M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David’s Song of Thanksgiving
22 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
3 my[a] God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; thou savest me from violence.
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 “For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of perdition assailed me;
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me,
the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.
8 “Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
10 He bowed the heavens, and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub, and flew;
he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness around him
his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water.
13 Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;
lightning, and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 “He reached from on high, he took me,
he drew me out of many waters.
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me.
19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity;
but the Lord was my stay.
20 He brought me forth into a broad place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21 “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his ordinances were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
24 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
25 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.
26 “With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal;
with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless;
27 with the pure thou dost show thyself pure,
and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.
28 Thou dost deliver a humble people,
but thy eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.
29 Yea, thou art my lamp, O Lord,
and my God lightens my darkness.
30 Yea, by thee I can crush a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
32 “For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
33 This God is my strong refuge,
and has made[b] my[c] way safe.
34 He made my[d] feet like hinds’ feet,
and set me secure on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation,
and thy help[e] made me great.
37 Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet[f] did not slip;
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.
40 For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle;
thou didst make my assailants sink under me.
41 Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me,
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
42 They looked, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 I beat them fine as the dust of the earth,
I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.
44 “Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples;[g]
thou didst keep me as the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Foreigners lost heart,
and came trembling[h] out of their fastnesses.
47 “The Lord lives; and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
48 the God who gave me vengeance
and brought down peoples under me,
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
thou didst exalt me above my adversaries,
thou didst deliver me from men of violence.
50 “For this I will extol thee, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing praises to thy name.
51 Great triumphs he gives[i] to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David, and his descendants for ever.”
Paul and the Other Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but privately before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 But because of false brethren secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage— 5 to them we did not yield submission even for a moment, that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who were reputed to be something (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who were of repute added nothing to me; 7 but on the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for the mission to the circumcised worked through me also for the Gentiles), 9 and when they perceived the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised; 10 only they would have us remember the poor, which very thing I was eager to do.
Paul Rebukes Peter at Antioch
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their insincerity. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?” 15 We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, 16 yet who know that a man is not justified[a] by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. 17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! 18 But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification[b] were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.
Proclamation against Egypt
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great dragon that lies
in the midst of his streams,
that says, ‘My Nile is my own;
I made it.’[a]
4 I will put hooks in your jaws,
and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
with all the fish of your streams
which stick to your scales.
5 And I will cast you forth into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall upon the open field,
and not be gathered and buried.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the air
I have given you as food.
6 “Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord. Because you[b] have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel; 7 when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned upon you, you broke, and made all their loins to shake;[c] 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast; 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“Because you[d] said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries; and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
13 “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered; 14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin; and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”
Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth[e] and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he labored, because they worked for me, says the Lord God.
21 “On that day I will cause a horn to spring forth to the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Ingratitude
A Maskil of Asaph.
78 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders which he has wrought.
5 He established a testimony in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children;
6 that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The E′phraimites, armed with[a] the bow,
turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zo′an.
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15 He cleft rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 He smote the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread,
or provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
his anger mounted against Israel;
22 because they had no faith in God,
and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,
and opened the doors of heaven;
24 and he rained down upon them manna to eat,
and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of the angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their habitations.
29 And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had sated their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them
and he slew the strongest of them,
and laid low the picked men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they still sinned;
despite his wonders they did not believe.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath,
and their years in terror.
34 When he slew them, they sought for him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not true to his covenant.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.