M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The people worship the Lord

16 David had put up a special tent for God's Covenant Box, so they took it there. They put it in its place inside the tent. Then they offered burnt offerings and friendship offerings to God. ² After David had offered those sacrifices, he prayed that the Lord would bless the people. ³ Then he gave a gift to every Israelite man and woman. Each person received a loaf of bread, some dates and some raisins.

⁴ Then David chose some Levites to serve the Lord at the Covenant Box. They would lead prayers and songs to thank the Lord, Israel's God, and to praise him. ⁵ Asaph was the leader of that group and Zechariah was the second leader. Then there were Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. Those men made music with harps and lyres. Asaph used the cymbals. ⁶ The priests Benaiah and Jahaziel would make a noise with trumpets in front of God's Covenant Box many times each day.

A song to thank God^[a]

⁷ On that day, David first told Asaph and the other Levites to sing this song to thank the Lord:

Then all the people said, ‘Amen! We agree! Praise the Lord!’

³⁷ King David had chosen Asaph and his relatives to serve the Lord at the Covenant Box. They must do that each day, as the rules said that they should do. ³⁸ They included Obed-Edom and 68 men from his clan. Jeduthun's son, Obed-Edom and Hosah were guards at the entrance of the tent.

³⁹ Zadok and the other priests served the Lord at the tabernacle in Gibeon. That was still the place where the Israelites worshipped God. ⁴⁰ Their job was to offer burnt offerings as sacrifices to the Lord on the big altar there. They did that every morning and every evening, as the law of the Lord commanded. The Israelites had to obey that law. ⁴¹ Heman and Jeduthun were with them at the tabernacle in Gibeon. There were also other Levites that David had chosen to help them. Their special job was to give thanks to the Lord with songs, because his faithful love continues for ever. ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun also had authority for the trumpets, the cymbals and the other musical instruments. The musicians used them to praise God with their music. Jeduthun's sons stood as guards at the entrance of the tabernacle.

⁴³ After that, all the people left to return to their homes. David also went home to ask God to bless his family.

Be careful how you speak

3 My Christian friends, not many of you should become teachers. We people who teach God's message must be very careful. When God judges everybody, he will demand more from us than from other people.^{[a] 2} We all make many mistakes. So, if someone never says anything that is bad, that person is completely good. It shows that he has authority over his whole body. ³ For example, think about how we make a horse go the right way. We put a small bit of metal in its mouth so that we can turn it. Then we can cause the horse's whole body to go where we want it to go. ⁴ Also, think about ships that sail on the sea. They are very large. Strong winds push them with great power. But we fix a piece of wood at the back of the ship. With this small piece of wood, the master can cause the ship to go anywhere that he wants it to go. ⁵ In the same way, our tongue is a very small part of our body. But it speaks as if it is very great.

Think about this. A very small fire can cause even a big forest to burn completely. ⁶ A person's tongue is like a fire. It has the power of everything in the world that is wrong. It is a small part of the body but it can spoil the whole person. Like a fire, it can destroy all of a person's life. It is a fire that comes from the fire of hell itself.

⁷ Remember this: People can cause all kinds of things to do what they want them to do. They have done this with wild animals, birds, snakes and things that live in the sea. ⁸ But no person can rule his tongue. It continues to say bad things. It is like a bad poison that can cause death. ⁹ We use our tongue to praise the Lord God who is our Father. But then we use it to curse other people. That is wrong, because God made those people to be like himself. ¹⁰ This shows that we use the same mouth to praise and also to curse. My Christian friends, we should not do this. ¹¹ Salty water and sweet water never come from the same spring. ¹² A fig tree cannot give olives, my friends. A vine for grapes cannot give figs. And a salty spring cannot give sweet water.

How to be wise

¹³ Do some of you think that you are wise? Do you think that you are clever? If so, show that you are wise by the way that you live. Be kind to other people. Do things that are good. That is what it means to be wise. ¹⁴ But if you live in a bad way, do not think that you are wise. Are you jealous of other people so that you hate them? Do you want to make yourself important? If you live like that, do not say that you are great and wise. You are not saying what is true. ¹⁵ You are not being wise in the way that God wants you to be wise. Instead, you are thinking like people who do not know God. Your thoughts do not come from God's Spirit. They come from demons. ¹⁶ If you are jealous of other people and you want to make yourself important, that will cause trouble. People will argue and fight against one another. They will do all kinds of bad things. ¹⁷ But if God makes you really wise, you will live in a completely good way. That is the most important thing. Also, you will live in a way that brings peace. You will be kind to other people so that they become your friends. You will listen to them and not argue. You will forgive them and do many good things to help them. You will not choose between people. And you will not be a hypocrite.

¹⁸ Those who bring peace to other people help them to live together in peace. As a result, people choose to do what is right and good.

God will punish Edom's people

¹ This is the vision that Obadiah saw.

The Almighty Lord says this about Edom.^[a]

² The Lord says to Edom,

That is what the Lord says.

⁵ He says,

⁸ The Lord says,

The day of the Lord

This is what the Lord said.

Jesus asks some men to go with him

5 One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret.^[a] A crowd was pushing to get near to him. They were listening to him. He was speaking God's message to them.

² Jesus saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left the boats there and they were now washing their nets.^[b]

³ One of the boats belonged to Simon. Jesus climbed into it. He asked Simon to push it away from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and he started to teach the people.^[c]

⁴ When Jesus had finished teaching, he said to Simon, ‘Now take the boat out into deep water. Then put the nets into the water to catch some fish.’

⁵ Simon replied, ‘Teacher, we worked all last night and we did not catch anything. But because you say it, I will put the nets into the water again.’ ⁶ So they went in their boats and they put the nets down into the water. When they did that, they caught many fish. There were so many fish that the nets began to break. ⁷ So they made signs to the fishermen in the other boat. They told the other fishermen to come and help. So the other men came in their boat. They filled both boats with the fish. There were so many fish that the boats began to go down under the water. ⁸ When Simon saw all the fish, he went down on his knees in front of Jesus. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I am a bad man. So please go away from me.’^[d]

⁹ Simon and his friends were very surprised. They were all surprised because they had caught so many fish. ¹⁰ Zebedee's sons, James and John, were fishermen who worked with Simon. They were also surprised. Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. You have been catching fish. From now on you will catch people!’^[e]

¹¹ After that, they went and they pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything behind and they went with Jesus.

A man with a bad disease of his skin

¹² One day, Jesus was in a certain town. A man with a bad disease of the skin was there.^[f]

When the man saw Jesus, he threw himself down on the ground in front of him. He said, ‘Sir, you can make me well again if you want to do that. Please do it.’

¹³ Jesus put out his hand towards the man and he touched him. He said, ‘I do want to help you. Be clean again!’ Immediately, the disease left the man. ¹⁴ ‘Do not tell anyone about this,’ Jesus said to him. ‘Instead, go and show yourself to the priest. Take a gift to him for God. Moses taught the people what gift to take to God when they are clean again after this kind of disease. This will show everyone that you are now well again.’

¹⁵ After this, more and more people started to hear the news about Jesus. Crowds were coming to hear him teach. Sick people also wanted him to make them well. ¹⁶ But Jesus would often go away from the crowd to pray in quiet places.

Jesus helps a man who cannot walk

¹⁷ One day, while Jesus was teaching in someone's house, many people were sitting there. Some of them were Pharisees.^[g] Other people were teachers of God's Law. They had come from many villages in Galilee, and from Judea and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was there with Jesus to make sick people well.

¹⁸ Then some men arrived. They were carrying a man on a mat. The man could not walk or move his legs. They tried to get into the house because they wanted to bring the man to Jesus. ¹⁹ But the house was full of people and they could not get in. So they carried the man onto the flat roof of the house. Then they made a hole in the roof. After that, they put the mat down through the hole. The man was still lying on it. He came down in the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. ²⁰ Jesus saw them. He knew that they believed in him. So he said to the sick man, ‘My friend, I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.’

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law were there. They heard what Jesus said. So they began to think among themselves, ‘Who is this man? He is speaking as if he is God. Only God can forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’ ²² Jesus knew what these men were thinking. He told them, ‘You should not be thinking these things. ²³ I said to this man, “I forgive you for the wrong things that you have done.” Instead, I could have said to him, “Stand up and walk.” Which one is easier for me to say? ²⁴ But I want you to know this. I, the Son of Man, have authority here on earth.^[h] I can forgive people for the wrong things that they have done.’

Then he said to the man who could not walk, ‘I am saying to you, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and go home!” ’

²⁵ Immediately, the man stood up in front of them all. He picked up the mat that he had been lying on. He went home. He was praising God as he went. ²⁶ What had happened surprised everyone. They said, ‘God is great and powerful! We have seen very strange and special things happen today.’

Jesus asks Levi to come with him

²⁷ After this happened, Jesus went away from that house. He saw a man that took taxes from people. He was working in his office. His name was Levi. Jesus said to him, ‘Come with me and be my disciple.’ ²⁸ So Levi got up and he went with Jesus. He left everything behind.

²⁹ Soon after this, Levi made a large meal for Jesus at his house. Many people also came and they were eating with them there. Some of them took taxes from people, as Levi did. ³⁰ Some Pharisees and teachers of God's Law saw them there. So they said to Jesus' disciples, ‘You eat and drink with these bad people and with men who take taxes from people. That is not right.’

³¹ Jesus answered them, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor. It is people who are ill that need a doctor. ³² Some people think that they always obey God. I have not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help. I want them to change how they live.’

³³ Then the Jewish leaders said to Jesus: ‘The disciples of John the Baptist often choose to fast for a time. Then they can pray to God a lot. The disciples of the Pharisees also do that. But your disciples never do that. They continue to eat and drink every day.’^[i]

³⁴ Jesus answered them, ‘When a man marries a wife, you cannot stop his friends from eating. They will continue to eat while he is with them. ³⁵ But there will be a time when people take that man away from his friends. Then they will decide to fast.’^[j]

³⁶ Jesus told them this story: ‘Nobody tears a piece of cloth from a new coat to mend an old coat. If he does that, he will have torn the new coat. Also, the piece of cloth from the new coat will not look the same as the old coat.^[k]

³⁷ And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins.^[l] If he does that, the new wine will tear the old wineskins. He will lose the wine and the wineskins will also spoil. ³⁸ Instead, you must put new wine into new wineskins.

³⁹ Also, nobody wants to drink new wine after he has drunk old wine. He will say, “The old wine is much better.” ’^[m]