M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Samuel’s call

3 Now the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under Eli. The Lord’s word was rare at that time, and visions weren’t widely known. ² One day Eli, whose eyes had grown so weak he was unable to see, was lying down in his room. ³ God’s lamp hadn’t gone out yet, and Samuel was lying down in the Lord’s temple, where God’s chest^[a] was.

⁴ The Lord called to Samuel. “I’m here,” he said.

⁵ Samuel hurried to Eli and said, “I’m here. You called me?”

“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go lie down.” So he did.

⁶ Again the Lord called Samuel, so Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?”

“I didn’t call, my son,” Eli replied. “Go and lie down.”

(⁷ Now Samuel didn’t yet know the Lord, and the Lord’s word hadn’t yet been revealed to him.)

⁸ A third time the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “I’m here. You called me?”

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy. ⁹ So Eli said to Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down where he’d been.

¹⁰ Then the Lord came and stood there, calling just as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel said, “Speak. Your servant is listening.”

¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of all who hear it tingle! ¹² On that day, I will bring to pass against Eli everything I said about his household—every last bit of it!^{[b] 13} I told him that I would punish his family forever because of the wrongdoing he knew about—how his sons were cursing God,^[c] but he wouldn’t stop them. ¹⁴ Because of that I swore about Eli’s household that his family’s wrongdoing will never be reconciled by sacrifice or by offering.”

¹⁵ Samuel lay there until morning, then opened the doors of the Lord’s house. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶ But Eli called Samuel, saying: “Samuel, my son!”

“I’m here,” Samuel said.

¹⁷ “What did he say to you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide anything from me. May God deal harshly with you and worse still if you hide from me a single word from everything he said to you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him.

“He is the Lord, ” Eli said. “He will do as he pleases.”

¹⁹ So Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him, not allowing any of his words to fail. ²⁰ All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was trustworthy as the Lord’s prophet. ²¹ The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh because the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh through the Lord’s own word.

God’s faithfulness and justice

3 So what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Or what’s the benefit of circumcision? ² Plenty in every way. First of all, the Jews were trusted with God’s revelations. ³ What does it matter, then, if some weren’t faithful? Their lack of faith won’t cancel God’s faithfulness, will it? ⁴ Absolutely not! God must be true, even if every human being is a liar, as it is written:

⁵ But if our lack of righteousness confirms God’s justice, what will we say? That God, who brings wrath upon us, isn’t just (I’m speaking rhetorically)? ⁶ Absolutely not! If God weren’t just, how could he judge the world? ⁷ But if God’s truth is demonstrated by my lie and it increases his glory, why am I still judged as a sinner? ⁸ Why not say, “Let’s do evil things so that good things will come out of it”? (Some people who slander us accuse us of saying that, but these people deserve criticism.)

All are under the power of sin

⁹ So what are we saying? Are we better off? Not at all. We have already stated the charge: both Jews and Greeks are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written,

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, in order to shut every mouth and make it so the whole world has to answer to God. ²⁰ It follows that no human being will be treated as righteous in his presence by doing what the Law says, because the knowledge of sin comes through the Law.

God’s righteousness through faithfulness of Christ

²¹ But now God’s righteousness has been revealed apart from the Law, which is confirmed by the Law and the Prophets. ²² God’s righteousness comes through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who have faith in him. There’s no distinction. ²³ All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, ²⁴ but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus. ²⁵ Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness in passing over sins that happened before, ²⁶ during the time of God’s patient tolerance. He also did this to demonstrate that he is righteous in the present time, and to treat the one who has faith in Jesus as righteous.

²⁷ What happens to our bragging? It’s thrown out. With which law? With what we have accomplished under the Law? ²⁸ No, not at all, but through the law of faith. We consider that a person is treated as righteous by faith, apart from what is accomplished under the Law. ²⁹ Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t God the God of Gentiles also? Yes, God is also the God of Gentiles. ³⁰ Since God is one, then the one who makes the circumcised righteous by faith will also make the one who isn’t circumcised righteous through faith. ³¹ Do we then cancel the Law through this faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we confirm the Law.

Mutiny and murder

41 In the seventh month,^[a] Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son and Elishama’s grandson, who was from a royal family and who was one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, at Mizpah. While they were eating a meal together, ² Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, and the ten men got up and struck down Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, with the sword. They murdered him because he had been appointed over the region by the king of Babylon. ³ Ishmael also murdered all the Judeans who had rallied around Gedaliah at Mizpah as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were posted there.

⁴ The day after Gedaliah was killed, before anyone knew of it, ⁵ eighty men with shaved beards, torn clothes, and gashed bodies arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They were bringing grain offerings and incense to present at the Lord’s temple. ⁶ Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, left Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he reached them, he said, “Come to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son!” ⁷ When they arrived in the middle of the town, Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, and the men with him slaughtered them and threw their bodies^[b] into a cistern.

⁸ But there were ten men among them who begged Ishmael, “Don’t kill us; we have wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in a field.” So he stopped and didn’t kill them along with the rest.

(⁹ Now the cistern that Ishmael used to discard the bodies of the men he had killed because of their association with Gedaliah^[c] was the one that King Asa had made to defend against Israel’s King Baasha. Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, filled it with the dead.)

¹⁰ Ishmael captured the rest of the people who were at Mizpah, including the daughters of the king and all those assigned to Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, at Mizpah by Nebuzaradan the captain of the special guard. Then Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, set out to cross over to the Ammonites with the hostages.

¹¹ Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all the army officers at his side heard of the terrible acts committed by Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son. ¹² So they mustered all their forces and went to fight him. They found Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, at the great pool in Gibeon. ¹³ When all those taken by Ishmael at Mizpah saw Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all his army officers with him, they were delighted. ¹⁴ They rallied around Johanan, Kareah’s son, and returned home with him. ¹⁵ But Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, and eight of his men eluded Johanan and went to the Ammonites.

¹⁶ Then Johanan, Kareah’s son, and all the army officers with him took the small group they had rescued in Gibeon, including the soldiers, women, children, and commanding officers that Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, had captured at Mizpah after killing Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son. ¹⁷ They set out for Egypt, stopping on the way at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, ¹⁸ because they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do when they found out that Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, had killed Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son, whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the region.

Psalm 17

A prayer of David.