M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Absalom dies
18 David brought together all the men who were with him. He chose some officers to lead groups of 1,000 soldiers, and some to lead groups of 100 soldiers. 2 David sent his army out in three groups. Joab led one group. Joab's brother Abishai, Zeruiah's son, led another group. Ittai from Gath led the third group. The king said to them all, ‘I myself will go with you into battle.’
3 But the men replied, ‘No, you must not go with us. If we have to run away quickly, it will not matter to Absalom's men. Even if they kill half of our soldiers, it will not seem important to them. What they really want is to kill you. You are worth 10,000 of us. You must stay here in the city. Then you can send help to us if we need it.’
4 The king said to them, ‘I will do whatever you think is good.’ So he stood beside the gate of the city while his army marched out. They marched out in their groups of hundreds and of thousands. 5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai and Ittai, ‘Because the young man Absalom is my son, do not hurt him.’ All the soldiers heard David give this command to the three officers.
6 David's army marched out to fight Israel's army. They fought the battle in the forest of Ephraim. 7 David's soldiers won the fight against Israel's soldiers. Many soldiers died in the battle that day. There were 20,000 dead men. 8 They fought the battle everywhere in the forest and around it. The forest itself caused the death of more men than the battle did.
9 During the battle, Absalom was riding on his mule and he met some of David's soldiers. His mule carried him under a big oak tree. The tree's branches caught Absalom's hair so that he hung there above the ground. His mule ran off and left him there.
10 One of David's men saw what had happened. He told Joab, ‘I have seen Absalom. He is hanging from an oak tree.’
11 Joab said to the man who told him the news, ‘You saw him there, did you? So why did you not kill him? I would have given you ten silver coins and a brave soldier's belt.’
12 But the man replied, ‘I would never hurt the king's son, even for a gift of 1,000 silver coins. We all heard the king give this command to you, Abishai and Ittai. He said, “Keep the young man Absalom safe, because he is my son.” 13 If I had killed Absalom, my own life would be in danger. The king knows everything that happens! You would not have tried to save me from the king's punishment.’
14 Joab said, ‘I cannot stay here while you talk like this.’ So he took three spears and he went to the tree where Absalom was hanging. While Absalom was still alive, Joab pushed the spears into Absalom's heart. 15 Then ten of Joab's own guards came around Absalom. They knocked him down and they killed him.
16 Then Joab made a sound with his trumpet to stop the battle. So his soldiers stopped chasing after Israel's soldiers. 17 They took Absalom's dead body and they threw it into a deep hole in the forest. They made a big heap of stones over the body.
All the Israelite soldiers ran back to their homes.
18 While Absalom was alive, he had built a tall pillar in the King's Valley. He built it so that people would remember him. He thought, ‘I have no son, so my family's name will not continue.’ He put his own name on the pillar, so people still call it Absalom's Pillar.
David hears about Absalom's death
19 Zadok's son Ahimaaz said to Joab, ‘Let me run to give the king the good news. I will tell him that the Lord has saved him from the power of his enemies.’
20 Joab said, ‘No, it will not be good news for the king. His son is dead. You must not take this news today. Another day there will be good news for you to take to him, but not today.’
21 Then Joab spoke to a servant who came from Ethiopia, ‘Go now to the king. Tell him what you have seen.’ The man bent down in front of Joab and then he ran off with the message.
22 Zadok's son Ahimaaz spoke to Joab again. He said, ‘I am not afraid of what may happen to me. Please let me run after the Ethiopian man.’
But Joab replied, ‘Why do you want to go as well? The king will not give you any gift for this news.’
23 Ahimaaz said, ‘But I do want to go, whatever happens.’
So Joab said, ‘Run after him, then!’
So Ahimaaz ran fast along a road in the Jordan Valley. He arrived near Mahanaim before the Ethiopian man.
24 David was sitting between the two gates of Mahanaim city.[a] A man went up to the top of the wall, on the roof above the gate. He was watching the road. As he looked, he saw a man who was running towards the city. He was running alone. 25 So the man on the wall shouted a message to the king, to say what he had seen.
The king said, ‘If the man is alone, he is bringing good news.’ The man who was running towards the city came much nearer.
26 Then the man on the wall saw another man who was running towards the city. He called down to the guard at the city's gate, ‘Look! There is another man who is running alone!’
The king said, ‘He will bring good news, too.’
27 The man on the wall said, ‘The first man is running like Zadok's son, Ahimaaz.’
The king said, ‘He is a good man. I am sure that he brings good news.’
28 Then Ahimaaz shouted to the king, ‘All is well!’ He bent down low in front of the king, with his face towards the ground. He said, ‘Praise the Lord your God! He has put your enemies under your power. They turned against you, my lord the king, but they have lost the fight.’
29 The king asked, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’
Ahimaaz answered, ‘When Joab sent me, your servant, I saw that many people had come together. There was a lot of noise, but I do not know what was happening.’
30 The king said, ‘Stand over there and wait.’ So Ahimaaz moved away and he waited.
31 Then the Ethiopian man arrived. He said, ‘My lord the king, listen to this good news! Today the Lord has helped you to win the fight. He has kept you safe from all the people who turned against you.’
32 The king asked the Ethiopian man, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’
The man replied, ‘My lord the king, I hope that your enemies and all those who want to hurt you would be as dead as he is!’
33 The king became very upset. He went upstairs to the room above the gate. He wept loudly. As he went, he cried, ‘My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! It would be better if I had died instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!’
Paul speaks about false teachers
11 Please be patient with me! I am speaking like a fool. I know that you are being patient with me already! 2 God wants to keep you for himself. And that is what I want too. I have brought you to Christ, like a pure bride who marries one husband. I want you to be pure and to belong only to him. 3 Remember how the snake deceived Eve. Because he was clever, she believed his lies.[a] I am afraid that the same thing might happen to you. False teachers may make you believe wrong things. Then you will no longer love Christ in a pure and honest way. 4 You are ready to listen to any false teachers who come to you. They might tell you about a different Jesus from the Jesus that we told you about. They might want you to receive a different spirit from the Spirit that you received from us. They might tell you a different kind of good news from the message that you heard from us. You seem to accept all this!
5 Those teachers call themselves very special apostles. But I think that I am as special as they are! 6 Perhaps I do not speak as well as they speak. But I do know what I am speaking about. We have always made this very clear to you in everything that we do.
7 When I told you God's good news, I never asked you to pay me anything. I made myself less important so that you could be more important. I do not think that I was wrong to do that. 8 Believers in other churches gave money to me so that I could serve you. It is like I was robbing them so that I could help you. 9 When I was there with you, I never made you help me. Even when I needed something, I did not cause trouble to anyone. Instead, the believers who came from Macedonia gave me everything that I needed. I was very careful never to cause you to have trouble. And I will continue to be careful like that. 10 The message that I speak about Christ is true. So I will continue to be proud of how I lived among you. Nobody in the whole region of Achaia can stop me doing that. 11 You must not think that I say this because I do not love you. God himself knows that I love you.
12 Yes, I will continue to work among you in the way that I am already doing. I will not take any pay from you. Then there will be no chance for those other teachers to be proud about themselves. They will not be able to say that they work in the same way that we do. 13 Those people are false apostles. They do not work in an honest way. They try to make people think that Christ has sent them as his apostles. 14 That should not surprise you! Even Satan can change himself to look like an angel who belongs to the light. 15 So do not be surprised when Satan's servants do the same thing. They can also seem to be serving God. They may seem to be doing good things, but really what they do is bad. So God will punish them in the end.
Paul speaks about his own work
16 I say this again: nobody should think that I am a fool. But even if you do think that, still listen to me. Give me a chance to praise myself a little, as a fool would do. 17 When I say good things about myself like this, it is not how the Lord would talk. No, these are the words of a fool. 18 But many other people are using human ideas to praise themselves. So I will also do that.
19 You think that you are very wise! So you are happy to listen to fools. 20 You accept people who make you like their slaves. You accept people who cheat you, or take things from you. You accept people who are proud of themselves. Even if someone hits you in your face, you still accept him. 21 But we were not brave enough to do things like that to you. Should I be ashamed of that?
But other people are brave enough to praise themselves. So I will also be proud of the same things. (Now I am talking like a fool!) 22 Are they proud that they are Hebrew people? So am I.[b] Do they belong to Israel's people? So do I. Are they descendants of Abraham's family? So am I. 23 Are they Christ's servants? I serve him even better than they do! (Now I am speaking like a crazy person.) I work much more than they have worked. I have been in prison more often than they have. People have hit me with whips very many times. I have nearly died many times.
24 At five different times, the Jewish leaders punished me with whips. Each time they hit me 39 times. 25 Three times the Romans punished me with sticks. People threw stones at me to kill me once. Three times I have been on ships that broke in the sea. Once I was in the sea for a night and a day. 26 I have travelled on many journeys. I have been in danger from rivers and also from robbers. I have been in danger from my own people and also from Gentiles. I have been in danger in cities and also in the wilderness. I have been in danger on the sea. I have been in danger from false believers. 27 I have worked very hard, and I have been in pain. Many times I have not slept. I have often been hungry and thirsty. Many times I have had no food. I have often been cold and without enough clothes.
28 All these troubles have happened to me. But also, every day I have trouble in my mind. I worry about the believers in all the churches. 29 When one of these believers is weak, then I feel weak too. When something causes one of them to do something wrong, then I am very upset.
30 If I must be proud about myself, I will only be proud of things that show my weakness. 31 I am not telling lies. God, the Father of the Lord Jesus, knows that. He is the one that we should praise for ever. 32 When I was in Damascus, the ruler of that city sent soldiers to catch me. He was under the authority of King Aretas. The soldiers were watching carefully outside the city. 33 But my friends put me in a basket on the end of a rope. They sent me out through a window in the city wall and they let me drop to the ground. That is how I got away from the ruler of the city.[c]
The Lord warns Ammon
25 The Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, look towards the people in Ammon.[a] You must tell them my message to warn them. 3 Say to them, “Listen to this message from the Almighty Lord. This is what he says: You shouted happily when enemies made my holy place unclean. You were happy when the land of Israel became an empty place. And you were happy when Judah's people went away as prisoners to a foreign country. 4 So listen to me! I will give you to the people in the east to be their slaves. Their soldiers will come and they will put their tents among you. They will live among you. They will eat your fruit and they will drink your milk. 5 I will make Rabbah a place where camels eat grass.[b] I will make Ammon a place where sheep rest. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 6 This is what the Almighty Lord says: You were happy when I punished Israel. You clapped your hands together. You stamped your feet on the ground. 7 So listen! I will now use my power to punish you. I will allow other nations to take all your valuable things. I will completely remove you so that you will not be a nation any longer. I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
The Lord warns Moab
8 The Almighty Lord says this: The people in Moab and Seir said, “Judah's people have become the same as all the other nations.” 9 So listen! I will let enemies attack the towns on the border of Moab. I will destroy their greatest cities, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon and Kiriathaim. 10 I will give Moab's people to the people in the east as their slaves, together with the Ammonites. The other nations will not remember the Ammonites any more. 11 I will also punish Moab's people.[c] Then they will know that I am the Lord.
The Lord warns Edom
12 The Almighty Lord says this: Edom's people were cruel to Judah's people when they wanted to punish them.[d] They are guilty because of what they did to Judah's people. 13 So the Almighty Lord God says this: I will use my power to punish Edom. I will destroy Edom's people and animals. Edom will become an empty place. Enemy soldiers will use their swords to kill the people, everywhere from Teman to Dedan. 14 I will use my people, the Israelites, to punish Edom. The Edomites will know that I am very angry with them. They will know that their punishment comes from me. That is what the Almighty Lord says.
The Lord warns the Philistines
15 The AlmightyLord says this: The Philistines were cruel to Judah's people when they wanted to punish them. They hated Judah's people and they wanted to destroy them. They would not stop attacking them. 16 So this is what the Almighty Lord says: Listen! I will use my power to punish the Philistines. I will kill the Kerethites. I will destroy the people who remain on the coast of the sea.[e] 17 I will punish them very much because of the things that they have done. I will show them that I am very angry with them. When and I punish them as they deserve, they will know that I am the Lord. ’
This is a psalm that Asaph wrote.
God has helped me to understand[a]
73 God is truly good to the people of Israel,
to people who want to serve him honestly.
2 But this is what happened to me:
I nearly slipped and fell over.
I could no longer stand properly.
3 When I saw that wicked people had plenty of things,
I was jealous of those proud people.
4 Their bodies are fat and strong,
and they feel no pain in their lives.
5 They do not have trouble like other people.
They seem to have no problems.
6 Their pride is like their necklace.
They like to be cruel,
as they like to wear clothes.
7 Their greedy eyes lead them into sin.
Their minds think of evil things to do.
8 They laugh at people
and they say bad things about them.
They proudly speak about cruel things
that they want to do to people.
9 They think that they rule in heaven,
as well as on the earth!
10 As a result, God's people become confused,
and they listen to them.
They think that everything is true
that those wicked people say.[b]
11 They say, ‘Does God really know what we do?
Does the Most High God know everything?’
12 Take a good look,
and see how wicked those people are!
They have no troubles,
and they become richer and richer.
13 I decided that I had tried to do what is right,
but it did not help me at all!
I had refused to do anything wrong,
for no good reason!
14 I had trouble each and every day.
Punishment came to me every morning!
15 If I had spoken aloud things like that,
I would have turned against your own people.
16 When I thought about all this,
it was so hard for me to understand.
17 But I went into your temple, God.
Then I understood what would happen
to wicked people in the end.
18 Yes, I realized that they are in a dangerous place,
where they will easily slip.
You will cause them to fall down to their death.
19 It will take just a moment to destroy them!
Great fear will sweep them away!
20 They will completely disappear,
like a dream disappears after you wake up.
Lord, when you decide to do something,
you will forget that they were there!
21 I was very upset,
and my thoughts were confused.
22 I was stupid,
and I did not understand you properly.
I was no better than an animal.
23 But I am always near to you.
You hold my right hand,
as my guide.
24 You teach me the right way to go,
and you will lead me to glory.[c]
25 You are the only one in heaven or on earth
that I need to help me.
You are the only one that I want.
26 My body and my mind may become weak,
but God will always keep me safe and strong.
27 Those people who stay far away from you will die.
You destroy everybody who turns away from you.
28 But as for me, it is good for me to stay near to God.
I have gone to the Almighty Lord
as the place where I can be safe.
I will tell people about the great things that you have done.
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