M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 8
Summary of David’s Wars. 1 (A)After this, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took…[a] from the Philistines. 2 He also defeated Moab and measured them with a line. Making them lie down on the ground, he measured two lengths of line for death, and a full length for life.[b] Thus the Moabites became subject to David, paying tribute. 3 (B)David then defeated Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to re-establish his dominion at the River.(C) 4 David captured from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left one hundred for his chariots.(D) 5 The Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, but David also defeated twenty-two thousand of them in Aram. 6 David then placed garrisons in the Damascus region of Aram, and the Arameans became David’s subjects, paying tribute. The Lord brought David victory in all his undertakings. 7 David took the golden shields that were carried by Hadadezer’s attendants and brought them to Jerusalem. (These Shishak, king of Egypt, took away when he came to Jerusalem in the days of Rehoboam, son of Solomon.) 8 From Tebah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David removed a very large quantity of bronze. 9 When Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Hadoram to wish King David well and to congratulate him on having waged a victorious war against Hadadezer; for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi. Hadoram also brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze. 11 These also King David consecrated to the Lord along with the silver and gold that he had taken for this purpose from all the nations he had subdued: 12 from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek, and from the spoils of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
13 On his return,[c] David made a name for himself by defeating eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(E) 14 He set up garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. Thus the Lord brought David victory in all his undertakings.
David’s Officials. 15 (F)David was king over all Israel; he dispensed justice and right to all his people. 16 Joab, son of Zeruiah, was in command of the army. Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was chancellor. 17 Zadok, son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, son of Abiathar, were priests.[d] Shavsha was scribe. 18 Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, was in command of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.(G)
Chapter 9
David and Meribbaal. 1 David asked, “Is there any survivor of Saul’s house to whom I may show kindness for the sake of Jonathan?”(H) 2 Now there was an official of the house of Saul named Ziba. He was summoned to David, and the king asked him, “Are you Ziba?” He replied, “Your servant.”(I) 3 Then the king asked, “Is there any survivor of Saul’s house to whom I may show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still Jonathan’s son, the one whose feet are crippled.”(J) 4 The king asked him, “Where is he?” and Ziba answered the king, “He is in the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, in Lodebar.”(K) 5 So King David sent for him and had him brought from the house of Machir, son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. 6 When Meribbaal, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David, he fell face down in homage. David said, “Meribbaal,” and he answered, “Your servant.” 7 “Do not be afraid,” David said to him, “I will surely be kind to you for the sake of Jonathan your father. I will restore to you all the lands of Saul your grandfather, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 Bowing low, he answered, “What am I, your servant, that you should pay attention to a dead dog like me?”(L) 9 The king then called Ziba, Saul’s attendant, and said to him: “All that belonged to Saul and to his entire house, I am giving to your lord’s son. 10 You and your sons and servants must till the land for him. You shall bring in the produce, which shall be food for your lord’s household to eat. But Meribbaal, your lord’s son, shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Ziba answered the king, “Whatever my lord the king commands his servant, so shall your servant do.” And so Meribbaal ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.(M) 12 Meribbaal had a young son whose name was Mica; and all the tenants of Ziba’s household worked for Meribbaal.(N) 13 But Meribbaal lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table. He was lame in both feet.(O)
Chapter 2
1 For I decided not to come to you again in painful circumstances. 2 For if I inflict pain upon you, then who is there to cheer me except the one pained by me? 3 And I wrote as I did[a] so that when I came I might not be pained by those in whom I should have rejoiced, confident about all of you that my joy is that of all of you. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you might be pained but that you might know the abundant love I have for you.
The Offender.[b] 5 If anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure (not to exaggerate) to all of you. 6 This punishment by the majority is enough for such a person, 7 so that on the contrary you should forgive and encourage him instead, or else the person may be overwhelmed by excessive pain.(A) 8 Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For this is why I wrote, to know your proven character, whether you were obedient in everything.(B) 10 Whomever you forgive anything, so do I. For indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for you in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we might not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not unaware of his purposes.(C)
Paul’s Anxiety.[c] 12 When I went to Troas for the gospel of Christ, although a door was opened for me in the Lord,(D) 13 [d]I had no relief in my spirit because I did not find my brother Titus.(E) So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.
B. Paul’s Ministry[e]
Ministers of a New Covenant. 14 [f]But thanks be to God,[g] who always leads us in triumph in Christ[h] and manifests through us the odor of the knowledge of him[i] in every place. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ for God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing,(F) 16 to the latter an odor of death that leads to death, to the former an odor of life that leads to life. Who is qualified[j] for this? 17 For we are not like the many who trade on the word of God; but as out of sincerity, indeed as from God and in the presence of God, we speak in Christ.(G)
Chapter 16
A Parable of Infidelity. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations.(A) 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God to Jerusalem: By origin and birth you belong to the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite.[a](B) 4 [b]As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut; you were not washed with water or anointed; you were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in swaddling clothes.(C) 5 No eye looked on you with pity or compassion to do any of these things for you. Rather, on the day you were born you were left out in the field, rejected.
6 Then I passed by and saw you struggling in your blood, and I said to you in your blood, “Live!” 7 I helped you grow up like a field plant, so that you grew, maturing into a woman with breasts developed and hair grown; but still you were stark naked. 8 I passed by you again and saw that you were now old enough for love. So I spread the corner of my cloak[c] over you to cover your nakedness; I swore an oath to you and entered into covenant with you—oracle of the Lord God—and you became mine.(D) 9 Then I bathed you with water, washed away your blood, and anointed you with oil.(E) 10 I clothed you with an embroidered gown, put leather sandals on your feet; I gave you a fine linen sash and silk robes to wear.(F) 11 I adorned you with jewelry, putting bracelets on your arms, a necklace about your neck,(G) 12 a ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver; your garments made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. Fine flour, honey, and olive oil were your food. You were very, very beautiful, fit for royalty.(H) 14 You were renowned among the nations for your beauty, perfected by the splendor I showered on you—oracle of the Lord God.
15 But you trusted in your own beauty and used your renown to serve as a prostitute. You poured out your prostitution on every passerby—let it be his.(I) 16 [d]You took some of your garments and made for yourself gaudy high places, where you served as a prostitute. It has never happened before, nor will it happen again!(J) 17 You took the splendid gold and silver ornaments that I had given you and made for yourself male images and served as a prostitute with them. 18 You took your embroidered garments to cover them; my oil and my incense you set before them; 19 the food I had given you, the fine flour, the oil, and the honey with which I fed you, you set before them as a pleasant odor, says the Lord God.(K) 20 [e](L)The sons and daughters you bore for me you took and offered as sacrifices for them to devour! Was it not enough that you had become a prostitute? 21 (M)You slaughtered and immolated my children to them, making them pass through fire. 22 In all your abominations and prostitutions you did not remember the days of your youth when you were stark naked, struggling in your blood.(N)
23 Then after all your evildoing—woe, woe to you! oracle of the Lord God— 24 you built yourself a platform and raised up a dais[f] in every public place.(O) 25 (P)At every intersection you built yourself a dais so that you could degrade your beauty by spreading your legs for every passerby, multiplying your prostitutions. 26 You served as a prostitute with the Egyptians, your big-membered neighbors, and multiplied your prostitutions to provoke me. 27 Therefore I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your allotment, and delivered you over to the whim of your enemies, the Philistines,[g] who were revolted by your depraved conduct.(Q) 28 You also served as a prostitute for the Assyrians, because you were not satisfied. Even after serving as a prostitute for them, you were still not satisfied.(R) 29 You increased your prostitutions again, now going to Chaldea, the land of traders; but despite this, you were still not satisfied.(S)
30 How wild your lust!—oracle of the Lord God—that you did all these works of a shameless prostitute, 31 when you built your platform at every intersection and set up your high place in every public square. But unlike a prostitute, you disdained payment. 32 Adulterous wife, taking strangers in place of her husband! 33 Prostitutes usually receive gifts. But you bestowed gifts on all your lovers, bribing them to come to you for prostitution from every side.(T) 34 Thus in your prostitution you were different from any other woman. No one solicited you for prostitution. Instead, you yourself offered payment; what a reversal!
35 Therefore, prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! 36 Thus says the Lord God: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your nakedness in your prostitution with your lovers and your abominable idols, because you gave the life-blood of your children to them, 37 (U)therefore, I will now gather together all your lovers with whom you found pleasure, both those you loved and those you hated; I will gather them against you from all sides and expose you naked for them to see. 38 [h]I will inflict on you the sentence of adultery and murder; I will bring on you bloody wrath and jealous anger.(V) 39 I will hand you over to them to tear down your platform and demolish your high place, to strip you of your garments and take away your splendid ornaments, leaving you stark naked.(W) 40 They shall lead an assembly against you to stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords.(X) 41 (Y)They shall set fire to your homes and inflict punishments on you while many women watch. Thus I will put an end to your prostitution, and you shall never again offer payment. 42 When I have spent my fury upon you I will stop being jealous about you, and calm down, no longer angry. 43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, see, I am bringing down your ways upon your head—oracle of the Lord God. Have you not added depravity to your other abominations?
44 See, everyone who makes proverbs will make this proverb about you, “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 Yes, you are truly the daughter of your mother[i] who rejected her husband and children: you are truly a sister to your sisters who rejected their husbands and children—your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.(Z) 46 [j]Your elder sister was Samaria with her daughters to the north of you; and your younger sister was Sodom and her daughters, south of you.(AA) 47 Not only did you walk in their ways and act as abominably as they did, but in a very short time you became more corrupt in all your ways than they were.(AB) 48 As I live—oracle of the Lord God—I swear that your sister Sodom with her daughters have not done the things you and your daughters have done!(AC) 49 (AD)Now look at the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters were proud, sated with food, complacent in prosperity. They did not give any help to the poor and needy. 50 Instead, they became arrogant and committed abominations before me; then, as you have seen, I removed them.(AE) 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more abominable things than they did. You even made your sisters look righteous, with all the abominations you have done. 52 You, then, must bear your disgrace, for you have made a case for your sisters! Because your sins are more abominable than theirs, they seem righteous compared to you. Blush for shame, and bear the disgrace of having made your sisters appear righteous.
53 I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters—and your fortunes along with them. 54 Thus you must bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done to bring them comfort. 55 Yes, your sisters, Sodom and her daughters, Samaria and her daughters, shall return to the way they were,(AF) and you and your daughters shall return to the way you were. 56 Did you not hold your sister Sodom in bad repute while you felt proud of yourself, 57 before your evil was exposed? Now you are like her, reproached by the Arameans and all their neighbors, despised on all sides by the Philistines.(AG) 58 The penalty of your depravity and your abominations—you must bear it all—oracle of the Lord.
59 For thus says the Lord God: I will deal with you for what you did; you despised an oath by breaking a covenant.(AH) 60 But I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young; I will set up an everlasting covenant[k] with you.(AI) 61 Then you shall remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, those older and younger than you; I give them to you as daughters, but not by reason of your covenant. 62 For I will re-establish my covenant with you, that you may know that I am the Lord,(AJ) 63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, when I pardon you for all you have done—oracle of the Lord God.(AK)
Psalm 58[a]
The Dethroning of Unjust Rulers
1 For the leader. Do not destroy.[b] A miktam of David.
I
2 Do you indeed pronounce justice, O gods;[c]
do you judge fairly you children of Adam?(A)
3 No, you freely engage in crime;
your hands dispense violence to the earth.
II
4 The wicked have been corrupt since birth;
liars from the womb, they have gone astray.
5 [d]Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a serpent stopping its ears,(B)
6 So as not to hear the voice of the charmer
or the enchanter with cunning spells.
III
7 O God, smash the teeth in their mouths;
break the fangs of these lions, Lord!(C)
8 Make them vanish like water flowing away;(D)
trodden down, let them wither like grass.(E)
9 Let them dissolve like a snail that oozes away,[e]
like an untimely birth that never sees the sun.(F)
10 Suddenly, like brambles or thistles,
have the whirlwind snatch them away.(G)
11 Then the just shall rejoice to see the vengeance
and bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.(H)
12 Then people will say:
“Truly there is a reward for the just;
there is a God who is judge on earth!”
Psalm 59[f]
Complaint Against Bloodthirsty Enemies
1 For the director. Do not destroy.[g] A miktam of David, when Saul sent people to watch his house and kill him.(I)
I
2 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;
lift me out of reach of my foes.
3 Deliver me from evildoers;
from the bloodthirsty save me.
4 They have set an ambush for my life;
the powerful conspire against me.
For no offense or misdeed of mine, Lord,
5 for no fault they hurry to take up arms.
Come near and see my plight!
6 You, Lord God of hosts, are the God of Israel!
Awake! Punish all the nations.
Have no mercy on these worthless traitors.
Selah
7 Each evening they return,
growling like dogs, prowling the city.(J)
8 Their mouths pour out insult;
sharp words are on their lips.
They say: “Who is there to hear?”[h]
9 But you, Lord, laugh at them;
you deride all the nations.(K)
10 My strength, for you I watch;
you, God, are my fortress,
11 my loving God.
II
May God go before me,
and show me my fallen foes.
12 Slay them, God,
lest they deceive my people.
Shake them by your power;
Lord, our shield, bring them down.
13 For the sinful words of their mouths and lips
let them be caught in their pride.
For the lies they have told under oath(L)
14 destroy them in anger,
destroy till they are no more.
Then people will know God rules over Jacob,
yes, even to the ends of the earth.(M)
Selah
15 Each evening they return,
growling like dogs, prowling the city.
16 They roam about as scavengers;
if they are not filled, they howl.
III
17 But I shall sing of your strength,
extol your mercy at dawn,
For you are my fortress,
my refuge in time of trouble.
18 My strength, your praise I will sing;
you, God, are my fortress, my loving God.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.