M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

13 Absalom son of David had a fair sister whose name was Tamar, and Amnon [her half brother] son of David loved her.

² And Amnon was so troubled that he fell sick for his [half] sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and Amnon thought it impossible for him to do anything to her.

³ But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother; and Jonadab was a very crafty man.

⁴ He said to Amnon, Why are you, the king’s son, so lean and weak-looking from day to day? Will you not tell me? And Amnon said to him, I love Tamar, my [half] brother Absalom’s sister.

⁵ Jonadab said to him, Go to bed and pretend you are sick; and when your father David comes to see you, say to him, Let my sister Tamar come and give me food and prepare it in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.

⁶ So Amnon lay down and pretended to be sick; and when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, I pray you, let my sister Tamar come and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand.

⁷ Then David sent home and told Tamar, Go now to your brother Amnon’s house and prepare food for him.

⁸ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house, and he was in bed. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked them.

⁹ She took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Send everyone out from me. So everyone went out from him.

¹⁰ Then Amnon said to Tamar, Bring the food here into the bedroom, so I may eat from your hand. So Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the room to Amnon her brother.

¹¹ And when she brought them to him, he took hold of her and said, Come lie with me, my sister.

¹² She replied, No, my brother! Do not force and humble me, for no such thing should be done in Israel! Do not do this foolhardy, scandalous thing!^(A)

¹³ And I, how could I rid myself of my shame? And you, you will be [considered] one of the stupid fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray you, speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.

¹⁴ But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he forced her and lay with her.

¹⁵ Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so that his hatred for her was greater than the love with which he had loved her. And Amnon said to her, Get up and get out!

¹⁶ But she said, No! This great evil of sending me away is worse than what you did to me. But he would not listen to her.

¹⁷ He called the servant who served him and said, Put this woman out of my presence now, and bolt the door after her!

¹⁸ Now [Tamar] was wearing a long robe with sleeves and of various colors, for in such robes were the king’s virgin daughters clad of old. Then Amnon’s servant brought her out and bolted the door after her.

¹⁹ And [she] put ashes on her head and tore the long, sleeved robe which she wore, and she laid her hand on her head and went away shrieking and wailing.

²⁰ And Absalom her brother said to her, Has your brother Amnon been with you? Be quiet now, my sister. He is your brother; take not this matter to heart. So Tamar dwelt in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

²¹ But when King David heard of all these things, he was very angry.

²² And Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad; for Absalom hated Amnon because he had humbled his sister Tamar.

²³ After two full years Absalom had sheepshearers at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

²⁴ Absalom came to the king and said, Behold, your servant has sheepshearers; I pray you, let the king and his servants go with your servant.

²⁵ And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go, lest we be burdensome to you. Absalom urged David; still he would not go, but he blessed him.

²⁶ Then said Absalom, If not, I pray you, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said to him, Why should he go with you?

²⁷ But Absalom urged him, and he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.

²⁸ Now Absalom commanded his servants, Notice now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine and when I say to you, Strike Amnon, then kill him. Fear not; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and brave.

²⁹ And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose and every man mounted his mule and fled.

³⁰ While they were on the way, the word came to David, Absalom has killed all the king’s sons, and not one of them is left.

³¹ Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the floor; and all his servants standing by tore their clothes.

³² But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, Let not my lord suppose they have killed all the king’s sons; for Amnon only is dead. This purpose has shown itself on Absalom’s determined mouth ever since the day Amnon humiliated his sister Tamar.

³³ So let not my lord the king take the thing to heart and think all the king’s sons are dead; for Amnon only is dead.

³⁴ But Absalom fled. And the young man who kept the watch looked up, and behold, many people were coming by the way of the hillside behind him.

³⁵ And Jonadab said to the king, See, the king’s sons are coming. It is as your servant said.

³⁶ And as he finished speaking, the king’s sons came and lifted up their voices and wept; and the king also and all his servants wept very bitterly.

³⁷ But Absalom fled and went to [his mother’s father] Talmai son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son [Amnon] every day.

³⁸ So Absalom fled to Geshur and was there three years.

³⁹ And the spirit of King David longed to go forth to Absalom, for he was comforted about Amnon, seeing that he was dead.

6 Laboring together [as God’s fellow workers] with Him then, we beg of you not to receive the grace of God in vain [that ^[a]merciful kindness by which God exerts His holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ, keeping and strengthening them—do not receive it to no purpose].

² For He says, In the time of favor (of an assured welcome) I have listened to and heeded your call, and I have helped you on the day of deliverance (the day of salvation). Behold, now is truly the time for a gracious welcome and acceptance [of you from God]; behold, now is the day of salvation!^(A)

³ We put no obstruction in anybody’s way [we give no offense in anything], so that no fault may be found and [our] ministry blamed and discredited.

⁴ But we commend ourselves in every way as [true] servants of God: through great endurance, in tribulation and suffering, in hardships and privations, in sore straits and calamities,

⁵ In beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless watching, hunger;

⁶ By innocence and purity, knowledge and spiritual insight, longsuffering and patience, kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love;

⁷ By [speaking] the word of truth, in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [to attack] and for the left hand [to defend];

⁸ Amid honor and dishonor; in defaming and evil report and in praise and good report. [We are branded] as deceivers (impostors), and [yet vindicated as] truthful and honest.

⁹ [We are treated] as unknown and ignored [by the world], and [yet we are] well-known and recognized [by God and His people]; as dying, and yet here we are alive; as chastened by suffering and [yet] not killed;

¹⁰ As grieved and mourning, yet [we are] always rejoicing; as poor [ourselves, yet] bestowing riches on many; as having nothing, and [yet in reality] possessing all things.

¹¹ Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians [we are hiding nothing, keeping nothing back], and our heart is expanded wide [for you]!^(B)

¹² There is no lack of room for you in [our hearts], but you lack room in your own affections [for us].

¹³ By way of return then, do this for me—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also [to us].

¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?

¹⁵ What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?

¹⁶ What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.^(C)

¹⁷ So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor,^(D)

¹⁸ And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.^(E)

20 In the seventh year, in the fifth [month], on the tenth [day] of the month [after the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, which was to last seventy years], certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat down before me [Ezekiel, in Babylonia].^(A)

² Then came the word of the Lord to me, saying,

³ Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you!

⁴ Will you judge them, son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge them? Then cause them to know, understand, and realize the abominations of their fathers.^(B)

⁵ And say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand and swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,

⁶ On that day I lifted up My hand and swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, [a land] which is an ornament and a glory to all lands.

⁷ Then said I to them, Let every man cast away the abominable things on which he feasts his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

⁸ But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me; they did not every man cast away the abominable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I [thought], I will pour out My wrath upon them and finish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

⁹ But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the [heathen] nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ So I caused them to go out from the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.

¹¹ And I gave them My statutes and showed and made known to them My judgments, which, if a man keeps, he must live in and by them.

¹² Moreover, also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might understand and realize that I am the Lord Who sanctifies them [separates and sets them apart].

¹³ But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they walked not in My statutes and they despised and cast away My judgments, which, if a man keeps, he must even live in and by them; and they grievously profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness and uproot and consume them.

¹⁴ But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the [heathen] nations in whose sight I brought them out.

¹⁵ Yet also I lifted up My hand to swear to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the ornament and glory of all lands—

¹⁶ Because they despised and rejected My ordinances and walked not in My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, for their hearts went after their idols.

¹⁷ Yet My eye pitied them instead of destroying them, and I did not make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸ But I said to their sons in the wilderness, You shall not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor observe their ordinances nor defile yourselves with their idols.

¹⁹ I the Lord am your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances,

²⁰ And hallow (separate and keep holy) My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord your God.

²¹ Yet the sons rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, neither kept My ordinances which, if a man does, he must live in and by them; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.

²² Yet I withheld My hand and acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be debased and profaned in the sight of the [heathen] nations, in whose sight I had brought them forth [from bondage].

²³ Moreover, I lifted up My hand and swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the [heathen] nations and disperse them in the countries,

²⁴ Because they had not executed My ordinances but had despised and rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols.

²⁵ Wherefore also I gave them [over to] statutes that were not good and ordinances whereby they should not live and could not have life,^(C)

²⁶ And I [let them] pollute and make themselves unclean in their own offerings [to their idols], in that they caused to pass through the fire all the firstborn, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord.^(D)

²⁷ Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Again in this your fathers blasphemed Me, in that they dealt faithlessly and treacherously with Me and committed a treasonous trespass against Me.

²⁸ For when I had brought them into the land which I lifted up My hand and swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every dark and leafy tree [as a place for idol worship], and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented their offering that provoked My anger and sadness; there also they made their sweet-smelling savor and poured out there their drink offerings.

²⁹ Then I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? And the name of it is called Bamah [high place] to this day.

³⁰ Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Do you [exiles] debase and defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers? And do you play the harlot after their loathsome and detestable things?

³¹ And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, do you not debase and defile yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you!

³² And that which has come up in your mind shall never happen, in that you think, We will be as the nations, as the tribes of the countries, to serve idols of wood and stone.

³³ As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out will I be King over you.

³⁴ And I will bring you out from the peoples and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out.

³⁵ And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.

³⁶ As I entered into judgment and contended with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment and contend with you, says the Lord God.^(E)

³⁷ And I will cause you to pass under the rod [as the shepherd does his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and I will constrain you] and bring you into the covenant to which you are permanently bound.^(F)

³⁸ And I will purge out and separate from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they temporarily dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord.^(G)

³⁹ As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go, serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to Me! But you shall not profane My holy name any more with your sacrificial gifts and your idols!

⁴⁰ For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me. There will I [graciously] accept them, and there will I require your offerings and the firstfruits and the choicest of your contributions, with all your sacred things.

⁴¹ I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant odor when I lead you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations [who will seek Me because of My power displayed in you].^(H)

⁴² And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I lifted up My hand and swore to give to your fathers.

⁴³ And there you shall [earnestly] remember your ways and all your doings with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evil deeds which you have done.

⁴⁴ And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.

⁴⁵ Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁴⁶ Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land of the South (the Negeb),

⁴⁷ And say to the forest of the South (the Negeb), Hear the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it.

⁴⁸ All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.

⁴⁹ Then said I, Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, Does he not speak in parables and make allegories?

Psalm 66

To the Chief Musician. A song. A Psalm.

¹ Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth;

² Sing forth the honor and glory of His name; make His praise glorious!

³ Say to God, How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power shall Your enemies submit themselves to You [with feigned and reluctant obedience].

⁴ All the earth shall bow down to You and sing [praises] to You; they shall praise Your name in song. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁵ Come and see the works of God; see how [to save His people He smites their foes; He is] terrible in His doings toward the children of men.

⁶ He turned the sea into dry land, they crossed through the river on foot; there did we rejoice in Him.

⁷ He rules by His might forever, His eyes observe and keep watch over the nations; let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁸ Bless our God, O peoples, give Him grateful thanks and make the voice of His praise be heard,

⁹ Who put and kept us among the living, and has not allowed our feet to slip.

¹⁰ For You, O God, have proved us; You have tried us as silver is tried, refined, and purified.

¹¹ You brought us into the net (the prison fortress, the dungeon); You laid a heavy burden upon our loins.

¹² You caused men to ride over our heads [when we were prostrate]; we went through fire and through water, but You brought us out into a broad, moist place [to abundance and refreshment and the open air].

¹³ I will come into Your house with burnt offerings [of entire consecration]; I will pay You my vows,

¹⁴ Which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in distress.

¹⁵ I will offer to You burnt offerings of fat lambs, with rams consumed in sweet-smelling smoke; I will offer bullocks and he-goats. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

¹⁶ Come and hear, all you who reverently and worshipfully fear God, and I will declare what He has done for me!

¹⁷ I cried aloud to Him; He was extolled and high praise was under my tongue.

¹⁸ If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me;^(A)

¹⁹ But certainly God has heard me; He has given heed to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰ Blessed be God, Who has not rejected my prayer nor removed His mercy and loving-kindness from being [as it always is] with me.

Psalm 67

To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.

¹ God be merciful and gracious to us and bless us and cause His face to shine upon us and among us—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—

² That Your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power (Your deliverances and Your salvation) among all nations.

³ Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You.

⁴ O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples fairly and guide, lead, or drive the nations upon earth. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

⁵ Let the peoples praise You [turn away from their idols] and give thanks to You, O God; let all the peoples praise and give thanks to You!

⁶ The earth has yielded its harvest [in evidence of God’s approval]; God, even our own God, will bless us.

⁷ God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall reverently fear Him.