M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 10
Campaigns Against Ammon. 1 (A)After this,[a] the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son succeeded him as king. 2 David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me.” Therefore David sent his servants to Hanun to console him concerning his father. But when David’s servants had entered the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite princes said to their lord Hanun, “Do you think David is doing this—sending you these consolers—to honor your father? Is it not rather to explore the city, to spy on it, and to overthrow it, that David has sent his servants to you?” 4 So Hanun seized David’s servants, shaved off half their beards, cut away the lower halves of their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.(B) 5 David was told of it and he sent word for them to be intercepted, for the men had been greatly disgraced. “Remain at Jericho,” the king told them, “until your beards have grown again; then come back here.”
6 [b]When the Ammonites realized that they were in bad odor with David, they sent for and hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maacah with one thousand men, and twelve thousand men from Tob.(C)
7 When David heard of this, he sent Joab and his whole army of warriors against them.(D) 8 The Ammonites marched out and lined up for battle at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah remained apart in the open field. 9 When Joab saw that there was a battle line both in front of and behind him, he chose some of the best fighters of Israel and lined them up against the Arameans; 10 the rest of the army he placed under the command of his brother Abishai and lined up to oppose the Ammonites. 11 And he said, “If the Arameans prove too strong for me, you must come and save me; and if the Ammonites prove too strong for you, I will come to save you. 12 Hold firm and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in his sight.” 13 Joab therefore advanced with his men for battle with the Arameans, but they fled before him. 14 And when the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and reentered their city. Joab then ceased his attack on the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. 15 (E)Seeing themselves vanquished by Israel, the Arameans held a full muster of troops. 16 Hadadezer sent for and brought Arameans from beyond the River. They came to Helam, with Shobach, the captain of Hadadezer’s army, at their head. 17 When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. The Arameans drew up in formation against David and gave battle. 18 But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their chariot fighters and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He struck down Shobach, commander of the army, and he died on the field. 19 When Hadadezer’s vassal kings saw themselves vanquished by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became their subjects. After this, the Arameans were afraid to give further aid to the Ammonites.
Chapter 3
1 [a](A)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter,[b] written on our hearts, known and read by all, 3 [c](B)shown to be a letter of Christ administered by us, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.
4 [d]Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God,(C) 6 who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit;(D) for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.[e]
Contrast with the Old Covenant. 7 [f]Now if the ministry of death,[g] carved in letters on stone, was so glorious that the Israelites could not look intently at the face of Moses because of its glory that was going to fade,(E) 8 how much more[h] will the ministry of the Spirit be glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, the ministry of righteousness will abound much more in glory. 10 Indeed, what was endowed with glory has come to have no glory in this respect because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was going to fade was glorious, how much more will what endures be glorious.
12 Therefore, since we have such hope,[i] we act very boldly 13 and not like Moses,[j] who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not look intently at the cessation of what was fading. 14 Rather, their thoughts were rendered dull, for to this present day[k] the same veil remains unlifted when they read the old covenant, because through Christ it is taken away. 15 To this day, in fact, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts,(F) 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord the veil is removed.(G) 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit,[l] and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 [m]All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.(H)
Chapter 17
The Eagles and the Vine. 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, propose a riddle, and tell this proverb to the house of Israel: 3 Thus says the Lord God:
The great eagle, with wide wingspan
and long feathers, with thick plumage,
many-hued, came to Lebanon.
He plucked the crest of the cedar,(A)
4 broke off its topmost branch,
And brought it to a land of merchants,
set it in a city of traders.
5 Then he took some native seed
and planted it in fertile soil;
A shoot beside plentiful waters,
like a willow he planted it,(B)
6 That it might sprout and become a vine,
dense and low-lying,
With its branches turned toward him,
its roots beneath it.
Thus it became a vine, produced branches,
and put forth shoots.
7 Then another great eagle appeared,
with wide wingspan, rich in plumage,
And see! This vine bent its roots to him,
sent out branches for him to water.
From the bed where it was planted,(C)
8 it was transplanted to a fertile field
By abundant waters, to produce branches,
to bear fruit, to become a majestic vine.
9 Say: Thus says the Lord God: Can it thrive?
Will he not tear up its roots
and strip its fruit?
Then all its green leaves will wither—
neither strong arm nor mighty nation
is needed to uproot it.
10 True, it is planted; but will it thrive?
Will it not wither up
When the east wind strikes it,
wither in the very bed where it sprouted?(D)
11 [a]The word of the Lord came to me:
12 Now say to the rebellious house:
Do you not understand this? Tell them!
The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem
and took away its king and officials
and brought them to him in Babylon.(E)
13 After removing the nobles from the land,
he then took one of the royal line
And made a covenant with him,
binding him under oath,(F)
14 To be a humble kingdom,
without high aspirations,
to keep his covenant and so survive.
15 But this one rebelled against him
by sending envoys to Egypt
To obtain horses and a mighty army.
Can he thrive?
Can he escape if he does this?
Can he break a covenant and go free?(G)
16 As I live—oracle of the Lord God—
in the house of the king who set him up to rule,
Whose oath he ignored and whose covenant he broke,
there in Babylon I swear he shall die!(H)
17 Pharaoh shall not help him on the day of battle,
with a great force and mighty horde,
When ramps are thrown up and siege works built
for the cutting down of many lives.
18 He ignored his oath, breaking his covenant;
even though he gave his hand, he did all these things—
he shall not escape!(I)
19 Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
As I live, my oath which he spurned,
And my covenant which he broke,
I will bring down on his head.
20 I will spread my net over him,
and he will be caught in my snare.
I will bring him to Babylon
to judge him there
because he broke faith with me.(J)
21 Any among his forces who escape
will fall by the sword,
And whoever might survive
will be scattered to the winds.(K)
Thus you will know that I the Lord have spoken.
22 Thus says the Lord God:
I, too, will pluck from the crest of the cedar
the highest branch.
From the top a tender shoot
I will break off and transplant[b]
on a high, lofty mountain.
23 On the mountain height of Israel
I will plant it.
It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Every small bird will nest under it,
all kinds of winged birds will dwell
in the shade of its branches.(L)
24 Every tree of the field will know
that I am the Lord.
I bring low the high tree,
lift high the lowly tree,
Wither up the green tree,
and make the dry tree bloom.(M)
As I, the Lord, have spoken, so will I do!
Psalm 60[a]
Lament After Defeat in Battle
1 For the leader; according to “The Lily of.…” A miktam of David (for teaching), 2 when he fought against Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah; and Joab, coming back, killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(A)
I
3 O God, you rejected us, broke our defenses;
you were angry but now revive us.
4 You rocked the earth, split it open;(B)
repair the cracks for it totters.
5 You made your people go through hardship,
made us stagger from the wine you gave us.(C)
6 Raise up a banner for those who revere you,
a refuge for them out of bow shot.
Selah
7 [b]Help with your right hand and answer us
that your loved ones may escape.
II
8 [c]In the sanctuary God promised:
“I will exult, will apportion Shechem;
the valley of Succoth I will measure out.
9 Gilead is mine, mine is Manasseh;
Ephraim is the helmet for my head,
Judah, my own scepter.[d]
10 [e]Moab is my washbowl;
upon Edom I cast my sandal.(D)
I will triumph over Philistia.”
III
11 Who will bring me to the fortified city?[f]
Who will lead me into Edom?
12 Was it not you who rejected us, God?
Do you no longer march with our armies?(E)
13 Give us aid against the foe;
worthless is human help.
14 We will triumph with the help of God,
who will trample down our foes.
Psalm 61[g]
Prayer of the King in Time of Danger
1 For the leader; with stringed instruments. Of David.
I
2 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer!
3 From the ends of the earth[h] I call;
my heart grows faint.
Raise me up, set me on a rock,
4 for you are my refuge,
a tower of strength against the foe.(F)
5 Let me dwell in your tent forever,
take refuge in the shelter of your wings.(G)
Selah
II
6 For you, O God, have heard my vows,
you have granted me the heritage of those who revere your name.
7 Add days to the life of the king;
may his years be as from generation to generation;(H)
8 (I)May he reign before God forever;
send your love and fidelity[i] to preserve him—(J)
9 I will duly sing to your name forever,
fulfill my vows day after day.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.