M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David's Military Victories(A)
18 Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again and defeated them. He took out of their control the city of Gath and its surrounding villages. 2 He also defeated the Moabites, who became his subjects and paid taxes to him.
3 Next, David attacked King Hadadezer of the Syrian state of Zobah, near the territory of Hamath, because Hadadezer was trying to gain control of the territory by the upper Euphrates River. 4 David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand cavalry troops, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He kept enough horses for a hundred chariots and crippled all the rest.
5 When the Syrians of Damascus sent an army to help King Hadadezer, David attacked it and killed twenty-two thousand men. 6 Then he set up military camps in their territory, and they became his subjects and paid taxes to him. The Lord made David victorious everywhere. 7 David captured the gold shields carried by Hadadezer's officials and took them to Jerusalem. 8 (B)He also took a great quantity of bronze from Tibhath and Kun, cities ruled by Hadadezer. (Solomon later used this bronze to make the tank, the columns, and the bronze utensils for the Temple.)
9 King Toi of Hamath heard that David had defeated Hadadezer's entire army. 10 So he sent his son Joram to greet King David and congratulate him for his victory over Hadadezer, against whom Toi had fought many times. Joram brought David presents made of gold, silver, and bronze. 11 King David dedicated them for use in worship, along with the silver and gold he took from the nations he conquered—Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek.
12 (C)Abishai, whose mother was Zeruiah, defeated the Edomites in Salt Valley and killed eighteen thousand of them. 13 He set up military camps throughout Edom, and the people there became King David's subjects. The Lord made David victorious everywhere.
14 David ruled over all Israel and made sure that his people were always treated fairly and justly. 15 Abishai's brother Joab was commander of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was in charge of the records; 16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah[a] was court secretary; 17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was in charge of David's bodyguards; and King David's sons held high positions in his service.
Warning to the Rich
5 And now, you rich people, listen to me! Weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you! 2 (A)Your riches have rotted away, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. 3 (B)Your gold and silver are covered with rust, and this rust will be a witness against you and will eat up your flesh like fire. You have piled up riches in these last days. 4 (C)You have not paid any wages to those who work in your fields. Listen to their complaints! The cries of those who gather in your crops have reached the ears of God, the Lord Almighty. 5 Your life here on earth has been full of luxury and pleasure. You have made yourselves fat for the day of slaughter. 6 (D)You have condemned and murdered innocent people, and they do not resist you.[a]
Patience and Prayer
7 Be patient, then, my friends, until the Lord comes. See how patient farmers are as they wait for their land to produce precious crops. They wait patiently for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord's coming is near.
9 Do not complain against one another, my friends, so that God will not judge you. The Judge is near, ready to appear. 10 My friends, remember the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Take them as examples of patient endurance under suffering. 11 (E)We call them happy because they endured. You have heard of Job's patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.
12 (F)Above all, my friends, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Do not swear by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Say only “Yes” when you mean yes, and “No” when you mean no, and then you will not come under God's judgment.
13 Are any among you in trouble? They should pray. Are any among you happy? They should sing praises. 14 (G)Are any among you sick? They should send for the church elders, who will pray for them and rub olive oil on them in the name of the Lord. 15 This prayer made in faith will heal the sick; the Lord will restore them to health, and the sins they have committed will be forgiven. 16 (H)So then, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed. The prayer of a good person has a powerful effect. 17 (I)Elijah was the same kind of person as we are. He prayed earnestly that there would be no rain, and no rain fell on the land for three and a half years. 18 (J)Once again he prayed, and the sky poured out its rain and the earth produced its crops.
19 My friends, if any of you wander away from the truth and another one brings you back again, 20 (K)remember this: whoever turns a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner's soul[b] from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.
Jonah's Prayer
2 From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God:
2 “In my distress, O Lord, I called to you,
and you answered me.
From deep in the world of the dead
I cried for help, and you heard me.
3 You threw me down into the depths,
to the very bottom of the sea,
where the waters were all around me,
and all your mighty waves rolled over me.
4 I thought I had been banished from your presence
and would never see your holy Temple again.
5 The water came over me and choked me;
the sea covered me completely,
and seaweed wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the very roots of the mountains,
into the land whose gates lock shut forever.[a]
But you, O Lord my God,
brought me back from the depths alive.
7 When I felt my life slipping away,
then, O Lord, I prayed to you,
and in your holy Temple you heard me.
8 Those who worship worthless idols
have abandoned their loyalty to you.
9 But I will sing praises to you;
I will offer you a sacrifice
and do what I have promised.
Salvation comes from the Lord!”
10 Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach, and it did.
Jesus Heals a Roman Officer's Servant(A)
7 When Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people, he went to Capernaum. 2 A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him; the man was sick and about to die. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his servant. 4 They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, “This man really deserves your help. 5 He loves our people and he himself built a synagogue for us.”
6 So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, “Sir, don't trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house, 7 neither do I consider myself worthy to come to you in person. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 8 I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; I order that one, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and I order my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
9 Jesus was surprised when he heard this; he turned around and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, I have never found faith like this, not even in Israel!”
10 The messengers went back to the officer's house and found his servant well.
Jesus Raises a Widow's Son
11 Soon afterward[a] Jesus went to a town named Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd. 12 Just as he arrived at the gate of the town, a funeral procession was coming out. The dead man was the only son of a woman who was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart was filled with pity for her, and he said to her, “Don't cry.” 14 Then he walked over and touched the coffin, and the men carrying it stopped. Jesus said, “Young man! Get up, I tell you!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16 They all were filled with fear and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us!” they said; “God has come to save his people!”
17 This news about Jesus went out through all the country and the surrounding territory.
The Messengers from John the Baptist(B)
18 When John's disciples told him about all these things, he called two of them 19 and sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?”
20 When they came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask if you are the one he said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?”
21 At that very time Jesus healed many people from their sicknesses, diseases, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many blind people. 22 (C)He answered John's messengers, “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean,[b] the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. 23 How happy are those who have no doubts about me!”
24 After John's messengers had left, Jesus began to speak about him to the crowds: “When you went out to John in the desert, what did you expect to see? A blade of grass bending in the wind? 25 What did you go out to see? A man dressed up in fancy clothes? People who dress like that and live in luxury are found in palaces! 26 Tell me, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes indeed, but you saw much more than a prophet. 27 (D)For John is the one of whom the scripture says: ‘God said, I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.’ 28 I tell you,” Jesus added, “John is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John.”
29 (E)All the people heard him; they and especially the tax collectors were the ones who had obeyed God's righteous demands and had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law rejected God's purpose for themselves and refused to be baptized by John.
31 Jesus continued, “Now to what can I compare the people of this day? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group shouts to the other, ‘We played wedding music for you, but you wouldn't dance! We sang funeral songs, but you wouldn't cry!’ 33 John the Baptist came, and he fasted and drank no wine, and you said, ‘He has a demon in him!’ 34 The Son of Man came, and he ate and drank, and you said, ‘Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!’ 35 God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by all who accept it.”
Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee
36 A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. 37 (F)In that town was a woman who lived a sinful life. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee's house, so she brought an alabaster jar full of perfume 38 and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!”
40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Yes, Teacher,” he said, “tell me.”
41 “There were two men who owed money to a moneylender,” Jesus began. “One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. 42 Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?”
43 “I suppose,” answered Simon, “that it would be the one who was forgiven more.”
“You are right,” said Jesus. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your home, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came. 46 You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume. 47 I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.”
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The others sitting at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
50 But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.