M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David, King of Judah
2 Some time later, David inquired of the Lord:(A) “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?”
The Lord answered him, “Go.”
Then David asked, “Where should I go?”
“To Hebron,”(B) the Lord replied.
2 So David went there with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelite and Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.(C) 3 In addition, David brought the men who were with him, each one with his family, and they settled in the towns near Hebron.(D) 4 Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.(E) They told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul.”(F)
5 David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “The Lord bless you because you have shown this kindness to Saul your lord when you buried him. 6 Now, may the Lord show kindness and faithfulness to you, and I will also show the same goodness to you because you have done this deed. 7 Therefore, be strong[a] and valiant, for though Saul your lord is dead, the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”
8 Abner son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army,(G) took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth[b][c] and moved him to Mahanaim. 9 He made him king over Gilead, Asher, Jezreel, Ephraim, Benjamin—over all Israel. 10 Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he became king over Israel; he reigned for two years. The house of Judah, however, followed David. 11 The length of time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.(H)
12 Abner son of Ner and soldiers of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. 13 So Joab son of Zeruiah and David’s soldiers marched out and met them by the pool of Gibeon.(I) The two groups took up positions on opposite sides of the pool.
14 Then Abner said to Joab, “Let’s have the young men get up and compete in front of us.”
“Let them get up,” Joab replied.
15 So they got up and were counted off—twelve for Benjamin and Ish-bosheth son of Saul, and twelve from David’s soldiers. 16 Then each man grabbed his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent’s side so that they all died together. So this place, which is in Gibeon, is named Field of Blades.[d]
17 The battle that day was extremely fierce, and Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s soldiers. 18 The three sons of Zeruiah were there: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel.(J) Asahel was a fast runner, like one of the wild gazelles.(K) 19 He chased Abner and did not turn to the right or the left in his pursuit of him. 20 Abner glanced back and said, “Is that you, Asahel?”
“Yes it is,” Asahel replied.
21 Abner said to him, “Turn to your right or left, seize one of the young soldiers, and take whatever you can get from him.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him. 22 Once again, Abner warned Asahel, “Stop chasing me. Why should I strike you to the ground? How could I ever look your brother Joab in the face?” (L)
23 But Asahel refused to turn away, so Abner hit him in the stomach with the butt of his spear. The spear went through his body, and he fell and died right there. As they all came to the place where Asahel had fallen and died, they stopped,(M) 24 but Joab and Abishai pursued Abner. By sunset, they had gone as far as the hill of Ammah, which is opposite Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.
25 The Benjaminites rallied to Abner; they formed a unit and took their stand on top of a hill. 26 Then Abner called out to Joab, “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
27 “As God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops wouldn’t have stopped pursuing their brothers until morning.”(N) 28 Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight. 29 So Abner and his men marched through the Arabah all that night. They crossed the Jordan, marched all morning,[e] and arrived at Mahanaim.(O)
30 When Joab had turned back from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, nineteen of David’s soldiers were missing, 31 but they had killed 360 of the Benjaminites and Abner’s men. 32 Afterward, they carried Asahel to his father’s tomb in Bethlehem and buried him. Then Joab and his men marched all night and reached Hebron at dawn.
Love: The Superior Way
13 If I speak human or angelic tongues[a] but do not have love,(A) I am a noisy gong(B) or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy(C) and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains(D) but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient,(E) love is kind. Love does not envy,(F) is not boastful, is not arrogant,(G) 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking,(H) is not irritable,(I) and does not keep a record of wrongs. 6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.(J) 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures(K) all things.
8 Love never ends.(L) But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things. 12 For now we see only a reflection[c] as in a mirror, but then face to face.(M) Now I know in part, but then I will know fully,(N) as I am fully known.(O) 13 Now these three remain: faith, hope,(P) and love—but the greatest of these is love.
Vision of Israel’s Corrupt Leaders
11 The Spirit then lifted me up(A) and brought me to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, which faces east, and at the gate’s entrance were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur, and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 The Lord[a] said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil(B) and give wicked advice in this city. 3 They are saying, ‘Isn’t the time near to build houses?[b](C) The city is the pot,(D) and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man!”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me, “You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord says: That is what you are thinking, house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your mind.(E) 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city,(F) filling its streets with them.
7 “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: The slain you have put within it are the meat,(G) and the city is the pot, but I[c] will take you out of it.(H) 8 You fear the sword,(I) so I will bring the sword against you.(J) This is the declaration of the Lord God. 9 I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners; I will execute judgments against you.(K) 10 You will fall by the sword,(L) and I will judge you at the border of Israel.(M) Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 The city will not be a pot for you,(N) and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, 12 so you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not practiced. Instead, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.’”(O)
13 Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died.(P) Then I fell facedown and cried out loudly, “Oh, Lord God!(Q) You are bringing the remnant of Israel to an end!”
Promise of Israel’s Restoration
14 The word of the Lord came to me again: 15 “Son of man, your own relatives, those who have the right to redeem your property,[d][e] along with the entire house of Israel—all of them—are those to whom the residents of Jerusalem have said, ‘You are far from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
16 “Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Though I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them(R) in the countries where they have gone.’
17 “Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the peoples(S) and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’
18 “When they arrive there, they will remove all its(T) abhorrent acts(U) and detestable practices from it. 19 I will give them integrity of[f] heart(V) and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone(W) from their bodies[g] and give them a heart of flesh,(X) 20 so that they will follow my statutes,(Y) keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.(Z) 21 But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for abhorrent acts and detestable practices, I will bring their conduct down on their own heads.”(AA) This is the declaration of the Lord God.
God’s Glory Leaves Jerusalem
22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings,(AB) and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. 23 The glory of the Lord(AC) rose up from within the city and stopped on the mountain(AD) east of the city.[h](AE) 24 The Spirit lifted me up(AF) and brought me to Chaldea and to the exiles in a vision from the Spirit of God. After the vision I had seen left me, 25 I spoke to the exiles about all the things the Lord had shown me.
Psalm 50
God as Judge
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 The Mighty One, God,[a] the Lord, speaks;
he summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(B)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God appears in radiance.[b](C)
3 Our God is coming; he will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes him,
and a storm rages around him.(D)
4 On high, he summons heaven and earth
in order to judge his people:(E)
5 “Gather my faithful ones to me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”(F)
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,(G)
for God is the Judge.(H)Selah
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.(I)
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings,
which are continually before me.(J)
9 I will not take a bull from your household
or male goats from your pens,(K)
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.(L)
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and everything in it is mine.(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?(N)
14 Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice to God,(O)
and pay your vows to the Most High.(P)
15 Call on me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”(Q)
16 But God says to the wicked:
“What right do you have to recite my statutes
and to take my covenant on your lips?(R)
17 You hate instruction
and fling my words behind you.(S)
18 When you see a thief,
you make friends with him,
and you associate with adulterers.(T)
19 You unleash your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue for deceit.(U)
20 You sit, maligning your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.(V)
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.(W)
But I will rebuke you
and lay out the case before you.[c](X)
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