M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David’s Last Instructions
2 Now when the time of David drew near to die, he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2 “I—I am going the way of all the earth. So be strong[a] and be a man. 3 Keep the charge of Adonai your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His decrees, according to what is written in the Torah of Moses, so that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn 4 so that Adonai may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying: ‘If your children watch their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’
5 “Moreover, you also know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, whom he killed, shedding the blood of war in peacetime, and putting the blood of war on his waistband and on his sandals on his feet. 6 So act according to your wisdom, and let his gray hair not go down to Sheol in shalom. 7 But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table—for they befriended me when I fled from your brother Absalom. 8 Also behold, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by Adonai saying: ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Now don’t let him go unpunished. For you are a wise man, and you will know how to deal with him, and bring his gray hair down to Sheol with blood.”
10 Then David slept with his fathers[b] and was buried in the city of David. 11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years—seven years he reigned in Hebron and 33 years he reigned in Jerusalem. 12 Then Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was established firmly.
Solomon’s Throne Secured
13 Later Adonijah son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba, Solomon’s mother. “Is your coming in shalom?” she asked.
“It is in shalom,” he said. 14 Then he said, “I have something to say to you.”
“Speak!” she said.
15 Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel looked to me to be the king. However, the kingship has turned about and become my brother’s—for it was his from Adonai. 16 So now one petition I ask of you; do not deny me.”
“Speak!” she said to him.
17 Then he said, “Please, speak to King Solomon—for he won’t turn you down—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”
18 “Very well,” said Bath-sheba, “I will speak to the king for you.”
19 So Bath-sheba went to King Solomon to speak to him about Adonijah. The king rose up to greet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat down on his throne and had a throne set up for the king’s mother, and she sat at his right hand. 20 Then she said: “I ask one small petition of you; do not deny.”
“Ask, my mother,” the king said to her, “for I will not turn you down.”
21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as wife.”
22 King Solomon answered and said to his mother: “So why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom as well—for he is my older brother—for him and for Abiathar the kohen, and for Joab son of Zeruiah!” 23 Then King Solomon swore by Adonai saying: “May God do so to me and even more, if Adonijah does not pay with his own life for this request! 24 Now therefore, as Adonai lives who has established me and set me on the throne of my father David, and who has made me a house as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day.”
25 Then King Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada. He struck him down and he died.
26 Also to Abiathar the kohen the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you deserve death, but I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of Adonai Elohim before my father David, and because you were afflicted in everything with which my father was afflicted.” 27 So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being kohen to Adonai—so fulfilling the word of Adonai that He spoke at Shiloh about the house of Eli.
28 When the news came to Joab, he fled to the Tent of Adonai and grasped the horns of the altar—for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom. 29 It was reported to King Solomon that Joab had fled to the Tent of Adonai, and behold, he was by the altar. Then Solomon sent Benaiah son of Jehoiada, saying: “Go, strike him down!”
30 So Benaiah came to the Tent of Adonai and said to him: “Thus says the king: Come out!”
But he replied: “No, for I will die here.”
Benaiah reported back to the king saying: “Thus said Joab and thus he answered me.”
31 Then the king commanded him: “Do as he has said—strike him down. Then bury him. So you will remove the blood that Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father’s house. 32 Thus Adonai will return his blood on his own head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he—Abner son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah—and killed them with the sword, without my father David’s knowledge. 33 May the guilt of their blood return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his offspring forever, but to David and his seed and his house, and his throne, may there be shalom forever from Adonai.”
34 Then Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up, struck him down and killed him, and he was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 Then the king appointed Benaiah son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and Zadok the kohen the king appointed in Abiathar’s place.
36 Then the king sent and summoned Shimei, and commanded him: “Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, and depart not from there anywhere else. 37 For on the day you go out and cross over the Kidron valley, know for certain that you shall surely die—your blood shall be on your own head.”
38 “The saying is good. As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do.” So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. 39 But it came about at the end of three years that two of Shimei’s servants ran away to Achish son of Maacah, king of Gath. So they told Shimei, saying: “Behold, your servants are in Gath.” 40 So Shimei arose, saddled his donkey and went to Gath to Achish, to look for his servants; then Shimei went and brought his servants back from Gath. 41 But it was reported to Solomon that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and back. 42 So the king sent someone and summoned Shimei. He said to him: “Didn’t I make you swear by Adonai and forewarned you, saying: ‘Know for certain that on the day you depart and go anywhere else, you shall surely die’? You even said to me: ‘The saying is good; I have heard it.’ 43 Why then haven’t you kept the oath of Adonai and the commandment that I charged you with?” 44 The king added to Shimei: “You know all the evil, which your heart should acknowledge, that you did to my father David. Therefore Adonai will return your evil on your own head. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed and the throne of David established before Adonai forever.” 46 So the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck him down, so that he died. Thus the kingdom was secured in the hand of Solomon.
Bearing Burdens
6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught doing something wrong, you who are directed by the Ruach, restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness—looking closely at yourself so you are not tempted also. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you fulfill the Torah of Messiah. 3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is fooling himself. 4 Rather let each one examine his own work. Then he will have pride in himself alone and not in comparison to anyone else. 5 For each one will carry his own load.
6 Now let the one who is taught the word share all good things with his teacher. 7 Do not be deceived—God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also shall reap. 8 For the one who sows in the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh.[a] But the one who sows in the Ruach will reap from the Ruach eternal life. 9 So let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good toward all[b]—especially those who belong to the household of faith.
Living under God’s Favor
11 Notice the large letters—I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 Those wanting to look good outwardly[c] are trying to force you to be circumcised—only so they will not be persecuted for the cross of Messiah. 13 For not even the circumcised keep Torah themselves. Yet they want to have you circumcised so that they may boast about your flesh. 14 But may I never boast—except in the cross of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Through Him the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means[d] anything—but only a new creation. 16 Now as many as live by this rule[e]—shalom and mercy on them and on the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one make trouble for me, for I bear on my body the scars[f] of Yeshua.
18 The grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.
Watchman, Blow the Shofar
33 The word of Adonai came to me saying: 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, suppose the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him as their watchman. 3 If, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, he blows the shofar and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the shofar but ignores the warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the shofar and ignored the warning; his blood will be on himself. However, if he had taken warning, he would have saved his soul. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword come and does not blow the shofar, the people are not warned. Then the sword does come and takes a person from among them—he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
7 “You, son of man, I have set you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear the word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 8 When I say to the wicked: ‘Wicked one, you will surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked about his way—that wicked one will die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 If you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it and he does not turn from his way, then he will die in his iniquity—but you have saved your soul.
10 “You, son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘You have said, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us and we are pining away in them. So how can we live.” 11 Say to them: ‘As I live’—it is a declaration of Adonai—‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Return, return from your evil ways. Why will you die, O house of Israel?’
12 “You, son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous person will not deliver him in the day of his transgression. Nor will the wickedness of the wicked person make him stumble in it on the day he turns away from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous person be able to live by it on the day he sins. 13 When I tell the righteous that he will surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered. But in his iniquity that he has committed, he will die. 14 When I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” yet he turns from his sin and does what is just and right— 15 if the wicked restores a pledge, gives back what he had taken by robbery, walks in the laws of life, committing no iniquity—he will surely live, he will not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.’
17 “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of Adonai isn’t fair!’ but it is their way, theirs that is unfair. 18 When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die in it. 19 When a wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by it. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of Adonai is not fair!’ House of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his ways.”
Jerusalem Falls
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me saying, “The city has been struck down.” 22 The hand of Adonai had been upon me in the evening, before the survivor came. He had opened my mouth by the time of his coming to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.
23 Then the word of Adonai came to me saying: 24 “Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one, yet he inherited the land. Since we are many, the land is given to us as a possession.’
25 “Therefore say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘You eat with the blood, lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you possess the land?’ 27 Say this to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘As I live, surely those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword. Whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and whoever is in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the plague. 28 I will make the land a desolation and a horror. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through.’ 29 They will know that I am Adonai, when I have made the land a desolate waste, because of all their abominations that they have committed.”
30 “Now as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses. Each one speaks to one another, each saying to his brother: ‘Come now, hear what message is coming forth from Adonai!’ 31 So they come to you, as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words—but they do not do them—for with their mouth they express doting love, but their heart goes after their own dishonest gain. 32 Look, you are like a love song to them, one who has a beautiful voice and can play well on an instrument. They hear your words, but do not practice them. 33 When this comes to pass—behold, it is coming—they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Hear O Israel
Psalm 81
1 For the music director, on the Gittite lyre, of Asaph.
2 Sing for joy to God our strength,
shout to the God of Jacob!
3 Lift up a song and sound a tambourine,
a sweet lyre with a harp.
4 Blow the shofar at the New Moon,
at the full moon for the day of our festival.
5 For it is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
6 He set it up as a testimony in Joseph,
when He went throughout the land of Egypt,
I heard a language I did not understand.
7 “I relieved his shoulder of the burden,
his hands were set free from the basket.
8 You called out in trouble, and I rescued you.
I answered you from the hiding place of thunder.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
9 Hear, My people, I will admonish you—
if you would listen to Me, O Israel!
10 Let there be no foreign god among you,
and you shall not worship any alien god.
11 I am Adonai your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
12 But My people did not listen to My voice.
Israel was not willing to be Mine.
13 So I gave them over
to the stubbornness of their heart,
to walk in their own counsels.
14 Oh that My people would listen to Me,
that Israel would walk in My ways!
15 I would soon subdue their enemies,
and turn My hand against their foes.
16 Those who hate Adonai would cringe before Him—
their time of doom would be forever.
17 But you would be fed with the finest wheat,
with honey out of a rock would I satisfy you.”
A Rebuke for Unjust Judges
Psalm 82
1 A psalm of Asaph.
God takes His stand in the assembly of God.
He judges among the ‘gods’:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the poor and fatherless.
Be just to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and needy.
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know nothing;
they understand nothing—
they walk about in darkness.
All of earth’s foundations are shaken.
6 I said: ‘You are ‘gods’,
and you are all sons of Elyon,[a]
7 yet you will die like men,
and will fall like any of the princes.’”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For You possess all the nations.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.