M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David’s Kingdom Established and Extended

18 Some time afterward, David attacked the Philistines and subdued them; he took Gath and its villages from the Philistines.^(A)

² He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became subject to David and brought tribute.

³ David also struck down King Hadadezer of Zobah, toward Hamath,^[a] as he went to set up a monument at the River Euphrates. ⁴ David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left one hundred of them. ⁵ When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand Arameans.^{(B) 6} Then David put garrisons^[b] in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought tribute. The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷ David took the gold shields that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a vast quantity of bronze; with it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.^(C)

⁹ When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to greet him and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. Now Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. He sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze;^{(D) 11} these also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹² Abishai son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.^{(E) 13} He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Administration

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵ Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;^{(F) 16} Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.^(G)

Warning to Rich Oppressors

5 Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. ² Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten.^{(A) 3} Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure^[a] during the last days. ⁴ Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.^{(B) 5} You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter.^{(C) 6} You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.^{(D) 8} You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.^{[b](E) 9} Brothers and sisters, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!^{(F) 10} As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Indeed, we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about, for the Lord is compassionate and merciful.^(G)

¹² Above all, brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.^[c]

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.^{(H) 14} Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.^{(I) 15} The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.^{(J) 17} Elijah was a human like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.^{(K) 18} Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth yielded its harvest.^(L)

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth^[d] and is brought back by another, ²⁰ you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s^[e] soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.^(M)

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ² saying,

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto the dry land.

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave

7 After Jesus^[a] had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.^{(A) 2} A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. ³ When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷ therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and, turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”^{(B) 10} When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain

¹¹ Soon afterward^[b] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.^{(C) 12} As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.”^{(D) 14} Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”^{(E) 15} The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^[c] gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”^{(F) 17} This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸ The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples ¹⁹ and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?” ²⁰ When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’ ” ²¹ Jesus^[d] had just then cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits and had given sight to many who were blind.^{(G) 22} And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight; the lame walk; those with a skin disease are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; the poor have good news brought to them.^{(H) 23} And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus^[e] began to speak to the crowds about John:^[f] “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What, then, did you go out to see? Someone^[g] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. ²⁶ What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written,

²⁸ “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God,^[h] having been baptized with John’s baptism.^{(I) 30} But the Pharisees and the experts in the law, not having been baptized by him, rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)^(J)

³¹ “To what, then, will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

³³ “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’;^{(K) 34} the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’^{(L) 35} Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked Jesus^[i] to eat with him, and when he went into the Pharisee’s house he reclined to dine.^{(M) 37} And a woman in the city who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. ³⁸ She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”^{(N) 40} Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” ⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.^{(O) 42} When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus^[j] said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.^{(P) 45} You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.^{(Q) 47} Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” ⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”^{(R) 49} But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”^(S)