M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Nathan Confronts David
12 So Yahweh sent Nathan to David. Nathan came to him and said, “There were two men in a certain city. One was rich, and the other was poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cows, 3 but the poor man had only one little female lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up in his home with his children. She would eat his food and drink from his cup. She rested in his arms and was like a daughter.
4 “Now, a visitor came to the rich man. The rich man thought it would be a pity to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler. So he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared her for the traveler.”
5 David burned with anger against the man. “I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives,” he said to Nathan, “the man who did this certainly deserves to die! 6 And he must pay back four times the price of the lamb because he did this and had no pity.”
7 “You are the man!” Nathan told David. “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave you your master Saul’s house and his wives. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if this weren’t enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise my word by doing what I considered evil? You had Uriah the Hittite killed in battle. You took his wife as your wife. You used the Ammonites to kill him. 10 So warfare will never leave your house because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
11 “This is what Yahweh says: I will stir up trouble against you within your own household, and before your own eyes I will take your wives and give them to someone close to you. He will go to bed with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did this secretly, but I will make this happen in broad daylight in front of all Israel.”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.”
Nathan replied, “Yahweh has taken away your sin; you will not die. 14 But since you have shown total contempt for Yahweh by this affair, the son that is born to you must die.” 15 Then Nathan went home.
Yahweh struck the child that Uriah’s wife had given birth to for David so that the child became sick. 16 David pleaded with Elohim for the child; he fasted and lay on the ground all night. 17 The older leaders in his palace stood beside him to raise him up from the ground, but he was unwilling. And he wouldn’t eat with them.
18 On the seventh day the child died. But David’s officials were afraid to tell him that the child was dead. They thought, “While the child was alive, we talked to him, and he wouldn’t listen to us. How can we tell him the child is dead? He may harm himself.”
19 But when David saw that his officials were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” David asked them.
“Yes, he is dead,” they answered.
20 So David got up from the ground, bathed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into Yahweh’s house and worshiped. Then he went home and asked for food. They placed food in front of him, and he ate.
21 His officials asked him, “Why are you acting this way? You fasted and cried over the child when he was alive. But as soon as the child died, you got up and ate.”
22 David answered, “As long as the child was alive, I fasted and cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Yahweh may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But why should I fast now that he’s dead? Can I bring him back? Someday I’ll go to him, but he won’t come back to me.”
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to bed with her, and she later gave birth to a son. David named him Solomon. Yahweh loved the child 25 and sent a message through the prophet Nathan to name the baby Jedidiah [The Lord’s Beloved].
David Defeats the Ammonites(A)
26 Meanwhile, Joab fought against the Ammonite city of Rabbah and captured its royal fortress. 27 So he sent messengers to tell David, “I fought against Rabbah and captured the fortress guarding its water supply. 28 Gather the rest of the troops, surround the city, and capture it. Otherwise, I will capture the city, and it will be named after me.”
29 So David gathered all the troops and went to Rabbah. He fought against the city and captured it. 30 He took the gold crown from the head of Rabbah’s king and put it on his own head. (The crown weighed 75 pounds and contained a precious stone.) David also took a lot of goods from the city. 31 He brought out the troops who were there and put them to work with saws, hoes, and axes. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.
Faith Guides Our Lives
5 We know that if the life we live here on earth is ever taken down like a tent, we still have a building from God. It is an eternal house in heaven that isn’t made by human hands. 2 In our present tent-like existence we sigh, since we long to put on the house we will have in heaven. 3 After we have put it on,[a] we won’t be naked. 4 While we are in this tent, we sigh. We feel distressed because we don’t want to take off the tent, but we do want to put on the eternal house. Then eternal life will put an end to our mortal existence. 5 God has prepared us for this and has given us his Spirit to guarantee it.
6 So we are always confident. We know that as long as we are living in these bodies, we are living away from the Lord. 7 Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident and prefer to live away from this body and to live with the Lord. 9 Whether we live in the body or move out of it, our goal is to be pleasing to him. 10 All of us must appear in front of Christ’s judgment seat. Then all people will receive what they deserve for the good or evil they have done while living in their bodies.
Christ’s Love Guides Us
11 As people who know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. God already knows what we are, and I hope that you also know what we are. 12 We are not trying to show you our qualifications again, but we are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us. Then you can answer those who are proud of their appearance rather than their character. 13 So if we were crazy, it was for God. If we are sane, it is for you. 14 Clearly, Christ’s love guides us. We are convinced of the fact that one man has died for all people. Therefore, all people have died. 15 He died for all people so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the man who died and was brought back to life for them.
16 So from now on we don’t think of anyone from a human point of view. If we did think of Christ from a human point of view, we don’t anymore. 17 Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. 18 God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. 19 In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. 20 Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. 21 God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him.
Funeral Songs for Israel’s Princes
19 Sing a funeral song for the princes of Israel. 2 Say:
Your mother was like a lioness.
She lay down among the lions.
She fed many cubs.
3 One of the cubs she raised became a young lion.
He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted.
He ate people.
4 The nations heard about him,
caught him in their pit,
and brought him with hooks to Egypt.
5 The lioness waited until she saw that there was no more hope.
Then she took another one of her cubs
and raised him into a young lion.
6 He became a young lion, and he prowled among the lions.
He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted.
He ate people.
7 He destroyed fortresses
and turned cities into wastelands.
The land and everyone living in it
were terrified by the sound of his roar.
8 The nations from every region came together against him.
They spread their net over him
and caught him in their pit.
9 With hooks they put him in a cage
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him in prison
so that his roar wouldn’t be heard anymore
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a grapevine
that was planted near water.
It had a lot of fruit and many branches
because there was plenty of water.
11 Its branches were strong.
They were used to make scepters for kings.
It grew to be tall with many branches around it,
and everyone saw it because of its many branches.
12 But in anger it was uprooted and thrown to the ground.
The east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches broke off.
They withered and were burned.
13 Now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and waterless land.
14 Fire has spread from the vine’s main branch.
Fire has destroyed its fruit.
It no longer has any strong branches
that could be used as a king’s scepter.
This is a funeral song. It is to be used as a funeral song.
Psalm 64
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 Hear my voice, O Elohim, when I complain.
Protect my life from a terrifying enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of criminals,
from the mob of troublemakers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords.
They aim bitter words like arrows
4 to shoot at innocent people from their hiding places.
They shoot at them suddenly, without any fear.
5 They encourage one another in their evil plans.
They talk about setting traps and say,
“Who can see them?”
6 They search for the perfect crime and say,
“We have perfected a foolproof scheme!”
Human nature and the human heart are a mystery!
7 But Elohim will shoot them with an arrow.
Suddenly, they will be struck dead.
8 They will trip over their own tongues.
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.
9 Everyone will be afraid and conclude,
“This is an act of Elohim!”
They will learn from what he has done.
10 Righteous people will find joy in Yahweh and take refuge in him.
Everyone whose motives are decent will be able to brag.
Psalm 65
For the choir director; a psalm by David; a song.
1 You are praised with silence in Zion, O Elohim,
and vows made to you must be kept.
2 You are the one who hears prayers.
Everyone will come to you.
3 Various sins overwhelm me.
You are the one who forgives our rebellious acts.
4 Blessed is the person you choose
and invite to live with you in your courtyards.
We will be filled with good food from your house,
from your holy temple.
5 You answer us with awe-inspiring acts done in righteousness,
O Elohim, our savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the most distant sea,
6 the one who set the mountains in place with his strength,
the one who is clothed with power,
7 the one who calms the roar of the seas,
their crashing waves,
and the uproar of the nations.
8 Those who live at the ends of the earth are in awe of your miraculous signs.
The lands of the morning sunrise and evening sunset sing joyfully.
9 You take care of the earth, and you water it.
You make it much richer than it was.
(The river of Elohim is filled with water.)
You provide grain for them.
Indeed, you even prepare the ground.
10 You drench plowed fields with rain
and level their clumps of soil.
You soften them with showers
and bless what grows in them.
11 You crown the year with your goodness,
and richness overflows wherever you are.
12 The pastures in the desert overflow with richness.
The hills are surrounded with joy.
13 The pastures are covered with flocks.
The valleys are carpeted with grain.
All of them shout triumphantly. Indeed, they sing.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.