M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hannah’s Prayer

2 Then Hannah prayed. She said,

¹¹ Then Elkanah went home to Ramah. But the boy Samuel served the Lord under the direction of Eli the priest.

Eli’s Evil Sons

¹² Eli’s sons were good for nothing. They didn’t honor the Lord. ¹³ When any of the people came to offer a sacrifice, here is what the priests would do. While the meat was being boiled, the servant of the priest would come with a large fork in his hand. ¹⁴ He would stick the fork into the pan or pot or small or large kettle. Then the priest would take for himself everything the fork brought up. That’s how Eli’s sons treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵ Even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come over. He would speak to the person who was offering the sacrifice. He would say, “Give the priest some meat to cook. He won’t accept boiled meat from you. He’ll only accept raw meat.”

¹⁶ Sometimes the person would say to him, “Let the fat be burned first. Then take what you want.” But the servant would answer, “No. Hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it away from you by force.”

¹⁷ That sin of Eli’s sons was very great in the Lord’s sight. That’s because they were not treating his offering with respect.

¹⁸ But the boy Samuel served the Lord. He wore a sacred linen apron. ¹⁹ Each year his mother made him a little robe. She took it to him when she went up to Shiloh with her husband. She did it when her husband went to offer the yearly sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife. He would say, “May the Lord give you children by this woman. May they take the place of the boy she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. ²¹ The Lord was gracious to Hannah. Over a period of years she had three more sons and two daughters. During that whole time the boy Samuel grew up serving the Lord.

²² Eli was very old. He kept hearing about everything his sons were doing to all the Israelites. He also heard how his sons were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ So Eli said to his sons, “Why are you doing these things? All the people are telling me about the evil things you are doing. ²⁴ No, my sons. The report I hear isn’t good. And it’s spreading among the Lord’s people. ²⁵ If a person sins against someone else, God can help that sinner. But if anyone sins against the Lord, who can help them?” In spite of what their father Eli said, his sons didn’t pay any attention to his warning. That’s because the Lord had already decided to put them to death.

²⁶ The boy Samuel continued to grow stronger. He also became more and more pleasing to the Lord and to people.

Prophecy Against Eli’s Family

²⁷ A man of God came to Eli. He told him, “The Lord says, ‘I made myself clearly known to your relatives who lived long ago. I did it when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh’s rule. ²⁸ At that time, I chose Aaron from your family line to be my priest. I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel. I told him to go up to my altar. I told him to burn incense. I chose him to wear a linen apron when he served me. I also gave his family all the food offerings presented by the Israelites. ²⁹ Why don’t you treat my sacrifices and offerings with respect? I require them to be brought to the house where I live. Why do you honor your sons more than me? Why do you fatten yourselves on the best parts of every offering that is made by my people Israel?’

³⁰ “The Lord is the God of Israel. He announced, ‘I promised that members of your family line would serve me as priests forever.’ But now the Lord announces, ‘I will not let that happen! I will honor those who honor me. But I will turn away from those who look down on me. ³¹ The time is coming when I will cut your life short. I will also cut short the lives of those in your family line of priests. No one in your family line will grow old. ³² You will see nothing but trouble in the house where I live. Good things will still happen to Israel. But no one in your family line will ever grow old. ³³ I will prevent the members of your family from serving me at my altar. I will destroy the eyesight of all of you I allow to live. I will also cause you to lose your strength. And everyone in your family line will die while they are still young.

³⁴ “ ‘Something is going to happen to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. When it does, it will show you that what I am saying is true. They will both die on the same day. ³⁵ I will raise up for myself a faithful priest. He will do what my heart and mind want him to do. I will make his family line of priests very secure. They will always serve as priests to my anointed king. ³⁶ Everyone left in your family line will come and bow down to him. They will beg him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread. They will say, “Please give me a place to serve among the priests. Then I can have food to eat.” ’ ”

God Judges Fairly

2 If you judge someone else, you have no excuse for it. When you judge another person, you are judging yourself. You do the same things you blame others for doing. ² We know that when God judges those who do evil things, he judges fairly. ³ Though you are only a human being, you judge others. But you yourself do the same things. So how do you think you will escape when God judges you? ⁴ Do you disrespect God’s great kindness and favor? Do you disrespect God when he is patient with you? Don’t you realize that God’s kindness is meant to turn you away from your sins?

⁵ But you are stubborn. In your heart you are not sorry for your sins. You are storing up anger against yourself. The day of God’s anger is coming. Then his way of judging fairly will be shown. ⁶ God “will pay back each person in keeping with what they have done.” (Psalm 62:12; Proverbs 24:12) ⁷ God will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good. They want glory, honor, and life that never ends. ⁸ But there are others who only look out for themselves. They don’t accept the truth. They go astray. God will pour out his great anger on them. ⁹ There will be trouble and suffering for everyone who does evil. That is meant first for the Jews. It is also meant for the Gentiles. ¹⁰ But there will be glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good. That is meant first for the Jews. It is also meant for the Gentiles. ¹¹ God treats everyone the same.

¹² Some people do not know God’s law when they sin. They will not be judged by the law when they die. Others do know God’s law when they sin. They will be judged by the law. ¹³ Hearing the law does not make a person right with God. People are considered to be right with God only when they obey the law. ¹⁴ Gentiles do not have the law. Sometimes they just naturally do what the law requires. They are a law for themselves. This is true even though they don’t have the law. ¹⁵ They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts. The way their minds judge them proves this fact. Sometimes their thoughts find them guilty. At other times their thoughts find them not guilty. ¹⁶ This will happen on the day God appoints Jesus Christ to judge people’s secret thoughts. That’s part of my good news.

The Jews and the Law

¹⁷ Suppose you call yourself a Jew. You trust in the law. You brag that you know God. ¹⁸ You know what God wants. You agree with what is best because the law teaches you. ¹⁹ You think you know so much more than the people you teach. You think you’re helping blind people. You think you are a light for those in the dark. ²⁰ You think you can make foolish people wise. You act like you’re teaching little children. You think that the law gives you all knowledge and truth. ²¹ You claim to teach others, but you don’t even teach yourself! You preach against stealing. But you steal! ²² You say that people should not commit adultery. But you commit adultery! You hate statues of gods. But you rob temples! ²³ You brag about the law. But when you break it, you rob God of his honor! ²⁴ It is written, “The Gentiles say evil things against God’s name because of you.” (Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22)

²⁵ Circumcision has value if you obey the law. But if you break the law, it is just as if you hadn’t been circumcised. ²⁶ And sometimes those who aren’t circumcised do what the law requires. Won’t God accept them as if they had been circumcised? ²⁷ Many are not circumcised physically, but they obey the law. They will prove that you are guilty. You are breaking the law, even though you have the written law and are circumcised.

²⁸ A person is not a Jew if they are a Jew only on the outside. And circumcision is more than just something done to the outside of a man’s body. ²⁹ No, a person is a Jew only if they are a Jew on the inside. And true circumcision means that the heart has been circumcised by the Holy Spirit. The person whose heart has been circumcised does more than obey the written law. The praise that matters for that kind of person does not come from other people. It comes from God.

Jeremiah Is Set Free From His Chains

40 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came after Nebuzaradan, the commander of the royal guard, had set him free at Ramah. Jeremiah was being held by chains when Nebuzaradan found him. Jeremiah was among all the prisoners from Jerusalem and Judah. They were being taken to Babylon. ² But the commander of the guard found Jeremiah. The commander said to him, “The Lord your God ordered that this place be destroyed. ³ And now he has brought it about. He has done exactly what he said he would do. All these things have happened because you people sinned against the Lord. You didn’t obey him. ⁴ But today I’m setting you free from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon if you want to. I’ll take good care of you there. But if you don’t want to come, then don’t. The whole country lies in front of you. Go anywhere you want to.” ⁵ But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan continued, “Go back to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. The king of Babylon has appointed Gedaliah to be over the towns of Judah. Go and live with him among your people. Or go anywhere else you want to.” Ahikam was the son of Shaphan.

The commander gave Jeremiah food and water. He also gave him a gift. Then he let Jeremiah go. ⁶ So Jeremiah went to Mizpah to see Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. Jeremiah stayed with him. Jeremiah lived among the people who were left behind in the land.

Gedaliah Is Murdered

⁷ Some of Judah’s army officers and their men were still in the open country. They heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor over Judah. Gedaliah was the son of Ahikam. The king had put Gedaliah in charge of the men, women and children who were still there. They were the poorest people in the land. They hadn’t been taken to Babylon. ⁸ When the army officers and their men heard these things, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, came. So did Johanan and Jonathan, the sons of Kareah. Seraiah, the son of Tanhumeth, also came. The sons of Ephai from Netophah came too. And so did Jaazaniah, the son of the Maakathite. All their men came with them. ⁹ Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, made a promise. He made the promise to give hope to all these men. He spoke in a kind way to them. He said, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Babylonians. Make your homes in the land of Judah. Serve the king of Babylon. Then things will go well with you. ¹⁰ I myself will stay at Mizpah. I’ll speak for you to the officials of Babylon who come to us. But you must harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil. Put them in your jars. Store them up. And live in the towns you have taken over.”

¹¹ All the Jews in Moab, Ammon and Edom heard what had happened. So did the Jews in all the other countries. They heard that the king of Babylon had left some people behind in Judah. They also heard that he had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, as governor over them. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. ¹² When they heard these things, all of them came back to the land of Judah. They went to Gedaliah at Mizpah. They came from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested a large amount of wine and summer fruit.

¹³ Johanan and all the other army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah. Johanan was the son of Kareah. ¹⁴ The officers spoke to Gedaliah. They said, “Don’t you know that Baalis has sent someone to take your life? Baalis is the king of Ammon. He has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah.” But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, didn’t believe them.

¹⁵ Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, spoke in private to Gedaliah in Mizpah. He said, “Let me go and kill Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah. No one will know about it. Why should he take your life? Why should he cause all the Jews gathered around you to be scattered? Why should he cause the people who remain in Judah to die?”

¹⁶ But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, spoke to Johanan, the son of Kareah. He said, “Don’t do an awful thing like that! What you are saying about Ishmael isn’t true.”

A psalm of David.

A miktam of David.