M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel dies
25 Then Samuel died. All the Israelites met together and they were very sad. Then they buried Samuel at his home in Ramah.
David went down to the Paran desert.
Nabal insults David
2-3 There was a very rich man who lived at Maon. His name was Nabal. He was a descendant of Caleb. His wife's name was Abigail. She was wise and beautiful. But Nabal was a cruel man who did evil things.
Nabal had some land near Carmel. He had 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. He was with his men in Carmel as they cut the wool from his sheep.
4 While David was in the desert, he heard that Nabal was cutting the wool from his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men to meet with Nabal. He said to them, ‘Go to Carmel and find Nabal. Tell him that David says “hello”. 6 Then give him this message: “We hope that you and your family are all well. We hope that everything you have is doing well. 7 David has heard that you are now cutting the wool from your sheep. When your shepherds were with us near Carmel, we did not hurt them. We did not take anything from them. 8 Your servants will tell you that, if you ask them. Now we have come to you at this special holiday time. So please be kind to the young men that David has sent to see you. They are your servants as well as his servants. Please give any extra food that you have to these young men and to your good friend David.” ’
9 David's men went to Carmel. They gave David's message to Nabal. They waited for Nabal to reply. 10 Nabal answered David's young men, ‘Who is this David? Do I know this son of Jesse? Many servants run away from their masters these days. 11 I have food and drink for the men who are cutting the wool from my sheep. I have cooked meat for them to eat. But I will not give anything to you. You might have come from anywhere!’
12 David's young men left Nabal. They returned to David and they told him everything that Nabal had said. 13 David said to his men, ‘Tie your swords onto your belts.’ So they all did that. David put his sword on his belt too. About 400 men went with David. About 200 men stayed at their camp.
14 One of Nabal's servants spoke to Nabal's wife, Abigail. He said to her, ‘David sent some of his men from the desert to say “hello” to our master. But our master insulted them. 15 David's men have been very kind to us. When we were with them in the fields, they did not hurt us. They did not take anything from us the whole time that we were there. 16 They kept us safe while we took care of Nabal's sheep. They kept us safe all the time, during the day and at night. 17 So please think carefully about this. Decide what you can do. If you do nothing, there will be great trouble for our master and all his family and servants. He is such a wicked man that he will not listen to anyone.’
18 Abigail quickly got some food. She got 200 loaves of bread, two leather bags of wine, five sheep that she had cooked, and five jars of grain that she had cooked. She also got 100 blocks of raisins and 200 blocks of dried figs. She put all these things on some donkeys. 19 She said to her servants, ‘You go first and I will follow you.’ But she did not tell her husband Nabal what she was doing.
20 Abigail rode her donkey along the path beside a mountain. Then she saw David and his men as they were coming towards her. So they all met each other. 21 David had just said to his men, ‘I kept Nabal's people and all his things safe in the desert. We did not take anything from him. But that has not helped us. I was kind to him, but he has done an evil thing to me in return. 22 I pray that God will punish me if I do not kill all the men in Nabal's family by tomorrow morning.’
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey. She bent her body down low on the ground to respect David. 24 She lay down at his feet. She said to David, ‘My master, I am the one who is guilty. I am your servant. Please let me say something and please listen to me. 25 Please sir, do not think about that wicked man Nabal. His name means “fool” and he really is a fool. But as for me, I did not see the young men that you sent.
26 I know this as surely as the Lord lives and as surely as you live: The Lord has stopped you from killing anyone today. You could have done that, but he has not let you do it. I pray that God will punish all your enemies in the same way that he will punish Nabal. 27 My master, please accept these gifts that I have brought for you and for your men. 28 I am your servant. Please forgive me for any sin. I know that the Lord will always choose someone from your family to be Israel's king. The Lord will do that because you fight battles on his behalf. I pray that you will not do any evil thing in your whole life. 29 People may chase after you and try to kill you. But the Lord your God will always keep you safe. He will throw your enemies away like someone who throws a stone from his sling. 30 The Lord will surely do for you all the good things that he has promised to do. He will make you the ruler of the Israelites. 31 When that happens, you will not feel sorry for something bad that you might have done today. You could have killed people today for no good reason. You could have tried to punish these people yourself. So please remember me when the Lord has helped you to rule as king.’
32 David said to Abigail, ‘I praise the Lord, Israel's God. He has sent you to meet me here today. 33 I thank you for your wisdom. May the Lord bless you because of what you have done to help me. You have stopped me from killing people today. I would have punished these people myself. 34 But the Lord has not let me hurt you. As surely as the Lord, Israel's God, lives, I would have killed all the men in Nabal's family before dawn. But you came quickly to meet me.’
35 David accepted Abigail's gifts that she had brought with her. He said to her, ‘Go back to your home and do not be afraid. I have listened to what you have said. I will do what you have asked for.’
Nabal dies
36 Abigail returned to her husband, Nabal. He was eating a big feast with people in his house. It was as good as a king's feast. Nabal was happy and drunk. So Abigail did not tell him anything until the next morning.
37 The next morning, Nabal was no longer drunk. So Abigail told him about everything that she had done. Nabal's heart failed. His body became like a stone. 38 About ten days after that, the Lord caused Nabal to die.
39 David heard the news that Nabal had died. He said, ‘I praise the Lord. He has shown that I was right. Nabal insulted me but the Lord has punished him for that. The Lord stopped me from doing an evil thing. Now he has punished Nabal for the evil thing that he did.’
Then David sent a message to Abigail to ask her to marry him. 40 David's servants went to Carmel. They said to Abigail, ‘David has sent us to you. We must take you back with us to become his wife.’
41 Abigail bent her body down low so that her face touched the ground. She said, ‘I am happy to be David's servant. I am ready to wash the feet of his servants.’
42 Abigail quickly prepared her donkey to go with David's men. She took with her five young girls to be her servants. Abigail went to David and she became his wife.
43 David had already married Ahinoam from Jezreel town. So these two women became his wives. 44 Saul's daughter Michal had been David's wife. But Saul had then given her to Palti as his wife. Palti was the son of Laish, who came from Gallim town.
Quarrels between Christians
6 Perhaps one of you has a quarrel with another Christian. Who should decide which of you is right? You should never ask people who do not know God to decide. No! Instead, you should go to God's people. They should decide. 2 It is God's people who will judge all the people in the world one day. You surely know that. Since that is true, you should be able to decide about small quarrels between yourselves. 3 You know that we will judge the angels one day. So we must be able to decide about ordinary things here on earth.
4 If you want to decide an ordinary matter like that, what do you do? Sometimes you go to a judge who does not believe in God. You should never do that! The church does not respect people like that. 5 I say this so that you will feel ashamed. There is surely a wise person in your group who could decide quarrels between yourselves. 6 But instead, some believers among you accuse other believers in front of judges. And those judges are not believers!
7 When you accuse each other like that, it shows that you have already failed. It would be better to accept it when other people hurt you. Even if people rob you, it would be better to accept it. 8 Instead, you yourselves hurt other people, and you even rob them. And those other people are believers like you!
9 People who do wrong things like that will never belong to God's kingdom. You surely know that. Do not think that people like this will receive God's good things: People who have sex in wrong ways. People who worship idols. People who have sex with anyone that they are not married to. Men who have sex with other men. 10 People who rob other people. People who want many things for themselves. Drunks. People who insult other people. People who deceive other people to take things from them. None of these people will receive the good things of God's kingdom.
11 At one time, some of you were people like that. But God has now made you clean and pure, so that you belong to him. You have become right with God. Our God has done this with the power of his Spirit because you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Use your bodies in a good way
12 Some of you believers may say, ‘I am free to do anything that I want to do.’ That may be true, but not everything will help you. I could say, ‘I am free to do the things that I want to do.’ Yes, but I will not let anything rule over me.
13 Some of you may say, ‘God made food to feed our bodies. That is why people have stomachs. But one day God will destroy both stomachs and food.’ Yes, but the Lord gave our bodies to us. Our bodies belong to the Lord. So you should not use your bodies to have sex in a wrong way.[a] 14 God raised the Lord Jesus after he died. And God will use his power to make us alive again too.[b]
15 You know that your bodies are parts of Christ's own body. So you must never take your body and make it join with a prostitute's body. That is like you have done it with part of Christ's body. Never let that happen! 16 Anyone who makes his own body join to a prostitute becomes one body with that prostitute. You should know that. It says in the Bible:
‘The man and the woman become as one body.’[c]
17 But everyone who is united to the Lord has the same spirit as him. 18 So never have sex in a wrong way! You may say, ‘If a person does a bad thing, it is not his body that does it.’ But if you have sex in a wrong way, you are doing a bad thing to your own body. 19 Remember this: Your body is the home of God's Holy Spirit. God gave his Holy Spirit to you and he lives in you. You do not belong to yourselves any longer. 20 God bought you for himself. He paid the price for you. So use your body to show how great God is.[d]
A message about Jerusalem
4 ‘Son of man, take a large brick and put it in front of you.[a] On the brick, draw a picture of the city, Jerusalem. 2 Show that soldiers are ready to attack the city. Build heaps of earth around it so that nobody can escape. Put heavy pieces of wood around the city that the enemy could use to break its walls. 3 Then you must do this. Take a flat plate of iron and put it between you and the brick. It will be like a wall between you and the city. Look towards the city. Show that soldiers are around the city and they are ready to attack it. Nobody can escape. This will be a picture to show Israel's people what will happen to them.[b]
4-5 Then lie down on your left side. Show that you are receiving the punishment for the sins of the Israelites. You will suffer like that for 390 days. It will show the number of years that I have decided to punish Israel's people. Each day that you suffer will show one year of their punishment.
6 After you have finished all those days, lie down again. This time, lie down on your right side for 40 days. You will suffer like that to show the punishment for the sins of Judah's people. Each day will show one year of their punishment. 7 Continue to look towards the brick which has the picture of Jerusalem on it. Show that you are ready to attack it, like soldiers all around it. Speak my message to warn the city. 8 Listen! I will use ropes to tie around you. You will not be able to turn from one side to another. You will lie on one side until you have finished all the days to attack the city.[c]
9 You must take some grains like wheat and barley, and different kinds of beans. Then put them all into a jar. Use them to make bread for yourself. You must eat this for 390 days while you lie on your left side. 10 You should eat 220 grams of food each day. Eat it at the same time each day. 11 You must measure the water that you drink each day. You may drink two cups at the same times each day. 12 Prepare your food like a cake that is made from barley. Bake it on a fire that you have made with human dung. Do this where the people can see you.’[d]
13 The Lord also said, ‘I will send Israel's people away to live in foreign lands. Then they will have to eat unclean food, as you will do now.’[e]
14 Then I said, ‘No, Almighty Lord, I could not use human dung. It would make me unclean. Since I was a child I have never eaten any food that would make me unclean. I have never eaten meat from a dead animal that people have found. I have not eaten meat from an animal that wild animals have killed.’
15 So God said to me, ‘I will allow you to use dung from cows instead of from humans. You may use that to make the fire to cook your bread.’
16 Then God said to me, ‘Son of man, I will soon take away the bread in Jerusalem. The people will have to measure the food that they eat. And they will have to measure the water that they drink. They will worry and be afraid. 17 They will not have enough food or water. Everyone will be very upset. Their bodies will become very thin when I punish them for their sins.’[f]
David wrote this song for the music leader.
God has helped me[a]
40 I was patient while I waited for the Lord to help me.
He turned towards me,
and he heard me when I called to him.
2 He lifted me out of the deep hole of danger.
He picked me up out of the mud.
He put my feet on a rock.
Then I could walk and not slip.
3 He gave me a new song to sing.
It was a song to praise our God.
Many people will see what God has done to help me.
Then they will respect and obey him.
Yes, they will trust in the Lord.
4 If anyone trusts in the Lord
he blesses them!
They do not expect proud people to help them.
They do not join with those people who worship false gods.
5 Lord, my God, you have done many great things.
You have done so many things for us
that we cannot count them!
There is nobody else like you!
I want to talk about the things that you have done,
but there are too many things to speak about!
6 You do not really want sacrifices and offerings.
I understand that!
You do not ask for burnt offerings
or sin offerings.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am, my God!
The message that is written in the book
tells me what I must do.[b]
8 I want to do what pleases you.
Your law is always in my thoughts.’
9 In the great meeting of your people,
I have told them about your justice.
I cannot keep quiet!
You know that this is true, Lord.
10 I have not hidden the good news about your justice.
I have told everyone that they can trust you,
and that you have the power to save.
I tell the great meeting of your people about your faithful love.
11 You, Lord, will continue to be kind to me.
Please continue to keep me safe,
because of your faithful love.
12 There are many dangerous troubles all around me.
They are too many to count!
My sins are too strong for me.
They are more than all the hairs on my head!
So I am weak and I cannot see clearly.
13 Lord, please save me!
Lord, come quickly to help me!
14 Chase away the people who want to kill me!
Cause them to become ashamed and confused.
Chase away the people who want to hurt me,
so that they run away in shame.
15 When people laugh at me,
make them sorry for what they have done.
16 Lord, may those who come to you be very happy,
because you have saved them.
They should never stop saying,
‘Praise the Lord!’
17 But I am poor and weak, my Lord.
Please continue to think about me.
You are the one who helps me and who saves me.
My God, come quickly to help me!
David wrote this song for the music leader.
A prayer[c]
41 If someone is kind to poor people,
God blesses him.
When he is in trouble,
the Lord rescues him.
2 The Lord keeps him safe.
The Lord saves his life!
God causes him to be happy
here in the land where he lives.
The Lord will not put him under the power of his enemies.
3 The Lord takes care of him
when he is ill in bed.
Whenever he is ill,
you will make him completely well again.
4 I said, ‘Lord be kind to me
and forgive me.
I have done wrong things against you,
but please make me well again.’
5 My enemies say cruel things about me.
They say, ‘Surely he must die soon!
Then everyone will forget about him.’
6 When they come to see me,
they say that they are my friends.
But they think of ways to make me ashamed.
When they leave,
they tell everyone bad things about me.
7 All the people who hate me
insult me to other people.
My enemies make plans to hurt me.
8 They say, ‘He has a dangerous disease.
He will never get up from his bed.’
9 Even my special friend has turned against me.
He was someone that I trusted.
I often ate food with him in my home.[d]
10 But you, Lord, please be kind to me.
Raise me up to be well again.
Then I can punish my enemies as they have punished me.[e]
11 They have not won against me,
so I know that you are pleased with me!
12 You continue to help me because I do what is right.
You will let me stay near to you for ever.
13 Let us all praise the Lord,
who is Israel's great God!
Yes, praise him now and for ever!
Amen! Amen!
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