M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The people anoint David as king over Israel
2 After some time, David asked the Lord, ‘Should I go up to one of Judah's towns?’
The Lord said to him, ‘Go up.’
David asked, ‘Where should I go?’
The Lord replied, ‘Go to Hebron.’
2 So David went up to Hebron. He took his two wives with him. They were Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, Nabal's widow, from Carmel. 3 David also took the men who had been with him. Each man took his family. They lived in Hebron and in the towns near there. 4 Then the men of Judah's tribe came to Hebron. They anointed David as king over Judah's people.
David thanks the people of Jabesh Gilead
David heard that the people from Jabesh Gilead had buried Saul's body. 5 So David sent men to them with a message. He said, ‘You were kind to Saul, your master, when you buried his body. So I pray that the Lord will bless you. 6 I pray that the Lord will keep you safe with his faithful love. I too will do good things for you, because of what you have done. 7 Saul, your master, is dead, so you must continue to be strong and brave. The people of Judah have now chosen me to rule them as king.’
David and his men fight against Saul's army
8 Ner's son Abner was the leader of Saul's army. He took Saul's son Ish-Bosheth to Mahanaim. 9 Abner gave Ish-Bosheth authority to rule as king over Gilead, Asher and Jezreel, as well as the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. So Ish-Bosheth became king of all Israel.
10 Saul's son, Ish-Bosheth, was 40 years old when he became king over Israel. He ruled Israel for two years. But Judah's people were faithful to David as their king. 11 David remained in Hebron as king of Judah for seven and a half years.
12 Then Ner's son, Abner, left Mahanaim and he went to Gibeon. He took with him the men who served Saul's son, Ish-Bosheth. 13 Zeruiah's son, Joab, took David's men to meet Abner's men at the pool of Gibeon. One group sat on one side of the pool while the other group sat on the other side.
14 Then Abner said to Joab, ‘Some young men from each of our groups should fight against each other. Then we can watch them.’ Joab agreed.
15 So they chose 12 men to fight on behalf of Benjamin and Ish-Bosheth. They also chose 12 of David's men to fight against them. 16 As they fought, each man took hold of his enemy's head. And each man pushed his sword into his enemy's side. So they all fell down together and they were dead. So people called that place ‘The Field of Swords’. It is in Gibeon.
17 That day, the two groups fought a great battle against each other. David's men won the fight against Abner and the men of Israel.
18 Zeruiah's three sons were there. They were Joab, Abishai and Asahel. Asahel could run as fast as a wild deer. 19 He chased after Abner. He ran straight after him. He did not turn to the right or to the left. 20 Abner looked behind him and he asked, ‘Is that you, Asahel?’
‘Yes, it is,’ he answered.
21 Then Abner said to him, ‘Turn away from me to the right or to the left. Then you can chase one of the young soldiers and you can take his weapons.’ But Asahel would not stop chasing after Abner.
22 Abner said again to Asahel, ‘Stop chasing after me. I do not want to knock you down to the ground. If I kill you, I will never be able to show myself to your brother Joab again!’
23 But Asahel refused to stop chasing Abner. So Abner pushed the stick of his spear behind him into Asahel's stomach. It went through his body and came out of his back. Asahel fell to the ground immediately and he died there. When anyone came to that place, they stopped to look at Asahel's body.
24 But Joab and Abishai continued to chase after Abner. When the sun was going down, they reached Ammah hill, near Giah. That was on the road to the wilderness of Gibeon. 25 Then the men of Benjamin's tribe joined with Abner. They were all ready to fight as one group. They stood together at the top of a hill.
26 Abner shouted to Joab, ‘We should stop fighting. We do not want to continue killing one another for ever. In the end, we would all be very sad. Please tell your men to stop chasing after their brothers.’
27 Joab replied, ‘As surely as God lives, I agree! If you had not spoken, our men would have chased you all through the night. They would not have stopped until the morning.’
28 So Joab made a loud noise with the trumpet.[a] Then all his men stopped where they were. They did not continue to chase after the men of Israel. They stopped fighting.
29 Abner and his men marched all that night through the Jordan Valley. They crossed over the Jordan River. They continued to march all the next morning until they arrived back at Mahanaim.
30 Joab left the battle and he returned with David's men. They counted all the soldiers. Asahel had died, as well as 19 other men. 31 But David's soldiers had killed 360 men of Benjamin's tribe who were fighting in Abner's army.
32 They took Asahel's body from the place where he died. They buried him in his father's grave at Bethlehem. Then Joab and his men marched all night. They arrived home at Hebron at dawn.
Love is most important
13 I may be able to speak many different languages that people or angels speak. But that is worth nothing if I do not love other people. I would only be making a loud noise, like someone who hits a piece of metal. 2 I may be able to speak messages from God. I may understand all God's secret things, and know all the facts. I may have great faith so that I trust God enough to move mountains. But I am nothing if I do not love others. 3 I may give all my things to help poor people. I may let other people take my body to burn it.[a] But that would not help me if I do not love others.
4 If I love people, I will be patient. I will be kind. I will not be jealous of other people. I will not be proud and say that I am great. 5 If I love people, I will be polite. I will not just want to please myself. I will not quickly become angry. If someone does a wrong thing against me, I will not keep it in my thoughts. 6 If I love people, I will not be happy when bad things happen. Instead, I will be happy when things happen that are right and true. 7 If I love people, I will always accept their problems. I will always believe them. I will always hope for what is best. I will always be patient in troubles.
8 Love will always continue. The gift to speak messages from God will not always be necessary. The gift to speak in different languages will stop one day. The gift to know special things will not always be necessary. 9 At this time, we know only a part of everything. We can only speak a part of God's whole message. 10 But a time will come when everything becomes complete. When God does that, we will not need the small parts that we have now.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child. My thoughts were a child's thoughts. I understood things in a way that a child understands. But now that I have become a man, I have stopped being like a child. 12 At this time, we see things as if we were looking at them in a mirror. What we see now is not clear. But the time will come when we do not need a mirror. We will see everything clearly. Now we know only a part of what is true. But then we will know everything completely. We will understand completely, just as God understands us completely.
13 At this time there are three things that continue. We continue to trust God. We continue to hope for his good things. We continue to love other people. But the most important of these things is love.
What will happen to Jerusalem
11 Then a spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the Lord's temple.[a] When I was there, near the entrance of the gate, I could see 25 men. Azzur's son Jaazaniah and Benaiah's son Pelatiah were among them. They were leaders of the people. 2 The Lord said to me. ‘Son of man, these are the men who decide to do evil things in this city. They also give wicked advice to the people. 3 They say, “It is not the right time now to build houses. This city is like a pot to cook meat on a fire. We are like the meat in that pot.”
4 Son of man, you must speak my message to warn them.’
5 Then the Lord's Spirit took hold of me. He said to me, ‘This is the Lord's message to the people: Tell them, “People of Israel, I know what you are saying. I know the thoughts that you have in your minds. 6 You have killed many people in this city. The streets are full of the dead bodies of people that you have killed.”
7 So this is what the Almighty Lord says: “The dead bodies that you have put in this city are the meat. And the city is the pot to cook them in. But as for you, I will remove you from it! 8 You are afraid that an enemy will attack you. So I will bring an army to attack you.” That is what the Almighty Lord says.
9 “I will remove you from this city. I will put you under the power of a foreign army. I will use them to punish you. 10 Enemy soldiers will use their swords to kill you. I will punish you in your own country. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not be like a pot where you can be safe. You will not be like the meat in that pot. I will punish you while you are still inside Israel. 12 Then you will know that I am the Lord. You have not obeyed my rules or my laws. Instead, you have lived in the same wicked way as the nations around you.” ’
13 While I was speaking the Lord's message, Benaiah's son Pelatiah died. Then I bent down low with my face towards the ground. I shouted, ‘Almighty Lord, do not do this! You will completely destroy all Israel's people who remain!’
14 Then the Lord gave this message to me: 15 ‘Son of man, listen to what the people of Jerusalem are saying about you, your brothers and your relatives. They say this about all the people of Israel who are now in Babylon. They are saying, “Those people have gone far away from the Lord. So now this land belongs to us and we can keep it.”
16 So say this: “This is what the Almighty Lord says. I removed my people from their own land and I sent them far away. I sent them to live among other nations and in other countries. But I am still near to them in the countries where they have gone.”
17 Then say, “This is what the Almighty Lord says. I will fetch you from the places where you have been living. I will bring you back together from those countries. I will give the land of Israel back to you.”
18 The people will return to their land. Then they will destroy their idols and other disgusting things. 19 I will give them new thoughts so that they will choose to worship only me. I will put a new spirit in them. They will no longer refuse to change their way of life. Instead, I will help them to want to obey me. 20 Then they will know my rules and my laws. They will be careful to obey them. They will be my people and I will be their God. 21 But it will be different for those who continue to worship their disgusting idols. I will punish them as they deserve because of the evil things that they have done. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’
22 Then the cherubs lifted up their wings to fly. The wheels were at their sides. And the bright glory of Israel's God was above them. 23 The glory of the Lord rose up and it went away from the city. It stopped over a mountain on the east side of the city.
24 In the vision, a spirit lifted me up and took me back to Babylon. I returned to the Israelites who were prisoners there. That was the end of the vision.
25 I told the Israelites everything that the Lord had shown me in the vision.
Asaph wrote this psalm.
God is our judge[a]
50 God, the great God, the Lord, is speaking.
He is calling everybody on the earth,
from where the sun rises in the east,
to where it goes down in the west.
2 God is shining out from Zion,
that most beautiful place.
3 Our God is coming,
and he does not come quietly!
A fire burns up everything that is in front of him.
There is a great storm all round him.
4 He calls to the skies above,
and to the earth below.
They must watch while he judges his people.
5 He says, ‘Bring my people to me.
They are the people who offered sacrifices to me,
to agree our covenant.’
6 The skies above show that God is righteous,
and God himself is the judge.
Selah.
7 He says, ‘Listen to me, my people,
and I will speak to you.
I have something to say against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.
8 You offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to me all the time
but that is not why I speak against you.
9 I do not need a bull from your farm,
or goats from your fields.
10 All the wild animals of the forest belong to me!
All the cows on a thousand hills belong to me!
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
as well as all the insects.
12 Even if I did become hungry,
I would not tell you.
All the world belongs to me,
and everything that is in it.
13 Do I eat the meat of bulls? No!
Do I drink the blood of goats? No!
14 Say “thank you” to me as your offering.
Do whatever you have promised to do for me,
the Most High God.
15 Pray to me when you are in trouble.
Then I will rescue you,
and you will praise me.’[b]
16 But God says this to the wicked people:
‘It is useless for you to speak about my commands,
or about my covenant.
17 For you hate my teaching,
and you refuse to accept my message.
18 If you see a robber,
you run to help him!
You become friends with adulterers.
19 You speak about evil things,
and you are always telling lies.
20 You say bad things about your own brother,
and you speak against your own family!
21 You did all these things,
and I said nothing.
So you thought that I was as bad as you are.
But now I am warning you!
I will tell you clearly
what you have done wrong.
22 So think carefully about this,
all you people who have turned away from me.
If not, I will tear you into pieces,
and nobody will be able to save you.
23 If anyone wants to praise me,
they should say “thank you” to me as their offering.
If anyone obeys my commands,
I will show them my power to save people.’
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