M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
God’s Covenant with David
17 (A)And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.” 2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “(B)You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; 5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, (C)but I have [a]gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. 6 In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word (D)with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’ 7 Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. 9 I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again; and the [b]wicked will not waste them anymore as formerly, 10 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.
Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. 11 When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your [c]descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 (E)I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, (F)as I took it from him who was before you. 14 But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”’” 15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
David’s Prayer in Response
16 Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, “(G)Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? 17 This was a small thing in Your eyes, O God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the standard of a man of high degree, O Lord God. 18 What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19 O Lord, (H)for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have wrought all this greatness, to make known all these great things. 20 O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And what one nation in the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make You a name by great and terrible things, in driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed out of Egypt? 22 (I)For Your people Israel You made Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, became their God.
23 “Now, O Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as You have spoken. 24 Let Your name be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel; and the house of David Your servant is established before You.’ 25 For You, O my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build for him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. 26 Now, O Lord, You are God, and have [d]promised this good thing to Your servant. 27 And now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may [e]continue forever before You; for You, O Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”
Things to Avoid
4 [a]What is the source of quarrels and (A)conflicts among you? [b]Is not the source your pleasures that wage (B)war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have; so you (C)commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and (D)do not receive, because you ask [c]with wrong motives, so that you may spend it [d]on your pleasures. 4 You (E)adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with (F)the world is (G)hostility toward God? (H)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture (I)speaks to no purpose: “[e]He [f]jealously desires (J)the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6 But (K)He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “(L)God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 (M)Submit therefore to God. (N)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 (O)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (P)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and (Q)purify your hearts, you (R)double-minded. 9 (S)Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (T)Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
11 (U)Do not speak against one another, (V)brethren. He who speaks against a brother or (W)judges his brother, speaks against (X)the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not (Y)a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one (Z)Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is (AA)able to save and to destroy; but (AB)who are you who judge your neighbor?
13 (AC)Come now, you who say, “(AD)Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 [g]Yet you do not know [h]what your life will be like tomorrow. (AE)You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. 15 [i]Instead, you ought to say, “(AF)If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But as it is, you boast in your [j]arrogance; (AG)all such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, (AH)to one who knows the [k]right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Jonah’s Disobedience
1 The word of the Lord came to (A)Jonah the son of Amittai saying, 2 “Arise, go to (B)Nineveh the great city and (C)cry against it, for their (D)wickedness has come up before Me.” 3 But Jonah rose up to flee to (E)Tarshish (F)from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to (G)Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
4 The (H)Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to [a]break up. 5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to (I)his god, and they (J)threw the [b]cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it [c]for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep. 6 So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, (K)call on your god. Perhaps your (L)god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
7 Each man said to his mate, “Come, let us (M)cast lots so we may [d]learn on whose account this calamity has struck us.” So they cast lots and the (N)lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “(O)Tell us, now! On whose account has this calamity struck us? What is your (P)occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?” 9 He said to them, “I am a (Q)Hebrew, and I (R)fear the Lord (S)God of heaven who (T)made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, “[e]How could you do this?” For the men knew that he was (U)fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. 11 So they said to him, “What should we do to you that the sea may become calm [f]for us?”—for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm [g]for you, for I know that (V)on account of me this great storm has come upon you.” 13 However, the men [h]rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them. 14 Then they called on the (W)Lord and said, “We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life and do not put innocent blood on us; for (X)You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased.”
15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea (Y)stopped its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made (Z)vows.
17 [i]And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the (AA)stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
6 (A)Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples (B)were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what (C)is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read (D)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, 4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the [a]consecrated bread which (E)is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” 5 And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
6 (F)On another Sabbath He entered (G)the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there [b]whose right hand was withered. 7 The scribes and the Pharisees (H)were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him. 8 But He (I)knew [c]what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and [d]come forward!” And he got up and [e]came forward. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” 10 After (J)looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. 11 But they themselves were filled with [f]rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.
Choosing the Twelve
12 It was [g]at this time that He went off to (K)the mountain to (L)pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, (M)He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as (N)apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and [h]James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; 15 and (O)Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
17 Jesus (P)came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was (Q)a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of (R)Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. 19 And all the [i]people were trying to (S)touch Him, for (T)power was coming from Him and healing them all.
The Beatitudes
20 And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “(U)Blessed are [j]you who are poor, for (V)yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are [k]you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 (W)Blessed are you when men hate you, and (X)ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. 23 Be glad in that day and (Y)leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For (Z)in the same way their fathers used to [l]treat the prophets. 24 But woe to (AA)you who are rich, for (AB)you are receiving your comfort in full. 25 Woe to you who [m]are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to [n]treat the (AC)false prophets in the same way.
27 “But I say to you who hear, (AD)love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, (AE)pray for those who [o]mistreat you. 29 (AF)Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your [p]coat, do not withhold your [q]shirt from him either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. 31 [r](AG)Treat others the same way you want [s]them to treat you. 32 (AH)If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 (AI)If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 But (AJ)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, [t]expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be (AK)sons of (AL)the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. 36 [u]Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 “(AM)Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; [v](AN)pardon, and you will be pardoned. 38 Give, and it will be given to you. They will [w]pour (AO)into your lap a (AP)good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
39 And He also spoke a parable to them: “(AQ)A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 (AR)A [x]pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will [y]be like his teacher. 41 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 (AS)For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, [z]on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44 (AT)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45 (AU)The good man out of the good [aa]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; (AV)for his mouth speaks from [ab]that which fills his heart.
Builders and Foundations
46 “(AW)Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 (AX)Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and [ac]acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who [ad]dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the [ae]torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the [af]torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.