M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Samuel Is Born

1 A certain man from Ramathaim in the hill country of Ephraim was named Elkanah. He was the son of Jeroham. Jeroham was the son of Elihu. Elihu was the son of Tohu. Tohu was the son of Zuph. Elkanah belonged to the family line of Zuph. Elkanah lived in the territory of Ephraim. ² Elkanah had two wives. One was named Hannah. The other was named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah didn’t.

³ Year after year Elkanah went up from his town to Shiloh. He went there to worship and sacrifice to the Lord who rules over all. Hophni and Phinehas served as priests of the Lord at Shiloh. They were the two sons of Eli. ⁴ Every year at Shiloh, the day would come for Elkanah to offer a sacrifice. On that day, he would give a share of the meat to his wife Peninnah. He would also give a share to each of her sons and daughters. ⁵ But he would give two shares of meat to Hannah. That’s because he loved her. He also gave her two shares because the Lord had kept her from having children. ⁶ Peninnah teased Hannah to make her angry. She did it because the Lord had kept Hannah from having children. ⁷ Peninnah teased Hannah year after year. Every time Hannah would go up to the house of the Lord, Elkanah’s other wife would tease her. She would keep doing it until Hannah cried and wouldn’t eat. ⁸ Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why don’t you eat? Why are you so unhappy? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

⁹ One time when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. ¹⁰ Hannah was very sad. She wept and wept. She prayed to the Lord. ¹¹ She made a promise to him. She said, “Lord, you rule over all. Please see how I’m suffering! Show concern for me! Don’t forget about me! Please give me a son! If you do, I’ll give him back to the Lord. Then he will serve the Lord all the days of his life. He’ll never use a razor on his head. He’ll never cut his hair.”

¹² As Hannah kept on praying to the Lord, Eli watched her lips. ¹³ She was praying in her heart. Her lips were moving. But she wasn’t making a sound. Eli thought Hannah was drunk. ¹⁴ He said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Stop drinking your wine.”

¹⁵ “That’s not true, sir,” Hannah replied. “I’m a woman who is deeply troubled. I haven’t been drinking wine or beer. I was telling the Lord all my troubles. ¹⁶ Don’t think of me as an evil woman. I’ve been praying here because I’m very sad. My pain is so great.”

¹⁷ Eli answered, “Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you have asked him for.”

¹⁸ She said, “May you be pleased with me.” Then she left and had something to eat. Her face wasn’t sad anymore.

¹⁹ Early the next morning Elkanah and his family got up. They worshiped the Lord. Then they went back to their home in Ramah. Elkanah slept with his wife Hannah. And the Lord blessed her. ²⁰ So after some time, Hannah became pregnant. She had a baby boy. She said, “I asked the Lord for him.” So she named him Samuel.

Hannah Gives Samuel to the Lord

²¹ Elkanah went up to Shiloh to offer the yearly sacrifice to the Lord. He also went there to keep a promise he had made. His whole family went with him. ²² But Hannah didn’t go. She said to her husband, “When the boy doesn’t need me to breast-feed him anymore, I’ll take him to the Lord’s house. I’ll give him to the Lord there. He’ll stay there for the rest of his life.”

²³ Her husband Elkanah told her, “Do what you think is best. Stay here at home until Samuel doesn’t need you to breast-feed him anymore. May the Lord make his promise to you come true.” So Hannah stayed home. She breast-fed her son until he didn’t need her milk anymore.

²⁴ When the boy didn’t need her to breast-feed him anymore, she took him with her to Shiloh. She took him there even though he was still very young. She brought him to the Lord’s house. She brought along a bull that was three years old. She brought 36 pounds of flour. She also brought a bottle of wine. The bottle was made out of animal skin. ²⁵ After the bull was sacrificed, Elkanah and Hannah brought the boy to Eli. ²⁶ Hannah said to Eli, “Pardon me, sir. I’m the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. And that’s just as sure as you are alive. ²⁷ I prayed for this child. The Lord has given me what I asked him for. ²⁸ So now I’m giving him to the Lord. As long as he lives he’ll be given to the Lord.” And there Eli worshiped the Lord.

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I serve Christ Jesus. I have been appointed to be an apostle. God set me apart to tell others his good news. ² He promised the good news long ago. He announced it through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. ³ The good news is about God’s Son. He was born into the family line of King David. ⁴ By the Holy Spirit, he was appointed to be the mighty Son of God. God did this by raising him from the dead. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ We received grace because of what Jesus did. He made us apostles to the Gentiles. We must invite all of them to obey God by trusting in Jesus. We do this to bring glory to him. ⁶ You also are among those Gentiles who are appointed to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷ I am sending this letter to all of you in Rome. You are loved by God and appointed to be his holy people.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul Longs to Visit Rome

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. People all over the world are talking about your faith. ⁹ I serve God with my whole heart. I preach the good news about his Son. God knows that I always remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers. I pray that now at last it may be God’s plan to open the way for me to visit you.

¹¹ I long to see you. I want to make you strong by giving you a gift from the Holy Spirit. ¹² I want us to encourage one another in the faith we share. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I planned many times to visit you. But until now I have been kept from coming. My work has produced results among the other Gentiles. In the same way, I want to see results among you.

¹⁴ I have a duty both to Greeks and to non-Greeks. I have a duty both to wise people and to foolish people. ¹⁵ So I really want to preach the good news also to you who live in Rome.

¹⁶ I want to preach it because I’m not ashamed of the good news. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes. It is meant first for the Jews. It is meant also for the Gentiles. ¹⁷ The good news shows God’s power to make people right with himself. God’s power to be made right with him is given to the person who has faith. It happens by faith from beginning to end. It is written, “The one who is right with God will live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

God’s Anger Against Sinners

¹⁸ God shows his anger from heaven. It is against all the godless and evil things people do. They are so evil that they say no to the truth. ¹⁹ The truth about God is plain to them. God has made it plain. ²⁰ Ever since the world was created it has been possible to see the qualities of God that are not seen. I’m talking about his eternal power and about the fact that he is God. Those things can be seen in what he has made. So people have no excuse for what they do.

²¹ They knew God. But they didn’t honor him as God. They didn’t thank him. Their thinking became worthless. Their foolish hearts became dark. ²² They claimed to be wise. But they made fools of themselves. ²³ They would rather have statues of gods than the glorious God who lives forever. Their statues of gods are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles.

²⁴ So God let them go. He allowed them to do what their sinful hearts wanted to. He let them commit sexual sins. They made one another’s bodies impure by what they did. ²⁵ They chose a lie instead of the truth about God. They worshiped and served created things. They didn’t worship the Creator. But he is praised forever. Amen.

²⁶ So God let them continue to have their shameful desires. Their women committed sexual acts that were not natural. ²⁷ In the same way, the men turned away from their natural love for women. They burned with sexual desire for each other. Men did shameful things with other men. They suffered in their bodies for all the wrong things they did.

²⁸ They didn’t think it was important to know God. So God let them continue to have evil thoughts. They did things they shouldn’t do. ²⁹ They are full of every kind of sin, evil and ungodliness. They want more than they need. They commit murder. They want what belongs to other people. They fight and cheat. They hate others. They say mean things about other people. ³⁰ They tell lies about them. They hate God. They are rude and proud. They brag. They think of new ways to do evil. They don’t obey their parents. ³¹ They do not understand. They can’t be trusted. They are not loving and kind. ³² They know that God’s commands are right. They know that those who do evil things should die. But they continue to do those very things. They also approve of others who do them.

39 ¹ Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, marched out against Jerusalem. He came with all his armies and attacked it. It was in the ninth year that Zedekiah was king of Judah. It was in the tenth month. ² The city wall was broken through. It happened on the ninth day of the fourth month. It was in the 11th year of Zedekiah’s rule. ³ All the officials of the king of Babylon came. They took seats near the Middle Gate. Nergal-Sharezer from Samgar was there. Nebo-Sarsekim, a chief officer, was also there. So was Nergal-Sharezer, a high official. And all the other officials of the king of Babylon were there too. ⁴ King Zedekiah and all the soldiers saw them. Then they ran away. They left the city at night. They went by way of the king’s garden. They went out through the gate between the two walls. And they headed toward the Arabah Valley.

⁵ But the armies of Babylon chased them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains near Jericho. They captured him there. And they took him to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He was at Riblah in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how Zedekiah would be punished. ⁶ The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah. He forced Zedekiah to watch it with his own eyes. He also killed all the nobles of Judah. ⁷ Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon.

⁸ The Babylonians set the royal palace on fire. They also set fire to the houses of the people. And they broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ Nebuzaradan was commander of the royal guard. Some people still remained in the city. But he took them away to Babylon as prisoners. He also took along those who had gone over to his side. And he took the rest of the people. ¹⁰ Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, left some of the poor people of Judah behind. They didn’t own anything. So at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

¹¹ Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had given orders about Jeremiah. He had given them to Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard. Nebuchadnezzar had said, ¹² “Take him. Look after him. Don’t harm him. Do for him anything he asks.” ¹³ So that’s what Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, did. Nebushazban and Nergal-Sharezer were with him. So were all the other officers of the king of Babylon. Nebushazban was a chief officer. Nergal-Sharezer was a high official. All these men ¹⁴ sent for Jeremiah. They had him taken out of the courtyard of the guard. They turned him over to Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. They told Gedaliah to take Jeremiah back to his home. So Jeremiah remained among his own people.

¹⁵ A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came while he was being kept in the courtyard of the guard. The Lord said, ¹⁶ “Go. Speak to Ebed-Melek the Cushite. Tell him, ‘The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “I am about to make the words I spoke against this city come true. I will not give success to it. Instead, I will bring horrible trouble on it. At that time my words will come true. You will see it with your own eyes. ¹⁷ But I will save you on that day,” announces the Lord. “You will not be handed over to those you are afraid of. ¹⁸ I will save you. You will not be killed by a sword. Instead, you will escape with your life. That’s because you trust in me,” announces the Lord.’ ”

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.