M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
16 The men carrying the ark set it inside the tent David had put up for it. They presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in Elohim’s presence. 2 When David had finished sacrificing burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh. 3 He also distributed to every person in Israel—both men and women—a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake.
The Levites Lead the Worship in Jerusalem(A)
4 David appointed some Levites to serve in front of Yahweh’s ark by offering prayers, thanks, and praise to Yahweh Elohim of Israel. 5 Asaph was the head; Zechariah was second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed Edom, and Jeiel with harps and lyres. Asaph played the cymbals. 6 The priests Benaiah and Jahaziel played trumpets all the time in front of the ark of Elohim’s promise. 7 For the first time David entrusted Asaph and his relatives with the task of singing songs of thanks to Yahweh:
8 “Give thanks to Yahweh.
Call on his name.
Make known among the nations what he has done.
9 Sing to him.
Make music to praise him.
Meditate on all the miracles he has done.
10 Brag about his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.
11 Search for Yahweh and his strength.
Always seek his presence.
12 Remember the miracles he performed,
the amazing things he did and the judgments he pronounced,
13 you descendants of Israel, his servant,
you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.
14 “He is Yahweh our Elohim.
His judgments are pronounced throughout the earth.
15 Remember his promise[a] forever,
the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
16 the promise that he made to Abraham,
and his sworn promise to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it as a law for Jacob,
as an everlasting promise to Israel,
18 by saying, ‘I will give you Canaan.
It is your share of the inheritance.’
19 “While they were few in number,
a small group of foreigners living in that land,
20 they wandered from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another.
21 He didn’t permit anyone to oppress them.
He warned kings about them:
22 ‘Do not touch my anointed ones
or harm my prophets.’
23 “Sing to Yahweh, all the earth!
Day after day announce that Yahweh saves his people.
24 Tell people about his glory.
Tell all the nations about his miracles.
25 “Yahweh is great!
He should be highly praised.
He should be feared more than all other gods
26 because all the gods of the nations are idols.
Yahweh made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are in his presence.
Strength and joy are where he is.
28 “Give to Yahweh, you families of the nations.
Give to Yahweh glory and power.
29 Give to Yahweh the glory his name deserves.
Bring an offering, and come to him.
Worship Yahweh in his holy splendor.
30 Tremble in his presence, all the earth!
“The earth stands firm; it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad.
Say to the nations, ‘Yahweh rules as king!’
32 Let the sea and everything in it roar like thunder.
Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
33 Then the trees in the forest will sing with joy
in the presence of Yahweh when he comes to judge the earth.
34 “Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
35 Say, ‘Rescue us, O Elohim our Savior.
Gather us and save us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and make your praise our glory.’
36 Thanks be to Yahweh Elohim of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting.”
Then all the people said amen and praised Yahweh.
37 David left Asaph and his relatives to serve continually in front of the ark of Yahweh’s promise, as the daily work required. 38 David also left Obed Edom and 68 of his relatives to serve there. Obed Edom (Jeduthun’s son) and Hosah were to be gatekeepers. 39 David left Zadok and his priestly relatives to serve in Yahweh’s tent at the place of worship in Gibeon. 40 They were ordered to sacrifice burnt offerings to Yahweh. This happened on the altar of burnt offerings continually, morning and evening, as written in Yahweh’s Teachings that he gave Israel. 41 With Zadok and his relatives were Heman, Jeduthun, and the rest of the Levites who had been selected, chosen by name, to give thanks to Yahweh by singing, “His mercy endures forever.” 42 Also, Heman and Jeduthun played trumpets, cymbals, and the other musical instruments that accompany sacred songs. Jeduthun’s sons were stationed at the gate.
43 Then all the people went home. David went back to bless his family.
Speak Wisely
3 Brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers. You know that we who teach will be judged more severely.
2 All of us make a lot of mistakes. If someone doesn’t make any mistakes when he speaks, he would be perfect. He would be able to control everything he does. 3 We put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, and we have control over everything they do. 4 The same thing is true for ships. They are very big and are driven by strong winds. Yet, by using small rudders, pilots steer ships wherever they want them to go. 5 In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can brag about doing important things.
A large forest can be set on fire by a little flame. 6 The tongue is that kind of flame. It is a world of evil among the parts of our bodies, and it completely contaminates our bodies. The tongue sets our lives on fire, and is itself set on fire from hell. 7 People have tamed all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures. 8 Yet, no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil filled with deadly poison.
9 With our tongues we praise our Lord and Father. Yet, with the same tongues we curse people, who were created in God’s likeness. 10 Praise and curses come from the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, this should not happen! 11 Do clean and polluted water flow out of the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree produce olives? Can a grapevine produce figs? In the same way, a pool of salt water can’t produce fresh water.
Live Wisely
13 Do any of you have wisdom and insight? Show this by living the right way with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and filled with self-centered ambition, don’t brag. Don’t say that you are wise when it isn’t true. 15 That kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It belongs to this world. It is self-centered and demonic. 16 Wherever there is jealousy and rivalry, there is disorder and every kind of evil.
17 However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial, and sincere. 18 A harvest that has God’s approval comes from the peace planted by peacemakers.
Edom’s Fall(A)
1 This is the vision of Obadiah.
This is what Adonay Yahweh says about Edom:
We have heard a message from Yahweh.
A messenger was sent among the nations to say,
“Get ready! Let’s go to war against Edom.”
2 “Edom, I will make you the smallest of nations.
Others will despise you.
3 Your arrogance has deceived you.
You live on rocky cliffs.
You make your home up high.
You say to yourself,
‘No one can bring me down to earth.’
4 Even though you fly high like an eagle
and build your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there,” declares Yahweh.
5 “If thieves or looters come to you during the night,
won’t they steal only until they’ve had enough?
You will be ruined!
If people come to pick your grapes,
won’t they leave a few grapes behind?
6 But you, Esau,[a] will lose everything.
Even your hidden treasures will be looted.
7 All your allies will force you to leave your land.
The people who are at peace with you will deceive you.
Those who eat food with you will set traps for you,
and you won’t even know about it.
8 “On that day I will destroy the wise people in Edom
and take wisdom away from Esau’s mountain,” declares Yahweh.
9 “Teman, your warriors will be terrified.
Everyone on Esau’s mountain will be slaughtered.
Why Edom Will Be Destroyed
10 “Because of the violence you did to Jacob, your relative,
you will be covered with shame.
You will be destroyed forever.
11 While you stood there doing nothing,
strangers carried off Jacob’s wealth.
Foreigners entered his gates and threw dice for Jerusalem.
You acted like one of them.
12 Don’t gloat over your relative’s misfortune
or be happy when the people of Judah are destroyed.
Don’t brag so much when they’re in distress.
13 Don’t march through the gates of my people when disaster strikes
or gloat over their misery when disaster strikes.
Don’t take their wealth when disaster strikes.
14 Don’t stand at the crossroads to kill their refugees.
Don’t hand over their survivors when they’re in distress.
The Day of the Lord
15 “The day of Yahweh is near for all nations.
Edom, you will be treated as you have treated others.
You will get back what you have given.
16 As you, Israel, drank on my holy mountain,
so all nations will drink in turn.
They will drink and guzzle down everything in it.
They will be like those who have never existed.
17 “But refugees will live on Mount Zion.
It will be holy.
The descendants of Jacob will get back their possessions.
18 The descendants of Jacob will be like a fire.
The descendants of Joseph will be like a flame.
But the descendants of Esau will be like straw.
They will be burned and destroyed.
There will be no one left among the descendants of Esau.”
Yahweh has spoken.
19 “People from the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain.
People from the foothills will take possession of Philistia.
They will take possession of the lands of Ephraim and Samaria,
and the descendants of Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.
20 Exiles from Israel will take possession of Canaan.
They will possess land as far as Zarephath.
Exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will take possession of the cities in the Negev.
21 Those who are victorious will come from Mount Zion
to rule Esau’s mountain.
The kingdom will belong to Yahweh.”
Calling of the First Disciples(A)
5 One day Yeshua was standing by the Sea of Galilee. The people crowded around him as they listened to God’s word. 2 Yeshua saw two boats on the shore. The fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets. 3 So Yeshua got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Then Yeshua sat down and taught the crowd from the boat.
4 When he finished speaking, he told Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and lower your nets to catch some fish.”
5 Simon answered, “Teacher, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll lower the nets.”
6 After the men had done this, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. Their partners came and filled both boats until the boats nearly sank.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he knelt in front of Yeshua and said, “Leave me, Lord! I’m a sinful person!” 9 Simon and everyone who was with him were amazed to see the large number of fish they had caught. 10 James and John, who were Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s partners, were also amazed.
Yeshua told Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch people instead of fish.”
11 Simon and his partners brought the boats to shore, left everything, and followed Yeshua.
Jesus Cures a Man with a Skin Disease(B)
12 One day Yeshua was in a city where there was a man covered with a serious skin disease. When the man saw Yeshua, he bowed with his face to the ground. He begged Yeshua, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.”[a]
13 Yeshua reached out, touched him, and said, “I want to. So be clean!” Immediately, his skin disease went away.
14 Yeshua ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone. Instead, show yourself to the priest. Then offer the sacrifice as Moses commanded as proof to people that you are clean.”
15 The news about Yeshua spread even more. Large crowds gathered to hear him and have their diseases cured. 16 But he would go away to places where he could be alone for prayer.
Jesus Forgives Sins(C)
17 One day when Yeshua was teaching, some Pharisees and experts in Moses’ Teachings were present. They had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. Yeshua had the power of the Lord to heal.
18 Some men brought a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They tried to take him into the house and put him in front of Yeshua. 19 But they could not find a way to get him into the house because of the crowd. So they went up on the roof. They made an opening in the tiles and let the man down on his stretcher among the people. (They lowered him in front of Yeshua.)
20 When Yeshua saw their faith, he said, “Sir, your sins are forgiven.” 21 The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees thought, “Who is this man? He’s dishonoring God! Who besides God can forgive sins?”
22 Yeshua knew what they were thinking. So he said to them, “What are you thinking? 23 Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”
25 The man immediately stood up in front of them and picked up the stretcher he had been lying on. Praising God, he went home.
26 Everyone was amazed and praised God. They were filled with awe and said, “We’ve seen things today we can hardly believe!”
Jesus Chooses Levi [Matthew] to Be a Disciple(D)
27 After that, Yeshua left. He saw a tax collector named Levi sitting in a tax office. Yeshua said to him, “Follow me!” 28 So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
29 Levi held a large reception at his home for Yeshua. A huge crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.
30 The Pharisees and their experts in Moses’ Teachings complained to Yeshua’s disciples. They asked, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Yeshua answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor; those who are sick do. 32 I’ve come to call sinners to change the way they think and act, not to call people who think they have God’s approval.”
Jesus Is Questioned about Fasting(E)
33 They said to him, “John’s disciples frequently fast and say prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. But your disciples eat and drink.”
34 Yeshua asked them, “Can you force wedding guests to fast while the groom is still with them? 35 The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. At that time they will fast.”
36 He also used these illustrations: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new coat to patch an old coat. Otherwise, the new cloth will tear the old. Besides, the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 People don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the new wine will make the skins burst. The wine will run out, and the skins will be ruined. 38 Rather, new wine is to be poured into fresh skins.
39 “No one who has been drinking old wine wants new wine. He says, ‘The old wine is better!’”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.