M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring the kings would go out to war. So in the spring David sent out Joab, his servants and all the Israelites. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked the city of Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. ² One evening David got up from his bed. He walked around on the roof^[a] of his palace. While he was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful. ³ So David sent his servants to find out who she was. A servant answered, “That woman is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” ⁴ David sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. When she came to him, he had physical relations with her. (Now Bathsheba had purified herself from her monthly period.) Then she went back to her house. ⁵ But Bathsheba became pregnant. She sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

⁶ So David sent this message to Joab: “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ Uriah came to David. And David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. ⁸ Then David said to Uriah, “Go home and rest.”

So Uriah left the palace. The king also sent a gift to him. ⁹ But Uriah did not go home. He slept outside the door of the palace. He slept there as all the king’s officers did.

¹⁰ The officers told David, “Uriah did not go home.”

Then David said to Uriah, “You came from a long trip. Why didn’t you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah said to him, “The Ark of the Covenant and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My master Joab and his officers are camping out in the fields. It isn’t right for me to go home to eat and drink and have intimate relations with my wife!”

¹² David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. Tomorrow I’ll send you back to the battle.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ Then David called Uriah to come to see him. Uriah ate and drank with David. David made Uriah drunk, but he still did not go home. That evening Uriah went to sleep with the king’s officers outside the king’s door.

¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. ¹⁵ In the letter David wrote, “Put Uriah on the front lines where the fighting is worst. Then leave him there alone. Let him be killed in battle.”

¹⁶ Joab watched the city and saw where its strongest defenders were. He put Uriah there. ¹⁷ The men of the city came out to fight against Joab. Some of David’s men were killed. And Uriah the Hittite was one of them.

¹⁸ Then Joab sent a report to David about everything that had happened in the war. ¹⁹ Joab told the messenger, “Tell King David what happened in the war. ²⁰ After you finish, the king may become angry. He may ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the city wall? ²¹ Do you remember who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth?^[b] It was a woman on the city wall. She threw a large stone for grinding grain on Abimelech. She killed him there in Thebez. Why did you go so near the wall?’ If King David asks that, you must answer, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”

²² The messenger went in and told David everything Joab had told him to say. ²³ The messenger told David, “The men of Ammon were winning. They came out and attacked us in the field. But we fought them back to the city gate. ²⁴ The men on the city wall shot arrows at your servants. Some of your men were killed. Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.”

²⁵ David said to the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t be upset about this. The sword kills everyone the same. Make a stronger attack against the city and capture it.’ Encourage Joab with these words.”

²⁶ When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she cried for him. ²⁷ After she finished her time of sadness, David sent servants to bring her to his house. She became David’s wife and gave birth to his son. But the Lord did not like what David had done.

Preaching the Good News

4 God, with his mercy, gave us this work to do. So we don’t give up. ² But we have turned away from secret and shameful ways. We use no trickery, and we do not change the teaching of God. We teach the truth plainly. This is how we show everyone who we are. And this is how they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are before God. ³ The Good News that we preach may be hidden. But it is hidden only to those who are lost. ⁴ The devil who rules this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News—the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is exactly like God. ⁵ We do not preach about ourselves. But we preach that Jesus Christ is Lord; and we preach that we are your servants for Jesus. ⁶ God once said, “Let the light shine out of the darkness!” And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts. He gave us light by letting us know the glory of God that is in the face of Christ.

Spiritual Treasure in Clay Jars

⁷ We have this treasure from God. But we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that this great power is from God, not from us. ⁸ We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up. ⁹ We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ We carry the death of Jesus in our own bodies, so that the life of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies. ¹¹ We are alive, but for Jesus we are always in danger of death. This is so that the life of Jesus can be seen in our bodies that die. ¹² So death is working in us, but life is working in you.

¹³ It is written in the Scriptures, “I believed, so I spoke.”^[a] Our faith is like this, too. We believe, and so we speak. ¹⁴ God raised the Lord Jesus from death. And we know that God will also raise us with Jesus. God will bring us together with you, and we will stand before him. ¹⁵ All these things are for you. And so the grace of God is being given to more and more people. This will bring more and more thanks to God for his glory.

Living by Faith

¹⁶ So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. ¹⁷ We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory. That glory is much greater than the troubles. ¹⁸ So we set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time. But what we cannot see will last forever.

God Is Fair

18 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “What do you mean by using this saying about the land of Israel:

³ “As surely as I live, says the Lord God, this is true: You will not use this saying in Israel anymore. ⁴ Every living thing belongs to me. The life of the father is mine. And the life of the son is mine. The person who sins will die.

⁵ “There may be a good person. This person does what is fair and right. ⁶ He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not commit adultery with his neighbor’s wife. He does not have physical relations with a woman during her time of monthly bleeding. ⁷ He does not mistreat anyone. But he returns what was given as a promise for a loan. He does not rob other people. He gives bread to hungry people. He gives clothes to those who have no clothes. ⁸ He does not lend money to get too much interest or profit. He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He judges fairly between men. ⁹ He lives by my rules and obeys my laws faithfully. The person who does all these things is good. He will surely live, says the Lord God.

¹⁰ “But this person might have a wild son who murders people. This son may do any of these other bad things. ¹¹ (But the father himself has not done any of these things.) This son eats at the mountain places of worship. He commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife. ¹² He mistreats the poor and needy. He steals things. He refuses to return what was promised for a loan. He looks to idols for help. He does things which I hate. ¹³ He lends money for too much interest and profit. Will this son live? No, he will not live! He has done all these hated things. He will surely be put to death. He will be responsible for his own sins.

¹⁴ “But this son might have a son who has seen the sins his father did. But after seeing them, he does not do those things. ¹⁵ He does not eat at the mountain places of worship. He does not look to the idols of Israel for help. He does not commit adultery with his neighbor’s wife. ¹⁶ He does not mistreat anyone. He does not keep something promised for a loan. He does not steal. But he gives bread to the hungry people. He gives clothes to people without clothes. ¹⁷ He keeps his hand from doing wrong. He does not take too much interest or profit when he lends money. He obeys my laws and lives by my rules. He will not die for his father’s sin. He will surely live. ¹⁸ But his father took other people’s money unfairly. He robbed his brother. He did what was wrong among his people. So he will die for his own sin.

¹⁹ “But you ask, ‘Why is the son not punished for the father’s sin?’ The son has done what is fair and right. He obeys all my rules. So he will surely live. ²⁰ It is the person who sins that will die. The son will not be punished for the father’s sin. The father will not be punished for the son’s sin. The person who does right is responsible for his own goodness. The evil person is responsible for his own evil.

²¹ “But the evil person might stop doing all the sins he has done. And he might obey all my rules and do what is fair and right. Then he will surely live. He will not die. ²² His sins will be forgotten. Now he does what is right. So he will live. ²³ I do not really want the evil person to die, says the Lord God. I want him to stop his bad ways and live.

²⁴ “But a person who does right might stop doing good and do wrong. And he might do the same hated things an evil person does. Will he live? All his good acts will be forgotten. This is because he became unfaithful. He has sinned. So he will die because of his sins.

²⁵ “But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ Hear now, people of Israel. I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair! ²⁶ A good person might stop doing good. He might do wrong and die because of it. He will die because he did wrong. ²⁷ An evil person might stop doing the evil things he has done. And he might do what is fair and right. He will save his life. ²⁸ He thought about it and stopped doing all the sins he had done. He will surely live. He will not die. ²⁹ But the people of Israel still say, ‘What the Lord does isn’t fair.’ People of Israel, I am fair. It is what you do that is not fair.

³⁰ “So I will judge you, people of Israel. I will judge each person by what he does, says the Lord God. Change your hearts. Stop all your sinning. Then sin will not bring your ruin. ³¹ Get rid of all the sins you have done. And get for yourselves a new heart and a new way to think. Why do you want to die, people of Israel? ³² I do not want anyone to die. So change your hearts and lives so you may live.

Trust Only in God

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A song of David.

Wishing to Be Near God

A song of David when he was in the desert of Judah.