M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel’s Spotless Leadership
12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you have said to me and appointed a king over you. 2 And now, here is the king who will lead you. I am old and gray, but my sons are with you. I have led you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am. Testify against me in front of the Lord and in front of his anointed king. Did I take anyone’s ox? Did I take anyone’s donkey? Did I cheat or oppress anyone? Did I take a bribe from anyone to look the other way? ⌞If so,⌟ I will give it all back.”
4 They answered, “You didn’t cheat us, oppress us, or take anything from anyone.”
5 Samuel told them, “The Lord is a witness to what you’ve said, and his anointed king is a witness today that you’ve found nothing in my hands.”
“He is a witness,” they answered.
6 Samuel told the people, “The Lord appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. 7 Now, stand up while I put you on trial in front of the Lord and cite all the righteous things the Lord did for you and your ancestors. 8 When your ancestors went with Jacob to Egypt ⌞and were oppressed⌟, they cried out to the Lord, who sent Moses and Aaron to bring them out of Egypt. The Lord settled them in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God. So he handed them over to Sisera, who was the commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines, and to the king of Moab. All of them fought against your ancestors. 10 Then they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned. We have abandoned the Lord and served other gods and goddesses—the Baals and the Astartes. But rescue us from our enemies now, and we will serve you.’
11 “Then the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel and rescued you from your enemies on every side so that you could live securely. 12 But when you saw King Nahash of Ammon coming to attack you, you told me, ‘No, a king should rule over us,’ though the Lord your God was your king.
The New Kingship
13 “Now, here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for. See, the Lord has put a king over you. 14 If you fear the Lord, serve him, obey him, and don’t rebel against what he says, then you and your king will follow the Lord your God. 15 But if you don’t obey the Lord, if you rebel against what he says, then the Lord will be against you as he was against your ancestors. 16 Now then, stand still and watch this great thing the Lord is going to do right before your eyes. 17 Isn’t the wheat being harvested today? I will call on the Lord, and he’ll send thunder and rain. Then you will realize what a wicked thing you did in the Lord’s presence when you asked for a king.”
18 Then Samuel called on the Lord. That day the Lord sent thunder and rain so that all the people feared the Lord and Samuel very much.
19 All the people pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us so that we will not die. We have added ⌞another⌟ evil thing to all our other sins by asking for a king.”
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel told the people. “You did do all these evil things. But don’t turn away from the Lord. Instead, serve the Lord wholeheartedly. 21 Don’t turn away to follow other gods. They can’t help or rescue you, because they don’t exist. 22 For the sake of his great name, the Lord will not abandon his people, because the Lord wants to make you his people. 23 It would be unthinkable for me to sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. I will go on teaching you the way that is good and right. 24 Fear the Lord, and serve him sincerely. Consider the great things he did for you. 25 But if you go on doing what is evil, you and your king will be wiped out.”
If You Believe You Will Be Saved
10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of the Jewish people is that they would be saved. 2 I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God, but they are misguided. 3 They don’t understand ⌞how to receive⌟ God’s approval. So they try to set up their own way to get it, and they have not accepted God’s way for receiving his approval. 4 Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ Teachings so that everyone who has faith may receive God’s approval.
5 Moses writes about receiving God’s approval by following his laws. He says, “The person who obeys these laws will live because he obeys them.” 6 However, Scripture says about God’s approval which is based on faith, “Don’t ask yourself who will go up to heaven,” (that is, to bring Christ down). 7 “Don’t ask who will go down into the depths,” (that is, to bring Christ back from the dead). 8 However, what else does it say? “This message is near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the message of faith that we spread. 9 If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. 10 By believing you receive God’s approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved. 11 Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be ashamed.”
12 There is no difference between Jews and Greeks. They all have the same Lord, who gives his riches to everyone who calls on him. 13 So then, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 But how can people call on him if they have not believed in him? How can they believe in him if they have not heard his message? How can they hear if no one tells ⌞the Good News⌟? 15 How can people tell the Good News if no one sends them? As Scripture says, “How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who announce the Good News.” 16 But not everyone has believed the Good News.
Isaiah asks, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing the message, and the message that is heard is what Christ spoke.
18 But I ask, “Didn’t they hear that message?” Certainly they did! “The voice of the messengers has gone out into the whole world and their words to the ends of the earth.”
19 Again I ask, “Didn’t Israel understand ⌞that message⌟?” Moses was the first to say, “I will make you jealous of people who are not a nation. I will make you angry about a nation that doesn’t understand.” 20 Isaiah said very boldly, “I was found by those who weren’t looking for me. I was revealed to those who weren’t asking for me.” 21 Then Isaiah said about Israel, “All day long I have stretched out my hands to disobedient and rebellious people.”
A Prophecy against Ammon
49 This is what the Lord says about the people of Ammon:
Doesn’t Israel have any children? Doesn’t it have any heirs?
Why, then, has the god Milcom [a] taken over the inheritance
of Gad’s descendants?
Why do Milcom’s people live in Gad’s cities?
2 That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah,
where the people of Ammon live.
It will become a pile of rubble.
Its villages will be burned down.
Then Israel will take possession of its inheritance, says the Lord.
3 Cry loudly, Heshbon, because Ai is destroyed.
Cry, people of Rabbah, put on your sackcloth, and mourn.
Run back and forth between the walls.
Milcom will be taken away into captivity
with its priests and officials.
4 Why do you brag about your valleys,
your fertile valleys, you unfaithful people?
You trust your treasures.
You think, “Who would attack me?”
5 I am going to bring terror on you from all around,
declares the Almighty Lord of Armies.
Everyone will be scattered.
No one will gather the refugees.
6 But afterward, I will return the captives of Ammon, declares the Lord.
A Prophecy against Edom(A)
7 This is what the Lord of Armies says about Edom:
Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?
Has wisdom disappeared from your people?
Has their wisdom vanished?
8 Turn and run.
Hide in deep caves, inhabitants of Dedan.
When I punish them,
I will bring disaster on the descendants of Esau.
9 If people come to pick your grapes,
won’t they leave a few grapes behind?
If thieves come during the night,
won’t they steal only until they’ve had enough?
10 Yet, I will strip the descendants of Esau.
I will find their hiding places.
They won’t be able to hide.
Their children and relatives will be destroyed.
None of their neighbors will say,
11 “Abandon your orphans, and I will keep them alive.
Your widows can trust me.”
12 This is what the Lord says: If those who don’t deserve to drink from the cup still drink from it, why should you go unpunished? You won’t go unpunished. You must drink from it. 13 I take an oath on myself, declares the Lord, that Bozrah will become a pile of rubble. It will become something horrifying, ridiculed, ruined, and cursed. All its cities will lie in ruins permanently.
14 I heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger was sent among the nations to say,
“Assemble, and attack Edom.
Get ready for battle.”
15 “Edom, I will make you the smallest of nations
and despised among humanity.
16 You have frightened other people.
Your arrogance has deceived you.
You live on rocky cliffs
and occupy the highest places in the hills.
Even though you build your nest as high as an eagle,
I will bring you down from there,” declares the Lord.
17 “Then Edom will become something horrible.
Everyone who passes by it will be horrified
and hiss at all its wounds.
18 Edom will be like Sodom, Gomorrah, and their neighboring cities
when they were destroyed.
No one will live there.
No human will stay there,” says the Lord.
19 “I will suddenly chase them from their places
like a lion coming out of the jungle
along the Jordan River into pastureland.
I will appoint over Edom whomever I choose.
Who is like me? Who can challenge me?
Is there any leader who can stand up to me?”
20 Listen to the plans that the Lord is making against Edom
and the things he intends to do to those who live in Teman.
He will surely drag away the little ones of the flock.
He will surely destroy the pasture
because of the people who live in Teman.
21 The earth will quake at the sound of their downfall.
The sound of their crying will be heard at the Red Sea.
22 The enemy will swoop down like eagles
and spread their wings over Bozrah.
On that day Edom’s soldiers will be like women in childbirth.
A Prophecy against Damascus
23 This is a message about Damascus.
“Hamath and Arpad are worried because they heard the bad news.
They melt in fear.
They are troubled like a sea that can’t be calmed.
24 The people of Damascus are weak.
They turn to flee, but panic grips them.
Anguish and pain grip them like a woman in labor.
25 Why isn’t that famous, happy city abandoned?
26 That is why its young men will die in the streets,
and its soldiers will be silenced that day,”
declares the Lord of Armies.
27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus
and burn down Benhadad’s palaces.”
A Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor
28 This is about the tribe of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated. This is what the Lord says:
Get ready, attack Kedar,
and loot the people from the east.
29 Their tents and their flocks will be taken.
Their tent curtains, utensils, and camels will be carried away.
People will shout to them, “Terror is all around!”
30 Run far away! Find a place to hide,
inhabitants of Hazor, declares the Lord.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has made plans against you
and intends to attack you.
31 Get ready! Attack the nation living peacefully and securely,
declares the Lord.
It is a nation with no gates or bars.
Its people live alone.
32 Their camels will be taken as prizes.
Their large herds will be taken as loot.
I will scatter to the winds
those who shave the hair on their foreheads.
I will bring disaster on them from every side,
declares the Lord.
33 Hazor will be a place where only jackals live.
It will become a permanent wasteland.
No one will live there.
No human will stay there.
A Prophecy against Elam
34 Early in the rule of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam.
35 This is what the Lord of Armies says:
I’m going to break the bows of Elam’s archers,
the most important weapon of their strength.
36 I’ll bring the four winds
from the four corners of heaven against Elam
and scatter its people in every direction.
There won’t be a nation
where Elam’s refugees won’t go.
37 I’ll defeat the people of Elam in the presence of their enemies,
in the presence of those who want to kill them.
I’ll bring disaster with my burning anger, declares the Lord.
I’ll send armies after them until I put an end to them.
38 I’ll set my throne in Elam and destroy its king and officials,
declares the Lord.
39 But afterward, I’ll return the captives of Elam, declares the Lord.
By David.
26 Judge me favorably, O Lord,
because I have walked with integrity
and I have trusted you without wavering.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and test me.
Look closely into my heart and mind.
3 I see your mercy in front of me.
I walk in the light of your truth.
4 I did not sit with liars,
and I will not be found among hypocrites.
5 I have hated the mob of evildoers
and will not sit with wicked people.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence.
I will walk around your altar, O Lord,
7 so that I may loudly sing a hymn of thanksgiving
and tell about all your miracles.
8 O Lord, I love the house where you live,
the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not sweep away my soul along with hardened sinners
or my life along with bloodthirsty people.
10 Evil schemes are in their hands.
Their right hands are full of bribes.
11 But I walk with integrity.
Rescue me, and have pity on me.
12 My feet stand on level ground.
I will praise the Lord with the choirs in worship.
By David.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Who is there to fear?
The Lord is my life’s fortress.
Who is there to be afraid of?
2 Evildoers closed in on me to tear me to pieces.
My opponents and enemies stumbled and fell.
3 Even though an army sets up camp against me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even though a war breaks out against me,
I will still have confidence ⌞in the Lord⌟.
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord.
This I will seek:
to remain in the Lord’s house all the days of my life
in order to gaze at the Lord’s beauty
and to search for an answer in his temple.
5 He hides me in his shelter when there is trouble.
He keeps me hidden in his tent.
He sets me high on a rock.
6 Now my head will be raised above my enemies who surround me.
I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy in his tent.
I will sing and make music to praise the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud.
Have pity on me, and answer me.
8 ⌞When you said,⌟
“Seek my face,”
my heart said to you,
“O Lord, I will seek your face.” [a]
9 Do not hide your face from me.
Do not angrily turn me away.
You have been my help.
Do not leave me!
Do not abandon me, O God, my savior!
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord.
Lead me on a level path
because I have enemies who spy on me.
12 Do not surrender me to the will of my opponents.
False witnesses have risen against me.
They breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord
in this world of the living.
14 Wait with hope for the Lord.
Be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Yes, wait with hope for the Lord.
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