M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
14 When General Joab realized how much the king was longing to see Absalom, 2-3 he sent for a woman of Tekoa who had a reputation for great wisdom and told her to ask for an appointment with the king. He told her what to say to him.
“Pretend you are in mourning,” Joab instructed her. “Wear mourning clothes, and dishevel your hair as though you have been in deep sorrow for a long time.”
4 When the woman approached the king, she fell face downward on the floor in front of him, and cried out, “O king! Help me!”
5-6 “What’s the trouble?” he asked.
“I am a widow,” she replied, “and my two sons had a fight out in the field, and since no one was there to part them, one of them was killed. 7 Now the rest of the family is demanding that I surrender my other son to them to be executed for murdering his brother. But if I do that, I will have no one left, and my husband’s name will be destroyed from the face of the earth.”
8 “Leave it with me,” the king told her. “I’ll see to it that no one touches him.”
9 “Oh, thank you, my lord,” she replied. “And I’ll take the responsibility if you are criticized for helping me like this.”
10 “Don’t worry about that!” the king replied. “If anyone objects, bring him to me; I can assure you he will never complain again!”
11 Then she said, “Please swear to me by God that you won’t let anyone harm my son. I want no more bloodshed.”
“I vow by God,” he replied, “that not a hair of your son’s head shall be disturbed!”
12 “Please let me ask one more thing of you!” she said.
“Go ahead,” he replied. “Speak!”
13 “Why don’t you do as much for all the people of God as you have promised to do for me?” she asked. “You have convicted yourself in making this decision, because you have refused to bring home your own banished son. 14 All of us must die eventually; our lives are like water that is poured out on the ground—it can’t be gathered up again. But God will bless you with a longer life if you will find a way to bring your son back from his exile.[a] 15-16 But I have come to plead with you for my son because my life and my son’s life have been threatened, and I said to myself, ‘Perhaps the king will listen to me and rescue us from those who would end our existence in Israel. 17 Yes, the king will give us peace again.’ I know that you are like an angel of God and can discern good from evil. May God be with you.”
18 “I want to know one thing,” the king replied.
“Yes, my lord?” she asked.
19 “Did Joab send you here?”
And the woman replied, “How can I deny it? Yes, Joab sent me and told me what to say. 20 He did it in order to place the matter before you in a different light. But you are as wise as an angel of God, and you know everything that happens!”
21 So the king sent for Joab and told him, “All right, go and bring back Absalom.”
22 Joab fell to the ground before the king and blessed him and said, “At last I know that you like me! For you have granted me this request!”
23 Then Joab went to Geshur and brought Absalom back to Jerusalem.
24 “He may go to his own quarters,” the king ordered, “but he must never come here. I refuse to see him.”
25 Now no one in Israel was such a handsome specimen of manhood as Absalom, and no one else received such praise. 26 He cut his hair only once a year—and then only because it weighed three pounds and was too much of a load to carry around! 27 He had three sons and one daughter, Tamar, who was a very beautiful girl.
28 After Absalom had been in Jerusalem for two years and had not yet seen the king, 29 he sent for Joab to ask him to intercede for him; but Joab wouldn’t come. Absalom sent for him again, but again he refused to come.
30 So Absalom said to his servants, “Go and set fire to that barley field of Joab’s next to mine,” and they did.
31 Then Joab came to Absalom and demanded, “Why did your servants set my field on fire?”
32 And Absalom replied, “Because I wanted you to ask the king why he brought me back from Geshur if he didn’t intend to see me. I might as well have stayed there. Let me have an interview with the king; then if he finds that I am guilty of murder, let him execute me.”
33 So Joab told the king what Absalom had said. Then at last David summoned Absalom, and he came and bowed low before the king, and David kissed him.
7 Having such great promises as these, dear friends, let us turn away from everything wrong, whether of body or spirit, and purify ourselves, living in the wholesome fear of God, giving ourselves to him alone. 2 Please open your hearts to us again, for not one of you has suffered any wrong from us. Not one of you was led astray. We have cheated no one nor taken advantage of anyone. 3 I’m not saying this to scold or blame you, for, as I have said before, you are in my heart forever, and I live and die with you. 4 I have the highest confidence in you, and my pride in you is great. You have greatly encouraged me; you have made me so happy in spite of all my suffering.
5 When we arrived in Macedonia there was no rest for us; outside, trouble was on every hand and all around us; within us, our hearts were full of dread and fear. 6 Then God who cheers those who are discouraged refreshed us by the arrival of Titus. 7 Not only was his presence a joy, but also the news that he brought of the wonderful time he had with you. When he told me how much you were looking forward to my visit, and how sorry you were about what had happened, and about your loyalty and warm love for me, well, I overflowed with joy!
8 I am no longer sorry that I sent that letter to you, though I was very sorry for a time, realizing how painful it would be to you. But it hurt you only for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you but because the pain turned you to God. It was a good kind of sorrow you felt, the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so that I need not come to you with harshness. 10 For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. We should never regret his sending it. But the sorrow of the man who is not a Christian is not the sorrow of true repentance and does not prevent eternal death.
11 Just see how much good this grief from the Lord did for you! You no longer shrugged your shoulders but became earnest and sincere and very anxious to get rid of the sin that I wrote you about. You became frightened about what had happened and longed for me to come and help. You went right to work on the problem and cleared it up, punishing the man who sinned.[a] You have done everything you could to make it right.
12 I wrote as I did so the Lord could show how much you really do care for us. That was my purpose even more than to help the man who sinned or his father to whom he did the wrong.
13 In addition to the encouragement you gave us by your love, we were made happier still by Titus’ joy when you gave him such a fine welcome and set his mind at ease. 14 I told him how it would be—told him before he left me of my pride in you—and you didn’t disappoint me. I have always told you the truth and now my boasting to Titus has also proved true! 15 He loves you more than ever when he remembers the way you listened to him so willingly and received him so anxiously and with such deep concern. 16 How happy this makes me, now that I am sure all is well between us again. Once again I can have perfect confidence in you.
21 Then this message came to me from the Lord:
2 “Son of dust, face toward Jerusalem and prophesy against Israel and against my Temple![a] 3 For the Lord says: ‘I am against you, Israel. I will unsheath my sword and destroy your people, good and bad alike— 4 I will not spare even the righteous. I will make a clean sweep throughout the land from the Negeb to your northern borders. 5 All the world shall know that it is I, the Lord. His sword is in his hand, and it will not return to its sheath again until its work is finished.’
6 “Sigh and groan before the people, son of dust, in your bitter anguish; sigh with grief and broken heart. 7 When they ask you why, tell them: ‘Because of the fearsome news that God has given me. When it comes true, the boldest heart will melt with fear; all strength will disappear. Every spirit will faint; strong knees will tremble and become as weak as water.’ And the Lord God says: ‘Your doom is on the way; my judgments will be fulfilled!’”
8 Then again this message came to me from God:
9-11 “Son of dust, tell them this: ‘A sword is being sharpened and polished for terrible slaughter. Now will you laugh? For those far stronger than you have perished beneath its power. It is ready now to hand to the executioner.’ 12 Son of dust, with sobbing, beat upon your thigh, for that sword shall slay my people and all their leaders. All alike shall die. 13 It will put them all to the test—and what chance do they have?” the Lord God asks.
14 “Prophesy to them in this way: Clap your hands vigorously, then take a sword and brandish it twice, thrice, to symbolize the great massacre they face! 15 Let their hearts melt with terror, for a sword glitters at every gate; it flashes like lightning; it is razor-edged for slaughter. 16 O sword, slash to the right and slash to the left, wherever you will, wherever you want. 17 And you have prophesied with clapping hands that I, the Lord, will smite Jerusalem and satisfy my fury.”
18 Then this message came to me. The Lord said:
19-20 “Son of dust, make a map and on it trace two routes for the king of Babylon to follow—one to Jerusalem and the other to Rabbah in Transjordan.[b] And put a signpost at the fork in the road from Babylon. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at a fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem or Rabbah. He will call his magicians to use divination; they will cast lots by shaking arrows from the quiver; they will sacrifice to idols and inspect the liver[c] of their sacrifice. 22 They will decide to turn toward Jerusalem! With battering rams they will go against the gates, shouting for the kill; they will build siege towers and make a hill against the walls to reach the top. 23 Jerusalem won’t understand this treachery; how could the diviners make this terrible mistake? For Babylon is Judah’s ally and has sworn to defend Jerusalem! But the king of Babylon will think only of the times the people rebelled. He will attack and defeat them.”
24 The Lord God says: “Again and again your guilt cries out against you, for your sins are open and unashamed. Wherever you go, whatever you do, all is filled with sin. And now the time of punishment has come.
25 “O King Zedekiah,[d] evil prince of Israel, your final day of reckoning is here. 26 Take off your jeweled crown,” the Lord God says. “The old order changes. Now the poor are exalted and the rich brought very low. 27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn the kingdom, so that even the new order that emerges will not succeed until the Man appears who has a right to it. And I will give it all to him.
28 “Son of dust, prophesy to the Ammonites too, for they mocked my people in their woe. Tell them this:
“‘Against you also my glittering sword is drawn from its sheath; it is sharpened and polished and flashes like lightning. 29 Your magicians and false prophets have told you lies of safety and success—that your gods will save you from the king of Babylon. Thus they have caused your death along with all the other wicked, for when the day of final reckoning has come, you will be wounded unto death. 30 Shall I return my sword to its sheath before I deal with you? No, I will destroy you in your own country where you were born. 31 I will pour out my fury upon you and blow upon the fire of my wrath until it becomes a roaring conflagration, and I will deliver you into the hands of cruel men skilled in destruction. 32 You are the fuel for the fire; your blood will be spilled in your own country, and you will be utterly wiped out, your memory lost in history. For I, the Lord, have spoken it.’”
68 Arise, O God, and scatter all your enemies! Chase them away! 2 Drive them off like smoke before the wind; melt them like wax in fire! So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3 But may the godly man exult. May he rejoice and be merry. 4 Sing praises to the Lord! Raise your voice in song to him who rides upon the clouds![a] Jehovah is his name—oh, rejoice in his presence. 5 He is a father to the fatherless; he gives justice to the widows, for he is holy.[b] 6 He gives families to the lonely, and releases prisoners from jail, singing with joy! But for rebels there is famine and distress.
7 O God, when you led your people through the wilderness, 8 the earth trembled and the heavens shook. Mount Sinai quailed before you—the God of Israel. 9-10 You sent abundant rain upon your land, O God, to refresh it in its weariness! There your people lived, for you gave them this home when they were destitute.
11-13 The Lord speaks. The enemy flees. The women at home[c] cry out the happy news: “The armies that came to destroy us have fled!” Now all the women of Israel are dividing the booty. See them sparkle with jewels of silver and gold, covered all over as wings cover doves! 14 God scattered their enemies like snowflakes melting in the forests of Zalmon.
15-16 O mighty mountains in Bashan! O splendid many-peaked ranges! Well may you look with envy at Mount Zion, the mount where God has chosen to live forever. 17 Surrounded by unnumbered chariots, the Lord moves on from Mount Sinai and comes to his holy Temple high upon Mount Zion. 18 He ascends the heights, leading many captives in his train. He receives gifts for men,[d] even those who once were rebels. God will live among us here.
19 What a glorious Lord! He who daily bears our burdens also gives us our salvation.
20 He frees us! He rescues us from death. 21 But he will crush his enemies, for they refuse to leave their guilty, stubborn ways. 22 The Lord says, “Come,” to all his people’s enemies;[e] they are hiding on Mount Hermon’s highest slopes and deep within the sea! 23 His people must destroy them. Cover your feet with their blood; dogs will eat them.
24 The procession of God my King moves onward to the sanctuary— 25 singers in front, musicians behind, girls playing the timbrels in between. 26 Let all the people of Israel praise the Lord, who is Israel’s fountain. 27 The little tribe of Benjamin leads the way. The princes and elders of Judah, and the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali are right behind.[f] 28 Summon your might; display your strength, O God, for you have done such mighty things for us.
29 The kings of the earth are bringing their gifts to your Temple in Jerusalem. 30 Rebuke our enemies, O Lord. Bring them—submissive, tax in hand.[g] Scatter all who delight in war. 31 Egypt will send gifts of precious metals. Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God in adoration. 32 Sing to the Lord, O kingdoms of the earth—sing praises to the Lord, 33 to him who rides upon the ancient heavens, whose mighty voice thunders from the sky.
34 Power belongs to God! His majesty shines down on Israel; his strength is mighty in the heavens. 35 What awe we feel, kneeling here before him in the sanctuary. The God of Israel gives strength and mighty power to his people. Blessed be God!
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.