M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

4 When Ish-Boshet the son of Sha’ul heard that Avner had died in Hevron, his courage failed; and all Isra’el became alarmed. ² Sha’ul’s son had two men who were captains of raiding parties, one called Ba‘anah and the other Rekhav, sons of Rimmon the Be’eroti, of the people of Binyamin (for Be’erot is counted as part of Binyamin, ³ even though the Be’erotim fled to Gittayim and have lived as foreigners there to this day). ⁴ Now Y’honatan the son of Sha’ul’s had a son, and he was lame in both legs. He had been five years old when the news about Sha’ul and Y’honatan came from Yizre‘el. His nurse had gathered him up and fled; but as she was hurrying to get away, he fell and became lame. His name was M’fivoshet. ⁵ The sons of Rimmon the Be’eroti, Rekhav and Ba‘anah went and arrived during the heat of the day at the home of Ish-Boshet as he was taking his afternoon rest. ⁶ They went right into the house, as if they were coming to get wheat, and stabbed him in the groin; then Rekhav and Ba‘anah his brother escaped. ⁷ They entered the house as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, stabbed him and killed him; then they beheaded him, took his head and fled all night along the road through the ‘Aravah. ⁸ They brought the head of Ish-Boshet to David in Hevron and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ish-Boshet the son of Sha’ul your enemy, who wanted to take your life. Today Adonai has taken revenge on Sha’ul and his son for the sake of my lord the king.”

⁹ But David answered Rekhav and Ba‘anah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Be’eroti, “As Adonai lives, who has rescued me from every kind of difficulty, ¹⁰ when someone told me, ‘Here, Sha’ul is dead,’ thinking to himself that he was bringing good news, I didn’t reward him for his news but seized him and killed him in Ziklag. ¹¹ How much more, when criminals have killed an innocent man in his own house on his own bed, shouldn’t I hold you responsible for his death and rid the earth of you?” ¹² David then gave the order to his men, and they put them to death, cutting off their hands and feet and hanging them up next to the pool at Hevron. But they took the head of Ish-Boshet and buried it in Avner’s grave at Hevron.

5 Then all the tribes of Isra’el came to David in Hevron and said, “Here, we are your own flesh and bone. ² In the past, when Sha’ul was king over us, it was you who led Isra’el’s military campaigns; and Adonai said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Isra’el, and you will be chief over Isra’el.’” ³ So all the leaders of Isra’el came to the king in Hevron, and King David made a covenant with them in Hevron in the presence of Adonai. Then they anointed David king over Isra’el. ⁴ David was thirty years old when he began his rule, and he ruled forty years. ⁵ In Hevron he ruled over Y’hudah seven years and six months; then in Yerushalayim he ruled thirty-three years over all Isra’el and Y’hudah.

⁶ The king and his men went to Yerushalayim to attack the Y’vusi, the inhabitants of that region. They taunted David, “You won’t get in here! Even the blind and the lame could fend you off!” — in other words, they were thinking, “David will never get in here.” ⁷ Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Tziyon, also known [now] as the City of David. ⁸ What David said on that day was, “In order to attack the Y’vusi, you have to climb up [from the spring outside the city] through the water tunnel. Then you can do away with those [so-called] ‘lame and blind’” (whom David despises — hence the expression, “The ‘blind and lame’ keep him from entering the house”).

⁹ David lived in the stronghold and called it the City of David. Then David built up the city around it, starting at the Millo [earth rampart] and working inward. ¹⁰ David grew greater and greater, because Adonai the God of Armies was with him. ¹¹ Hiram king of Tzor sent envoys to David with cedar logs, and with them were carpenters and stonemasons; and they built David a palace. ¹² David then knew that Adonai had set him up as king over Isra’el and increased his royal power for the sake of his people.

¹³ David took for himself more concubines and wives in Yerushalayim after coming from Hevron, so that still more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴ Here are the names of those born to him in Yerushalayim: Shamua, Shovav, Natan, Shlomo, ¹⁵ Yivchar, Elishua, Nefeg, Yafia, ¹⁶ Elishama, Elyada and Elifelet.

¹⁷ When the P’lishtim heard that David had been anointed king over Isra’el, all the P’lishtim went up in search of David. On learning of it, David went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸ The P’lishtim came and deployed in the Refa’im Valley. ¹⁹ David consulted Adonai, asking, “Should I attack the P’lishtim? Will you hand them over to me?” Adonai answered David, “Attack; I will certainly hand the P’lishtim over to you.” ²⁰ So David went to Ba‘al-P’ratzim and defeated them there. He said, “Adonai has broken through my enemies for me like a river breaking through its banks.” This is why he called the place Ba‘al-P’ratzim [Lord of breaking through]. ²¹ The P’lishtim had left their idols there, so David and his men took them away.

²² The P’lishtim came up again and deployed in the Refa’im Valley. ²³ When David consulted Adonai, he said, “Don’t attack! Circle behind them, and engage them opposite the balsam trees. ²⁴ When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, advance; because then Adonai has gone out ahead of you to defeat the army of the P’lishtim.” ²⁵ David did exactly as Adonai had ordered him to do and pursued his attack on the P’lishtim from Geva all the way to Gezer.

15 Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand, ² and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain. ³ For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: the Messiah died for our sins, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; ⁴ and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the Tanakh says; ⁵ and he was seen by Kefa, then by the Twelve; ⁶ and afterwards he was seen by more than five hundred brothers at one time, the majority of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷ Later he was seen by Ya‘akov, then by all the emissaries; ⁸ and last of all he was seen by me, even though I was born at the wrong time. ⁹ For I am the least of all the emissaries, unfit to be called an emissary, because I persecuted the Messianic Community of God. ¹⁰ But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain; on the contrary, I have worked harder than all of them, although it was not I but the grace of God with me. ¹¹ Anyhow, whether I or they, this is what we proclaim, and this is what you believed.

¹² But if it has been proclaimed that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, how is it that some of you are saying there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then the Messiah has not been raised; ¹⁴ and if the Messiah has not been raised, then what we have proclaimed is in vain; also your trust is in vain; ¹⁵ furthermore, we are shown up as false witnesses for God in having testified that God raised up the Messiah, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then the Messiah has not been raised either; ¹⁷ and if the Messiah has not been raised, your trust is useless, and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Also, if this is the case, those who died in union with the Messiah are lost. ¹⁹ If it is only for this life that we have put our hope in the Messiah, we are more pitiable than anyone.

²⁰ But the fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have died. ²¹ For since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. ²² For just as in connection with Adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of his coming; ²⁴ then the culmination, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father, after having put an end to every rulership, yes, to every authority and power. ²⁵ For he has to rule until he puts all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be done away with will be death, ²⁷ for “He put everything in subjection under his feet.”^[a] But when it says that “everything” has been subjected, obviously the word does not include God, who is himself the one subjecting everything to the Messiah. ²⁸ Now when everything has been subjected to the Son, then he will subject himself to God, who subjected everything to him; so that God may be everything in everyone.

²⁹ Were it otherwise, what would the people accomplish who are immersed on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not actually raised, why are people immersed for them? ³⁰ For that matter, we ourselves — why do we keep facing danger hour by hour? ³¹ Brothers, by the right to be proud which the Messiah Yeshua our Lord gives me, I solemnly tell you that I die every day. ³² If my fighting with “wild beasts” in Ephesus was done merely on a human basis, what do I gain by it? If dead people are not raised, we might as well live by the saying, “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”^{[b] 33} Don’t be fooled. “Bad company ruins good character.” ³⁴ Come to your senses! Live righteously and stop sinning! There are some people who lack knowledge of God — I say this to your shame.

³⁵ But someone will ask, “In what manner are the dead raised? What sort of body do they have?” ³⁶ Stupid! When you sow a seed, it doesn’t come alive unless it first dies. ³⁷ Also, what you sow is not the body that will be, but a bare seed of, say, wheat or something else; ³⁸ but God gives it the body he intended for it; and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. ³⁹ Not all living matter is the same living matter; on the contrary, there is one kind for human beings, another kind of living matter for animals, another for birds and another for fish. ⁴⁰ Further, there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the beauty of heavenly bodies is one thing, while the beauty of earthly bodies is something else. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon another, the stars yet another; indeed, each star has its own individual kind of beauty.

⁴² So it is with the resurrection of the dead. When the body is “sown,” it decays; when it is raised, it cannot decay. ⁴³ When sown, it is without dignity; when raised, it will be beautiful. When sown, it is weak; when raised, it will be strong. ⁴⁴ When sown, it is an ordinary human body; when raised, it will be a body controlled by the Spirit. If there is an ordinary human body, there is also a body controlled by the Spirit. ⁴⁵ In fact, the Tanakh says so: Adam, the first man, became a living human being;^[c] but the last “Adam” has become a life-giving Spirit. ⁴⁶ Note, however, that the body from the Spirit did not come first, but the ordinary human one; the one from the Spirit comes afterwards. ⁴⁷ The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ People born of dust are like the man of dust, and people born from heaven are like the man from heaven; ⁴⁹ and just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so also we will bear the image of the man from heaven.

⁵⁰ Let me say this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot share in the Kingdom of God, nor can something that decays share in what does not decay. ⁵¹ Look, I will tell you a secret — not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! ⁵² It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. ⁵³ For this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality. ⁵⁴ When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the Tanakh will be fulfilled:

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah; ⁵⁷ but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah!

⁵⁸ So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain.

13 The word of Adonai came to me: ² “Human being, prophesy against the prophets of Isra’el who prophesy. Tell those prophesying out of their own thoughts, ‘Listen to what Adonai says! ³ Adonai Elohim says: “Woe to the vile prophets who follow their own spirits and things which they have not seen! ⁴ Isra’el, your prophets have been like jackals among ruins. ⁵ You [prophets] have not gone up to the breaks in the barricade or repaired it for the house of Isra’el, so that they can stand fast in battle on the day of Adonai. ⁶ Their visions are futile and their divination is false; they say, ‘Adonai says,’ when Adonai has not sent them; yet they hope that the word will be confirmed. ⁷ Haven’t you had a futile vision and spoken a false divination when you say, ‘Adonai says,’ and I have not spoken? ⁸ Therefore here is what Adonai Elohim does say: ‘Because you have spoken futilities and seen falsehoods, therefore I am against you,’ says Adonai Elohim.

⁹ “‘“My hand will be against the prophets who have futile visions and produce false divinations; they will not be allowed into the council of my people, or be written in the register of the house of Isra’el, or enter the land of Isra’el. Then you will know that I am Adonai Elohim. ¹⁰ They deserve this, because they have led my people astray by saying there is peace when there is no peace. If someone builds a wall without mortar, they ‘plaster’ it with whitewash [to make it appear strong]. ¹¹ Tell these ‘plasterers’ that a cloudburst is coming, with huge hailstones and gale-force winds; ¹² and the wall will fall down. Then people will ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you used to “plaster” it?’” ¹³ Therefore Adonai Elohim says: “In my rage I will cause gale-force winds to break out, and in my anger there will come a cloudburst, with huge hailstones to consume it in fury. ¹⁴ This is how I will break down the wall you covered with whitewash — I will smash it to the ground, so that its foundation will be revealed. The wall will fall down, and you will be consumed with it. Then you will know that I am Adonai. ¹⁵ In this way I will spend my fury on the wall and on those who covered it with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone, and so are those who “plastered” it,’ ¹⁶ that is, the prophets of Isra’el who prophesy about Yerushalayim and see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,” says Adonai Elohim.’

¹⁷ “You, human being, turn your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own thoughts. Prophesy against them; ¹⁸ tell them that Adonai Elohim says, ‘Woe to the women who sew magic pads for all arm joints and put veils over people of all sizes, in order to hunt human lives! Will you hunt down the lives of my people while you keep your own lives safe? ¹⁹ You dishonor me before my people for a few handfuls of barley and crumbs of bread, killing people who should not die and sparing those who should not live, by your lying to my people, who love hearing lies.’ ²⁰ Therefore here is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘I am against your pads, with which you hunt human lives like birds; I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go, yes, the human lives that you hunt like birds. ²¹ I will also tear your veils and rescue my people from your clutches, so that they will no longer be in your power for you to hunt. Then you will know that I am Adonai. ²² Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies when I was not trying to cause them pain and have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked ways and thus be saved, ²³ therefore you will have no more futile visions, and you will produce no more divinations. I will rescue my people from your clutches, and you will know that I am Adonai.’”