M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
24 And the strong vengeance of the Lord added to be wroth against Israel, and he stirred against them David, saying to Joab, Go thou, and number thou Israel and Judah. (And again the Lord was angry with Israel, and in his strong vengeance he stirred David against them, so that he said to Joab, Go thou, and count the people of Israel and Judah.)
2 And the king said to Joab, the prince of his host, Go thou by all the lineages of Israel, from Dan till to Beersheba, and number thou the people, that I know the number thereof. (And the king said to Joab, the leader of his army, Go thou through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan unto Beersheba, and count the people, so that I can know their number.)
3 And Joab said to the king, Thy Lord God increase to this people, how great it is now, and again multiply he it an hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king; but what will my lord the king to himself in such a thing? (And Joab said to the king, May the Lord thy God increase this people to be more numerous than they be now, and may he multiply them a hundredfold before my lord the king; but why would my lord the king desire to do such a thing as to count the people?)
4 But the word of the king overcame the words of Joab, and of the princes of the host; and Joab went out, and the princes of the knights, from the face of the king, that they should number the people of Israel. (But the king’s word overruled what Joab and the other leaders of the army said; and so Joab, and the leaders of the horsemen, went out from before the king, to count the people of Israel.)
5 And when they had passed [over] Jordan (And when they had crossed over the Jordan River), they came into Aroer, to the right side of the city that is in the valley of Gad; and they passed forth by Jazer
6 into Gilead, and into the lower land of Hodshi, and they came into the woody places of Dan; and they went about beside Sidon, (to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtimhodshi, and they came to Danjaan; and they went about beside Sidon,)
7 and passed nigh the walls of Tyre, and nigh all the land of Hivites, and of Canaanites; and they came to the south of Judah, in[to] Beersheba.
8 And when all the land was compassed, they came after nine months and twenty days into Jerusalem. (And when they had gone throughout all the land, they came back to Jerusalem after nine months and twenty days.)
9 And so Joab gave the number of [the] describing of the people to the king. And of Israel were found nine hundred thousand of strong men, that drew out sword; and of Judah five hundred thousand of fighters. (And so Joab gave the census count to the king. And there were found in Israel eight hundred thousand strong men who drew out the sword; and in Judah five hundred thousand fighting men.)
10 And the heart of David smote him, that is, his conscience reproved him, after that the people was numbered; and David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in this deed; but, Lord, I pray, that thou turn away the wickedness of thy servant, for I have done full follily. (And then David’s heart struck him, that is, his conscience rebuked him, after that the people were counted; and David said to the Lord, I have greatly sinned by doing this deed; but, Lord, I pray thee, that thou turn away thy servant’s wickedness, yea, what I have done so foolishly.)
11 Therefore David rose (up) early; and the word of the Lord was made to Gad, the prophet and seer, and said,
12 Go thou, and speak to David (Go thou, and say to David), The Lord saith these things, The choice of three things is given to thee; choose thou one, which thou wilt of these, that I do to thee.
13 And when Gad had come to David, he told to him, and said, Either hunger shall come to thee in thy land seven years; either three months thou shalt flee thine adversaries, and they shall pursue thee; either certainly three days pestilence shall be in thy land; now therefore deliver thou, either advise thou/examine thou, and see, what word I shall answer to him that sent me. (And so when Gad had come to David, he told him, and said, Either seven years of hunger, or of famine, shall come upon thee in thy land; or for three months thou shalt flee thy adversaries, and yet they shall pursue thee; or for three days a pestilence shall be in thy land; and so now thou deliberate, and examine thou it, and see, what I shall answer to him who sent me.)
14 And David said to Gad, I am constrained on each side greatly (I am greatly constrained on every side); but it is better that I fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies be many, than into the hands of men.
15 And (so) the Lord sent (a) pestilence into Israel from the morrowtide till to the time ordained; and seventy thousand of men were dead of the people from Dan till to Beersheba.
16 And when the angel of the Lord had held forth his hand over Jerusalem, that he should destroy it, the Lord had mercy on the tormenting; and said to the angel smiting the people, It sufficeth now; withhold thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was beside the cornfloor of Araunah (the) Jebusite. (And when the angel of the Lord had put forth his hand over Jerusalem, to destroy it, the Lord had mercy on the tormenting; and he said to the angel striking the people, That is enough; withdraw thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was beside the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)
17 And David said to the Lord, when he had seen the angel slaying the people, I am he that have sinned, and I have done wickedly; what have these done, that be sheep? I beseech, thine hand be turned against me, and against the house of my father. (And David said to the Lord, when he had seen the angel killing the people, I am the one who hath sinned, and I have done wickedly; what have these people done, yea, they who be but sheep? I beseech thee, let thy hand be turned against me, and against the house of my father.)
18 Forsooth Gad, the prophet, came to David in that day, and said to him, Go thou up, and ordain an altar to the Lord in the cornfloor of Araunah (the) Jebusite. (And that same day, the prophet Gad came to David, and said to him, Go thou up, and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.)
19 And David went up, after the word of Gad, which the Lord had commanded to him.
20 And Araunah beheld, and perceived, that the king and his servants passed over to him; and he went out, and worshipped the king with low cheer to the earth; (And Araunah looked up, and saw the king and his servants coming over to him; and he went over, and bowed before the king, with his face low to the ground;)
21 and said, What is the cause, that my lord the king cometh to his servant? To whom David said, That I buy of thee the cornfloor, and build an altar to the Lord, and the slaying cease, that is cruel in the people. (and he said, What is the reason that my lord the king cometh to his servant? To whom David said, To buy the threshing floor from thee, and to build on it an altar to the Lord, so that the slaughter that is so cruel upon the people will cease.)
22 And Araunah said to David, My lord the king take, and offer, as it pleaseth to him; thou hast oxen into burnt sacrifice, and a wain and yokes of oxen into uses of wood. (And Araunah said to David, My lord the king take it, and offer, as it pleaseth thee; lo! thou hast here oxen for a burnt sacrifice, and a wagon, and the yokes of the oxen for wood.)
23 Araunah gave, that is, would give, all (these) things to the king. And Araunah said to the king, Thy Lord God receive thy vow. (And so Araunah would gladly have given all these things to the king. And Araunah said to the king, May the Lord thy God receive thy vow.)
24 To whom the king answered, and said, Not as thou wilt, but I shall buy it of thee for (a) price, and I shall not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices given freely. Therefore David bought the cornfloor for six hundred shekels of gold[a], and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (To whom the king answered, No, not as thou wilt, but I shall buy it from thee for a price; for I shall not offer to the Lord my God burnt sacrifices that cost nothing. And then David bought the threshing floor for six hundred shekels of gold, and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.)
25 And David builded there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt sacrifices and peaceable sacrifices; and the Lord did mercy to the land, and the vengeance was refrained from Israel. (And David built an altar there to the Lord, and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings; and then the Lord gave mercy to the land, and the plague in Israel was stopped.)
4 But I say, as long time as the heir is a little child, he diverseth nothing from a servant, when he is lord of all things [when he is lord of all];
2 but he is under keepers and tutors, into the time determined of the father.[a]
3 So we, when we were little children, we served under the elements of the world. [So and we, when we were little, were serving under the elements of the world.]
4 But after that the fulfilling of the time came, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 that he should again-buy them that were under the law, that we should receive the adoption of sons.
6 And for ye be God's sons, God sent his Spirit into your hearts [God sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts], crying, Abba, Father.
7 And so there is not now a servant, but a son; and if he is a son, he is an heir by God. [Therefore now there is not servant, but son; that if son, then and heir by God.]
8 But then ye not knowing God [But then soothly ye unknowing God], served to them that in kind were not gods.
9 But now when ye have known God, and be known of God, how be ye turned again to the feeble and needy elements, to the which ye will again serve? [Now forsooth when ye have known God, yea, rather ye be known of God, how be ye turned together again to sick, or frail, and needy elements, to which ye will serve again?]
10 Ye take keep to days [Ye keep, or wait (on), days], and months, and times, and years.
11 But I dread you, lest without cause I have travailed among you [lest peradventure I have travailed in you without cause].
12 Be ye as I, for I am as ye. Brethren, I beseech you, ye have hurt me nothing [ye have nothing hurt me].
13 But ye know, that by infirmity of flesh I have preached to you [I have evangelized to you] now before;
14 and ye despised not, neither forsook your temptation in my flesh [and your temptation in my flesh ye despised not, neither forsook], but ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.
15 Where then is your blessing [Where is therefore your blessedness, that ye had before time]? For I bear you witness, that if it might have been done, ye would have put out your eyes, and have given them to me.
16 Am I then made an enemy to you, saying to you the sooth? [Therefore am I made enemy to you, saying true thing to you?]
17 They love not you well [They love you not well], but they will exclude you, that ye follow them.
18 But follow ye the good evermore in good, and not only when I am present with you.
19 My small children, which I bear again, till that Christ be formed in you, [My little sons, whom I child, or bring forth by travail, again, till Christ be formed in you,]
20 and I would now be at you, and change my voice, for I am confounded among you [for I am confounded, or shamed, in you].
21 Say to me, ye that will be under the law, have ye not read the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, one of a servant, and one of a free woman [one of the handmaiden, and one of the free wife].
23 But he that was of the servant, was born after the flesh; but he that was of the free woman, by a promise.[b]
24 The which things be said by another understanding. For these be two testaments; one in the hill of Sinai, engendering into servage, which is Agar.[c]
25 For Sinai is an hill that is in Arabia, which hill is joined to it that is now Jerusalem, and serveth with her children.
26 But that Jerusalem that is above, is free, which is our mother.
27 For it is written, Be glad, thou barren, that bearest not; break out and cry, that bringest forth no children [break out and cry, thou that childest not]; for many sons be of her that is left of her husband [for many sons be of the deserted, or left woman], more than of her that hath an husband.
28 For, brethren, we be sons of promise after Isaac; [Forsooth, brethren, we be after Isaac the sons of promise;]
29 but now as this that was born after the flesh pursued him that was after the Spirit, so now.[d]
30 But what saith the scripture? Cast out the servant and her son, for the son of the servant shall not be heir with the son of the free wife.[e]
31 And so, brethren, we be not sons of the servant, but of the free wife, by which freedom Christ hath made us free.[f]
31 And it was done in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month (on the first day of the month), the word of the Lord was made to me, and he said,
2 Thou, son of man, say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his people, To whom art thou made like in thy greatness?
3 Lo! Assur as a cedar in Lebanon, fair in branches, and full of boughs, and high by highness; and his height was raised [up] among thick boughs. (Lo! Assyria was like a cedar in Lebanon, that was beautiful in branches, and full of boughs, and high by highness; and its height was raised up among the thick boughs.)
4 Waters nourished him, the depth of waters enhanced him; his floods floated out in the compass of his roots, and he sent out his strands to all the trees of the country. (Waters nourished it, the waters from the depths raised it up, or made it grow; its rivers flowed out all around its roots, and it sent out its streams to all the trees in the country.)
5 Therefore his highness was enhanced over all [the] trees of the country, and his trees were multiplied, and his branches were raised [up], for many waters. And when he had stretched forth his shadow, (And so its highness was lifted up over all the trees of the country, and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches were raised up, because of the abundant waters. And when it had stretched forth its shadow,)
6 all the volatiles of the air made nests in his branches; and all the beasts of forests engendered under his boughs, and the company of full many folks dwelled under the shadowing place of him. (all the birds of the air made nests in its branches; and all the beasts of the forests begat under its boughs, and a great many nations lived under its shadow.)
7 And he was full fair in his greatness, and in alarging of his trees; for the root of him was beside many waters. (And it was very beautiful in its greatness, and in the enlarging of its branches; for its roots were beside many waters.)
8 Cedars in the paradise of God were not higher than he; fir trees attained not evenly to the highness of him, and plane trees were not even with the boughs of him. Each tree of (the) paradise of God was not made like him in his fairness. (The cedars in the Garden of God were not higher than it was; the fir trees attained not equal to its highness, and the plane trees were not equal in height with its branches. Every tree of the Garden of God was not made like it, or was not equal to it, in its beauty.)
9 For I made him fair, and with many and thick boughs; and all the trees of lust, that were in the paradise of God, had envy to him. (For I made it beautiful, and with many thick branches; and all the trees of Eden, that were in the Garden of God, envied it.)
10 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, For that that he was raised in highness, and he gave his highness green and thick, and his heart was raised [up] in his highness; (And so the Lord God saith these things, Because it was raised up into highness, and it made its highness green and thick, its heart was also raised up in its highness;)
11 now I have given him into the hands of the strongest man of heathen men. And he doing shall do to that Assur; after the unfaithfulness of him I casted him out. (so now I have given it into the hands of the strongest man of the heathen. And he doing shall do to that Assyria; yea, because of its unfaithfulness, I have cast it out.)
12 And aliens, and the most cruel men of nations, shall cut him down, and shall cast him forth on hills. And his branches shall fall down in all the great valleys, and his trees shall be broken in all rocks of stone of (the) earth. And all the peoples of earth shall go away from his shadowing place, and shall forsake him. (And foreigners, and the most cruel men of the nations, have cut it down, and have thrown it forth upon the hills. And its branches have fallen down in all the great valleys, and its boughs were broken by all the hard rocks of the earth. And all the peoples of the earth went away from under its shadow, and deserted it.)
13 All the volatiles of the air dwelled in the falling of him, and all beasts of the country were in the branches of him. (All the birds of the air lived on that fallen tree, and all the beasts of the field walked all over its branches.)
14 Wherefore all the trees of waters shall not be raised [up] in their highness, neither shall set their highness among places full of wood(s), and full of boughs, and all trees that be moisted of waters shall not stand in the highness of those. For all they be given into death, to the farthest land in the midst of the sons of men, to them that go down into the pit. (And so all the trees by the waters shall not be raised up in their highness, nor shall set their highness in places full of woods, and full of branches, and all the trees that be watered by these waters shall not stand in their highness. For they all be given over unto death, yea, to the farthest, or to the last, land in the midst of those, who go down into the pit.)
15 The Lord God saith these things, In the day when he went down to hells, I brought in mourning; I covered him with depth of waters, and I forbade his floods, and I refrained many waters. The Lebanon was sorry on him, and all the trees of the field were shaken of the sound of his falling. (The Lord God saith these things, On the day when it went down to Sheol, I brought in mourning; I covered it with the depths of waters, and I forbade its rivers, and I restrained the great waters. Lebanon sorrowed for it, and all the trees of the field were shaken by the sound of its falling.)
16 I moved together heathen men, when I led him down to hell, with them that went down into the pit. And all trees of liking, noble trees, and full clear in the Lebanon, all that were moisted with waters, were comforted in the lowest land. (I altogether shook the heathen, when I led it down to Sheol, with them who went down into the pit. And all the trees of Eden, noble trees, and the most beautiful in Lebanon, all that were watered with water, were comforted in the lowest land.)
17 For why also they shall go down with him to hell, to [the] slain men with sword; and the arm of each man, shall sit under the shadowing place of him, in the midst of nations. (For they shall also go down with it to Sheol, to those killed with the sword; and each person shall sit under its shadow, in the midst of the peoples.)
18 To whom art thou likened, thou noble and high among the trees of liking? Lo! thou art led down with the trees of liking to the farthest land. In the midst of uncircumcised men thou shalt sleep, with them that be slain by sword. That is Pharaoh, and all the multitude of him, saith the Lord God. (To whom art thou likened, O noble and high among the trees of Eden? Lo! thou art led down with the trees of Eden to the farthest, or to the last, land. Thou shalt sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God.)
79 The psalm of Asaph. God, heathen men came into thine heritage; they defouled thine holy temple, they setted Jerusalem into the keeping of apples. (The song of Asaph. God, the heathen came to thy inheritance; they defiled thy holy Temple, and they laid Jerusalem in ruins.)
2 They setted the slain bodies of thy servants to be meats to the volatiles of heavens; the fleshes of thy saints to the beasts of the earth. (They left the dead bodies of thy servants to be food for the birds of the air; yea, the flesh of thy saints for the beasts of the earth.)
3 They shedded out the blood of them, as water in the compass of Jerusalem; and none there was that buried (them). (They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem; and there was no one left to bury them.)
4 We be made (a) shame to our neighbours; mocking and scorning to them, that be in our compass. (We were made a reproach to our neighbours; mocked and scorned by those who be all around us.)
5 Lord, how long shalt thou be wroth into the end? shall thy vengeance be kindled as fire? (Lord, how long shalt thou be angry, forever? shall thy anger burn like fire?)
6 Pour out thine ire into heathen men, that know not thee; and into realms, that called not thy name. (Pour out thy anger upon the heathen, who know thee not; and upon the kingdoms, that have not called upon thy name.)
7 For they ate Jacob; and made desolate his place. (For they have devoured, or destroyed, the people of Jacob; and made their place desolate.)
8 Have thou not mind on our eld wickednesses; thy mercies before take us soon, for we be made poor greatly. (Remember not our past wickednesses; let thy constant love come soon to us, for we be made so very low.)
9 God, our health, help thou us, and, Lord, for the glory of thy name, deliver thou us; and be thou merciful to our sins, for thy name. (God, our salvation/God, our deliverance, help thou us, and, Lord, for the glory of thy name, save thou us; and have thou mercy on our sins, for the sake of thy name.)
10 Lest peradventure they say among heathen men, Where is the God of them? and be he known among nations before our eyes. The vengeance of the blood of thy servants, which is shed out; (Lest perhaps they say among the heathen, Where is their God? Let thyself be known among the nations around us, by the vengeance which is poured out upon them; for the blood of thy servants.)
11 the wailing of fettered men enter into thy sight. After the greatness of thine arm; wield thou the sons of slain men. (Let the wailing of the fettered come before thee. And by the greatness of thy power, free thou those who be condemned to die.)
12 And yield thou to our neighbours sevenfold in(to) the bosom of them; the shame of them (the same rebuke), which they did shamefully to thee, thou Lord.
13 But we that be thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture; shall acknowledge to thee into the world. In generation and into generation, we shall tell thy praising. (Then we who be thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, shall give thanks to thee forever. Yea, in all generations, we shall tell out thy praises.)
2001 by Terence P. Noble