M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul saves Jabesh town
11 One month later, Nahash went with his army to attack Jabesh, a town in Gilead region. Nahash was an Ammonite.[a] The people in Jabesh said to him, ‘Make an agreement with us so that we will serve you.’ 2 Nahash said, ‘I will make an agreement with you only if you let me do this. I must cut out the right eye of every person in your town. I want to bring shame on all Israel's people.’
3 The leaders of Jabesh said to him, ‘Wait for seven more days. We will send a message to all the people in Israel. We will ask them to rescue us. If nobody comes to save us, we will agree to whatever you say.’
4 Men took the message to Gibeah, the town where Saul lived. When they told the news to the people there, the people started to weep loudly. 5 Saul had been out on his farm. As he was returning home with his cows, he asked, ‘What has happened here? Why are the people weeping?’ They told Saul what the men from Jabesh had said.
6 When Saul heard the news, God's Spirit came on him with power. He became very angry. 7 He killed two of his oxen. He cut their bodies into pieces. He sent men with the pieces to all the towns in Israel. In each town, the men said, ‘Everyone must join Saul and Samuel to fight in their army. If you do not agree to join them, they will cut up your oxen just like this!’ The people became very afraid of what the Lord would do. So they all came together as one army. 8 They met together at Bezek. Saul counted 300,000 men from Israel and 30,000 men from Judah.[b]
9 Saul said to the men who had brought the news from Jabesh, ‘Return to Jabesh. Tell the people, “We will come to rescue you tomorrow, before midday.” ’
So the men took the message to the people in Jabesh. The people were very happy. 10 The men there said to Nahash, ‘Tomorrow we will come out of the town to you. Then you can do anything that you want to us.’
11 Early the next day, Saul put his soldiers into three groups. At dawn, they attacked the camp of the Ammonite soldiers. The Israelite soldiers continued to kill the Ammonites until midday. The Ammonite soldiers who were still alive ran away in different directions. Each man ran off by himself.
12 The Israelite people said to Samuel, ‘Bring to us those men who said, “We do not want Saul to rule over us.” We must kill them!’
13 Saul said, ‘No, you must not kill anyone today. It is the day when the Lord has rescued Israel's people.’
14 Samuel said to the people, ‘Now we will all go to Gilgal. We must all agree that Saul will continue to be our king.’ 15 So everyone went to Gilgal. They went to the place where they worshipped the Lord. They all agreed that Saul would be their king. They offered peace offerings to the Lord. Saul and all the Israelites were very happy.
The Jews have not believed in Christ
9 What I am telling you is true. I speak as someone who belongs to Christ. I am not telling lies. God's Holy Spirit rules my thoughts and I am sure that I am right. 2 I tell you this: Deep inside myself, I am always very sad and upset because of Israel's people. 3 I belong to the same family as they do. They are my own people. I really want them to believe in Christ too. If it would help them, I would even ask God to curse me. I would ask him to make me separate from Christ.
4 They are Israelite people. God chose them to belong to him as his own children. He showed them that he is very great. He made many agreements with them and he gave his Law to them. He showed them how they should worship him. He promised many good things to them. 5 It was their ancestors that God chose to make great many years ago.[a] And Christ himself, as a man, was born to an Israelite family. Christ is God, who rules over all things. We should praise him for ever! This is true! Amen.
6 God promised good things to Israel's people. But I am not saying that what God promised did not happen. It is clear that not all of Israel's people are God's true people. 7 Not all of them are true descendants of Abraham. God told Abraham, ‘It is only Isaac that I will call the father of your descendants.’
8 This means that not all of Abraham's children are really God's children. It is only those children who were born as a result of God's promise. Only they are the people that God calls true descendants. 9 This is what God promised to Abraham: ‘At this time next year I will come back. Then Sarah, your wife, will have a son.’[b]
10 Remember this too: Later, Isaac's wife, Rebekah, gave birth to twins. Those two sons had the same father, who was our ancestor, Isaac. 11 And God spoke to Rebekah before her sons were born. God spoke before the boys had done anything either good or bad. God did this to show clearly that he himself was choosing one child. He was not choosing someone because of what that person had done. He himself decided who he would choose. 12 God said to Rebekah, ‘The older son will serve the younger son.’ 13 This is written in the Bible: ‘I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau.’[c]
14 Because of this, someone might say that God is not fair. No! We should never say that! 15 Think about this. God said to Moses, ‘I will be kind to whoever I choose to be kind to. I will feel sorry for whoever I choose to feel sorry for.’[d] 16 So then, it is God who decides these things. It is not because of what people want. It is not because of what people do. It is because God chooses to be kind.
17 The Bible tells us what God said to Pharaoh: ‘This is why I caused you to be king of Egypt. My purpose was to show how powerful I am. As a result, people everywhere would know that I am great.’[e] 18 So we see this: God is kind to some people and he forgives them. But he causes some people, like Pharaoh, to turn against him. He chooses what he will do with each person.
God himself decides when he will be angry or kind
19 One of you may say to me, ‘God always does what he wants to do. Nobody can change what God makes them do. So God should not say that people have done wrong things.’ 20 But you are only human. You have no authority to speak against God like that. God has made you. A pot cannot speak against the person who made it! It cannot ask him, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ 21 Somebody who makes pots can choose to make any kind of pot. He can use the same piece of clay to make two different pots. One of the pots may be for special parties. The other pot is for dirty things.
22 What does that teach us about God? Some people are like pots that are ready for God to destroy. God is angry with people like that. He is ready to show his power against them. But he has chosen to wait patiently. He keeps his anger for later. 23 Other people are like valuable pots that God has chosen to make. God wants to be kind to people like that. He wants to use them to show people how great he is. He has prepared them to be with him for a special party in heaven. 24 We are those people! God has chosen us to be his people. It is not only Jews that he has chosen. He has also chosen Gentiles. 25 God says this in the book of Hosea:
‘I will say to people who were not my people,
“Now you are my people.”
I will say to people that I did not love,
“I love you.” ’[f]
26 ‘God had said to them,
“You are not my people.”
In the same place where he said that,
people will now call them “Children of God, who lives for ever.” ’[g]
27 Also, Isaiah, God's prophet, said this about Israel's people:
‘There are so many of Israel's people, nobody can count them.
They are as many as the bits of sand on the shore of the sea.
But God will save only a few of them.
28 The Lord God will finish his work quickly.
He has warned his people what he will do.
And he will punish them completely.’[h]
29 Isaiah had already said this:
‘The Lord of great power has let some of our children live.
If he had not done that, no descendants would remain.
We would have become like the people in Sodom and Gomorrah.’[i]
30 So, we must think about what all this means. The Gentiles were not trying to become right with God. But some of them have now become right with him. God has accepted them as right, because they have believed in Jesus Christ. 31 But Israel's people tried to find a law that would make them right with God. But they failed to become right with God. 32 They failed because they refused to believe in Christ. Instead, they were trying to do certain things so that God would accept them. Because of that they fell to the ground. Their feet hit the stone which causes people to fall. 33 It says this in the Bible:
‘Look, I am putting a special stone in Zion.
That stone will cause people to fall to the ground.
It is a rock that will make them fall down.
But anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.’[j]
The Lord's message about Moab
48 The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, spoke this message about Moab:[a]
‘Nebo city is in terrible trouble!
It will soon become a heap of stones.
The people of Kiriathaim city will be ashamed.
Its enemies will take it for themselves.
They will knock down its strong buildings,
and its people will be ashamed.
2 People will no longer praise Moab.
In Heshbon, Moab's enemies will decide how to destroy the nation.
They will say, “We must completely destroy Moab!”
The town of Madmen will become silent,
as a great army chases out the people.
3 The people of Horonaim will shout for help,
because a strong army is destroying them.
4 Moab will come to an end!
Its children will cry loudly.
5 They will go up the hill to Luhith.
They will weep as they go.
As they go down the road towards Horonaim,
they will cry about their town that the enemy is destroying.
6 People say, “Run away to save your lives!
Go and live in the desert.”
7 People of Moab, you trusted your riches and your skills to save you.
Because of that, your enemies will catch you.
They will even take your god Chemosh away as prisoner,
together with his priests and officers.
8 Your cruel enemy will attack every town.
No town or city will escape.
The enemy will destroy every place in the valley,
and every place on the high ground.
They will become heaps of stones.
I, the Lord, tell you this!
9 Dig a grave to bury Moab![b]
Its land will become like a desert.
Its cities will become heaps of stones.
Nobody will live in them.’
10 The Lord will curse anyone who refuses to do his work! He will punish anyone who does not use his sword to kill his enemies!
Moab's peace will come to an end
11 The Lord said, ‘Moab's people have lived in peace since they first became a nation. No enemy has taken them away to a foreign land as their prisoners. They have been like the wine in a bottle that nobody has moved. Nobody has poured it into another bottle, so its taste and smell have never changed. Moab has always been the same.
12 But the time will soon come when I will send people to attack Moab. They will pour out Moab's people like somebody pours wine out of a bottle. They will pour out all the wine so that the bottles are empty. And they will break the bottles into pieces!
13 Then Moab's people will be ashamed because their god Chemosh has not saved them. They will be like the Israelites who trusted in their idol at Bethel and they became ashamed.
14 Men of Moab, you should no longer say,
“We are brave soldiers who know how to fight.”
15 I am the King, the Lord Almighty, and I tell you this:
The enemy will soon destroy Moab and its cities.
They will kill its strongest young men.
16 Moab will soon come to an end.
Terrible trouble will quickly destroy it.
17 You nations that live around Moab,
you know how famous it has been.
But now you must weep for it.
Say, “Moab's royal power is finished!
They no longer have great power to rule!”
18 You people who live in Dibon must stop being proud.
Come down from the places where people give you honour.
Sit on the ground in the dirt.
Moab's cruel enemy has arrived.
They will cause your strong buildings to become heaps of stones.
19 You people who live in Aroer,
stand beside the road and watch.
Ask the people who are running away what has happened.
20 They will reply, “The enemy has won against Moab
and its people are ashamed.
So weep and cry out!
Stand beside the Arnon river and tell the news.
Tell people that the enemy has destroyed Moab.”
21 The Lord has judged the cities on the high ground and he will soon punish them:
Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
22 Dibon, Nebo and Beth-Diblathaim,
23 Kiriathaim, Beth-Gamul and Beth-Meon,
24 Kerioth and Bozrah.
He will punish all the towns of Moab, near or far away. 25 Moab has lost its power. Its strength has finished.’
That is what the Lord says.
26 ‘Moab has turned against me.
So my anger will make him like a person who is drunk.
He will lie down in the place where he has been sick.
People will laugh at him.
27 You people of Moab laughed at my people, the Israelites.
Why did you insult them?
You said that they were no better than a group of robbers.
28 Now you must all leave your towns.
Go and live among the rocks.
Live like doves that make their nests high up among the rocks.
29 We have heard that Moab's people are very proud.
They think that they are better than everyone else.
We know how much they boast.’
30 The Lord says,
‘I know about Moab's proud thoughts.
But their pride is false.
Whatever they do, it will be useless.
31 So I am sad for Moab. I am crying for all their people.
I weep for the people of Kir-Heres.[c]
32 I weep for the vines of Sibmah, more than Jazer weeps.
The branches of those vines reached across the sea as far as Jazer.[d]
But the cruel enemy will destroy all the fruit that grows on your vines and trees.
33 People will no longer be happy in the land where this fruit grows.
I will stop them making wine from their grapes.
They will not stamp on their grapes and shout with joy.
Instead, the shouts will be shouts about trouble.
34 In Heshbon and Elealeh people cry out because of their pain.
The noise reaches as far as Jahaz.
It reaches from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-Shelishiyah.
Even the Nimrim river has become dry.’
35 The Lord says this:
‘I will remove the people of Moab who worship other gods.
They offer sacrifices to them
and they burn incense at their altars.
36 So I am very sad for the people of Moab.
I weep like a flute that plays a funeral song.
I am sad for the people of Kir-Heres,
because all their riches will disappear.
37 All the men will be very upset.
They will cut the hair off their heads and their faces.
They will use knives to cut their hands.
They will wear sackcloth as their clothes.
38 People are standing on the roofs of their houses.
They are standing in the streets.
They are all crying and weeping.
They are sad because I have destroyed Moab.
I have broken it in pieces, like a jar that I no longer want.’
That is what the Lord says.
39 ‘Yes, Moab will be like a broken jar.
Its people will weep with loud voices.
They will turn away because they are ashamed.
All the nations around there will laugh at Moab.
They will see the terrible trouble that it has received.’
40 The Lord says,
‘Look at the enemy that suddenly arrives!
It comes like an eagle that flies down to catch its food.
41 The enemy will take Moab's towns and its strong buildings.
Moab's soldiers will be afraid,
like a woman who will soon give birth.
42 Moab has been proud and it has turned against the Lord.
So they will no longer be a nation.’
43 The Lord says this:
‘People of Moab, there will be danger, deep holes and traps that are ready to catch you!
44 Anyone who runs away from danger, will fall into a deep hole.
And a trap will catch anyone who climbs out of the deep hole.
Yes, the time will soon come when I will punish Moab's people.
45 People will run away to Heshbon to be safe.
They will be helpless as they stand outside its walls.
Flames of fire will come out from Heshbon,
the city where King Sihon once ruled.
It will burn as far as Moab's borders.
It will destroy those proud people who love to fight.
46 It will be very bad for you, you people of Moab!
The enemy will destroy you people who worship Chemosh.
They will take away your sons and your daughters.
They will take them as prisoners to a foreign land.
47 But one day I will cause Moab to be strong again.’
That is what the Lord says.
That is the end of the Lord's message against Moab.
This is a song that David wrote.
A prayer for help in trouble[a]
25 Lord, I offer myself to you.
2 I trust in you, my God.
Please do not let me be ashamed.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me,
because they are stronger than me.
3 Surely nobody who trusts in you
will become ashamed.
But those who like to deceive others
will become ashamed.
4 Lord, help me to understand your ways.
Teach me your good paths.[b]
5 Please be my guide and teach me your truth.
I trust you every day,
because you are the God who keeps me safe.
6 Lord, please be kind to me
and show me your faithful love.
From long ago you have always been like that.
7 Do not punish me for the sins that I did long ago.
When I was young, I turned against you.
Please be kind to me, because of your faithful love!
8 The Lord is good and he does what is right.
Because of that, he teaches sinners the right way to live.
9 He is a guide for humble people,
so that they know what is right.
He teaches them to follow his way.
10 The Lord is kind to his people
in everything that he does.
He shows his faithful love
to those who obey the rules of his covenant.
11 Lord, my sins are very many.
Please forgive me,
and show that your name is great.
12 If people respect the Lord,
the Lord will show them the right way to live.
13 People like that will enjoy a good life.
The land will belong to their descendants.
14 The Lord is a guide for those who serve him.
He teaches them to obey his covenant.
15 I always look to the Lord for help.
He will keep me safe from my enemies,
so that their traps do not catch me.
16 Please turn towards me, Lord,
and be kind to me.
I feel very weak and lonely.
17 I worry a lot about my troubles.
Please rescue me from them!
18 Look at all my pain!
See how I am suffering!
Forgive me for all my sins.
19 Look at all my enemies!
There are very many of them!
They hate me so much
that they want to hurt me.
20 Keep my life safe and take care of me.
I have come to you to keep me safe,
so do not let me be ashamed.
21 I trust you to save me.
Please take care of me,
because I am honest and good.
22 God, save Israel's people from all their troubles!
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