M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samuel’s Farewell Speech
12 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have done everything you wanted me to do. I have put a king over you. 2 Now you have a king to lead you. I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader since I was young. 3 Here I am. If I have done anything wrong, you must testify against me. Do this before the Lord and his appointed king. Did I steal anyone’s ox or donkey? Did I hurt or cheat anyone? Did I ever secretly take money to pretend not to see something wrong? If I did any of these things, I will make it right.”
4 The Israelites answered, “You have not cheated us. You have not hurt us. You have not taken anything unfairly from anyone.”
5 Samuel said to them, “The Lord is a witness to what you have said. His appointed king is also a witness today. They are both witnesses that you did not find anything wrong in me.”
“He is our witness,” they said.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is our witness. He chose Moses and Aaron. He brought your ancestors out of Egypt. 7 Now, stand there. And I will talk with you about all the good things the Lord did for you and your ancestors.
8 “After Jacob entered Egypt, his descendants cried to the Lord for help. So the Lord sent Moses and Aaron. They took your ancestors out of Egypt and brought them to live in this place.
9 “But they forgot the Lord their God. So he let them become the slaves of Sisera. He was the commander of the army of Hazor. The Lord let them become the slaves of the Philistines and the king of Moab. They all fought against your ancestors. 10 Then your ancestors cried to the Lord. They said, ‘We have sinned. We have left the Lord. We served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now save us from our enemies, and we will serve you.’ 11 The Lord sent Gideon, who is also called Jerub-Baal. And he sent Barak, Jephthah and Samuel. Then he saved you from your enemies around you. And you lived in safety. 12 But then you saw Nahash king of the Ammonites coming against you. You said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us!’ 13 Now here is the king you chose. The Lord has put him over you. 14 You must honor the Lord and serve him. You must obey his commands. Both you and the king ruling over you must follow the Lord your God. If you do, it will be well with you. 15 But if you don’t obey the Lord, and if you fight against his commands, he will be against you. He will do to you what he did to your ancestors.
16 “Now stand still and see the great thing the Lord will do before your eyes. 17 It is now the time of the wheat harvest.[a] I will pray for the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will know what an evil thing you did against the Lord when you asked for a king.”
18 Then Samuel prayed to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. And the people became very afraid of the Lord and Samuel. 19 They said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for us, your servants! Don’t let us die! We’ve added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
20 Samuel answered, “Don’t be afraid. It’s true that you did wrong. But don’t turn away from the Lord. Serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Idols are of no use. So don’t worship them. They can’t help you or save you. They are useless! 22 For his own sake, the Lord won’t leave his people. Instead, he was pleased to make you his own people. 23 I will surely not stop praying for you. If I did, I would be sinning against the Lord. I will teach you what is good and right. 24 But you must honor the Lord. You must always serve him with all your heart. Remember the wonderful things he did for you! 25 But if you are stubborn and do evil, God will sweep you and your king away.”
10 Brothers, the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God. 2 I can say this about them: They really try to follow God. But they do not know the right way. 3 They did not know the way that God makes people right with him. And they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God’s way of making people right. 4 Christ ended the law, so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.
5 Moses writes about being made right by following the law. He says, “A person who does these things will have life forever because of them.”[a] 6 But this is what the Scripture says about being made right through faith: “Don’t say to yourself, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’” (That means, “Who will go up to heaven to get Christ and bring him down to earth?”) 7 “And do not say, ‘Who will go down into the world below?’” (That means, “Who will go down to get Christ and bring him up from death?”) 8 This is what the Scripture says: “God’s teaching is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.”[b] That is the teaching of faith that we tell. 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from death, then you will be saved. 10 We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths to say that we believe, and so we are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.”[c] 12 That Scripture says “anyone” because there is no difference between Jew and non-Jew. The same Lord is the Lord of all and gives many blessings to all who trust in him. 13 The Scripture says, “Anyone who asks the Lord for help will be saved.”[d]
14 But before people can trust in the Lord for help, they must believe in him. And before they can believe in the Lord, they must hear about him. And for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them. 15 And before someone can go and tell them, he must be sent. It is written, “How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.”[e]
16 But not all the Jews accepted the good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?”[f] 17 So faith comes from hearing the Good News. And people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.
18 But I ask: Didn’t people hear the Good News? Yes, they heard—as the Scripture says:
“Their message went out through all the world.
It goes everywhere on earth.” Psalm 19:4
19 Again I ask: Didn’t the people of Israel understand? Yes, they did understand. First, Moses says:
“I will use those who are not a nation to make you jealous.
I will use a nation that does not understand to make you angry.” Deuteronomy 32:21
20 Then Isaiah is bold enough to say:
“I was found by those who were not asking me for help.
I made myself known to people who were not looking for me.” Isaiah 65:1
21 But about Israel God says,
“All day long I stood ready to accept
people who disobey and are stubborn.” Isaiah 65:2
A Message About Ammon
49 This message is about the Ammonite people. This is what the Lord says:
“Do you think that Israel has no sons?
Do you think there is no one to take the land when the parents die?
Maybe that is why Molech took Gad’s land.
Maybe that is why Molech’s people live in Gad’s towns.”
2 The Lord says,
“The time will come when I will make
the capital city of Rabbah Ammon hear the battle cry.
It will be a hill covered with ruins.
And the towns around it will be burned.
Those people forced Israel out of that land.
But now the people of Israel will force them out!” says the Lord.
3 “People in Heshbon, cry because the town of Ai is destroyed!
Those who live in Rabbah Ammon, cry out!
Put on your rough cloth to show your sadness, and cry loudly.
Run here and there for safety inside the walls.
This is because the enemy will take Molech away as a captive.
They will also take away his priests and officers with him.
4 You brag about your valleys.
You brag about the fruit in your valleys.
You are like an unfaithful child.
You believe your treasures will save you.
You think, ‘Who would attack me?’
5 I will bring terror on you
from every side,”
says the Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies.
“You will all be forced away.
No one will be able to gather you.
6 “But the time will come
when I will make good things happen to the Ammonites again,”
says the Lord.
A Message About Edom
7 This message is about Edom. This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“Is there no more wisdom in Teman?
Can the wise men of Edom no longer give good advice?
Have they lost their wisdom?
8 You people living in Dedan,
run away and hide in deep caves.
This is because I will punish
the people of Esau with disaster for what they did.
9 If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,
they would leave a few grapes behind.
If robbers came at night,
they would steal only enough for themselves.
10 But I will strip Esau bare.
I will find all their hiding places.
They will not be able to hide from me.
The children, relatives and neighbors will die.
11 Leave the orphans, and I will take care of them.
Your widows also can trust in me.”
12 This is what the Lord says: “Some people did not deserve to be punished. But they had to drink from the cup of suffering anyway. People of Edom, you deserve to be punished. So you will not escape punishment. You must drink from the cup of suffering.” 13 The Lord says, “I make this promise in my own name. The city of Bozrah will become a pile of ruins! People will be shocked by what happened there. People will insult that city and speak evil of it. And all the towns around Bozrah will become ruins forever.”
14 I have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
“Gather your armies to attack it!
Get ready for battle!”
15 “Soon I will make you the smallest of nations!
You will be greatly hated.
16 Edom, you frightened other nations.
Your pride has fooled you.
You live in the hollow places of the cliff.
You live on the high places of the hills.
Even if you build your home as high as an eagle’s nest,
I will bring you down from there!” says the Lord.
17 “Edom will be destroyed.
People will be shocked to see the destroyed cities.
They will be amazed at the injuries.
18 Edom will be destroyed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
and the towns around them,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there!
No man will stay in Edom.
19 “A lion will come from the thick bushes near the Jordan River.
And it will go into the rich pastures where people feed their flocks.
I am like that lion! I will suddenly chase Edom from their land.
Who is the one I have chosen to do this?
There is no one like me.
There is no one who can challenge me.
None of their leaders can stand up against me.”
20 So listen to what the Lord has planned to do against Edom.
Listen to what he has decided to do to the people in Teman.
The Lord will surely drag away the young ones of Edom.
Edom’s pastures will surely be destroyed because of them.
21 At the sound of Edom’s fall, the earth will shake.
Their cry will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba.
22 The Lord is like an eagle swooping down.
He is like an eagle spreading its wings over the city of Bozrah.
At that time Edom’s soldiers will become very frightened.
They will be crying from fear like a woman having a baby.
A Message About Damascus
23 This message is about the city of Damascus:
“The towns of Hamath and Arpad are put to shame.
They are afraid because they have heard bad news.
They are discouraged.
They are troubled like the tossing sea.
24 The city of Damascus has become weak.
The people want to run away.
The people are ready to panic.
The people feel pain and suffering
like a woman having a baby.
25 Damascus was a city of my joy.
Why have the people not left that famous city yet?
26 Surely the young men will die in the public squares of that city.
All of her soldiers will be killed at that time,” says the Lord of heaven’s armies.
27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus.
The fire will completely burn the strong cities of Ben-Hadad.”
A Message About Kedar and Hazor
28 This message is about the tribe of Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated them. This is what the Lord says:
“Go and attack the people of Kedar.
Destroy the people of the East.
29 Their tents and flocks will be taken away.
Their tents and all their things will be carried off.
Their enemy will take away their goods and camels.
Men will shout to them,
‘Terror on every side!’
30 “Run away quickly!
People in Hazor, find a good place to hide!” says the Lord.
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has made plans against you.
He has made plans to defeat you!
31 “There is a nation that is comfortable.
It is sure that no one will defeat it,” says the Lord.
“That nation does not have gates or fences to protect it.
Its people live alone.
Attack that nation!
32 The enemy will steal their camels
and their large herds of cattle.
I will scatter the Arabs to every part of the earth.
And I will bring disaster on them from everywhere,” says the Lord.
33 “Hazor will become a place where wild dogs live.
It will become an empty desert forever.
No one will live there.
No man will stay in it.”
A Message About Elam
34 It was early in the time when Zedekiah was king of Judah. The Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah the prophet. This message is about the nation of Elam.
35 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says:
“I will break Elam’s bow.
I will break its strength.
36 I will bring the four winds against Elam.
I will bring them from the four corners of the skies.
I will scatter the people of Elam everywhere the four winds blow.
And its captives will go to every nation.
37 I will break Elam to pieces in front of their enemies.
The enemies want to destroy Elam.
I will bring disaster to Elam.
I will show them how angry I am!” says the Lord.
“I will send a sword to chase Elam.
It will chase them until I have killed them all.
38 I will show Elam that I am king.
And I will destroy her king and her officers!” says the Lord.
39 “But I will make good things happen to Elam again
in the future,” says the Lord.
The Prayer of an Innocent Man
Of David.
26 Lord, defend me.
I have lived an innocent life.
I trusted the Lord and never doubted.
2 Lord, try me and test me.
Look closely into my heart and mind.
3 I see your love.
I live by your truth.
4 I do not spend time with liars.
I do not make friends with people who hide their sin.
5 I hate the company of evil people.
I won’t sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands to show I am innocent.
I come to your altar, Lord.
7 I raise my voice in praise.
I tell of all the miracles you have done.
8 Lord, I love the Temple where you live.
It is where your greatness is.
9 Do not kill me with those sinners.
Do not take my life with those murderers.
10 Evil is in their hands.
They do wrong for money.
11 But I have lived an innocent life.
So save me and be kind to me.
12 I stand in a safe place.
Lord, I praise you in the great meeting.
A Song of Trust in God
Of David.
27 The Lord is my light and the one who saves me.
So why should I fear anyone?
The Lord protects my life.
So why should I be afraid?
2 Evil people may try to destroy my body.
My enemies and those who hate me attack me.
But they are overwhelmed and defeated.
3 If an army surrounds me,
I will not be afraid.
If war breaks out,
I will trust the Lord.
4 I ask only one thing from the Lord.
This is what I want:
Let me live in the Lord’s house
all my life.
Let me see the Lord’s beauty.
Let me look around in his Temple.
5 During danger he will keep me safe in his shelter.
He will hide me in his Holy Tent.
Or he will keep me safe on a high mountain.
6 My head is higher
than my enemies around me.
I will offer joyful sacrifices in his Holy Tent.
I will sing and praise the Lord.
7 Lord, hear me when I call.
Be kind and answer me.
8 My heart said of you, “Go, worship him.”
So I come to worship you, Lord.
9 Do not turn away from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have helped me.
Do not push me away or leave me alone,
God, my Savior.
10 If my father and mother leave me,
the Lord will take me in.
11 Lord, teach me your ways.
Guide me to do what is right
because I have enemies.
12 Do not let my enemies defeat me.
They tell lies about me.
They say they will hurt me.
13 I truly believe
I will live to see the Lord’s goodness.
14 Wait for the Lord’s help.
Be strong and brave
and wait for the Lord’s help.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.