M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Moves the Sacred Chest to Jerusalem
(2 Samuel 6.1-12a)
13 Some time later, David talked with his army commanders, 2-3 and then announced to the people of Israel:
While Saul was king, the sacred chest was ignored. But now it's time to bring the chest to Jerusalem. We will invite everyone in Israel to come here, including the priests and the Levites in the towns surrounded by pastureland. But we will do these things only if you agree, and if the Lord our God wants us to.
4 The people agreed this was the right thing to do.
5 David gathered everyone from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo-Hamath in the north. 6 (A) Then he led them to Baalah in Judah, which was also called Kiriath-Jearim. They went there to get the sacred chest and bring it to Jerusalem, because it belonged to the Lord God, whose throne is above the winged creatures[a] on the lid of the chest.
7 The sacred chest was still at Abinadab's house,[b] and when David and the crowd arrived there, they brought the chest outside and placed it on a new ox cart. Abinadab's sons[c] Uzzah and Ahio guided the cart, 8 while David and the crowd danced and sang praises to the Lord with all their might. They played music on small harps and other stringed instruments, and on tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
9 But when they came to Chidon's threshing place, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out and took hold of the chest to stop it from falling. 10 The Lord God was very angry with Uzzah for doing this, and he killed Uzzah right there beside the chest.
11 David then got angry with God for killing Uzzah. So he named that place “Attack on Uzzah,”[d] and it's been called that ever since.
12 David was afraid what the Lord might do to him, and he asked himself, “Should I really be the one to take care of the sacred chest?” 13 So instead of taking it to Jerusalem, David decided to take it to the home of Obed-Edom, who lived in the town of Gath.
14 (B) The chest stayed there for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom, his family, and everything he owned.
David's Palace in Jerusalem
(2 Samuel 5.11-16)
14 King Hiram of Tyre sent some officials to David. They brought along carpenters and stone workers, and enough cedar logs to build David a palace. 2 David now knew that the Lord had made him a powerful king of Israel for the good of his people.
3 After David moved to Jerusalem, he married more women and had more sons and daughters. 4-7 His children born there were Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Beeliada,[e] and Eliphelet.
David Defeats the Philistines
(2 Samuel 5.17-25)
8 When the Philistines heard that David had become king of Israel, they came to capture him. But David heard about their plan and marched out to meet them in battle. 9 The Philistines had already camped in Rephaim Valley and were raiding the nearby villages.
10 David asked God, “Should I attack the Philistines? Will you help me win?”
The Lord told David, “Yes, attack them! I will give you victory.”
11 David and his army marched to Baal-Perazim, where they attacked and defeated the Philistines. He said, “I defeated my enemies because God broke through them like a mighty flood.” So he named the place “The Lord Broke Through.”[f] 12 Then David ordered his troops to burn the idols that the Philistines had left behind.
13 Some time later, the Philistines came back into the hill country and camped in Rephaim Valley. 14 David asked God what he should do, and God answered, “Don't attack them from the front. Circle around behind them where the balsam[g] trees are. 15 Wait there until you hear the treetops making the sound of marching troops. That sound will mean I have marched out ahead of you to fight the Philistine army. So you must then attack quickly!”
16 David obeyed God and he defeated the Philistines. He even chased them all the way from Gibeon to the entrance to Gezer.
17 From then on, David became even more famous, and the Lord made all the nations afraid of him.
1 (A) From James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world.[a]
Faith and Wisdom
2 (B) My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. 3 You know you learn to endure by having your faith tested. 4 But you must learn to endure everything, so you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.
5 (C) If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking. 6 But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. 7-8 If you are that kind of person, you can't make up your mind, and you surely can't be trusted. So don't expect the Lord to give you anything at all.
Poor People and Rich People
9 Any of God's people who are poor should be glad he thinks so highly of them. 10 (D) But any who are rich should be glad when God makes them humble. Rich people will disappear like wild flowers 11 scorched by the burning heat of the sun. The flowers lose their blossoms, and their beauty is destroyed. This is how the rich will disappear, as they go about their business.
Trials and Temptations
12 (E) God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life,[b] just as he rewards everyone who loves him.
13 (F) Don't blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn't use evil to tempt others. 14 We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. 15 Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.
16 Don't be fooled, my dear friends. 17 Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. 18 He wanted us to be his own special people,[c] and so he sent the true message to give us new birth.
Hearing and Obeying
19 (G) My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry. 20 If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things God wants done. 21 You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message planted in you to save you.
22 Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it. 23 If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror 24 and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. 25 But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget.
26 If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is useless. 27 Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.
A Basket of Fruit
8 The Lord God showed me a basket of ripe fruit 2 and asked, “Amos, what do you see?”
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I replied.
Then he said,
“This is the end[a]
for my people Israel.
I won't forgive them again.
3 Instead of singing
in the temple,
they will cry and weep.
Dead bodies will be everywhere.
So keep silent!
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Israel Is Doomed
The Lord said:
4 You people crush those in need
and wipe out the poor.
5 You say to yourselves,
“How much longer before the end
of the New Moon Festival?
When will the Sabbath[b] be over?
Our wheat is ready,
and we want to sell it now.
We can't wait to cheat
and charge high prices
for the grain we sell.
We will use dishonest scales
6 and mix dust in the grain.
Those who are needy and poor
don't have any money.
We will make them our slaves
for the price
of a pair of sandals.”
7 I, the Lord, won't forget
any of this,
though you take great pride
in your ancestor Jacob.[c]
8 Your country will tremble,
and you will mourn.
It will be like the Nile River
that rises and overflows,
then sinks back down.
9 On that day, I, the Lord God,
will make the sun
go down at noon,
and I will turn daylight
into darkness.
10 Your festivals and joyful singing
will turn into sorrow.
You will wear sackcloth[d]
and shave your heads,
as you would at the death
of your only son.
It will be a horrible day.
11 I, the Lord, also promise you
a terrible shortage,
but not of food and water.
You will hunger and thirst
to hear my message.
12 You will search everywhere—
from north to south,
from east to west.
You will go all over the earth,
seeking a message
from me, the Lord.
But you won't find one.
13 Your beautiful young women
and your young men
will faint from thirst.
14 You made promises
to the goddess Ashimah
at Samaria;
you made vows to other gods
at the shrines
of Dan and Beersheba.[e]
So now you will fall
and never get up.
The Preaching of John the Baptist
(Matthew 3.1-12; Mark 1.1-8; John 1.19-28)
3 For 15 years[a] Emperor Tiberius had ruled that part of the world. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod[b] was the ruler of Galilee. Herod's brother, Philip, was the ruler in the countries of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was the ruler of Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the Jewish high priests.[c]
At that time God spoke to Zechariah's son John, who was living in the desert. 3 So John went along the Jordan Valley, telling the people, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.” 4 (A) Isaiah the prophet wrote about John when he said,
“In the desert
someone is shouting,
‘Get the road ready
for the Lord!
Make a straight path
for him.
5 Fill up every valley
and level every mountain
and hill.
Straighten the crooked paths
and smooth out
the rough roads.
6 Then everyone will see
the saving power of God.’ ”
7 (B) Crowds of people came out to be baptized, but John said to them, “You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? 8 (C) Do something to show that you really have given up your sins. Don't start saying you belong to Abraham's family. God can turn these stones into children for Abraham.[d] 9 (D) An ax is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”
10 The crowds asked John, “What should we do?”
11 John told them, “If you have two coats, give one to someone who doesn't have any. If you have food, share it with someone else.”
12 (E) When tax collectors[e] came to be baptized, they asked John, “Teacher, what should we do?”
13 John told them, “Don't make people pay more than they owe.”
14 Some soldiers asked him, “And what about us? What do we have to do?”
John told them, “Don't force people to pay money to make you leave them alone. Be satisfied with your pay.”
15 Everyone became excited and wondered, “Could John be the Messiah?”
16 John said, “I am just baptizing with water. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to untie his sandals.[f] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His threshing fork[g] is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in his barn and burn the husks with a fire that never goes out.”
18 In many different ways John preached the good news to the people. 19 (F) But to Herod the ruler, he said, “It was wrong for you to take Herodias, your brother's wife.” John also said Herod had done many other bad things. 20 Finally, Herod put John in jail, and this was the worst thing he had done.
The Baptism of Jesus
(Matthew 3.13-17; Mark 1.9-11)
21 While everyone else was being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. Then as he prayed, the sky opened up, 22 (G) and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”
The Ancestors of Jesus
(Matthew 1.1-17)
23 When Jesus began to preach, he was about 30 years old. Everyone thought he was the son of Joseph. But his family went back through Heli, 24 Matthat, Levi, Melchi, Jannai, Joseph, 25 Mattathias, Amos, Nahum, Esli, Naggai, 26 Maath, Mattathias, Semein, Josech, Joda;
27 Joanan, Rhesa, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel, Neri, 28 Melchi, Addi, Cosam, Elmadam, Er, 29 Joshua, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat, Levi;
30 Simeon, Judah, Joseph, Jonam, Eliakim, 31 Melea, Menna, Mattatha, Nathan, David, 32 Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon;
33 Amminadab, Admin, Arni, Hezron, Perez, Judah, 34 Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor, 35 Serug, Reu, Peleg, Eber, Shelah;
36 Cainan, Arphaxad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, 37 Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalaleel, Kenan, 38 Enosh, and Seth.
The family of Jesus went all the way back to Adam and then to God.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.