M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David’s Kingdom Established and Extended

18 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.

² And he defeated Moab, and the Mo′abites became servants to David and brought tribute.

³ David also defeated Hadade′zer king of Zobah, toward Hamath, as he went to set up his monument^[a] at the river Euphra′tes. ⁴ And David took from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for a hundred chariots. ⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadade′zer king of Zobah, David slew twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians. ⁶ Then David put garrisons^[b] in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷ And David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadade′zer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadade′zer, David took very much bronze; with it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.

⁹ When To′u king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadade′zer, king of Zobah, ¹⁰ he sent his son Hador′am to King David, to greet him, and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadade′zer and defeated him; for Hadade′zer had often been at war with To′u. And he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze; ¹¹ these also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Am′alek.

¹² And Abi′shai, the son of Zeru′iah, slew eighteen thousand E′domites in the Valley of Salt. ¹³ And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the E′domites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David’s Administration

¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel; and he administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵ And Jo′ab the son of Zeru′iah was over the army; and Jehosh′aphat the son of Ahi′lud was recorder; ¹⁶ and Zadok the son of Ahi′tub and Ahim′elech the son of Abi′athar were priests; and Shavsha was secretary; ¹⁷ and Benai′ah the son of Jehoi′ada was over the Cher′ethites and the Pel′ethites; and David’s sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.

Warning to Rich Oppressors

5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure^[a] for the last days. ⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷ Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. ⁹ Do not grumble, brethren, against one another, that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the doors. ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³ Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. ¹⁴ Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵ and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. ¹⁷ Eli′jah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.

¹⁹ My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, ²⁰ let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

2 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ² saying,

¹⁰ And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

7 After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Caper′na-um. ² Now a centurion had a slave who was dear^[a] to him, who was sick and at the point of death. ³ When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷ therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.

Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain

¹¹ Soon afterward^[b] he went to a city called Na′in, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸ The disciples of John told him of all these things. ¹⁹ And John, calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ²⁰ And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” ²¹ In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many that were blind he bestowed sight. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.”

²⁴ When the messengers of John had gone, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What then did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written,

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; ³⁰ but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another,

³³ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶ One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and took his place at table. ³⁷ And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸ and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “What is it, Teacher?” ⁴¹ “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”