M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The War With Ammon
10 After this, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.
2 David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent his officials to express condolences to Hanun concerning his father. David’s officials arrived in the land of the Ammonites.
3 But the officials of the Ammonites said to Hanun their master, “Do you really think David was honoring your father when he sent messengers to express his sympathy to you? No, David sent his officials to you in order to gather information about the city and to spy on it, in order to overthrow it.”
4 So Hanun seized the officials of David, shaved off half of each one’s beard, cut off their clothing up to their buttocks, and sent them away.
5 David was told about this, and he sent messengers to meet them because the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown. Then return.”
6 The Ammonites saw that they had become a digusting stench to David, so they sent and hired twenty thousand foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, one thousand men from the king of Ma’akah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.[a]
7 When David heard about it, he deployed Joab and the entire army, the strong warriors.
8 The Ammonites went out and lined up in battle formation in front of the entrance to the city gate. Aram Zobah and Aram Rehob, as well as the men of Tob and Ma’akah, were lined up by themselves in the open country.
9 Joab saw that the battle lines were drawn up against him both in front of him and behind him, so he chose some of the best troops of Israel and lined them up to confront the Arameans. 10 The rest of the men he placed under the command of his brother Abishai and lined them up to face the Ammonites. 11 He said, “If Aram is too strong for me, then you are to rescue me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong. We must show ourselves to be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his eyes.”
13 Joab and all the people with him advanced to join battle against the Arameans, and the Arameans fled from him. 14 When the Ammonites saw that Aram had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came back to Jerusalem.
15 When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer sent for Arameans from beyond the Euphrates. They came to Helam with Shobak, who was the commander of the army of Hadadezer, at their head.
17 When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. The Arameans lined up to confront David and fought against him. 18 The Arameans fled from Israel. David killed seven hundred Aramean charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers.[b] Shobak, the commander of their army, was wounded, and he died there. 19 All the kings who were the subjects of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, so they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. Then the Arameans were afraid to try to rescue the Ammonites anymore.
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent by ourselves to claim that anything comes from us; rather, our competence is from God. 6 He also made us competent as ministers of a new testament[a] (not of letter, but of spirit).[b] For the letter kills, but the spirit[c] gives life.
The Ministry of the Spirit
7 If the ministry that brought death (which was engraved in letters on stone) came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look directly at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (though it was fading), 8 how will the ministry of the spirit[d] not be much more glorious? 9 For if the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, the ministry that brought righteousness has even more glory. 10 In fact, in this case, what was glorious is no longer very glorious, because of the greater glory of that which surpasses it. 11 Indeed, if what is fading away was glorious, how much more glorious is that which is permanent!
12 Therefore, since we have this kind of hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the Israelites could not continue to look at the end of the radiance, as it was fading away. 14 In spite of this, their minds were hardened. Yes, up to the present day, the same veil remains when the Old Testament is read. It has not been removed because it is taken away only in Christ. 15 Instead, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 But all of us who reflect the Lord’s glory with an unveiled face are being transformed into his own image, from one degree of glory to another. This too is from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The Parable About the Cedar Sprig
17 The word of the Lord came to me. 2 Son of man, present a challenging parable to the house of Israel. 3 Tell the Israelites that this is what the Lord God says.
A great eagle with powerful wings, with long feathers, and covered with multicolored plumes, came to Lebanon. He took the tip of a cedar. 4 He plucked off the newest shoot at the very top of the tree, and he carried it to a land of merchants. In a city of traders he planted it.
5 Then he took seed from the land and planted it in a fertile field, like a new plant beside plentiful water. He set it out like a willow twig, 6 so that it would sprout and become a spreading vine, low to the ground, so that its branches would turn toward the one who planted it[a] and its roots would remain under him. So it became a vine and produced shoots and leaves and branches.
7 But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and many plumes. Look at how this vine bent its roots toward him! From the bed where it had been planted, it stretched out its branches toward him, so that he could water it. 8 It had been planted in good soil beside plentiful water to grow branches, to bear fruit, and to become a magnificent vine.
9 Tell them this is what the Lord God says. Will it thrive? Won’t he pull up its roots and strip off its fruit so that it dries up? Won’t all its new growth dry up? No strong arm or mighty army will be needed to pluck it by its roots. 10 Although it has been planted, will it thrive? When the east wind touches it, won’t it shrivel up completely? On the very bed where it had sprouted, it will wither away.
11 The word of the Lord came to me. 12 Tell this to the rebellious house.
Don’t you know what these things mean? Tell them this. You saw how the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. He took its king and its officials and brought them back to Babylon with him.
13 Then he took a member from the seed of the royal family, made a covenant[b] with him, and put him under an oath. He took away the leading men of the land 14 so that it would be a lowly kingdom, so that it would not rebel but would keep the covenant with him, so that it could survive. 15 But the prince[c] rebelled against that king by sending his envoys to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Can someone who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still escape? 16 As I live, says the Lord God, in the land of the king who made him king,[d] whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, in his presence in Babylon, he shall die. 17 He will not be joined by a mighty army or a great force during the war, because Pharaoh will not come when the enemy heaps up ramps and builds siege walls in order to cut off many lives. 18 The king despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Even though he had given his hand to seal the covenant, he did all these things. He shall not escape!
19 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. As I live, because it was an oath taken in my name that the prince despised, I will bring down on his own head my covenant which he broke. 20 I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my trap. I will bring him to Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me. 21 All his fugitives together with all his troops will fall by the sword, and the rest will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.
22 This is what the Lord God says. I myself will take part of the tip of the cedar and plant it. From the topmost of its shoots I will pluck off a tender sprig, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it. It will produce branches, bear fruit, and become a magnificent cedar. Flying birds of every kind will live under it. In the shelter of its branches they will nest. 24 Then all the trees in the countryside will know that I, the Lord, bring down the high tree and raise up the low tree, that I make the green tree dry up, and I make the dried-up tree blossom. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will carry it out.
Psalm 60
You Have Rejected Us
(Psalm 60:5-12 parallels Psalm 108:6-13)
Heading
For the choir director. “The Lily of Testimony.”[a] A miktam by David.
For teaching. When he waged war against Aram Naharaim and against Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand men of Edom in the Valley of Salt.[b]
David’s Prayer
1 God, you have rejected us.
You have broken us down.
You have been angry. Return to us!
2 You have shaken the earth. You have torn it open.
Heal its fractures, for it is about to collapse.
3 You have made your people suffer hardship.
You gave us wine to drink that makes us stagger.
4 You have set up a signal flag for those who fear you, Interlude
to be raised up against the bow.[c]
5 Save us with your right hand and answer us,
so that those you love may be delivered.
God’s Reply
6 God has spoken in his holiness:[d]
“I will triumph. I will distribute Shechem,
and I will measure off the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is my helmet. Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin. On Edom I toss my sandal.
I shout aloud over Philistia.”[e][f]
David’s Prayer
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 God, is it not you, who have rejected us?
God, is it not you, who no longer go out with our armies?
11 Give us help against the foe,
for human help is worthless.
12 In God we will do mighty deeds.
He is the one who will trample our foes.
Psalm 61
A Soldier’s Prayer From the End of the Earth
Heading
For the choir director. On a stringed instrument. By David.
A Prayer From the End of the Earth
1 Hear my cry, O God.
Pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me up onto the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength in the face of the enemy.
4 I want to keep living in your tent forever. Interlude
I will take refuge under the cover of your wings.
5 For you, God, have heard my vows.
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Add days to the days of the king.
His years will last through all generations.
7 Let him be seated in God’s presence forever.
Appoint your mercy and truth to protect him.
8 Then will I make music to your name forever,
to fulfill my vows day after day.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.