M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Ish-Bosheth’s Death
4 When Ish-Bosheth son of Saul heard that Abner had died at Hebron, he was shocked and all Israel became frightened. 2 Two men who were captains in Saul’s army came to Ish-Bosheth. One was named Baanah, and the other was named Recab. They were the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, who was a Benjaminite. (The town Beeroth belonged to the tribe of Benjamin. 3 The people of Beeroth ran away to Gittaim, and they still live there as foreigners today.)
4 (Saul’s son Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet. He was five years old when the news came from Jezreel that Saul and Jonathan were dead. Mephibosheth’s nurse had picked him up and run away. But as she hurried to leave, she dropped him, and now he was lame.)
5 Recab and Baanah, sons of Rimmon from Beeroth, went to Ish-Bosheth’s house in the afternoon while he was taking a nap. 6-7 They went into the middle of the house as if to get some wheat. Ish-Bosheth was lying on his bed in his bedroom. Then Recab and Baanah stabbed him in the stomach, killed him, cut off his head, and took it with them. They escaped and traveled all night through the Jordan Valley. 8 When they arrived at Hebron, they gave his head to David and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, your enemy. He tried to kill you! Today the Lord has paid back Saul and his family for what they did to you!”
9 David answered Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon of Beeroth, “As surely as the Lord lives, he has saved me from all trouble! 10 Once a man thought he was bringing me good news. When he told me, ‘Saul is dead!’ I seized him and killed him at Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! 11 So even more I must put you evil men to death because you have killed an innocent man on his own bed in his own house!”
12 So David commanded his men to kill Recab and Baanah. They cut off the hands and feet of Recab and Baanah and hung them over the pool of Hebron. Then they took Ish-Bosheth’s head and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.
David Is Made King of Israel
5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said to him, “Look, we are your own family. 2 Even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel in battle. The Lord said to you, ‘You will be a shepherd for my people Israel. You will be their leader.’”
3 So all the elders of Israel came to King David at Hebron, and he made an agreement with them in Hebron in the presence of the Lord. Then they poured oil on David to make him king over Israel.
4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled forty years. 5 He was king over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months, and he was king over all Israel and Judah in Jerusalem for thirty-three years.
6 When the king and his men went to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites who lived there, the Jebusites said to David, “You can’t get inside our city. Even the blind and the crippled can stop you.” They thought David could not enter their city. 7 But David did take the city of Jerusalem with its strong walls, and it became the City of David.
8 That day David said to his men, “To defeat the Jebusites you must go through the water tunnel. Then you can reach those ‘crippled’ and ‘blind’ enemies. This is why people say, ‘The blind and the crippled may not enter the palace.’”
9 So David lived in the strong, walled city and called it the City of David. David built more buildings around it, beginning where the land was filled in. He also built more buildings inside the city. 10 He became stronger and stronger, because the Lord God All-Powerful was with him.
11 Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonecutters. They built a palace for David. 12 Then David knew that the Lord really had made him king of Israel and that the Lord had made his kingdom great because the Lord loved his people Israel.
13 After he came from Hebron, David took for himself more slave women and wives in Jerusalem. More sons and daughters were born to David. 14 These are the names of the sons born to David in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 15 Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, 16 Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.
David Defeats the Philistines
17 When the Philistines heard that David had been made king over Israel, all the Philistines went to look for him. But when David heard the news, he went down to the stronghold. 18 The Philistines came and camped in the Valley of Rephaim. 19 David asked the Lord, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”
The Lord said to David, “Go! I will certainly hand them over to you.”
20 So David went to Baal Perazim and defeated the Philistines there. David said, “Like a flood of water, the Lord has broken through my enemies in front of me.” So David named the place Baal Perazim.[a] 21 The Philistines left their idols behind at Baal Perazim, so David and his men carried them away.
22 Once again the Philistines came and camped at the Valley of Rephaim. 23 When David prayed to the Lord, he answered, “Don’t attack the Philistines from the front. Instead, go around and attack them in front of the balsam trees. 24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act quickly. I, the Lord, will have gone ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.” 25 So David did what the Lord commanded. He defeated the Philistines and chased them all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
The Good News About Christ
15 Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I brought to you. You received this Good News and continue strong in it. 2 And you are being saved by it if you continue believing what I told you. If you do not, then you believed for nothing.
3 I passed on to you what I received, of which this was most important: that Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say; 4 that he was buried and was raised to life on the third day as the Scriptures say; 5 and that he was seen by Peter and then by the twelve apostles. 6 After that, Jesus was seen by more than five hundred of the believers at the same time. Most of them are still living today, but some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 8 Last of all he was seen by me—as by a person not born at the normal time. 9 All the other apostles are greater than I am. I am not even good enough to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But God’s grace has made me what I am, and his grace to me was not wasted. I worked harder than all the other apostles. (But it was not I really; it was God’s grace that was with me.) 11 So if I preached to you or the other apostles preached to you, we all preach the same thing, and this is what you believed.
We Will Be Raised from the Dead
12 Now since we preached that Christ was raised from the dead, why do some of you say that people will not be raised from the dead? 13 If no one is ever raised from the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is worth nothing, and your faith is worth nothing. 15 And also, we are guilty of lying about God, because we testified of him that he raised Christ from the dead. But if people are not raised from the dead, then God never raised Christ. 16 If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith has nothing to it; you are still guilty of your sins. 18 And those in Christ who have already died are lost. 19 If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world.
20 But Christ has truly been raised from the dead—the first one and proof that those who sleep in death will also be raised. 21 Death has come because of what one man did, but the rising from death also comes because of one man. 22 In Adam all of us die. In the same way, in Christ all of us will be made alive again. 23 But everyone will be raised to life in the right order. Christ was first to be raised. When Christ comes again, those who belong to him will be raised to life, 24 and then the end will come. At that time Christ will destroy all rulers, authorities, and powers, and he will hand over the kingdom to God the Father. 25 Christ must rule until he puts all enemies under his control. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed will be death. 27 The Scripture says that God put all things under his control.[a] When it says “all things” are under him, it is clear this does not include God himself. God is the One who put everything under his control. 28 After everything has been put under the Son, then he will put himself under God, who had put all things under him. Then God will be the complete ruler over everything.
29 If the dead are never raised, what will people do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people being baptized for them?
30 And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31 I die every day. That is true, brothers and sisters, just as it is true that I brag about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild animals in Ephesus only with human hopes, I have gained nothing. If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.”[b]
33 Do not be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.” 34 Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. Some of you do not know God—I say this to shame you.
What Kind of Body Will We Have?
35 But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36 Foolish person! When you sow a seed, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow. 37 And when you sow it, it does not have the same “body” it will have later. What you sow is only a bare seed, maybe wheat or something else. 38 But God gives it a body that he has planned for it, and God gives each kind of seed its own body. 39 All things made of flesh are not the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds have another, and fish have another. 40 Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the beauty of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon has another beauty, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.
42 It is the same with the dead who are raised to life. The body that is “planted” will ruin and decay, but it is raised to a life that cannot be destroyed. 43 When the body is “planted,” it is without honor, but it is raised in glory. When the body is “planted,” it is weak, but when it is raised, it is powerful. 44 The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it is a spiritual body.
There is a physical body, and there is also a spiritual body. 45 It is written in the Scriptures: “The first man, Adam, became a living person.”[c] But the last Adam became a spirit that gives life. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the physical and then the spiritual. 47 The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. 48 People who belong to the earth are like the first man of earth. But those people who belong to heaven are like the man of heaven. 49 Just as we were made like the man of earth, so we will[d] also be made like the man of heaven.
50 I tell you this, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot have a part in the kingdom of God. Something that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins. 51 But look! I tell you this secret: We will not all sleep in death, but we will all be changed. 52 It will take only a second—as quickly as an eye blinks—when the last trumpet sounds. The trumpet will sound, and those who have died will be raised to live forever, and we will all be changed. 53 This body that can be destroyed must clothe itself with something that can never be destroyed. And this body that dies must clothe itself with something that can never die. 54 So this body that can be destroyed will clothe itself with that which can never be destroyed, and this body that dies will clothe itself with that which can never die. When this happens, this Scripture will be made true:
“Death is destroyed forever in victory.” Isaiah 25:8
55 “Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your pain?” Hosea 13:14
56 Death’s power to hurt is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But we thank God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.
Ezekiel Speaks Against False Prophets
13 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: 2 “Human, prophesy against the prophets of Israel. Say to those who make up their own prophecies: ‘Listen to the word of the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the foolish prophets who follow their own ideas and have not seen a vision from me! 4 People of Israel, your prophets have been like wild dogs hunting to kill and eat among ruins. 5 Israel is like a house in ruins, but you have not gone up into the broken places or repaired the wall. So how can Israel hold back the enemy in the battle on the Lord’s day of judging? 6 Your prophets see false visions and prophesy lies. They say, “This is the message of the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them. But they still hope their words will come true. 7 You said, “This is the message of the Lord,” but that is a false vision. Your prophecies are lies, because I have not spoken.
8 “‘So this is what the Lord God says: Because you prophets spoke things that are false and saw visions that do not come true, I am against you, says the Lord God. 9 I will punish the prophets who see false visions and prophesy lies. They will have no place among my people. Their names will not be written on the list of the people of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.
10 “‘It is because they lead my people the wrong way by saying, “Peace!” when there is no peace. When the people build a weak wall, the prophets cover it with whitewash to make it look strong. 11 So tell those who cover a weak wall with whitewash that it will fall down. Rain will pour down, hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break the wall down. 12 When the wall has fallen, people will ask you, “Where is the whitewash you used on the wall?”
13 “‘So this is what the Lord God says: I will break the wall with a stormy wind. In my anger rain will pour down, and hailstones will destroy the wall. 14 I will tear down the wall on which you put whitewash. I will level it to the ground so that people will see the wall’s foundation. And when the wall falls, you will be destroyed under it. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 15 So I will carry out my anger on the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. Then I will tell you, “The wall is gone, and those who covered it with whitewash are gone. 16 The prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem and who see visions of peace for the city, when there is no peace, will be gone, says the Lord God.”’
False Women Prophets
17 “Now, human, look toward the women among your people who make up their own prophecies. Prophesy against them. 18 Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for women who sew magic charms on their wrists and make veils of every length to trap people! You ruin the lives of my people but try to save your own lives. 19 For handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, you have dishonored me among my people. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed people who should not die, and you have kept alive those who should not live.
20 “‘So this is what the Lord God says: I am against your magic charms, by which you trap people as if they were birds. I will tear those charms off your arms, and I will free those people you have trapped like birds. 21 I will also tear off your veils and save my people from your hands. They will no longer be trapped by your power. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 22 By your lies you have caused those who did right to be sad, when I did not make them sad. And you have encouraged the wicked not to stop being wicked, which would have saved their lives. 23 So you will not see false visions or prophesy anymore, and I will save my people from your power so you will know that I am the Lord.’”
God Will Punish the Proud
For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David is in Ahimelech’s house.”
52 Mighty warrior, why do you brag about the evil you do?
God’s love will continue forever.
2 You think up evil plans.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
making up lies.
3 You love wrong more than right
and lies more than truth. Selah
4 You love words that bite
and tongues that lie.
5 But God will ruin you forever.
He will grab you and throw you out of your tent;
he will tear you away from the land of the living. Selah
6 Those who do right will see this and fear God.
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “Look what happened to the man
who did not depend on God
but depended on his money.
He grew strong by his evil plans.”
8 But I am like an olive tree
growing in God’s Temple.
I trust God’s love
forever and ever.
9 God, I will thank you forever for what you have done.
With those who worship you, I will trust you because you are good.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. By mahalath. A maskil of David.
53 Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil and do terrible things;
none of them does anything good.
2 God looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone was wise,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But all have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil;
none of them does anything good.
Not a single person.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They do not ask God for help.
5 The wicked are filled with terror
where there had been nothing to fear.
God will scatter the bones of your enemies.
You will defeat them,
because God has rejected them.
6 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May God bring them back.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
A Prayer for Help
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David when the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “We think David is hiding among our people.”
54 God, save me because of who you are.
By your strength show that I am innocent.
2 Hear my prayer, God;
listen to what I say.
3 Strangers turn against me,
and cruel people want to kill me.
They do not care about God. Selah
4 See, God will help me;
the Lord will support me.
5 Let my enemies be punished with their own evil.
Destroy them because you are loyal to me.
6 I will offer a sacrifice as a special gift to you.
I will thank you, Lord, because you are good.
7 You have saved me from all my troubles,
and I have seen my enemies defeated.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.