M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul Meets Samuel
9 Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish son of Abiel son of Zeror son of Becorath son of Aphiah son of a Benjamite. He was a mighty man of valor [a] 2 and he had a son whose name was Saul—young and handsome—there was no one among Bnei-Yisrael better than him. From his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.
3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to his son Saul, “Take now one of the servants with you, get up and look for the donkeys.” 4 So he passed through the hill country of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they did not find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, but they were not there. Then he passed through the land of Benjamin, but still did not find them. 5 When they arrived in the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant with him, “Come, let’s go back—otherwise my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”
6 Then his servant said to him, “Behold now, there is a man of God in this town, and he is a man held in honor—everything he says is sure to come true. Now, let’s go there. Perhaps he’ll tell us the way we should go.”
7 Then said Saul to his servant, “But look, if we go, what would we bring the man? For the bread is gone from our sacks, and there is nothing to bring to the man of God as a present. What do we have?”
8 The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand a quarter of a shekel of silver. I will give it to the man of God and he will tell us our way.” 9 (Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come, let’s go to the seer”—for today’s prophet was formerly called a seer.)
10 Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said. Come, let’s go!” So they went to the town where the man of God was. 11 As they went up the hill to the town, they found some girls going out to draw water, and they asked them, “Is the seer here?” 12 They answered them and said, “He is there, ahead of you. Hurry now, for he has come today to the town because people have a sacrifice at the high place today. 13 As soon as you enter the town, you’ll find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he must first bless the sacrifice—afterward the guests can eat. So now, get up, for you will find him at once.” 14 So they went up to the town. As they were entering the town, behold, Samuel was coming out toward them to go up to the high place.
15 One day before Saul came, Adonai had revealed to Samuel saying: 16 “Tomorrow about this time, I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you will anoint him ruler over My people Israel. He will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines. I have observed My people, because their cry has come to Me.”
17 When Samuel saw Saul, Adonai spoke to him, “Behold, this is the man I told you about. This one will govern My people.” 18 Then Saul approached Samuel inside the gate and asked, “Tell me, please, where the seer’s house is?”
19 Samuel answered Saul by saying, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place. For today you will eat with me. In the morning when I send you off, I will tell you everything that is in your heart. 20 As for the donkeys that you lost three days ago, don’t set your heart on them, for they have been found. Now, for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s household?”
21 Saul answered by saying, “Am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my clan is the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? So why do you say such things to me?”
22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the hall, and gave them a place at the head of the guests, who numbered about 30 people. 23 Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion that I gave you and told you to set aside.” 24 So the cook took up the thigh, raised it, and set it before Saul. Then he said, “Here is what has been reserved! Set it before you and eat, because it has been kept until this appointed time for you, since I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25 When they came down from the high place to the town, he spoke with Saul on the roof. 26 They rose early, and at daybreak Samuel called to Saul on the roof saying, “Get up, so I may send you off.” So Saul got up, and both of them, he and Samuel, went outside. 27 As they were going down toward the edge of town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell your servant to go ahead of us and pass on, but as for you, stand still awhile, so that I may proclaim to you the word of God.”
Two Laws at War
7 Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I speak to those who know law), that the law is master over a person as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3 So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law—so she is not an adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were made dead to the Torah through the body of Messiah, so that you might be joined to another—the One who was raised from the dead—in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions that came through the Torah were working in our body parts to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, having died to what confined us, so that we serve in the new way of the Ruach and not in the old way of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the Torah sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the Torah. For I would not have known about coveting if the Torah had not said, “You shall not covet.” [a] 8 But sin, taking an opportunity, worked in me through the commandment all kinds of coveting. For apart from the Torah, sin is dead.
9 Once I was alive apart from the Torah; but when the commandment came, sin came to life 10 and I died. The commandment meant for life was found to cause death. [b] 11 Sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. [c] 12 So then, the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13 Therefore did that which is good become death to me? May it never be! Rather it was sin working death in me—through that which is good—so that sin might be shown to be sin, and that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. 14 For we know that the Torah is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing—for what I do not want, this I practice; but what I hate, this I do. 16 But if I do what I do not want to do, then I agree with the Torah—that it is good.
17 So now it is no longer I doing it, but sin dwelling in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me—that is, in my flesh. For to will is present in me, but to do the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do; but the evil that I do not want, this I practice. 20 But if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I doing it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 So I find the principle—that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I delight in the Torah of God with respect to the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in my body parts, battling against the law of my mind and bringing me into bondage under the law of sin which is in my body parts. 24 Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—it is through Messiah Yeshua our Lord![d] So then, with my mind I myself serve the Torah of God; but with my flesh, I serve the law of sin.
Prophecy Against Egypt
46 The word of Adonai that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the nations.
2 For Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah.
3 “Arrange breastplate and shield!
Advance to battle!
4 Harness the horses
and mount, O horsemen!
Take your position,
with helmets!
Polish the spears!
Put on armor!
5 Why have I seen them?
They are shattered, retreating,
their warriors beaten,
fleeing for cover, no turning back,
terror on every side!”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
6 “The swift cannot flee,
nor the warrior escape.
In the north by the river Euphrates
they stumbled and fell.
7 Who is this, rising like the Nile,
like the rivers whose waters churn?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like the rivers whose waters churn.
He says: ‘I will rise up,
I will cover the earth,
I will destroy the city
and its inhabitants!’
9 Prance, you horses,
and rush madly, you chariots.
Let the warriors go out—
Cush and Put grasping the shield,
Lydians grasping and bending the bow!
10 For that day belongs to my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot,
as a day of vengeance, to avenge Himself against His foes.
The sword will devour and be satisfied
and will drink its fill of their blood.
For it will be a sacrifice for my Lord Adonai-Tzva’ot,
in the northern land by the river Euphrates.
11 Go up into Gilead and get balm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt.
In vain you use many medicines—
there is no cure for you.
12 Nations have heard of your shame,
and your outcry fills the earth.
For warrior stumbles over warrior—
both fall down together.”
13 The word that Adonai spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
14 “Declare it in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol,
and announce in Noph and Tahpanhes.
Say: ‘Stand up and get ready!
For the sword has devoured all around you.
15 Why are your strong ones swept away?
They did not stand up,
because Adonai thrust him down.
16 They keep stumbling,
yes, falling over each other.
Then they said: ‘Get up!
Let’s return to our own people,
to the land of our birth,
away from the oppressor’s sword.’
17 They cried there:
‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise!
He let the opportune time pass.’
18 As I live,” declares the King
—whose Name is Adonai-Tzva’ot—
“like Tabor among the mountains,
or like Carmel by the sea,
so surely he will come.”
19 O daughter dwelling in Egypt,
get your bags ready for exile!
For Noph will become a ruin
laid waste, uninhabited.
20 Egypt is a beautiful heifer—
but a biting fly is coming—
from the north it is coming!
21 Even her mercenaries among her
are like stall-fed calves,
for they also will turn back—
they will flee away together,
they will not stand up—
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
the time of their visitation.
22 Its sound will hiss like a snake,
as they march with an army,
and come against her as woodcutters with axes.
23 They cut down her forest”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“though it was impenetrable,
for they are worse than the locust
—they are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt is disgraced,
handed over to people of the north.”
25 Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel, says: “Behold, I will punish Amon of No, Pharaoh, Egypt, with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh, and them that trust in him. 26 I will hand them over to those seeking their lives, into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his servants. Yet afterwards it will be inhabited, as in the days of old.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
27 “But you, fear not, Jacob My servant,
nor be dismayed, O Israel.
For behold, I will save you from afar,
your offspring from the land of their exile.
And Jacob will return and be at peace and secure,
no one frightening him.
28 Fear not, Jacob My servant”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
where I have driven you,
but I will not make a full end of you.
I will discipline you with justice,
but will not utterly destroy you.”
Suffering Servant
Psalm 22
1 For the music director, on “The Doe of the Dawn,” a psalm of David.
2 My God, my God,
why have You forsaken me?
Distant from my salvation
are the words of my groaning.[a]
3 O my God, I cried out by day, but You did not answer,
by night, but there was no rest for me.
4 Yet You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
5 In You our fathers put their trust.
They trusted, and You delivered them.
6 They cried to you and were delivered.
In You they trusted, and were not disappointed.
7 Am I a worm, and not a man?
Am I a scorn of men, despised by people?
8 All who see me mock me.
They curl their lips, shaking their heads:
9 “Rely on Adonai! Let Him deliver him!
Let Him rescue him—since he delights in Him!”[b]
10 Yet You brought me out of the womb,
made me secure at my mother’s breasts.
11 From the womb I was cast on You—
from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
12 Be not far from me!
For trouble is near—
there is no one to help.
13 Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls of Bashan encircled me.
14 They open wide their mouths against me,
like a tearing, roaring lion.
15 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed.
My heart is like wax—
melting within my innards.
16 My strength is dried up like a clay pot,
my tongue clings to my jaws.
You lay me in the dust of death.
17 For dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evildoers has closed in on me.
They pierced[c] my hands and my feet.
18 I can count all my bones.
They stare, they gape at me.
19 They divide my clothes among them,
and cast lots for my garment.[d]
20 But You, Adonai, be not far off!
O my strength! Come quickly to my aid!
21 Deliver my soul from the sword—
my only one from the power of the dog.
22 Save me from the lion’s mouth.
From the horns of the wild oxen rescue me.
23 I will declare Your Name to my brothers.
I will praise You amid the congregation.[e]
24 You who fear Adonai, praise Him!
All Jacob’s descendants, glorify Him!
Revere Him, all you seed of Israel.
25 For He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the lowly one.
Nor has He hidden His face from him,
but when he cried to Him, He heard.
26 From You is my praise in the great assembly.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear Him.
27 Let the poor eat and be satisfied.
Let them who seek after Him praise Adonai.
May your hearts live forever!
28 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Adonai.
All the families of the nations will bow down before You.
29 For the kingdom belongs to Adonai,
and He rules over the nations.
30 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship.
Everyone who goes down to the dust will kneel before Him—
even the one who could not keep his own soul alive.
31 His posterity will serve him, telling
the next generation about my Lord.
32 They will come and declare His righteousness
to a people yet to be born—
because He has done it!
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.