M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David and Goliath
17 The Philistines assembled their armies for war. They assembled at Socoh, which is in Judah, and camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. 2 So Saul and the army of Israel assembled and camped in the Elah Valley. They formed a battle line to fight the Philistines. 3 The Philistines were stationed on a hill on one side, and the Israelites were stationed on a hill on the other side. There was a ravine between the two of them.
4 The Philistine army’s champion came out of their camp. His name was Goliath from Gath. He was ten feet tall.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze coat of armor scales weighing 125 pounds. 6 On his legs he had bronze shin guards and on his back a bronze javelin. 7 The shaft of his spear was like the beam used by weavers. The head of his spear was made of 15 pounds of iron. The man who carried his shield walked ahead of him.
8 Goliath stood and called to the Israelites, “Why do you form a battle line? Am I not a Philistine, and aren’t you Saul’s servants? Choose a man, and let him come down to fight me. 9 If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I overpower him and kill him, then you will be our slaves and serve us.” 10 The Philistine added, “I challenge the Israelite battle line today. Send out a man so that we can fight each other.” 11 When Saul and all the Israelites heard what this Philistine said, they were gripped with fear.
12 David was a son of a man named Jesse from the region of Ephrath and the city of Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s day he was an old man.[b] 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons joined Saul’s army for the battle. The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, the third was Shammah, 14 and David was the youngest. The three oldest joined Saul’s army. 15 David went back and forth from Saul’s camp to Bethlehem, where he tended his father’s flock.
16 Each morning and evening for 40 days, the Philistine came forward and made his challenge.
17 Jesse told his son David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Take them to your brothers in the camp right away. 18 And take these ten cheeses to the captain of the regiment. See how your brothers are doing, and bring back some news about them. 19 They, along with Saul and all the soldiers of Israel, are in the Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.”
20 David got up early in the morning and had someone else watch the sheep. He took the food and went, as Jesse ordered him. He went to the camp as the army was going out to the battle line shouting their war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines formed their battle lines facing each other. 22 David left the supplies behind in the hands of the quartermaster, ran to the battle line, and greeted his brothers. 23 While he was talking to them, the Philistine champion, Goliath from Gath, came from the battle lines of the Philistines. He repeated his words, and David heard them. 24 When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him because they were terrified. 25 The men of Israel said, “Did you see that man coming from the Philistine lines? He keeps coming to challenge Israel. The king will make the man who kills this Philistine very rich. He will give his daughter to that man to marry and elevate the social status of his family.”[c]
26 David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and gets rid of Israel’s disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should challenge the army of Elohim Chay?”
27 The soldiers repeated to David how the man who kills Goliath would be treated.
28 Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. “Why did you come here,” he asked him, “and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle.”
29 “What have I done now?” David snapped at him. “Didn’t I merely ask a question?” 30 He turned to face another man and asked the same question, and the other soldiers gave him the same answer.
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, who then sent for him. 32 David told Saul, “No one should be discouraged because of this. I will go and fight this Philistine.”
33 Saul responded to David, “You can’t fight this Philistine. You’re just a boy, but he’s been a warrior since he was your age.”
34 David replied to Saul, “I am a shepherd for my father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. If it attacked me, I took hold of its mane, struck it, and killed it. 36 I have killed lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has challenged the army of Elohim Chay.” 37 David added, “Yahweh, who saved me from the lion and the bear, will save me from this Philistine.”
“Go,” Saul told David, “and may Yahweh be with you.”
38 Saul put his battle tunic on David; he put a bronze helmet on David’s head and dressed him in armor. 39 David fastened Saul’s sword over his clothes and tried to walk, but he had never practiced doing this. “I can’t walk in these things,” David told Saul. “I’ve never had any practice doing this.” So David took all those things off.
40 He took his stick with him, picked out five smooth stones from the riverbed, and put them in his shepherd’s bag. With a sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine. 41 The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David. 42 When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.
43 The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come to attack me with sticks?” So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David. 44 “Come on,” the Philistine told David, “and I’ll give your body to the birds.”
45 David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. 46 Today Yahweh will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has an Elohim. 47 Then everyone gathered here will know that Yahweh can save without sword or spear, because Yahweh determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.”
48 When the Philistine moved closer in order to attack, David quickly ran toward the opposing battle line to attack the Philistine. 49 Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, hurled it from his sling, and struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into Goliath’s forehead, and he fell to the ground on his face. 50 So using only a sling and a stone, David proved to be stronger than the Philistine. David struck down and killed the Philistine, even though David didn’t have a sword in his hand. 51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took Goliath’s sword, pulled it out of its sheath, and made certain the Philistine was dead by cutting off his head.
When the Philistines saw their hero had been killed, they fled. 52 Then the soldiers of Israel and Judah rose up, shouted a battle cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Wounded Philistines lay on the road to Shaaraim and all the way to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites came back from their pursuit of the Philistines, they looted all the goods in the Philistine camp. 54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath’s armor in his tent.
55 As Saul watched David going out against the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?”
Abner answered, “I solemnly swear, as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”
56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”
57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner brought him to Saul. David had the Philistine’s head in his hand.
58 Saul asked him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.
15 So those of us who have a strong faith must be patient with the weaknesses of those whose faith is not so strong. We must not think only of ourselves. 2 We should all be concerned about our neighbor and the good things that will build his faith. 3 Christ did not think only of himself. Rather, as Scripture says, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
God Gives Us Unity
4 Everything written long ago was written to teach us so that we would have confidence through the endurance and encouragement which the Scriptures give us. 5 May God, who gives you this endurance and encouragement, allow you to live in harmony with each other by following the example of Christ Yeshua. 6 Then, having the same goal, you will praise the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua Christ.
7 Therefore, accept each other in the same way that Christ accepted you. He did this to bring glory to God. 8 Let me explain. Christ became a servant for the Jewish people to reveal God’s truth. As a result, he fulfilled God’s promise to the ancestors of the Jewish people. 9 People who are not Jewish praise God for his mercy as well. This is what the Scriptures say,
“That is why I will give thanks to you among the nations
and I will sing praises to your name.”
10 And Scripture says again,
“You nations, be happy together with his people!”
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Praise him, all you people of the world!”
12 Again, Isaiah says,
“There will be a root from Jesse.
He will rise to rule the nations,
and he will give the nations hope.”
13 May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul’s Desire to Tell the Good News to the World
14 I’m convinced, brothers and sisters, that you, too, are filled with goodness. I’m also convinced that you have all the knowledge you need and that you are able to instruct each other. 15 However, I’ve written you a letter, parts of which are rather bold, as a reminder to you. I’m doing this because God gave me the gift 16 to be a servant of Christ Yeshua to people who are not Jewish. I serve as a priest by spreading the Good News of God. I do this in order that I might bring the nations to God as an acceptable offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit. 17 So Christ Yeshua gives me the right to brag about what I’m doing for God. 18 I’m bold enough to tell you only what Christ has done through me to bring people who are not Jewish to obedience. By what I have said and done, 19 by the power of miraculous and amazing signs, and by the power of God’s Spirit, I have finished spreading the Good News about Christ from Jerusalem to Illyricum.
20 My goal was to spread the Good News where the name of Christ was not known. I didn’t want to build on a foundation which others had laid. 21 As Scripture says,
“Those who were never told about him will see,
and those who never heard will understand.”
22 This is what has so often kept me from visiting you. 23 But now I have no new opportunities for work in this region. For many years I have wanted to visit you. 24 Now I am on my way to Spain, so I hope to see you when I come your way. After I have enjoyed your company for a while, I hope that you will support my trip to Spain.
25 Right now I’m going to Jerusalem to bring help to the Christians there. 26 Because the believers in Macedonia and Greece owe a debt to the Christians in Jerusalem, they have decided to take up a collection for the poor among the Christians in Jerusalem. 27 These Macedonians and Greeks have shared the spiritual wealth of the Christians in Jerusalem. So they are obligated to use their earthly wealth to help them.
28 When the collection is completed and I have officially turned the money over to the Christians in Jerusalem, I will visit you on my way to Spain. 29 I know that when I come to you I will bring the full blessing of Christ.
30 Brothers and sisters, I encourage you through our Lord Yeshua Christ and by the love that the Spirit creates, to join me in my struggle. Pray to God for me 31 that I will be rescued from those people in Judea who refuse to believe. Pray that God’s people in Jerusalem will accept the help I bring. 32 Also pray that by the will of God I may come to you with joy and be refreshed when I am with you.
33 May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
The Prophet Speaks Out: The Lord Destroyed Zion
2 [a]“Look how Adonay has covered the people of Zion
with the cloud of his anger!
He has thrown down Israel’s beauty from heaven to earth.
He didn’t even remember his footstool on the day of his anger.
2 Adonay swallowed up all of Jacob’s pastures without any pity.
He tore down the fortified cities of Judah in his fury.
He brought the kingdom of Judah and its leaders
down to the ground in dishonor.
3 In his burning anger he cut off all of Israel’s strength.
He withdrew his right hand when they faced their enemy.
He burned like a raging fire in the land of Jacob,
destroying everything around him.
4 Like an enemy he bent his bow.
Like an opponent his right hand held the arrow steady.
He killed all the beautiful people.
He poured out his fury like fire on the tent of Zion’s people.
5 Adonay became an enemy.
He swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all of its palaces.
He destroyed its strongholds.
He made the people of Judah mourn and moan.
6 He stripped his own booth as if it were a garden
and destroyed his own festivals.
Yahweh wiped out the memory of festivals and days of worship in Zion.
He expelled kings and priests because of his fierce anger.
7 Adonay rejected his altar and disowned his holy place.
He handed the walls of Zion’s palaces over to its enemies.
The enemies made noise in Yahweh’s temple
as though it were a festival day.
8 Yahweh planned to destroy the wall of Zion’s people.
He marked it off with a line.
He didn’t take his hand away until he had swallowed it up.
He made the towers and walls mourn.
They are completely dejected.
The Prophet Describes Jerusalem’s Destruction
9 “Zion’s gates have sunk into the ground.
The Lord destroyed and shattered the bars across its gates.
Its king and influential people are scattered among the nations.
There is no longer any instruction from Moses’ Teachings.
Its prophets can find no visions from Yahweh.
10 The respected leaders of Zion’s people sit silently on the ground.
They throw dirt on their heads and put on sackcloth.
The young women of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are worn out with tears.
My stomach is churning.
My heart is poured out on the ground
because of the destruction of my people.
Little children and infants faint in the city streets.
12 They’re asking their mothers for some bread and wine
as they faint like wounded people in the city streets.
Their lives dwindle away in their mothers’ arms.
The Prophet Speaks Out: The Lord Destroyed You
13 “What example can I give you?
What parallel can I show you, people of Jerusalem?
What comparison can I make that will comfort you, beloved people of Zion?
Your wounds are as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets saw misleading visions about you.
They painted a good picture of you.
They didn’t expose your guilt in order to make things better again.
They gave you false prophecies that misled you.
15 Everyone who walks along the road shakes a fist at you.
They hiss and shake their heads at Jerusalem’s people:
‘Is this the city they used to call absolutely beautiful,
the joy of the whole world?’
16 All your enemies gawk at you.
They hiss and grit their teeth.
They say, ‘We’ve swallowed it up.
Yes, this is the day we’ve been waiting for.
At last we have seen it!’
17 Yahweh has accomplished what he had planned to do.
He carried out the threat he announced long ago.
He tore you down without any pity, Jerusalem.
He made your enemies gloat over you.
He raised the weapons of your opponents.
18 The hearts of Jerusalem’s people
cried out to Adonay, the wall of Zion’s people.
Let your tears run down like a river day and night.
Don’t let them stop.
Don’t let your eyes rest.
19 Get up! Cry out at night, every hour on the hour.
Pour your heart out like water in the presence of Adonay.
Lift up your hands to him in prayer
for the life of your little children
who faint from hunger at every street corner.”
Zion Speaks Out: The Lord Destroyed Me
20 “O Yahweh, look and consider:
Have you ever treated anyone like this?
Should women eat their own children,
the children they have nursed?
Should priests and prophets be killed in Adonay’s holy place?
21 Young and old lie on the ground in the streets.
My young women and men are cut down by swords.
You killed them on the day of your anger.
You slaughtered them without any pity.
22 You have invited those who terrorize me on every side,
as though they were invited to a festival.
No one escaped or survived on the day of Yahweh’s anger.
My enemy has murdered the children I nursed and raised.”
Psalm 33
1 Joyfully sing to Yahweh, you righteous people.
Praising the Lord is proper for decent people.
2 Give thanks with a lyre to Yahweh.
Make music for him on a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing a new song to him.
Play beautifully and joyfully on stringed instruments.
4 The word of Yahweh is correct,
and everything he does is trustworthy.
5 Yahweh loves righteousness and justice.
His mercy fills the earth.
6 The heavens were made by the word of Yahweh
and all the stars by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the water in the sea like a dam
and puts the oceans in his storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear Yahweh.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
9 He spoke, and it came into being.
He gave the order, and there it stood.
10 Yahweh blocks the plans of the nations.
He frustrates the schemes of the people of the world.
11 Yahweh’s plan stands firm forever.
His thoughts stand firm in every generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose Elohim is Yahweh.
Blessed are the people he has chosen as his own.
13 Yahweh looks down from heaven.
He sees all of Adam’s descendants.
14 From the place where he sits enthroned,
he looks down upon all who live on earth.
15 The one who formed their hearts
understands everything they do.
16 No king achieves a victory with a large army.
No warrior rescues himself by his own great strength.
17 Horses are not a guarantee for victory.
Their great strength cannot help someone escape.
18 Yahweh’s eyes are on those who fear him,
on those who wait with hope for his mercy
19 to rescue their souls from death
and keep them alive during a famine.
20 We wait for Yahweh.
He is our help and our Magen.
21 In him our hearts find joy.
In his holy name we trust.
22 Let your mercy rest on us, O Yahweh,
since we wait with hope for you.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.