M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Saul Rejected as King

15 Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to appoint you king over Israel. Now listen to his message. ² This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘The Israelites came out of Egypt. But the Amalekites tried to stop them from going to Canaan. I saw what they did. ³ Now go, attack the Amalekites. Destroy everything that belongs to them as an offering to the Lord. Don’t let anything live. Put to death men and women, children and small babies. Kill the cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

⁴ So Saul called the army together at Telaim. There were 200,000 soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah. ⁵ Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the ravine. ⁶ He said to the Kenites, “Go away. Leave the Amalekites so that I won’t destroy you with them. You showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

⁷ Then Saul defeated the Amalekites. He fought them all the way from Havilah to Shur, at the border of Egypt. ⁸ He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive. But he killed all of Agag’s army with the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the army let Agag live. They also let the best sheep, fat cattle and lambs live. They let every good animal live. They did not want to destroy them. But when they found an animal that was weak or useless, they killed it.

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke his word to Samuel: ¹¹ “Saul has stopped following me. And I am sorry I made him king. He has not obeyed my commands.” Samuel was upset, and he cried out to the Lord all night long.

¹² Early the next morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, “Saul has gone to Carmel. He has put up a monument in his own honor. Now he has gone down to Gilgal.”

¹³ Then Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said, “May the Lord bless you! I have obeyed the Lord’s commands.”

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “Then why do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?”

¹⁵ Saul answered, “The soldiers took them from the Amalekites. They saved the best sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to the Lord your God. But we destroyed all the other animals.”

¹⁶ Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

Saul answered, “Tell me.”

¹⁷ Samuel said, “Once you didn’t think much of yourself. But now you have become the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord appointed you to be king over Israel. ¹⁸ And he told you to do something. He said, ‘Go and destroy those evil people, the Amalekites. Make war on them until all of them are dead.’ ¹⁹ Why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you take the best things? Why did you do what the Lord said was wrong?”

²⁰ Saul said, “But I did obey the Lord. I did what the Lord told me to do. I destroyed all the Amalekites. And I brought back Agag their king. ²¹ The soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²² But Samuel answered,

²⁴ Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I didn’t obey the Lord’s commands. I didn’t do what you told me. I was afraid of the people, and I did what they said. ²⁵ Now I beg you, forgive my sin. Come back with me so I may worship the Lord.”

²⁶ But Samuel said to Saul, “I won’t go back with you. You refused the Lord’s command. And now he rejects you as king of Israel.”

²⁷ As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given it to one of your neighbors. He has given it to one better than you. ²⁹ The Lord is the Eternal One of Israel. He does not lie or change his mind. He is not a man. So he does not change his mind as men do.”

³⁰ Saul answered, “I have sinned. But please honor me in front of my people’s elders. Please honor me in front of the Israelites. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”

Agag came to Samuel in chains. Yet Agag thought, “Surely the threat of death has passed.”

³³ Samuel said to him, “Your sword caused mothers to be without their children. Now your mother will have no children.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel left and went to Ramah. But Saul went up to his home in Gibeah. ³⁵ And Samuel never saw Saul again all the rest of his life. But he was sorry for Saul. And the Lord was very sorry he had made Saul king of Israel.

Christians Should Obey the Law

13 All of you must obey the government rulers. No one rules unless God has given him the power to rule. And no one rules now without that power from God. ² So if anyone is against the government, he is really against what God has commanded. And so he brings punishment on himself. ³ Those who do right do not have to fear the rulers. But people who do wrong must fear them. Do you want to be unafraid of the rulers? Then do what is right, and the ruler will praise you. ⁴ He is God’s servant to help you. But if you do wrong, then be afraid. The ruler has the power to punish; he is God’s servant to punish those who do wrong. ⁵ So you must obey the government. You must obey not only because you might be punished, but because you know it is the right thing to do.

⁶ And this is also why you pay taxes. Rulers are working for God and give their time to their work. ⁷ Pay everyone, then, what you owe him. If you owe any kind of tax, pay it. Show respect and honor to them all.

Loving Others

⁸ Do not owe people anything. But you will always owe love to each other. The person who loves others has obeyed all the law. ⁹ The law says, “You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not want to take your neighbor’s things.”^[a] All these commands and all others are really only one rule: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love never hurts a neighbor. So loving is obeying all the law.

¹¹ I say this because we live in an important time. Yes, it is now time for you to wake up from your sleep. Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The “night”^[c] is almost finished. The “day”^[d] is almost here. So we should stop doing things that belong to darkness and take up the weapons used for fighting in the light. ¹³ Let us live in a right way, as in the daytime. We should not have wild parties or get drunk. There should be no sexual immorality or evil conduct, no fighting or jealousy. ¹⁴ But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. Forget about satisfying your sinful self.

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. And he was king in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah.^[a] She was from Libnah. ² Zedekiah did what the Lord said was wrong, just as Jehoiakim had done. ³ All this happened in Jerusalem and Judah because the Lord was angry with them. Finally, he threw them out of his presence.

Zedekiah turned against the king of Babylon.

⁴ Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They made a camp around the city. Then they built devices all around the city walls to attack it. This happened during Zedekiah’s ninth year, tenth month and tenth day as king. ⁵ The city was under attack until Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king.

⁶ By the ninth day of the fourth month, the hunger was terrible in the city. There was no food for the people to eat. ⁷ Then the city wall was broken through. And the whole army ran away at night. They went through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden. The Babylonians were still surrounding the city. Zedekiah and his men ran toward the Jordan Valley.

⁸ But the Babylonian army chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains of Jericho. All of his army was scattered from him. ⁹ So they captured Zedekiah and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Riblah is in the land of Hamath. There he passed sentence on Zedekiah. ¹⁰ There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons as he watched. The king also killed all the officers of Judah. ¹¹ Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put bronze chains on him and took him to Babylon. And the king kept Zedekiah in prison there until the day he died.

¹² Nebuzaradan was the commander of the king’s special guards. This servant of the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. This was on the tenth day of the fifth month. This was in Nebuchadnezzar’s nineteenth year as king of Babylon. ¹³ Nebuzaradan set fire to the Temple of the Lord and the palace. He also set fire to all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building was burned. ¹⁴ The whole Babylonian army broke down the walls around Jerusalem. That army was led by the commander of the king’s special guards. ¹⁵ Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took captive some of the poorest people. And he took those who were left in Jerusalem. He took captive those who had surrendered to the king of Babylon. And he took away the skilled craftsmen who were left in Jerusalem. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan left behind the rest of the poorest people of the land. They were to take care of the vineyards and fields.

¹⁷ The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze stands and the large bronze bowl, which was called the Sea. These were in the Temple of the Lord. Then they carried all the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ They also took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, bowls, dishes and all the bronze objects. They were used to serve in the Temple. ¹⁹ The commander of the king’s special guards took these things away: bowls, pans for carrying hot coals and large bowls; pots, lampstands, pans and bowls used for drink offerings. He took everything that was made of pure gold or silver.

²⁰ There was so much bronze that it could not be weighed. There were two pillars. There was the large bronze bowl with the 12 bronze bulls under it. And there were the movable stands, which King Solomon had made for the Temple of the Lord.

²¹ Each of the pillars was about 27 feet high. Each pillar was 18 feet around and hollow. The wall of each pillar was 3 inches thick. ²² The bronze capital on top of the pillar was about 7½ feet high. It was decorated with a net design and bronze pomegranates all around it. The other pillar also had pomegranates. It was like the first pillar. ²³ There were 96 pomegranates on the sides of the pillars. There was a total of 100 pomegranates above the net design.

²⁴ The commander of the guards took some prisoners. He took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁵ The commander also took other people who were still in the city. He took the officer in charge of the fighting men. He also took seven people who advised the king. He also took the royal assistant who selected people for the army. And he took 60 other men who were in the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan, the commander, took all these people. And he brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king had them killed.

So the people of Judah were led away from their country as captives. ²⁸ This is how many people Nebuchadnezzar took away as captives: in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; ²⁹ in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year, 832 people from Jerusalem; ³⁰ in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan took 745 Jews as captives. Nebuzaradan was the commander of the king’s special guards.

In all 4,600 people were taken captive.

Jehoiachin Is Set Free

³¹ Jehoiachin king of Judah was in prison in Babylon for 37 years. That year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon. He let Jehoiachin king of Judah out of prison that year. He set Jehoiachin free on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month. ³² Evil-Merodach spoke kindly to Jehoiachin. He gave Jehoiachin a seat of honor. It was above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ³³ So Jehoiachin put away his prison clothes. For the rest of his life, he ate at the king’s table. ³⁴ Every day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin an allowance. This lasted as long as he lived, until Jehoiachin died.

A Prayer of Faith in Troubled Times

For the director of music. A song of David.