M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David’s Kingdom Strengthened
18 Now after this (A)it came about that David [a]defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines. 2 He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute.
3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his [b]rule to the Euphrates River. 4 David took from him 1,000 chariots and 7,000 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers, and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots.
5 When the Arameans of [c]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king (B)of Zobah, David [d]killed 22,000 men of the Arameans. 6 Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of [e]Damascus; and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the Lord helped David wherever he went. 7 David took the shields of gold which were [f]carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 Also from [g]Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a very large amount of bronze, with which (C)Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils.
9 Now when [h]Tou king of Hamath heard that David had [i]defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, 10 he sent [j]Hadoram his son to King David to [k]greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had [l]defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. 11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, the Philistines, and from Amalek.
12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah [m]defeated 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord helped David wherever he went.
14 So David reigned over all Israel; and he [n]administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 15 (D)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 16 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavsha was secretary; 17 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.
Misuse of Riches
5 (A)Come now, (B)you rich, (C)weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 (D)Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is (E)in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4 Behold, (F)the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and (G)the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of (H)the Lord of [a]Sabaoth. 5 You have (I)lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have [b]fattened your hearts in (J)a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and [c](K)put to death (L)the righteous man; he does not resist you.
Exhortation
7 Therefore be patient, (M)brethren, (N)until the coming of the Lord. (O)The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until [d]it gets (P)the early and late rains. 8 (Q)You too be patient; (R)strengthen your hearts, for (S)the coming of the Lord is (T)near. 9 (U)Do not [e]complain, (V)brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, (W)the Judge is standing [f](X)right at the [g]door. 10 As an example, (Y)brethren, of suffering and patience, take (Z)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those (AA)blessed who endured. You have heard of (AB)the [h]endurance of Job and have seen (AC)the [i]outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that (AD)the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
12 But above all, (AE)my brethren, (AF)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but [j]your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.
13 Is anyone among you (AG)suffering? (AH)Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to (AI)sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for (AJ)the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, [k](AK)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the (AL)prayer [l]offered in faith will [m](AM)restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will (AN)raise him up, and if he has committed sins, [n]they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, (AO)confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be (AP)healed. (AQ)The effective [o]prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was (AR)a man with a nature like ours, and (AS)he prayed [p]earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for (AT)three years and six months. 18 Then he (AU)prayed again, and (AV)the [q]sky [r]poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.
19 My brethren, (AW)if any among you strays from (AX)the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that [s]he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will (AY)save his soul from death and will (AZ)cover a multitude of sins.
Jonah’s Prayer
2 [a]Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God (A)from the stomach of the fish, 2 and he said,
“I (B)called out of my distress to the Lord,
And He answered me.
I cried for help from the [b]depth of (C)Sheol;
You heard my voice.
3 “For You had (D)cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the current [c]engulfed me.
All Your (E)breakers and billows passed over me.
4 “So I said, ‘I have been (F)expelled from [d]Your sight.
Nevertheless I will look again (G)toward Your holy temple.’
5 “(H)Water encompassed me to the [e]point of death.
The great (I)deep [f]engulfed me,
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 “I (J)descended to the roots of the mountains.
The earth with its (K)bars was around me forever,
But You have (L)brought up my life from [g]the pit, O Lord my God.
7 “While [h]I was (M)fainting away,
I (N)remembered the Lord,
And my (O)prayer came to You,
Into (P)Your holy temple.
8 “Those who (Q)regard [i]vain idols
Forsake their faithfulness,
9 But I will (R)sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will (S)pay.
(T)Salvation is from the Lord.”
10 Then the Lord commanded the (U)fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry land.
Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant
7 (A)When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, (B)He went to Capernaum.
2 And a centurion’s slave, [a]who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3 When he heard about Jesus, (C)he sent some [b]Jewish elders asking Him to come and [c]save the life of his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.” 6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “[d]Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof; 7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just [e]say the word, and my [f]servant will be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, (D)not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
11 Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, [g]accompanied by a large crowd. 12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, [h]a dead man was being carried out, the [i]only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. 13 When (E)the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “[j]Do not weep.” 14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” 15 The [k]dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 (F)Fear gripped them all, and they began (G)glorifying God, saying, “A great (H)prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has [l]visited His people!” 17 (I)This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.
A Deputation from John
18 (J)The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. 19 Summoning [m]two of his disciples, John sent them to (K)the Lord, saying, “Are You the [n]Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” 20 When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the [o]Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’” 21 At that [p]very time He (L)cured many people of diseases and (M)afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. 22 And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the (N)blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the (O)poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 Blessed is he [q]who does not take offense at Me.”
24 When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 [r]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft [s]clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written,
28 I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is [u]least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they [v]acknowledged (Q)God’s justice, (R)having been baptized with (S)the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the [w](T)lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by [x]John.
31 “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ 33 For John the Baptist has come (U)eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a [y]drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and [z]sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom (V)is vindicated by all her children.”
36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to [aa]dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 (W)And there was a woman in the city who was a [ab]sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, 38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were (X)a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a [ac]sinner.”
Parable of Two Debtors
40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he [ad]replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred [ae](Y)denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they (Z)were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you (AA)gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You (AB)gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 (AC)You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 Then He said to her, “(AD)Your sins have been forgiven.” 49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say [af]to themselves, “(AE)Who is this man who even forgives sins?” 50 And He said to the woman, “(AF)Your faith has saved you; (AG)go in peace.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.