M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

War with the Ammonites and Arameans

10 When Nahash king of the Ammonites died, his son Hanun became king after him. ² David said, “Nahash was loyal to me, so I will be loyal to his son Hanun.” So David sent his messengers to comfort Hanun about his father’s death.

David’s officers went to the land of the Ammonites. ³ But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, their master, “Do you think David wants to honor your father by sending men to comfort you? No! David sent them to study the city and spy it out and capture it!” ⁴ So Hanun arrested David’s officers. To shame them he shaved off half their beards and cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.

⁵ When the people told David, he sent messengers to meet his officers because they were very ashamed. King David said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back. Then come home.”

⁶ The Ammonites knew that they had insulted David. So they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah. They also hired the king of Maacah with a thousand men and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁷ When David heard about this, he sent Joab with the whole army. ⁸ The Ammonites came out and prepared for battle at the city gate. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah were out in the field by themselves.

⁹ Joab saw that there were enemies both in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best soldiers of Israel and sent them out to fight the Arameans. ¹⁰ Joab put the rest of the army under the command of Abishai, his brother. Then he sent them out to fight the Ammonites. ¹¹ Joab said to Abishai, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, you must help me. Or, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you. ¹² Be strong. We must fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is right.”

¹³ Then Joab and the army with him went to attack the Arameans, and the Arameans ran away. ¹⁴ When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away, they also ran away from Abishai and went back to their city. So Joab returned from the battle with the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ When the Arameans saw that Israel had defeated them, they came together into one big army. ¹⁶ Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans from east of the Euphrates River, and they went to Helam. Their leader was Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army.

¹⁷ When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites together. They crossed over the Jordan River and went to Helam. There the Arameans prepared for battle and attacked him. ¹⁸ But the Arameans ran away from the Israelites. David killed seven hundred Aramean chariot drivers and forty thousand Aramean horsemen. He also killed Shobach, the commander of the Aramean army.

¹⁹ When the kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them, they made peace with the Israelites and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.

Servants of the New Agreement

3 Are we starting to brag about ourselves again? Do we need letters of introduction to you or from you, like some other people? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. ³ You show that you are a letter from Christ sent through us. This letter is not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets^[a] but on human hearts.

⁴ We can say this, because through Christ we feel certain before God. ⁵ We are not saying that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. ⁶ He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷ The law that brought death was written in words on stone. It came with God’s glory, which made Moses’ face so bright that the Israelites could not continue to look at it. But that glory later disappeared. ⁸ So surely the new way that brings the Spirit has even more glory. ⁹ If the law that judged people guilty of sin had glory, surely the new way that makes people right with God has much greater glory. ¹⁰ That old law had glory, but it really loses its glory when it is compared to the much greater glory of this new way. ¹¹ If that law which disappeared came with glory, then this new way which continues forever has much greater glory.

¹² We have this hope, so we are very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who put a covering over his face so the Israelites would not see it. The glory was disappearing, and Moses did not want them to see it end. ¹⁴ But their minds were closed, and even today that same covering hides the meaning when they read the old agreement. That covering is taken away only through Christ. ¹⁵ Even today, when they read the law of Moses, there is a covering over their minds. ¹⁶ But when a person changes and follows the Lord, that covering is taken away. ¹⁷ The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

The Eagle and the Vine

17 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: ² “Human, give a riddle and tell a story to the people of Israel. ³ Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: A giant eagle with big wings and long feathers of many different colors came to Lebanon and took hold of the top of a cedar tree. ⁴ He pulled off the top branch and brought it to a land of traders, where he planted it in a city of traders.

⁵ “‘The eagle took some seed from the land and planted it in a good field near plenty of water. He planted it to grow like a willow tree. ⁶ It sprouted and became a low vine that spread over the ground. The branches turned toward the eagle, but the roots were under the eagle. So the seed became a vine, and its branches grew, sending out leaves.

⁷ “‘But there was another giant eagle with big wings and many feathers. The vine then bent its roots toward this eagle. It sent out its branches from the area where it was planted toward the eagle so he could water it. ⁸ It had been planted in a good field by plenty of water so it could grow branches and give fruit. It could have become a fine vine.’

⁹ “Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: The vine will not continue to grow. The first eagle will pull up the vine’s roots and strip off its fruit. Then the vine and all its new leaves will dry up and die. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull the vine up by its roots. ¹⁰ Even if it is planted again, it will not continue to grow. It will completely dry up and die when the east wind hits it in the area where it grew.’”

Zedekiah Against Nebuchadnezzar

¹¹ Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying: ¹² “Say now to the people who refuse to obey: ‘Do you know what these things mean?’ Say: ‘The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took the king and important men of Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. ¹³ Then he took a member of the family of the king of Judah and made an agreement with him, forcing him to take an oath. The king also took away the leaders of Judah ¹⁴ to make the kingdom weak so it would not be strong again. Then the kingdom of Judah could continue only by keeping its agreement with the king of Babylon. ¹⁵ But the king of Judah turned against the king of Babylon by sending his messengers to Egypt and asking them for horses and many soldiers. Will the king of Judah succeed? Will the one who does such things escape? He cannot break the agreement and escape.

¹⁶ “‘As surely as I live, says the Lord God, he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who made him king of Judah. The king of Judah hated his promise to the king of Babylon and broke his agreement with him. ¹⁷ The king of Egypt with his mighty army and many people will not help the king of Judah in the war. The Babylonians will build devices to attack the cities and to kill many people. ¹⁸ The king of Judah showed that he hated the promise by breaking the agreement. He promised to support Babylon, but he did all these things. So he will not escape.

¹⁹ “‘So this is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, this is true: I will pay back the king of Judah for hating my promise and breaking my agreement. ²⁰ I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my trap. Then I will bring him to Babylon, where I will punish him for the unfaithful acts he did against me. ²¹ All the best of his soldiers who escape will die by the sword, and those who live will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.

²² “‘This is what the Lord God says: I myself will also take a young branch from the top of a cedar tree, and I will plant it. I will cut off a small twig from the top of the tree’s young branches, and I will plant it on a very high mountain. ²³ I will plant it on the high mountain of Israel. Then it will grow branches and give fruit and become a great cedar tree. Birds of every kind will build nests in it and live in the shelter of the tree’s branches. ²⁴ Then all the trees in the countryside will know that I am the Lord. I bring down the high tree and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree grow. I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it.’”

A Prayer After a Defeat

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David. For teaching. When David fought the Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia and Zobah, and when Joab returned and defeated twelve thousand Edomites at the Valley of Salt.

A Prayer for Protection

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.