M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem
6 David once again gathered all of the thirty thousand specially chosen men of Israel. 2 Then David and all the people who were with him set out and went to Baale Judah[a] to bring up the Ark of God, who is called by the name “The Lord of Armies, who sits above the cherubim.”
3 They transported the Ark of God on a new cart. They brought it out from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 ⎣⎦[b] with the Ark of God on it. Ahio was walking in front of the ark.
5 David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments, castanets,[c] lyres, harps, hand drums, rattles,[d] and cymbals.
6 But when they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out for the Ark of God and grabbed it because the oxen stumbled. 7 The anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence. So he died there beside the Ark of God.
8 David was angry because the Lord had burst out so violently against Uzzah, and he called that place Perez Uzzah,[e] as it is called to this day. 9 David was afraid of the Lord on that day. He said, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 David was not willing to move the Ark of the Lord to himself in the City of David.
So David diverted the ark to the house of Obed Edom the Gittite. 11 The Ark of the Lord remained at the house of Obed Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and his whole household. 12 David was told, “Because of the Ark of God, the Lord has blessed the house of Obed Edom and all that belongs to him.”[f]
With rejoicing, David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed Edom to the City of David. 13 When those carrying the Ark of the Lord had gone six paces, David sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. 14 David danced with all his might before the Lord. He was wearing a linen vest.[g] 15 David and the entire house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of a ram’s horn.
16 When the Ark of the Lord arrived at the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 When David finished presenting the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of Armies. 19 He distributed one loaf of bread, one cake of dates,[h] and one cake of raisins to all the people, to the whole crowd from Israel, to men and women, to each and every person. Then all the people left. All of them went to their own houses, 20 and David returned to bless his house.
Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David. She said, “How the king of Israel has brought honor to himself today by exposing himself in the sight of his female servants, just as a vulgar person exposes himself!”
21 David said to Michal, “I did this before the Lord, who chose me above your father and all his house, when he appointed me leader over the people of the Lord, over Israel. I will rejoice before the Lord, 22 and I will make myself even more lowly than this. I will be humble in my own eyes, but among the servant girls you have spoken about, among them I will be honored.”
23 Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death.
Plans for a Collection and Travel Plans
16 Now concerning the collection for the saints, do as I directed the churches in Galatia to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to set something aside in keeping with whatever he gains, saving it up at home, so that when I come, no collections will need to be carried out. 3 When I arrive, those whom you approve will be provided with letters, and I will send these representatives to deliver your gracious gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.
5 I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia, for I am going to go through Macedonia. 6 Perhaps I will have an extended stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way, wherever I go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now in passing. I hope to stay with you for a while, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay on in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a door has opened for me, a great opportunity for action, and there are many adversaries.
10 But if Timothy comes, make sure he has no reason to be afraid while he is with you, for he does the work of the Lord, as I do. 11 Therefore let no one despise him. But send him on his way in peace so that he may come to me, because I am expecting him, and so are the brothers with me.[a]
12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to go to you with the brothers. It was not at all his desire to go now, but he will when he has an opportunity.
Closing Messages
13 Keep alert. Stand firm in the faith. Demonstrate manly courage. Be strong. 14 Let everything you do be done in love.
15 Brothers, you know Stephanas and his household. You know that they are the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they volunteered for service to the saints. 16 I urge that you also submit to them and to everyone who joins in and works hard. 17 I am glad that Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus came, because they supplied what was lacking on your part, 18 and they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge such people.
19 The churches in the province of Asia[b] greet you. Aquila and Priscilla[c] greet you warmly in the Lord, together with the church that meets in their house. 20 All the brothers greet you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
21 This greeting is written by me, Paul, with my own hand. 22 If anyone does not love the Lord—let him be under a curse![d] Marana tha![e] 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ[f] be with you. 24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.[g]
Rulings About Prophecy
14 Some men from the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. 2 Then the word of the Lord came to me.
3 Son of man, these men have set up their filthy idols[a] in their hearts, and they have placed a stumbling block that makes them guilty in front of their faces. So should I really let them consult me? 4 Therefore, speak with them and tell them this is what the Lord God says.
Whenever anyone from the house of Israel sets up his filthy idols in his heart or sets the stumbling block that makes him guilty in front of his face and he then comes to a prophet, I, the Lord, will give him an answer appropriate to the multitude of his filthy idols, 5 so that I may capture the hearts of the house of Israel, for all of them have alienated themselves from me with their filthy idols. 6 Therefore, tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord God says. Repent and turn away from your filthy idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
7 Certainly, anyone from the house of Israel or an alien who is residing in Israel, if he alienates himself from me and sets up his filthy idols in his heart and puts the stumbling block that makes him guilty in front of his face, and he then comes to a prophet to seek my guidance for himself, I myself, the Lord, will give him an answer. 8 I will set my face against that man, and I will make him into a sign and a notorious example, and I will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
9 If a prophet acts like a fool[b] and speaks a message, I, the Lord, have made a fool of that prophet.[c] I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from among my people Israel. 10 They will bear their guilt. The guilt of the one who seeks guidance will be the same as the guilt of the prophet, 11 so that the house of Israel will no longer stray from following me, and they will never again defile themselves by all their rebellious acts. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Lord God.
Four Judgments
12 The word of the Lord came to me.
13 Son of man, when a land sins against me by adding one act of infidelity to another, so that I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its bread supply,[d] to send famine against it, and to cut off man and beast from it, 14 even if these three men were in its midst—Noah, Daniel, and Job—by their righteousness they would save only their own lives, declares the Lord God.
15 If I cause wild animals to pass through the land and they rob it of its children, so that it becomes desolate, and no one can pass through because of the wild animals, 16 and if these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be devastated.
17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “A sword shall pass through the land,” and I cut off from it man and beast, 18 and these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved.
19 Or if I send a plague on that land, and with bloodshed I pour out my wrath on it to cut off man and beast from it, 20 and if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters. By their righteousness they would save only their own lives.
21 For this is what the Lord God says. How much worse it will be when I send my four terrible judgments—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—upon Jerusalem to cut off man and beast from it!
22 But wait! A group of survivors will be left in it, those sons and daughters who will be brought out. Look! They are coming out to you, and you shall see their ways and their actions. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem, everything that I brought upon it. 23 And they will comfort you, because you will see their ways and their actions. Then you will know that it was not without cause that I did everything that I did against the city, declares the Lord God.
Psalm 55
My Friend Betrays Me
Heading
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A maskil by David.
Opening Plea
1 Turn your ear to my prayer, O God.
Do not hide from my plea for mercy.
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.
The Problem
I am troubled in my thoughts and I groan
3 because of talk from the enemy,
because of oppression from the wicked,
because they dump evil on me,
and in anger they hold a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me.
The terrors of death fall on me.
5 Fear and trembling come over me.
Horror covers me.
6 So I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find a place to rest.
7 Yes, I would flee far away. Interlude
I would stay in the wilderness.
8 I would hurry to find shelter,
far from the violent wind, far from the storm.”
9 Swallow them up, O Lord.
Confuse their speech,
for I see violence and contention in the city.
10 Day and night they sneak around on its walls.
Evil and trouble are in the city.
11 Destruction lurks within it.
Treachery and deceit never leave its streets.
12 For it is not an enemy who insults me—
I could bear that.
It is not someone who hated me who rises up against me—
I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man who served with me,
my colleague and my associate,
14 with whom I shared pleasant discussions
as we walked with the excited crowd at God’s house.
Plea for Judgment
15 Let deadly destruction come on them.
Let them go down to the grave alive,
because evil is at home in their hearts.
Confidence in Judgment
16 As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning, and noon I cry out and I sigh,
and he hears my voice.
18 In peace he redeems my life from the assault against me,
even when many are against me.
19 God will hear, and he will punish them— Interlude
yes, he is seated on his throne from eternity!
—because they never change, and they do not fear God.
The Traitor’s Treachery
20 The traitor reaches out his hand against those at peace with him.
He breaks his agreement.[a]
21 His flattery is as smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart.
His words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn daggers.
God’s Solution
22 Place your burden on the Lord,
and he will support you.
He will never allow the righteous to fall.
23 But you, O God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction.
Bloody and deceitful men will not live half their days.
But as for me, I will trust in you.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.