M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David’s Son Dies
12 The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to David, he said, “There were two men in a city. One was rich, but the other was poor. 2 The rich man had many sheep and cattle. 3 But the poor man had nothing except one little female lamb he had bought. The poor man fed the lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup and slept in his arms. The lamb was like a daughter to him.
4 “Then a traveler stopped to visit the rich man. The rich man wanted to feed the traveler, but he didn’t want to take one of his own sheep or cattle. Instead, he took the lamb from the poor man and cooked it for his visitor.”
5 David became very angry at the rich man. He said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this should die! 6 He must pay for the lamb four times for doing such a thing. He had no mercy!”
7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I appointed you king of Israel and saved you from Saul. 8 I gave you his kingdom and his wives. And I made you king of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you even more. 9 So why did you ignore the Lord’s command? Why did you do what he says is wrong? You killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and took his wife to be your wife! 10 Now there will always be people in your family who will die by a sword, because you did not respect me; you took the wife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself!’
11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘I am bringing trouble to you from your own family. While you watch, I will take your wives from you and give them to someone who is very close to you. He will have sexual relations with your wives, and everyone will know it. 12 You had sexual relations with Bathsheba in secret, but I will do this so all the people of Israel can see it.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan answered, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You will not die. 14 But what you did caused the Lord’s enemies to lose all respect for him. For this reason the son who was born to you will die.”
15 Then Nathan went home. And the Lord caused the son of David and Bathsheba, Uriah’s widow, to be very sick. 16 David prayed to God for the baby. David fasted and went into his house and stayed there, lying on the ground all night. 17 The elders of David’s family came to him and tried to pull him up from the ground, but he refused to get up or to eat food with them.
18 On the seventh day the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead. They said, “Look, we tried to talk to David while the baby was alive, but he refused to listen to us. If we tell him the baby is dead, he may do something awful.”
19 When David saw his servants whispering, he knew that the baby was dead. So he asked them, “Is the baby dead?”
They answered, “Yes, he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the floor, washed himself, put lotions on, and changed his clothes. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. After that, he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.
21 David’s servants said to him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was still alive, you fasted and you cried. Now that the baby is dead, you get up and eat food.”
22 David said, “While the baby was still alive, I fasted, and I cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ 23 But now that the baby is dead, why should I fast? I can’t bring him back to life. Someday I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me.”
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had sexual relations with her. She became pregnant again and had another son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon. 25 The Lord sent word through Nathan the prophet to name the baby Jedidiah,[a] because the Lord loved the child.
David Captures Rabbah
26 Joab fought against Rabbah, a royal city of the Ammonites, and he was about to capture it. 27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now bring the other soldiers together and attack this city. Capture it before I capture it myself and it is called by my name!”
29 So David gathered all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it. 30 David took the crown off their king’s head and had it placed on his own head. That gold crown weighed about seventy-five pounds, and it had valuable gems in it. And David took many valuable things from the city. 31 He also brought out the people of the city and forced them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He also made them build with bricks. David did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem.
5 We know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a house for us. It will not be a house made by human hands; instead, it will be a home in heaven that will last forever. 2 But now we groan in this tent. We want God to give us our heavenly home, 3 because it will clothe us so we will not be naked. 4 While we live in this body, we have burdens, and we groan. We do not want to be naked, but we want to be clothed with our heavenly home. Then this body that dies will be fully covered with life. 5 This is what God made us for, and he has given us the Spirit to be a guarantee for this new life.
6 So we always have courage. We know that while we live in this body, we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by what we believe, not by what we can see. 8 So I say that we have courage. We really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Our only goal is to please God whether we live here or there, 10 because we must all stand before Christ to be judged. Each of us will receive what we should get—good or bad—for the things we did in the earthly body.
Becoming Friends with God
11 Since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to help people accept the truth about us. God knows what we really are, and I hope that in your hearts you know, too. 12 We are not trying to prove ourselves to you again, but we are telling you about ourselves so you will be proud of us. Then you will have an answer for those who are proud about things that can be seen rather than what is in the heart. 13 If we are out of our minds, it is for God. If we have our right minds, it is for you. 14 The love of Christ controls us, because we know that One died for all, so all have died. 15 Christ died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from the dead so that they would live for him.
16 From this time on we do not think of anyone as the world does. In the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks, but we no longer think of him in that way. 17 If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! 18 All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself, and God gave us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him. 19 God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins. And he gave us this message of peace. 20 So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is as if God is calling to you through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. 21 Christ had no sin, but God made him become sin so that in Christ we could become right with God.
A Sad Song for Israel
19 “Sing a funeral song for the leaders of Israel. 2 Say:
‘Your mother was like a female lion.
She lay down among the young lions.
She had many cubs.
3 When she brought up one of her cubs,
he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the animals he hunted,
and he ate people.
4 The nations heard about him.
He was trapped in their pit,
and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 “‘The mother lion waited and saw
that there was no hope for her cub.
So she took another one of her cubs
and made him a strong lion.
6 This cub roamed among the lions.
He was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the animals he hunted,
and he ate people.
7 He tore down their strong places
and destroyed their cities.
The land and everything in it
were terrified by the sound of his roar.
8 Then the nations came against him
from areas all around,
and they spread their net over him.
He was trapped in their pit.
9 Then they put him into a cage with chains
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him into prison
so his roar could not be heard again
on the mountains of Israel.
10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
planted beside the water.
The vine had many branches and gave much fruit,
because there was plenty of water.
11 The vine had strong branches,
good enough for a king’s scepter.
The vine became tall
among the thick branches.
And it was seen, because it was tall
with many branches.
12 But it was pulled up by its roots in anger
and thrown down to the ground.
The east wind dried it up.
Its fruit was torn off.
Its strong branches were broken off
and burned up.
13 Now the vine is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire spread from the vine’s main branch,
destroying its fruit.
There is not a strong branch left on it
that could become a scepter for a king.’
This is a funeral song; it is to be used as a funeral song.”
A Prayer Against Enemies
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
64 God, listen to my complaint.
I am afraid of my enemies;
protect my life from them.
2 Hide me from those who plan wicked things,
from that gang who does evil.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and shoot bitter words like arrows.
4 From their hiding places they shoot at innocent people;
they shoot suddenly and are not afraid.
5 They encourage each other to do wrong.
They talk about setting traps,
thinking no one will see them.
6 They plan wicked things and say,
“We have a perfect plan.”
The mind of human beings is hard to understand.
7 But God will shoot them with arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.
8 Their own words will be used against them.
All who see them will shake their heads.
9 Then everyone will fear God.
They will tell what God has done,
and they will learn from what he has done.
10 Good people will be happy in the Lord
and will find protection in him.
Let everyone who is honest praise the Lord.
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
65 God, you will be praised in Jerusalem.
We will keep our promises to you.
2 You hear our prayers.
All people will come to you.
3 Our guilt overwhelms us,
but you forgive our sins.
4 Happy are the people you choose
and invite to stay in your court.
We are filled with good things in your house,
your holy Temple.
5 You answer us in amazing ways,
God our Savior.
People everywhere on the earth
and beyond the sea trust you.
6 You made the mountains by your strength;
you are dressed in power.
7 You stopped the roaring seas,
the roaring waves,
and the uproar of the nations.
8 Even those people at the ends of the earth fear your miracles.
You are praised from where the sun rises to where it sets.
9 You take care of the land and water it;
you make it very fertile.
The rivers of God are full of water.
Grain grows because you make it grow.
10 You send rain to the plowed fields;
you fill the rows with water.
You soften the ground with rain,
and then you bless it with crops.
11 You give the year a good harvest,
and you load the wagons with many crops.
12 The desert is covered with grass
and the hills with happiness.
13 The pastures are full of flocks,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
Everything shouts and sings for joy.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.