M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Sheba causes trouble for David
20 There was a wicked man there in Gilgal. His name was Sheba. He was Bicri's son, who belonged to Benjamin's tribe.[a] He made a loud noise with a trumpet and then he shouted, ‘Israelite people, we have nothing to do with Jesse's son, David! We do not belong to his kingdom! So we should all return to our homes.’
2 So the Israelites left David in Gilgal, and they went with Bicri's son, Sheba. But the men of Judah's tribe stayed with David. They helped him on his journey all the way from the Jordan River to Jerusalem.
3 David returned to his palace in Jerusalem. Then he took the ten slave wives that he had left there to take care of his palace. Now he made them live in their own house, with guards to keep them safe. He gave them everything that they needed, but he did not sleep with them. They lived there on their own. They lived like widows until they died.
David sends Amasa to fetch all the men from Judah
4 The king said to Amasa, ‘Bring all the men of Judah's tribe here to me. Three days from now, I will meet with them. You must also be here yourself.’
5 Amasa went to fetch Judah's men, but he did not return in three days.[b]
6 Then David said to Abishai, ‘Bicri's son, Sheba, will cause us more trouble than Absalom did. Take my soldiers and chase after him. If you do not catch him, his people will hide in towns with strong walls. Then he will escape from us.’
7 So Abishai took Joab's soldiers, as well as the king's personal guards, the Pelethites and the Kerethites. He and all the king's soldiers marched out from Jerusalem to find Sheba. 8 When they arrived at the big rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his soldier's clothes. He had a long knife that was tied to his belt. As Joab went towards Amasa, the knife fell to the ground.
9 Joab said to Amasa, ‘How are you, my brother?’ He took hold of Amasa's beard with his right hand. He pretended that he wanted to kiss him. 10 But Amasa did not see the knife in Joab's other hand. Joab pushed the knife into Amasa's stomach. His inside parts poured out onto the ground. He died immediately. Joab did not have to hit him again.
Then Joab and his brother Abishai continued to chase after Sheba.
11 One of Joab's soldiers stood beside Amasa's dead body. He shouted, ‘If you are fighting for Joab and for King David, you must follow Joab!’ 12 Amasa's dead body was lying in the road. His blood was all around it. All the soldiers who came there stopped when they saw the body. So the man pulled Amasa's dead body off the road into a field. He covered it with a cloth. 13 After he had removed Amasa's dead body from the road, the soldiers all followed Joab. They continued to chase after Bicri's son, Sheba.
14 Sheba travelled through the land of all Israel's tribes. He arrived at Abel Beth Maakah.[c] All the people of Bicri's clan also came to the city. They joined Sheba there. 15 Then Joab's soldiers arrived and they started to attack Abel Beth Maakah. They made their camp all around the city. They built heaps of earth against the city's walls. They started to dig holes through the walls to cause them to fall down. 16 Then a wise woman stood on the wall and she shouted to them, ‘Listen! Listen to me! Tell Joab to come near so that I can speak to him!’
17 So Joab went towards her. The woman asked him, ‘Are you Joab?’
He answered, ‘Yes, I am.’
She said to him, ‘Please listen to what I have to say.’
‘I am listening, so tell me,’ he replied.
18 Then she said, ‘A long time ago, people said, “If you want an answer to your problem, go to Abel city.” So that is what people did when they had problems. 19 The people of this city like to live in peace. We are faithful to our nation, Israel. Have you decided to destroy such an important city in Israel? Why do you want to destroy a city that belongs to the Lord?’
20 Joab answered her, ‘That is stupid! I would never do that! I am not trying to destroy anything. 21 That is not what we want. But there is a man in your city whose name is Sheba. He is Bicri's son and he comes from the hill country of Ephraim. He has turned against King David. If you will give me this one man, I will go away from your city. I will not destroy it.’
The woman said to Joab, ‘Wait there! I will throw his head to you from the wall.’
22 Then the woman spoke to all the people in the city. She told them her wise advice. So they cut off Sheba's head and they threw it off the wall to Joab.
Then Joab made a loud noise with his trumpet. So his soldiers went away from the city. Each of them went to his own home. Joab returned to King David in Jerusalem.
David's officers
23 Joab was the officer who led all Israel's army.
Jehoiada's son Benaiah was the leader of the king's personal guards.[d]
24 Adoniram ruled over the men who had to work for the king.
Ahilud's son Jehoshaphat wrote a report of everything that the king did.
25 Sheva was the royal secretary.
Zadok and Abiathar were the priests.
26 Ira from Jair was David's special priest.
Paul's third visit to Corinth
13 This is the third time that I will be coming to visit you. Remember this: ‘There must be two or three people to say certainly that another person has done something wrong. Two or three people must agree what has happened.’[a] 2 I have already warned those people who did wrong things before. I did that when I was with you on my second visit. Now I am warning them again, while I am away from you. So, when I come to you the next time, nobody will go free. I will punish those people and all the others who have done wrong things. 3 That will tell you what you want to know about me. You will surely know that I speak with the authority of Christ himself. Christ is not weak when he works in you. He shows his power among you. 4 People killed Christ on the cross as a weak person. But he now lives by God's power. We are also weak as we serve Christ, like he was weak. But we live, because he now lives. So, when we come to you, we will show God's power among you.
5 Think carefully about how you are living. Are you really believing the message about Christ? I hope you know that Jesus Christ is in you. You ought to know that, unless you have completely failed. 6 I hope that you will know that we ourselves have not failed. We do belong to Christ, as you do.
7 Now we pray to God that you will not do any wrong things. We do not pray this to show that God has accepted us as good. We pray like that because we want you to do what is right. We want that, even if we ourselves seem to have failed. 8 We can only work to show what is true. We cannot do anything against what is true. 9 We are happy when we seem to be weak, if you become strong as a result. We pray that you will become completely as you should be.
10 That is why I am writing these things to you now, while I am away from you. Then, when I arrive, I will not need to be angry with you. I will not have to use my authority to punish you. The Lord gave that authority to me to help you to become stronger as believers. He did not give it to me so that I could destroy you.
Paul finishes his letter
11 Now I say ‘goodbye’ to you, my Christian friends. Do only what is right. Let my message make you strong. Agree with each other. Live together in peace. I pray that God will be with you. He is the one who loves us and gives us peace in our minds. 12 When you meet, kiss each other as Christian brothers and sisters. 13 All God's people here say ‘hello’ to you. 14 I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to you all. I pray that God's love will be with you. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will help you to serve each other as friends.
A funeral song about Tyre
27 The Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, sing a funeral song about Tyre. 3 Tyre is a city on the coast of the sea. From there, traders go across the sea to sell things to people in many other countries. This is what the Almighty Lord says to Tyre:
“Tyre, you say that you are completely beautiful.
4 Your borders reached into the middle of the sea.
Your builders made you like a great ship.
5 They used wood from the pine trees of Senir.
They used a cedar tree from Lebanon to make your mast.[a]
6 They used oak trees from Bashan to make your oars.
They used pine wood from the coasts of Cyprus to make your deck.[b]
They made it beautiful with ivory.
7 They used good linen from Egypt to make your sail.
They made it pretty with many colours.
The sail was like a flag that everyone could see.
They made tents of cloth to cover your deck.
It was blue and purple cloth that came from Cyprus island.
8 Men from Sidon and Arvad used the oars to move the ship.
Your own clever men from Tyre were your sailors.
9 Leaders from Gebal went with you.
They brought men who knew how to mend the ship.
Sailors of ships from many countries
came to buy things from you.
10 There were brave soldiers from Persia, Lydia and Libya in your army.
They hung their shields and their helmets on your walls.
They caused people to give you honour.
11 Men from Arvad and Helech were guards who stood on your walls.
Soldiers from Gammad were in your strong towers.
They hung their weapons on your walls.
They made you look very beautiful.
12 You had many valuable things to sell. So traders came from Tarshish to buy things from you. They brought silver and other good metals to pay for those things.
13 Traders from Greece, Tubal and Meshech also came to buy things from you. They paid you with slaves and with things made of bronze.
14 Men from Beth Togarmah came. They paid you with horses to use in war or for work, and also with mules.
15 Traders came to you from Rhodes and from other countries beside the sea. They paid you with ivory and with ebony wood.[c]
16 Because you had so many things to sell, traders came to you from Syria. They paid you with different jewels, with valuable purple cloth, with other beautiful cloth and with good linen.
17 Traders came to you from Judah and Israel. They paid you with wheat from Minnith, with figs, with honey, with olive oil and with medicine.
18 Traders from Damascus came to you because you had many valuable things to sell. They sold you wine from Helbon and white wool from Zahar.
19 Greek men from Uzal came to buy your things. They paid you with iron and different spices.
20 Traders from Dedan sold you blankets for your horses.
21 Men from Arabia and the rulers of Kedar came to buy your things. They brought lambs, male sheep and goats to sell to you.
22 Traders from Sheba and Raamah came to buy things from you. They brought the best kinds of spices, jewels and gold to sell to you.
23 Traders came to you from Haran, Canneh and Eden, as well as from Sheba, Asshur and Kilmad. 24 They brought beautiful clothes made with expensive cloth. They also brought carpets that were made with threads of many different colours.[d] And they brought strong ropes. They brought these things to sell in your markets. 25 Big ships from Tarshish carried your valuable things across the sea.
You, Tyre, were like a great ship in the middle of the sea.
You were full with a heavy load of many things.
26 Your sailors took you into the great waves of the sea.
There, a strong east wind has caused you to break into small pieces.
27 All your valuable things and your riches will fall into the deep sea.
All your sailors, your captains, your traders and your soldiers
will also fall into the sea.
Yes, everyone in you will drown in the sea
on that day when you break into pieces.
28 When your sailors call out for help,
the cities on the coast of the sea will shake.
29 All the sailors of other ships will leave their ships.
The sailors and their captains will stand on the shore of the sea.
30 They will weep loudly because they are very upset about you.
They will throw dirt on their heads.
They will lie down in ashes.
31 They will cut all the hair off their heads.
They will wear sackcloth.
They will weep and be very upset
because of the terrible thing that has happened to you.
32 As they weep, they will sing this funeral song about you:
‘Tyre was the greatest city.
But now it lies at the bottom of the sea
and nobody knows that it is there.’
33 Your valuable things went to many people
in nations across the sea.
People were happy with the things that they received from you.
Even kings in far places became rich because of you.
34 Now the sea has broken you into pieces.
You have fallen to the bottom of the deep sea.
All your valuable things and the people who worked in you
lie at the bottom of the sea.
35 The people who live on the coast of the sea are afraid,
because of what has happened to you.
Their kings shake with fear.
Their faces look very sad.
36 Traders from other nations keep away from you.
A terrible thing has happened to you.
It will be the end of you for ever.” ’
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. He should use special music.
God judges people fairly
75 God, we thank you!
Yes, we thank you!
You are very near to us.
People everywhere say what great things you have done.
2 God says, ‘I choose the time when I will judge people,
and I will be a fair judge.
3 When the earth shakes and the people in it are afraid,
I will keep its foundations strong.’
Selah.
4 I say to people who are proud,
‘Do not be proud.’
I say to wicked people,
‘Do not boast about your power.
5 Do not boast against God.
Do not speak with such proud words.’
6 Who has the power to judge people?
Nobody from the east, or from the west,
or from the desert can be judge.
7 God is the one who judges people.
He decides who to bring down
and who to lift up.[a]
8 The Lord holds a cup of punishment in his hand.[b]
It is full of wine, with spices in it.
The Lord pours out his anger from this cup.
All the wicked people in the world will have to drink it.
They will drink all of it, so that none remains.
9 But as for me, I will always thank you, God.
I will sing to praise you,
the God of Jacob.
10 You say, ‘I will destroy the power of wicked people.
I will give strength to my righteous people.’
This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote for the music leader. Sing it with the music of stringed instruments.
God has great power
76 People in Judah know who God is.
He is famous in Israel.[c]
2 His home is in Salem.
Yes, he lives in Zion.[d]
3 There he destroyed all the weapons of our enemy,
their arrows, their shields,
and their swords.
He destroyed everything that they use to fight wars.
Selah.
4 God, you are the one who shines with glory!
You are greater than the greatest mountains.
5 You won against brave soldiers,
so that we robbed them of everything.
Now they are sleeping,
and they will never wake up!
They are completely helpless.
6 God of Jacob,
when your enemies heard your battle cry,
both the horses and their riders fell down dead.
7 Yes, everyone is afraid of you, our God!
When you are angry,
nobody can stand against you.
8 From heaven you said how you would judge people.
Everybody on earth became afraid.
They could not say anything!
9 This happened when you came to punish wicked people.
You came to rescue the weak and poor people in the land.
Selah.
10 Everybody will praise you,
even those who are angry against you.
You will show them how angry you really are.[e]
11 Make promises to the Lord your God,
and do what you have promised.
Everyone who serves God should bring gifts to him.
We must respect him with fear.
12 He makes proud rulers become humble.
All the kings of the world should be afraid of him.
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