink this water. It would seem like the blood of the brave men who fetched it for me. The Philistines might have killed them on the way.’ So David refused to drink it.
That was one of the great things that those three brave soldiers did.
20 Joab's brother Abishai was the leader of David's 30 great soldiers. One time, he used his spear to fight 300 men and he killed them all. So he became as famous as the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. 21 He was not one of the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’ but he received more honour than the other 30 great soldiers. So he became their leader.
22 Jehoiada's son, Benaiah, was also one of David's brave soldiers. He came from Kabzeel and he did many great things. He killed two of Moab's best soldiers. He also went down into a deep hole to kill a lion when snow was on the ground. 23 Benaiah also killed a very big Egyptian man who was 2.3 metres tall. The Egyptian held a spear that was thick and heavy, like a big tree. Benaiah attacked him with a heavy stick. He took the spear from the Egyptian's hand and he used it to kill him. 24 Those were some things that Jehoiada's son Benaiah did. He became as famous as the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. 25 He received more honour than the other 30 great soldiers, but he did not belong to the ‘Three Brave Soldiers’. David made him the leader of his own special soldiers who were his guards.
26 These men were also David's great soldiers:
Joab's brother Asahel.
Elhanan, Dodo's son, from Bethlehem.
27 Shammoth, from Harod's clan.
Helez, from Pelon's clan.
28 Ira, Ikkesh's son, from Tekoa.
Abiezer, from Anathoth.
29 Sibbekai, from Hushah's clan.
Ilai, from Ahoah's clan.
30 Maharai, from Netophah.
Heled, Baanah's son, also from Netophah.
31 Ithai, Ribai's son, from Gibeah, in the land that belonged to Benjamin's tribe.
Benaiah, from Pirathon.
32 Hurai, from the valleys near Gaash.
Abiel, from Arbah's clan.
33 Azmaveth, from Baharum.
Eliahba, from Shaalbon.
34 Hashem's sons, who were Gizonites.
Shagee's son Jonathan, from Harar.
35 Sachar's son Ahiam, also from Harar.
Ur's son Eliphal.
36 Hepher, from Mekerath.
Ahijah, from Pelon's clan.
37 Hezro, from Carmel.
Ezbai's son Naarai.
38 Nathan's brother Joel.
Hagri's son Mibhar.
39 Zelek, from Ammon.
Naharai, from Beeroth. He carried Joab's weapons. (Joab was the son of Zeruiah.)
40 Ira and Gareb, from Jattir.
41 Uriah, the Hittite.
Ahlai's son Zabad.
42 Shiza's son Adina, from Reuben's tribe. He was the leader of Reuben's soldiers. He had 30 brave soldiers with him.
43 Maakah's son Hanan.
Joshaphat, from Mithna.
44 Uzzia, from Ashterath.
Shama and Jeiel, sons of Hotham, from Aroer.
45 Shimri's son Jediael.
Jediael's brother Joha, from Tiz.
46 Eliel, from Mahavah.
Elnaam's sons, Jeribai and Joshaviah.
Ithmah, from Moab.
47 Eliel and Obed.
Jaasiel, from Zobah.
The men who joined David's army at Ziklag
12 David went to Ziklag town because King Saul, the son of Kish, had chased him away. Many brave men went to David there. They were some of the brave soldiers who helped David to fight in war. 2 They could shoot with bows and arrows. They could use slings to throw stones with either their right hand or their left hand. They were relatives of Saul, from Benjamin's tribe. Their names were:
3 Ahiezer, their leader, and his brother Joash. They were sons of Shemaah, who was from Gibeah town.
Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth.
Beracah.
Jehu, from Anathoth town.
4 Ishmaiah, from Gibeon town. He was the leader of the 30 great soldiers.
Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan and Jozabad, who was from Gederah.
5 Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah and Shephatiah, who was from Hariph.
6 Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer and Jashobeam. They belonged to Korah's clan.
7 Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham from Gedor town.
The men of Gad's tribe who joined David's army
8 Many soldiers from Gad's tribe joined David's army at his strong place in the desert. These men were brave soldiers who knew how to fight well. They could use shields and spears. They could fight like lions. They could run as fast as deer on the mountains.
9 Ezer was their leader. After him there were: Obadiah (2), Eliab (3), 10 Mishmannah (4), Jeremiah (5), 11 Attai (6), Eliel (7), 12 Johanan (8), Elzabad (9), 13 Jeremiah (10), and Makbannai (11).[b]
14 These descendants of Gad were leaders in the army. The least important officer among them led 100 soldiers. The greatest officer led 1,000 soldiers. 15 Those men went across to the west side of the Jordan River during the first month of the year.[c] At that time the water in the river was very deep and wide. They chased away the people who lived in the valleys on both sides of the river.
16 Some other men from the tribes of Benjamin and Judah also came to David in his strong place. 17 David went out to meet them. He said to them, ‘I hope that you have come here as my friends. If you have come to help me, I will make an agreement with you. But I hope that you have not come here to help my enemies and to tell them where I am hiding. I have not done anything wrong. So I pray that the God of our ancestors will see what you do. He will punish you as you deserve!’
18 Then God's Spirit came to Amasai with power. He was the leader of the 30 great soldiers. He said,
‘We will serve you, David, Jesse's son.
We have come to help you!
May God bless you!
May God bless those who help you!
Yes, your God will help you.’
So David accepted them as his friends. He made them officers in his army.
The men of Manasseh's tribe who joined David's army
19 Some men from Manasseh's tribe also joined David's army. That was at the time when David joined with the Philistines to fight against Saul. But David and his men were not able to help the Philistines like that. That was because the leaders of the Philistines decided to send David and his men away. They said, ‘David may turn against us and go to help his master Saul, instead. If he does that, we will all be dead!’
20 So David returned to Ziklag. These men from Manasseh's tribe joined David's army at that time:
Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu and Zillethai. Each of them had been the leader of 1,000 soldiers in Saul's army.
21 All those men were brave soldiers and they became officers in David's army. They helped David to fight against the enemy's soldiers when they attacked.
22 Every day more men came to help David. So his army became very large and powerful, like God's own army.
The men who joined David's army at Hebron
23 This is a list of the soldiers who joined David's army at Hebron. They came with their officers and they were ready to fight. They wanted to help David become king of Israel instead of Saul. The Lord had promised that this would happen.
24 From Judah's tribe, there were 6,800 men who carried shields and spears. They knew how to fight well.
25 From Simeon's tribe, there were 7,100 strong men who knew how to fight well.
26 From Levi's tribe, there were 4,600 men. 27 Jehoiada was the leader of the men who were Aaron's descendants. He brought 3,700 men with him. 28 Zadok was also in that group. He was a brave young soldier. There were also 22 officers who belonged to his clan.
29 From Benjamin's tribe that Saul belonged to, there were 3,000 men. Most of those men had served Saul faithfully until that time.
30 From Ephraim's tribe, there were 20,800 men who were brave soldiers. The people in their clans respected them very much.
31 From the half tribe of Manasseh on the west side of the Jordan River, there were 18,000 men. Their clans had chosen those men to go and help David become their king.
32 From Issachar's tribe, there were 200 officers and their relatives who obeyed their commands. Those officers understood that this was an important time for Israel. They knew what Israel should do.
33 From Zebulun's tribe, there were 50,000 brave men who were ready to fight. They knew how to use many different kinds of weapons. They were completely faithful to David.
34 From Naphtali's tribe, there were 1,000 officers and 37,000 men who carried shields and spears.
35 From Dan's tribe, there were 28,600 men who were ready for war.
36 From Asher's tribe there were 40,000 soldiers who were ready for war.
37 From the east side of the Jordan River, there were 120,000 soldiers who knew how to use many different kinds of weapons. Those men belonged to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the other half tribe of Manasseh.
38 All those men were soldiers who were ready to fight in war. They came to David in Hebron because they wanted to make him king to rule all Israel. All the other Israelites also agreed that David should become king. 39 The men stayed there with David for three days. Their relatives had prepared a lot of food for them. So they enjoyed a big feast together. 40 People also came from places as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali. They brought food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. So there was plenty of flour to make bread, and lots of figs, raisins, wine, olive oil, cows and sheep. All the Israelites had a very happy party!
How we can live for God
13 Continue to love each other like brothers and sisters. 2 Always remember to be kind to strangers. Let them stay in your homes. In this way, some people have received angels as visitors, and they did not know that they were angels.[a]
3 Remember to help those believers who are in prison. Think about what that would be like, if you were there with them. Remember those believers who are receiving trouble from people. Think about them as if you were receiving the same pain in your own body.[b]
4 When a man and a woman have married each other, they must each respect the marriage. Husbands and wives must only have sex with each other. God will punish anyone who has sex with another person's husband or wife. He will punish anyone who has sex in a wrong way.
5 In the way that you live, do not want lots of money. Be happy with the things that you have. Be happy, because God has said this:
‘I will never leave you;
I will always be there with you.’
6 Because of that, we can bravely say this:[c]
‘The Lord is the one who helps me,
so I will not be afraid.
I will not be afraid of anything that people can do to me.’
7 Remember your leaders, who taught God's message to you. Think about the way in which they have lived and the good things that they have done. They have trusted God, so you should have faith like they have.
8 Jesus Christ is always the same, yesterday, today and for ever. 9 Some people teach all kinds of strange new things.[d] Do not let them lead you away from God's true message. It is good that God is very kind to us. That is what makes us strong inside ourselves. Rules about what foods we should eat do not make us strong like that. Those rules have never helped the people who tried to obey them.
10 Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that saves us. Jewish priests do not have the authority to receive anything from his sacrifice. 11 In the old agreement, the leader of the priests brings the blood from the animal sacrifices into the Most Holy Place. He does that so that God will forgive the sins of the people. But they take the bodies of those animals away from there. They burn them outside the town.[e] 12 In the same way, Jesus also died outside the city.[f] He died as a sacrifice on our behalf. His blood has made his people clean from their sins. 13 Jesus died like that in a place where people insulted him. So we must go out to that place too. We must be ready for people to insult us, as they insulted him. 14 Here on earth, we who are believers do not have a city that will always be our home. But we are waiting for God's city that will come.
15 So we should always praise God, because of what Jesus has done for us. We should say clearly that we trust Jesus. That is like our sacrifice which we offer to God all the time. 16 Remember to be kind to other people. Share with them the things that you have. God is happy with sacrifices like that.
17 Respect your leaders and obey them. They watch over your lives on God's behalf. God will check to see if they have done their work well. So respect them, and then they will be happy as they serve God. Do not say bad things against them, because that will never help you.
18 Pray to God for us. We are sure in our minds that we have done nothing wrong. We always want to do only what is right. 19 The most important thing is this: Pray that I may come back to you soon.
20 I pray that God will help you. He is the one who gives us peace in our minds. He caused our Lord Jesus Christ to become alive again after death. God forgives us because of the blood of Jesus' death on the cross. That is God's new agreement with his people that will be true for ever. Jesus is our great shepherd. He takes care of us like his sheep. 21 I pray that God will give you every good thing that you need to serve him. Then you can do everything that he wants. I pray that God will help us to serve him in a way that will make him happy. He will do that because we belong to Jesus Christ. Jesus is very great, and we should praise him always and for ever! Amen. This is true.
22 My Christian friends, please listen patiently to my message. This is only a short letter and I want to help you to be strong. 23 I want to tell you about Timothy, who is like a brother to us. They have let him go out of prison, so that he is free now. If he arrives here soon, he will come with me when I travel to see you.
24 Say ‘hello’ on my behalf to your leaders and to all God's people. The Christians who have come here from Italy say ‘hello’ to you too. 25 I pray that God will be very kind to all of you.
The Locusts
7 The Lord God showed a vision to me. I saw a crowd of locusts. The Lord was ready to send them to destroy the crops in the fields. They would come after we had taken the early crops to give to the king. Then the later crops were beginning to make grain. 2 I saw that the locusts came and they ate everything. I asked the Lord, ‘Lord God, please forgive your people. We cannot continue to live if those locusts destroy our food. We are too weak!’
3 Then the Lord decided not to do it. He said to me, ‘That will not happen.’
The Fire
4 After that, the Lord God showed to me a vision of a fire. He was ready to send it to punish us. I saw that it caused the deep sea to become dry. It also burnt all the land. 5 I said, ‘Lord God, please do not do that! Your people cannot continue to live. We are too weak!’
6 Then the Lord decided not to do it. He said to me, ‘That too will not happen.’
The Lord measures the wall
7 Then the Lord showed this vision to me. The Lord God was standing next to a wall. In his hand was a string with a heavy weight on its end. The Lord was hanging the string down the wall. He was looking to see whether the wall was straight. 8 He asked me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ I said, ‘You are measuring the wall to see if it is straight.’
The Lord said, ‘Understand this. I am ready to measure my people with this string. I will test them and I will punish them for their sins. I will not forgive them any more.
9 I will send enemies to destroy the holy places of Isaac's descendants. All Israel's holy places will fall down. Enemies will use swords to kill King Jeroboam and his family.’
Amaziah speaks with Amos
10 Amaziah, was a priest at the holy place called Bethel. He sent a message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel. He said, ‘Amos is speaking against you among all Israel's people. What he is saying will deceive the people of our nation. 11 Amos is saying, “Our enemies will kill King Jeroboam. They will take all the people to a foreign country as prisoners.” ’
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, ‘Go away, you prophet! Go back to your own country, Judah. Speak your messages from God to get your food there! 13 Do not speak God's message here in Bethel any longer. It is where our king and our nation come to worship.’
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, ‘My job was not as a prophet. My father never did that work. My job was to work as a shepherd. I also took care of fig trees. 15 But the Lord told me to leave my work as a shepherd. He told me to go and to speak his message to his people, the Israelites. 16 So listen to the Lord's message to you! You are telling me, “Do not speak God's message against Israel. Do not say that trouble is coming to Isaac's descendants.” 17 The Lord says this to you, Amaziah: “Your wife will work as a prostitute in the streets. Your sons and daughters will die in war. Enemies will measure your land into separate pieces and they will give it to others. They will take your people away from here as prisoners to a foreign country. And that is where they will die.” ’
Jesus is born
2 At that time, Caesar Augustus made a law. He told his men to count everyone who lived in the countries that he ruled.[a] 2 This was the first time that the Romans had made a list of everyone's names. Quirinius was the Roman ruler of Syria when it happened.
3 Everyone went to his own home town for the Romans to count them. 4 So Joseph went to his home town, Bethlehem. He was living in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee. Bethlehem was in Judea. King David had been born there, so Bethlehem was called the town of David. Joseph belonged to the family of David. That is why he went to Bethlehem.
5 Joseph took Mary with him so that the Romans could count them. She went because she had promised to marry him. She was pregnant.
6 While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 This was her first baby, and it was a boy. She put cloths around him. Then she put him in an animal's food box. She did this because the rooms for visitors were full of people.[b]
Some shepherds leave their sheep to go and see Jesus
8 That night some shepherds were living out in the fields near Bethlehem. They were keeping their sheep safe. 9 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to them. A bright light from God shone all around them. That frightened them very much. 10 The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen! I bring you good news. This news will make everyone very happy. 11 Something happened today in the town of David. Someone special was born. He is the one who will save you. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord. 12 I will tell you how you will know this baby. You will find him with cloths around him. He is lying in an animal's food box.’
13 At that moment, a great crowd of angels appeared. They were praising God. They said:
14 ‘God is great! He lives in the highest place above.
He will bless the people on earth who please him.
They will have peace in their minds.’
15 After that, the angels went away and returned to heaven. Then the shepherds said to each other, ‘We should leave the sheep and go to Bethlehem immediately! The Lord God has sent his angels to tell us what has happened. We want to see this baby.’
16 So they went quickly to Bethlehem. When they got there, they found Mary and Joseph with the baby. The baby really was lying in a food box. 17 After they had seen the baby, they told everybody about him. They told them what the angel had said to them about him. 18 Many people heard what the shepherds said. They were very surprised. 19 Mary remembered everything that the shepherds had said. She thought about it all for a long time. 20 The shepherds then went back to their sheep. As they went they praised God. ‘How great you are!’ they said to him. ‘How good you are! Everything that the angel told us was true! We have heard good news. We have seen very special things!’
Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple
21 When the baby was eight days old, it was time for the priest to circumcise him. His parents gave him the name ‘Jesus’. The angel had told Mary that they must give him that name. He told her that before she had the baby inside her.
22 Long ago, God gave Moses rules for his people to obey. One rule told people how to become clean after a baby was born. The time came for Mary and Joseph to do this. So they took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to show him to the Lord.
23 This is the rule which the Lord gave to his people: ‘The first male baby born to a woman belongs to me. So you must bring him to me. 24 When you do this, also bring two special birds for the priest to kill.’ So that is what Mary and Joseph did.[c]
25 At this time, a man called Simeon was living in Jerusalem. He was a good man and he obeyed God. He had waited a long time to see the special person who would save Israel's people. The Holy Spirit was with him. 26 The Holy Spirit had told him, ‘You will not die yet. You know that the Lord God has promised to send his Messiah. You will see him before you die.’ 27 Now the day had come. The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he should go to the temple. Mary and Joseph were bringing the baby Jesus to do what God's rule said. 28 Simeon went to them. He took Jesus and he held him in his arms. Then he thanked God. He said:
29 ‘Master, I am your servant.
You have done what you promised to me.
Now I can die with no trouble in my mind.
30 I really have seen the person that you have sent to save your people.
31 You have sent him to the world and people everywhere will know about him.
32 He will bring light to people so that they can know you.
He will show you to those people who are not Jews.
He will also show that your people of Israel are very special.’
33 That is what Simeon said about Jesus. His message surprised Mary and Joseph very much.
34 Then Simeon asked God to be good and kind to Mary and to Joseph. After that, he spoke to Mary, the mother of Jesus. He said to her, ‘God has chosen this baby. Many people in Israel will become worse because of him. And many of them will become better again because of him. He will be like a sign that points to God. But many people will speak against him. 35 This will show their secret thoughts about God. This will make you very sad, too. It will seem like a sharp knife is cutting into you. That is how sad you will be’.
36 A very old woman called Anna was also there in the temple. She spoke messages that the Holy Spirit gave to her. She was the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher.[d] She had lived with her husband for seven years and then he had died.
37 After that, she had lived alone until she was 84 years old. Now she never left the temple. She stayed there day and night to worship God. She fasted and she prayed.
38 At that moment, Anna came to where Mary and Joseph were standing in the temple. When she saw the baby, she thanked God for him. Then she began to speak about him to other people there. Many people were waiting for God to make Jerusalem free. These were the people that she spoke to about the child, Jesus.
39 When Mary and Joseph had done everything that God's rules said, they returned home. That was in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up. God was good and kind to him and he became strong. He learned many things and he could understand them well.
Jesus visits the temple as a young boy
41 Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.[e]
42 When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the festival. 43 When the week finished, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem to return home. But Jesus stayed behind and his parents did not know this. 44 They thought that he was with their group on the way home. They travelled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends.
45 They could not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem. They looked for him there. 46 After three days, they found him in the temple. He was sitting there among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions. 48 When his parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. His mother said to him, ‘My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of troubles in our mind.’
49 Jesus answered them, ‘You should not have needed to look for me. I must be doing what my Father wants me to do. You should have known that.’ 50 But his parents did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with them. He did what they wanted. His mother, Mary, was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot. 52 Jesus grew up into a man. He became strong and he could understand more and more things. God was pleased with him, and people were pleased with him too.
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