M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

7 The men of Kiriath Jearim came to take Yahweh’s ark and brought it into Abinadab’s house on the hill. They gave Abinadab’s son Eleazar the holy occupation of guarding Yahweh’s ark.

Israel Admits It Has Sinned

² A long time passed after the ark came to stay at Kiriath Jearim. For 20 years the entire nation of Israel mournfully sought Yahweh.

³ Samuel told the entire nation of Israel, “If you are returning to Yahweh wholeheartedly, get rid of the foreign gods you have, including the statues of the goddess Astarte. Make a commitment to Yahweh, and serve only him. Then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”

⁴ So the Israelites got rid of the statues of Baal and Astarte and served only Yahweh.

⁵ Then Samuel said, “Gather all the Israelites together at Mizpah, and I will pray to Yahweh for you.” ⁶ So the Israelites gathered together at Mizpah. They drew some water, poured it out in front of Yahweh, and fasted that day. They confessed, “We have sinned against Yahweh.” So Samuel judged Israel in Mizpah.

The Philistines Defeated

⁷ When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the Philistine rulers came to attack Israel. The Israelites heard about the Philistine plan and were afraid of them. ⁸ The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t turn a deaf ear to us! Don’t stop crying to Yahweh our Elohim for us! Ask him to save us from the Philistines!”

⁹ Then Samuel took a lamb, one still feeding on milk, and sacrificed it as a burnt offering to Yahweh. Samuel cried to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him. ¹⁰ While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines came to fight against Israel. On that day Yahweh thundered loudly at the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel. ¹¹ Israel’s soldiers left Mizpah, pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as Beth Car.

¹² Then Samuel took a rock and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer [Rock of Help] and said, “Until now Yahweh has helped us.”

¹³ The power of the Philistines was crushed, so they didn’t come into Israel’s territory again. Yahweh restrained the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. ¹⁴ The cities between Ekron and Gath which the Philistines took from Israel were returned to Israel. And Israel recovered the territory controlled by these cities from the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

¹⁵ Samuel judged Israel as long as he lived. ¹⁶ Every year he went around to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah in order to judge Israel in all those places. ¹⁷ Then he would return home to Ramah. There, too, he judged Israel. And in Ramah he built an altar to Yahweh.

Israel Rejects the Lord as King

8 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. ² The name of his firstborn son was Joel; the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. ³ The sons didn’t follow their father’s example but turned to dishonest ways of making money. They took bribes and denied people justice.

⁴ Then all the leaders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They told him, “You’re old, and your sons aren’t following your example. Now appoint a king to judge us so that we will be like all the other nations.”

⁶ But Samuel considered it wrong for them to request a king to judge them. So Samuel prayed to Yahweh. ⁷ Yahweh told Samuel, “Listen to everything the people are saying to you. They haven’t rejected you; they’ve rejected me. ⁸ They’re doing just what they’ve done since I took them out of Egypt—leaving me and serving other gods. ⁹ Listen to them now, but be sure to warn them and tell them about the rights of a king.”

¹⁰ Then Samuel told the people who had asked him for a king everything Yahweh had said. ¹¹ Samuel said, “These are the rights of a king:

He will draft your sons, make them serve on his chariots and horses, and make them run ahead of his chariots.

¹² He will appoint them to be his officers over 1,000 or over 50 soldiers, to plow his ground and harvest his crops, and to make weapons and equipment for his chariots.

¹³ He will take your daughters and have them make perfumes, cook, and bake.

¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his officials.

¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and wine and give it to his aids and officials.

¹⁶ He will take your male and female slaves, your best cattle,^[a] and your donkeys for his own use.

¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks.

In addition, you will be his servants.

¹⁸ “When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. Yahweh will not answer you when that day comes.”

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. They said, “No, we want a king! ²⁰ Then we, too, will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us, lead us out to war, and fight our battles.”

²¹ When Samuel heard everything the people had to say, he reported it privately to Yahweh. ²² Yahweh told him, “Listen to them, and give them a king.”

Then Samuel told the people of Israel, “Go back to your own cities.”

No Longer Slaves to Sin, but God’s Servants

6 What should we say then? Should we continue to sin so that God’s kindness^[a] will increase? ² That’s unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin’s influence?

³ Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Yeshua were baptized into his death? ⁴ When we were baptized into his death, we were placed into the tomb with him. As Christ was brought back from death to life by the glorious power of the Father, so we, too, should live a new kind of life. ⁵ If we’ve become united with him in a death like his, certainly we will also be united with him when we come back to life as he did. ⁶ We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. ⁷ The person who has died has been freed from sin.

⁸ If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that Christ, who was brought back to life, will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. ¹⁰ When he died, he died once and for all to sin’s power. But now he lives, and he lives for God. ¹¹ So consider yourselves dead to sin’s power but living for God in the power Christ Yeshua gives you.

¹² Therefore, never let sin rule your physical body so that you obey its desires. ¹³ Never offer any part of your body to sin’s power. No part of your body should ever be used to do any ungodly thing. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of. ¹⁴ Certainly, sin shouldn’t have power over you because you’re not controlled by God’s laws, but by God’s favor.^[b]

¹⁵ Then what is the implication? Should we sin because we are not controlled by God’s laws but by God’s favor? That’s unthinkable! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that if you offer to be someone’s slave, you must obey that master? Either your master is sin, or your master is obedience. Letting sin be your master leads to death. Letting obedience be your master leads to God’s approval. ¹⁷ You were slaves to sin. But I thank God that you have become wholeheartedly obedient to the teachings which you were given. ¹⁸ Freed from sin, you were made slaves who do what God approves of.

¹⁹ I’m speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your corrupt nature. Clearly, you once offered all the parts of your body as slaves to sexual perversion and disobedience. This led you to live disobedient lives. Now, in the same way, offer all the parts of your body as slaves that do what God approves of. This leads you to live holy lives. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from doing what God approves of.

²¹ What did you gain by doing those things? You’re ashamed of what you used to do because it ended in death. ²² Now you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves. This results in a holy life and, finally, in everlasting life. ²³ The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Yeshua our Lord.

The Jews in Egypt Will Be Punished for Their Idolatry

44 Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah about all the Jews living in Egypt at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph, and Pathros. ² This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: You have seen all the disasters I brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah. Today they are deserted ruins. ³ It is because their people did evil, and they made me angry. They went to burn incense and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors heard of. ⁴ I have sent my servants the prophets to you again and again to tell you not to do these detestable things that I hate. ⁵ But you wouldn’t listen or pay attention. You wouldn’t turn from your wicked ways and wouldn’t stop burning incense as an offering to other gods. ⁶ That is why my fury and anger were poured out and continued to burn in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem. So they became the desolate ruin that they are today.

⁷ Now, this is what Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: Why do you bring this terrible disaster on yourselves? Why do you keep destroying men, women, children, and babies from Judah until none are left? ⁸ Why do you make me angry by burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live. You will destroy yourselves and be cursed and ridiculed by all the nations on earth. ⁹ Have you forgotten the wicked things done by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their wives, and by you and your wives in Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ You have not humbled yourselves even to this day. You haven’t feared me or lived your lives by my teachings or by my decrees that I gave your ancestors.

¹¹ This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: I’m going to bring disaster on you and destroy all of Judah. ¹² I will take away from Judah those who are left, those who were determined to go to live in Egypt. They will die in Egypt. All of them, from the least important to the most important, will die in wars or be brought to an end by famines. They will become something cursed, ridiculed, and disgraced. ¹³ I will punish those living in Egypt as I punished Jerusalem with wars, famines, and plagues. ¹⁴ None of the people of Judah who went to live in Egypt will survive or return to Judah, where they long to return and live. Only a few refugees will return there.

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women who were standing there, and all the people who lived at Pathros in Egypt answered Jeremiah. They said, ¹⁶ “We won’t listen to the message that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name. ¹⁷ We will do everything we said we would do. We will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out wine offerings to her as our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem. We had plenty to eat then, and we lived comfortably and saw no disaster. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out wine offerings to her, we have had nothing but wars and famines.”

¹⁹ The women added, “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven, poured out wine offerings to her, and made cakes for her with her image on them, do you think our husbands didn’t approve?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, to everyone who answered him, ²¹ “Doesn’t Yahweh remember that you burned incense in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem along with your ancestors, your kings and your officials, and the people in the land? ²² Yahweh could no longer bear the wicked and detestable things you did. That is why your land has become something ruined, destroyed, and cursed. No one lives in that land today. ²³ You burned incense as offerings to other gods, sinned against Yahweh, and wouldn’t obey him. You didn’t live by his teachings, decrees, or written instructions. That is why you have met with this disaster as it is today.”

²⁴ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, “Listen to the word of Yahweh, all you people of Judah who are in Egypt. ²⁵ This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: You and your wives made promises, and you have kept them. You said, ‘We will certainly do what we vow. We will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out wine offerings to her.’

“So go ahead. Keep your vows, and do what you vow. ²⁶ But listen to the word of Yahweh, all you people of Judah who live in Egypt. ‘I swear by my great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘that no one from Judah who lives anywhere in Egypt will ever again call on my name and take the oath, “As Adonay Yahweh lives.” ²⁷ I am going to watch over them. I am going to watch over them to bring disasters, not blessings. In Egypt the people from Judah will die in wars and famines until everyone is gone. ²⁸ Those who escape the wars will return to Judah from Egypt. Then all the people of Judah who went to live in Egypt will know whose words have come true, mine or theirs. ²⁹ I will give you this sign,’ declares Yahweh. ‘I will punish you in this place so that you will know that my threats of disaster will happen to you. ³⁰ This is what Yahweh says: I’m going to hand Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, over to his enemies and to those who want to kill him, just as I handed over King Zedekiah of Judah to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to those who wanted to kill him.’”

Psalm 20

For the choir director; a psalm by David.

Psalm 21

For the choir director; a psalm by David.