M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord Calls Samuel
3 The boy Samuel was serving Yahweh under Eli. In those days a prophecy from Yahweh was rare; visions were infrequent. 2 One night Eli was lying down in his room. His eyesight had begun to fail so that he couldn’t see well. 3 The lamp in Elohim’s temple[a] hadn’t gone out yet, and Samuel was asleep in the temple of Yahweh where the ark of Elohim was kept.
4 Then Yahweh called Samuel. “Here I am,” Samuel responded. 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I didn’t call you,” Eli replied. “Go back to bed.” So Samuel went back and lay down.
6 Yahweh called Samuel again. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
“I didn’t call you, son,” he responded. “Go back to bed.” 7 Samuel had no experience with Yahweh, because the word of Yahweh had not yet been revealed to him.
8 Yahweh called Samuel a third time. Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am. You called me.”
Then Eli realized that Yahweh was calling the boy. 9 “Go, lie down,” Eli told Samuel. “When he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Yahweh. I’m listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his room.
10 Yahweh came and stood there. He called as he had called the other times: “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak. I’m listening.”
11 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “I am going to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it ring. 12 On that day I am going to do to Eli and his family everything I said from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I would hand down a permanent judgment against his household because he knew about his sons’ sin—that they were cursing God[b]—but he didn’t try to stop them. 14 That is why I have taken an oath concerning Eli’s family line: No offering or sacrifice will ever be able to make peace for the sins that Eli’s family committed.”
15 Samuel remained in bed until morning. Then he opened the doors of Yahweh’s house. But Samuel was afraid to tell Eli about the vision.
16 Then Eli called Samuel. “Samuel, my son!” he said.
“Here I am,” he responded.
17 “What did Yahweh tell you?” he asked. “Please don’t hide anything from me. May Elohim strike you dead if you hide anything he told you from me.”
18 So Samuel told Eli everything.
Eli replied, “He is Yahweh. May he do what he thinks is right.”
19 Samuel grew up. Yahweh was with him and didn’t let any of his words go unfulfilled. 20 All Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew Samuel was Yahweh’s appointed prophet. 21 Yahweh continued to appear in Shiloh, since Yahweh revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of Yahweh. And Samuel spoke to all Israel.[c]
Everyone Is a Sinner
3 Is there any advantage, then, in being a Jew? Or is there any value in being circumcised? 2 There are all kinds of advantages. First of all, God entrusted them with his word.
3 What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness? 4 That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says,
“So you hand down justice when you speak,
and you win your case in court.”
5 But if what we do wrong shows that God is fair, what should we say? Is God unfair when he vents his anger on us? (I’m arguing the way humans would.) 6 That’s unthinkable! Otherwise, how would God be able to judge the world? 7 If my lie increases the glory that God receives by showing that God is truthful, why am I still judged as a sinner? 8 Or can we say, “Let’s do evil so that good will come from it”? Some slander us and claim that this is what we say. They are condemned, and that’s what they deserve.
9 What, then, is the situation? Do we have any advantage? Not at all. We have already accused everyone (both Jews and Greeks) of being under the power of sin, 10 as Scripture says,
“Not one person has God’s approval.
11 No one understands.
No one searches for God.
12 Everyone has turned away.
Together they have become rotten to the core.
No one does anything good,
not even one person.
13 Their throats are open graves.
Their tongues practice deception.
Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes.
14 Their mouths are full of curses and bitter resentment.
15 They run quickly to murder people.
16 There is ruin and suffering wherever they go.
17 They have not learned to live in peace.
18 They are not terrified of God.”
19 We know that whatever the Scriptures say applies to everyone under their influence, and no one can say a thing. The whole world is brought under the judgment of God. 20 Not one person can have God’s approval by any effort to follow the laws in the Scriptures. These laws show what sin is.
God Gives Us His Approval as a Gift
21 Now, the way to receive God’s approval has been made plain in a way other than the laws in the Scriptures. Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets tell us this. 22 Everyone who believes has God’s approval through faith in Yeshua Christ.
There is no difference between people. 23 Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God’s glory. 24 They receive God’s approval freely by an act of his kindness[a] through the price Christ Yeshua paid to set us free from sin. 25 God showed that Christ is the throne of mercy where God’s approval is given through faith in Christ’s blood. In his patience God waited to deal with sins committed in the past. 26 He waited so that he could display his approval at the present time. This shows that he is a God of justice, a God who approves of people who believe in Yeshua.
27 So, do we have anything to brag about? Bragging has been eliminated. On what basis was it eliminated? On the basis of our own efforts? No, indeed! Rather, it is eliminated on the basis of faith. 28 We conclude that a person has God’s approval by faith, not by his own efforts.
29 Is God only the God of the Jews? Isn’t he also the God of people who are not Jewish? Certainly, he is, 30 since it is the same God who approves circumcised people by faith and uncircumcised people through this same faith.
31 Are we abolishing the laws in the Scriptures by this faith? That’s unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting these laws.
Gedaliah Is Assassinated by Ishmael(A)
41 In the seventh month Ishmael (son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a descendant of the royal family and of the king’s officers) went with ten men to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate together at Mizpah, 2 Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who were with him got up, drew their swords, and killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. So they assassinated the man whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land. 3 Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah as well as the Babylonian soldiers that he found there.
4 The day after the murder of Gedaliah, before anyone knew about it, 5 80 men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to Yahweh’s temple. 6 Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, left Mizpah to meet them, crying as he went. When he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah, son of Ahikam.”
7 When they came into the city, Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and his men slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern. 8 However, ten men from the group had said to Ishmael, “Don’t kill us! We have wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in the country.” So he left them alone and didn’t kill them along with the others.
9 Now, the cistern where Ishmael threw all the bodies of the men he had killed was the same one that King Asa made as a part of his defense against King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, filled it with the bodies.
10 Then Ishmael took captive the rest of the people who were at Mizpah. He captured the king’s daughters and all the other people who had been left at Mizpah. They were the people whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had put under the control of Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, took them captive and left for Ammon.
11 When Kareah’s son Johanan and all the army commanders who were with him heard about all the crimes Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, had done, 12 they took all their men and went to fight Ishmael. They caught up with him at the large pool in Gibeon. 13 When all the people who were with Ishmael saw Kareah’s son Johanan and all the army commanders who were with him, they were glad. 14 Then all the people Ishmael had taken captive at Mizpah turned and ran to Kareah’s son Johanan. 15 Ishmael and eight of his men escaped from Johanan and fled to Ammon.
16 Then Kareah’s son Johanan and all the army commanders who were with him brought back the rest of the people of Mizpah whom he had rescued from Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam. Johanan brought back men, women, children, soldiers, and commanders from Gibeon. 17 When they left Gibeon, they stayed near Bethlehem at Geruth Kimham on their way to Egypt. 18 They were afraid of the Babylonians because Ishmael had killed Gedaliah whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land.
Psalm 17
A prayer by David.
1 Hear my plea for justice, O Yahweh.
Pay attention to my cry.
Open your ears to my prayer,
which comes from lips free from deceit.
2 Let the verdict of my innocence come directly from you.
Let your eyes observe what is fair.
3 You have probed my heart.
You have confronted me at night.
You have tested me like silver,
but you found nothing wrong.
I have determined that my mouth will not sin.
4 I have avoided cruelty because of your word.
In spite of what others have done,
5 my steps have remained firmly in your paths.
My feet have not slipped.
6 I have called on you because you answer me, O El.
Turn your ear toward me.
Hear what I have to say.
7 Reveal your miraculous deeds of mercy,
O Savior of those who find refuge by your side
from those who attack them.
8 Guard me as if I were the pupil in your eye.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
9 Hide me from wicked people who violently attack me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have shut out all feeling.[a]
Their mouths have spoken arrogantly.
11 They have tracked me down.
They have surrounded me.
They have focused their attention on throwing me to the ground.
12 Each one of them is like a lion eager to tear its prey apart
and like a young lion crouching in hiding places.
13 Arise, O Yahweh; confront them!
Bring them to their knees!
With your sword rescue my life from wicked people.
14 With your power rescue me from mortals, O Yahweh,
from mortals who enjoy their inheritance only in this life.
You fill their bellies with your treasure.
Their children are satisfied with it,
and they leave what remains to their children.
15 I will see your face when I am declared innocent.
When I wake up, I will be satisfied with seeing you.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.