M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Hannah’s Prayer
2 Hannah prayed out loud,
“My heart finds joy in Yahweh.
My head is lifted to Yahweh.
My mouth mocks my enemies.
I rejoice because you saved me.
2 There is no one holy like Yahweh.
There is no one but you, O Lord.
There is no Tsur like our Elohim.
3 “Do not boast
or let arrogance come out of your mouth
because Yahweh is an El of knowledge,
and he weighs our actions.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumble are armed with strength.
5 Those who were well-fed hire themselves out for a piece of bread,
but those who were hungry hunger no more.
Even the woman who was childless gives birth to seven children,
but the mother of many children grieves all alone.
6 “Yahweh kills, and he gives life.
He makes people go down to the grave, and he raises them up again.
7 Yahweh causes poverty and grants wealth.
He humbles people; he also promotes them.
8 He raises the poor from the dust.
He lifts the needy from the trash heap
in order to make them sit with nobles
and even to make them inherit a glorious throne.
“The pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s.
He has set the world on them.
9 He safeguards the steps of his faithful ones,
but wicked people are silenced in darkness
because humans cannot succeed by their own strength.
10 “Those who oppose Yahweh are broken into pieces.
He thunders at them from the heavens.
Yahweh judges the ends of the earth.
He gives strength to his King
and lifts the head of his Messiah.”[a]
11 Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy Samuel served Yahweh under the priest Eli.
The Sins of Eli’s Sons
12 Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were good-for-nothing priests; they had no faith in Yahweh. 13 Now, this was how the priests dealt with the people who were offering sacrifices: While the meat was boiling, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand. 14 Then he would stick it into the pot, kettle, cauldron, or pan. Whatever the fork brought up from the pot belonged to the priest. This is what the priests did in Shiloh to all the people of Israel who came there to sacrifice. 15 But in the case of Eli’s sons, even before the people burned the fat, their servants would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the meat to the priest to roast. He doesn’t want boiled meat from you. He wants it raw.”
16 If the man said to the servant, “First let the fat be burned, then take as much as you want,” the servant would say to him, “Give it to me now, or I’ll take it by force.” 17 The sin of Eli’s sons was a serious matter to Yahweh, because these men were treating the offerings made to Yahweh with contempt.
The Faithfulness of Samuel’s Family
18 Meanwhile, Samuel continued to serve in front of Yahweh. As a boy he was already wearing a linen ephod.[b] 19 His mother would make him a robe and bring it to him every year when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.
20 Eli would bless Elkanah (and his wife) and say, “May Yahweh give you children from this woman in place of the one which she has given to Yahweh.” Then they would go home.
21 Yahweh came to Hannah. She became pregnant five times and had three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in front of Yahweh.
Eli’s Family Condemned
22 Now, Eli was very old, and he had heard everything that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they were sleeping with the women who served at the gate of the tent of meeting. 23 So he asked them, “Why are you doing such things? I hear about your wicked ways from all these people. 24 Sons, the report that I hear the people of Yahweh spreading isn’t good! 25 If one person sins against another, Elohim will take care of him. However, when a person sins against Yahweh, who will pray for him?” But they wouldn’t listen to their father’s warning—Yahweh wanted to kill them.
26 The boy Samuel continued to grow and gained the favor of Yahweh and the people.
27 Then a man of Elohim came to Eli and said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: I revealed myself to your ancestors when they were under Pharaoh’s control in Egypt. 28 I chose one of your ancestors out of all the tribes of Israel to serve as my priest, to sacrifice burnt offerings on my altar, to burn incense, and to wear the ephod in my presence. And I gave your ancestors the right to keep portions of the sacrifices that the people of Israel burned on the altar. 29 Why do you show no respect for my sacrifices and grain offerings that I have commanded people to make in my dwelling place? Why do you honor your sons more than me by making yourselves fat on the best of all the sacrifices offered by my people Israel?
30 “Therefore, Yahweh Elohim of Israel declares: I certainly thought that your family and your father’s family would always live in my presence.
“But now Yahweh declares: I promise that I will honor those who honor me, and those who despise me will be considered insignificant. 31 The time is coming when I will break your strength and the strength of your father’s house so that no one will grow old in your family. 32 You will see distress in my dwelling place. In spite of the good that I do for Israel, no one in your family will live to an old age. 33 Any man in your family whom I do not remove from my altar will have his eyes fail, and he[c] will be heartbroken. And all your descendants will die in the prime of life. 34 What is going to happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you: Both of them will die on the same day. 35 Then I will appoint a faithful priest to serve me. He will do everything I want him to do. I will give him faithful descendants, and he will always live as my anointed one. 36 Then anyone who is left from your household will bow down in front of him to get a coin or a loaf of bread and say, ‘Please appoint me to one of the priestly classes so that I may eat a piece of bread.’”
God Will Judge Everyone
2 No matter who you are, if you judge anyone, you have no excuse. When you judge another person, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 We know that God’s judgment is right when he condemns people for doing these things. 3 When you judge people for doing these things but then do them yourself, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Do you have contempt for God, who is very kind to you, puts up with you, and deals patiently with you? Don’t you realize that it is God’s kindness that is trying to lead you to him and change the way you think and act?
5 Since you are stubborn and don’t want to change the way you think and act, you are adding to the anger that God will have against you on that day when God vents his anger. At that time God will reveal that his decisions are fair. 6 He will pay all people back for what they have done. 7 He will give everlasting life to those who search for glory, honor, and immortality by persisting in doing what is good. But he will bring 8 anger and fury on those who, in selfish pride, refuse to believe the truth and who follow what is wrong. 9 There will be suffering and distress for every person who does evil, for Jews first and Greeks as well. 10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for every person who does what is good, for Jews first and Greeks as well. 11 God does not play favorites.
12 Here’s the reason: Whoever sins without having the laws in Moses’ Teachings will still be condemned to destruction. And whoever has these laws from God and sins will still be judged by them. 13 People who merely listen to the laws in Moses’ Teachings don’t have God’s approval. Rather, people who do what those laws demand will have God’s approval.
God Will Judge People Who Are Not Jewish
14 For example, whenever non-Jews who don’t have the laws in Moses’ Teachings do by nature the things that those laws contain, they are a law to themselves even though they don’t have any of those laws. 15 They show that some requirements found in Moses’ Teachings are written in their hearts. Their consciences speak to them. Their thoughts accuse them on one occasion and defend them on another. 16 This happens as they face the day when God, through Christ Yeshua, will judge people’s secret thoughts. He will use the Good News that I am spreading to make that judgment.
God Will Judge Jewish People
17 You call yourself a Jew, rely on the laws in Moses’ Teachings, brag about your God, 18 know what he wants, and distinguish right from wrong because you have been taught Moses’ Teachings. 19 You are confident that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in the dark, 20 an instructor of ignorant people, and a teacher of children because you have the full content of knowledge and truth in Moses’ Teachings. 21 As you teach others, are you failing to teach yourself? As you preach against stealing, are you stealing? 22 As you tell others not to commit adultery, are you committing adultery? As you treat idols with disgust, are you robbing temples? 23 As you brag about the laws in Moses’ Teachings, are you dishonoring God by ignoring those laws? 24 As Scripture says, “God’s name is cursed among the nations because of you.”
25 For example, circumcision is valuable if you follow the laws in Moses’ Teachings. If you don’t follow those laws, your circumcision amounts to uncircumcision. 26 So if a man does what those laws demand, won’t he be considered circumcised even if he is uncircumcised? 27 The uncircumcised man who carries out what those laws say will condemn you for not following them. He will condemn you in spite of the fact that you are circumcised and have those laws in writing. 28 A person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision a matter of how the body looks. 29 Rather, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is something that happens in a person’s heart. Circumcision is spiritual, not just a written rule. That person’s praise will come from God, not from people.
Jeremiah Is Freed(A)
40 Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, let him go at Ramah. Nebuzaradan found Jeremiah in chains along with the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being taken to Babylon. 2 The captain of the guard took Jeremiah aside and said to him, “Yahweh your Elohim threatened to bring this disaster on this place. 3 He has carried out his threat. Yahweh did as he promised because you Israelites have sinned against him and refused to obey him. That is why this has happened to you. 4 Today I’m removing the chains from your hands. If you would like to come with me to Babylon, come, and I’ll look after you. But if you don’t want to come with me to Babylon, don’t come. The whole land is yours. Go wherever you want.
5 “If you wish to remain,[a] then go back to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed to govern the cities of Judah. Live among the people with him, or go anywhere you want.” The captain of the guard gave Jeremiah some food and a present and let him go. 6 Jeremiah went to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah and lived with him among the people who were left in the land.
7 All the army commanders and their men who were in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, to govern the country and some of the country’s poorest men, women, and children who had not been taken away to Babylon. 8 These are the commanders who went with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael (son of Nethaniah), Johanan and Jonathan (sons of Kareah), Seraiah (son of Tanhumeth), the sons of Ephai from Netophah, and Jezaniah, who was the son of a man from Maacah. 9 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men. He said, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Live in this country, serve the king of Babylon, and you will prosper. 10 I’m going to live in Mizpah and represent you when the Babylonians come to us. Gather grapes, summer fruit, and olive oil, and put them in storage jars. Live in the cities you have taken over.”
11 Now, all the Jews who were in Moab, Ammon, Edom, and in all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a few survivors in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, to govern them. 12 So all the Jews returned from all the places where they had been scattered. They came to Judah and to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They gathered a large harvest of grapes and summer fruit.
13 Kareah’s son Johanan and all the army commanders who were still in the country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. 14 They asked him, “Do you know that King Baalis of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son, to kill you?” However, Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, didn’t believe them.
15 Then Johanan, Kareah’s son, secretly asked Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Let me kill Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son. No one will know about it. Why should he kill you? All the Jews who have gathered around you would scatter. What is left of Judah would disappear.”
16 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, told Johanan, Kareah’s son, “Don’t do that! What you are saying about Ishmael is a lie.”
Psalm 15
A psalm by David.
1 O Yahweh, who may stay in your tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 The one who walks with integrity,
does what is righteous,
and speaks the truth within his heart.
3 The one who does not slander with his tongue,
do evil to a friend,
or bring disgrace on his neighbor.
4 The one who despises those rejected by Yahweh
but honors those who fear Yahweh.
The one who makes a promise and does not break it,
even though he is hurt by it.
5 The one who does not collect interest on a loan
or take a bribe against an innocent person.
Whoever does these things will never be shaken.
Psalm 16
A miktam[a] by David.
1 Protect me, O El, because I take refuge in you.
2 I said to Yahweh,
“You are my Adonay. Without you, I have nothing good.”
3 Those who lead holy lives on earth
are the noble ones who fill me with joy.[b]
4 Those who quickly chase after other gods multiply their sorrows.
I will not pour out their sacrificial offerings of blood
or use my lips to speak their names.
5 Yahweh is my inheritance and my cup.
You are the one who determines my destiny.
6 Your boundary lines mark out pleasant places for me.
Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.
7 I will praise Yahweh, who advises me.
My conscience warns me at night.
8 I always keep Yahweh in front of me.
When he is by my side, I cannot be moved.
9 That is why my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.
My body rests securely
10 because you do not abandon my soul to the grave
or allow your holy one to decay.
11 You make the path of life known to me.
Complete joy is in your presence.
Pleasures are by your side forever.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.