M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
15 David[a] built houses for himself in the city of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.(A) 2 Then David commanded that no one but the Levites were to carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to him forever.(B) 3 David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place, which he had prepared for it.(C) 4 Then David gathered together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with one hundred twenty of his kindred; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with two hundred twenty of his kindred; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with one hundred thirty of his kindred; 8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with two hundred of his kindred;(D) 9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with eighty of his kindred;(E) 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with one hundred twelve of his kindred.
11 David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab.(F) 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of families of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, you and your kindred, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.(G) 13 Because you did not carry it[b] the first time,[c] the Lord our God burst out against us because we did not give it proper care.”(H) 14 So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.(I) 15 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.(J)
16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their kindred as singers to raise loud sounds of joy on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals.(K) 17 So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; and of his kindred Asaph son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their kindred, Ethan son of Kushaiah;(L) 18 and with them their kindred of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19 The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth, 21 but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith.[d] 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was to direct the music, for he understood it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were to be gatekeepers for the ark.(M)
25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of the thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing.(N) 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers, and David wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.(O)
29 As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing, and she despised him in her heart.(P)
Warning against Partiality
2 My brothers and sisters, do not claim the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory while showing partiality.(A) 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Have a seat here in a good place, please,” while to the one who is poor you say, “Stand there,” or, “Sit by my footstool,”(B) 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?(C) 6 But you have dishonored the poor person. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into the courts?(D) 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?
8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.(E) 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.(F) 11 For the one who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery but you murder, you have become a transgressor of[a] the law.(G) 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.(H) 13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.(I)
Faith without Works Is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Surely that faith cannot save, can it?(J) 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food(K) 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? 17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from works, and I by my works will show you faith.(L) 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.(M) 20 Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is worthless?[b] 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?(N) 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and by works faith was brought to completion.(O) 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,”[c] and he was called the friend of God.(P) 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers[d] and sent them out by another road?(Q) 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
The Destruction of Israel
9 I saw the Lord standing beside[a] the altar, and he said:
Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake
and shatter them on the heads of all the people,[b]
and those who are left I will kill with the sword;
not one of them shall flee away,
not one of them shall escape.(A)
2 Though they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
though they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.(B)
3 Though they hide themselves on the top of Carmel,
from there I will search out and take them;
and though they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.(C)
4 And though they go into captivity in front of their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
and I will fix my eyes on them
for harm and not for good.(D)
5 The Lord, God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and it melts,
and all who live in it mourn,
and all of it rises like the Nile
and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt,(E)
6 who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth,
who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
the Lord is his name.(F)
7 Are you not like the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel? says the Lord.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt
and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from Kir?(G)
8 The eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the face of the earth
—except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,
says the Lord.(H)
9 For I will command
and shake the house of Israel among all the nations,
as one shakes with a sieve
but no pebble shall fall to the ground.(I)
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, “Evil shall not overtake or meet us.”(J)
The Restoration of David’s Kingdom
11 On that day I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its[c] breaches
and raise up its[d] ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,(K)
12 in order that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations who are called by my name,
says the Lord who does this.(L)
13 The time is surely coming, says the Lord,
when the one who plows shall catch up with the one who reaps
and the treader of grapes with the one who sows the seed;
the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.(M)
14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.(N)
15 I will plant them upon their land,
and they shall never again be plucked up
out of the land that I have given them,
says the Lord your God.(O)
The Testing of Jesus
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,(A) 2 where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.(B) 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”(C)
5 Then the devil[a] led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil[b] said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.(D) 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’ ”(E)
9 Then the devil[c] led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you,’(F)
11 and
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”(G) 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.(H)
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.(I) 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.(J)
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,(K) 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,(L)
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”(M)
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.(N) 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”(O) 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ”(P) 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.(Q) 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land,(R) 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”(S) 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.(T) 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.(U)
The Man with an Unclean Spirit
31 He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.(V) 32 They were astounded at his teaching because he spoke with authority.(W) 33 In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Leave us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”(X) 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” Then the demon, throwing the man down before them, came out of him without doing him any harm.(Y) 36 They were all astounded and kept saying to one another, “What kind of word is this, that with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out?”(Z) 37 And news about him began to reach every place in the region.(AA)
Healings at Simon’s House
38 After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. 39 Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.(AB)
40 As the sun was setting, all those caring for any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.(AC) 41 Moreover, demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.[d](AD)
Jesus Preaches in the Synagogues
42 At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds began looking for him, and when they reached him they tried to keep him from leaving them.(AE) 43 But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.[e](AF)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.