M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David and Ziba

16 David went just beyond the top of the Mount of Olives. Ziba was waiting there to meet him. He was Mephibosheth’s manager. He had several donkeys with saddles on them. They were carrying 200 loaves of bread and 100 raisin cakes. They were also carrying 100 fig cakes and a bottle of wine. The bottle was made out of animal skin.

² The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought all these things?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on. The bread and fruit are for the people to eat. The wine will make those who get tired in the desert feel like new again.”

³ Then the king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson Mephibosheth?”

Ziba said to him, “He’s staying in Jerusalem. He thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will cause me to rule once again over my grandfather Saul’s kingdom.’ ”

⁴ Then the king said to Ziba, “Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth belongs to you now.”

“You are my king and master,” Ziba said. “I make myself humble in front of you. I bow down to you. May you be pleased with me.”

Shimei Curses David

⁵ King David approached Bahurim. As he did, a man came out toward him. The man was from the same family group that Saul was from. His name was Shimei. He was the son of Gera. As he came out of the town, he cursed David. ⁶ He threw stones at David and all his officials. He did it even though all the troops and the special guard were there. They were to the right and left of David. ⁷ As Shimei cursed, he said, “Get out! Get out, you murderer! You are a worthless and evil man! ⁸ You spilled the blood of a lot of people in Saul’s family. You took over his kingdom. Now the Lord is paying you back. He has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have been destroyed because you are a murderer!”

⁹ Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, spoke to the king. He said, “King David, why should we let this dead dog curse you? Let me go over there. I’ll cut off his head.”

¹⁰ But the king said, “You and Joab are sons of Zeruiah. What does this have to do with you? Maybe the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David.’ If he did, who can ask him, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ”

¹¹ Then David spoke to Abishai and all his officials. He said, “My very own son Absalom is trying to kill me. How much more should this man from Benjamin want to kill me! Leave him alone. Let him curse. The Lord has told him to do it. ¹² Maybe the Lord will see how much I’m suffering. Maybe he’ll bring back to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse I’m hearing today.”

¹³ So David and his men kept going along the road. At the same time, Shimei was going along the hillside across from him. He was cursing David as he went. He was throwing stones at David. He was showering him with dirt. ¹⁴ The king and all the people with him came to the place they had planned to go to. They were very tired. So David rested there.

Ahithophel and Hushai Give Advice to Absalom

¹⁵ During that time, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was with him. ¹⁶ Then Hushai, the Arkite, went to Absalom. He said to him, “May the king live a long time! May the king live a long time!” Hushai was David’s trusted friend.

¹⁷ Absalom said to Hushai, “So this is the way you show love to your friend? If he’s your friend, why didn’t you go with him?”

¹⁸ Hushai said to Absalom, “Why should I? You are the one the Lord has chosen. These people and all the men of Israel have also chosen you. I want to be on your side. I want to stay with you. ¹⁹ After all, who else should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve the king’s son? I will serve you, just as I served your father.”

²⁰ Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”

²¹ Ahithophel answered, “Your father left some concubines behind to take care of the palace. Go and sleep with them. Then all the Israelites will hear about it. They will hear that you have made your father hate you. Everyone with you will be encouraged to give you more support.” ²² So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. He went in and slept with his father’s concubines. Everyone in Israel saw it.

²³ In those days the advice Ahithophel gave was as good as advice from someone who asks God for guidance. That’s what David and Absalom thought about all of Ahithophel’s advice.

9 I don’t need to write to you about giving to the Lord’s people. ² I know how much you want to help. I have been bragging about it to the people in Macedonia. I have been telling them that since last year you who live in Achaia were ready to give. You are so excited that it has stirred up most of them to take action. ³ But I am sending the brothers. Then our bragging about you in this matter will have a good reason. You will be ready, just as I said you would be. ⁴ Suppose people from Macedonia come with me and find out that you are not prepared. Then we, as well as you, would be ashamed of being so certain. ⁵ So I thought I should try to get the brothers to visit you ahead of time. They will finish the plans for the large gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a gift freely given. It will not be given by force.

Paul’s Advice to Give Freely

⁶ Here is something to remember. The one who plants only a little will gather only a little. And the one who plants a lot will gather a lot. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. You shouldn’t give if you don’t want to. You shouldn’t give because you are forced to. God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to shower all kinds of blessings on you. So in all things and at all times you will have everything you need. You will do more and more good works. ⁹ It is written,

¹⁰ God supplies seed for the person who plants. He supplies bread for food. God will also supply and increase the amount of your seed. He will increase the results of your good works. ¹¹ You will be made rich in every way. Then you can always give freely. We will take your many gifts to the people who need them. And they will give thanks to God.

¹² Your gifts meet the needs of the Lord’s people. And that’s not all. Your gifts also cause many people to thank God. ¹³ You have shown yourselves to be worthy by what you have given. So other people will praise God because you obey him. That proves that you really believe the good news about Christ. They will also praise God because you share freely with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴ Their hearts will be filled with love for you when they pray for you. God has given you grace that is better than anything. ¹⁵ Let us give thanks to God for his gift. It is so great that no one can tell how wonderful it really is!

Samaria and Jerusalem Are Like Two Impure Sisters

23 A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, ² “Son of man, once there were two women. They had the same mother. ³ They became prostitutes in Egypt. They have been unfaithful to me since they were young. In that land they allowed their breasts to be touched. They permitted their virgin breasts to be kissed. ⁴ The older sister was named Oholah. The younger one was Oholibah. They belonged to me. Sons and daughters were born to them. Oholah stands for Samaria. And Oholibah stands for Jerusalem.

⁵ “Oholah was unfaithful to me even while she still belonged to me. She longed for her Assyrian lovers. They included soldiers ⁶ who wore blue uniforms. They also included governors and commanders. All of them were young and handsome. They rode horses. ⁷ She gave herself as a prostitute to all Assyria’s finest warriors. She made herself impure with the statues of the gods of everyone she longed for. ⁸ She started being a prostitute in Egypt. And she never stopped. When she was young, men had sex with her. They kissed her virgin breasts. They used up all their sinful desires on her.

⁹ “So I handed her over to her Assyrian lovers. She longed for them. ¹⁰ They stripped her naked. They took away her sons and daughters. And they killed her with their swords. Other women laughed when that happened. I was the one who had punished her.

¹¹ “Her sister Oholibah saw it. But her evil desire for sexual sin was worse than her sister’s. ¹² She too longed for the men of Assyria. They included governors and commanders. They included soldiers who wore fancy uniforms. They also included men who rode horses. All of them were young and handsome. ¹³ I saw that she too made herself impure. So both sisters did the same evil things.

¹⁴ “But Oholibah went even further with her sexual sins. She saw pictures of men drawn on a wall. They were figures of Babylonians drawn in red. ¹⁵ They had belts around their waists. They wore flowing turbans on their heads. All of them looked like Babylonian chariot officers. They were from the land of the Chaldeans. ¹⁶ As soon as she saw the pictures, she longed for the men. So she sent messengers to them in Babylon. ¹⁷ Then the Babylonians came to her. They went to bed with her. They had sex with her. They made her impure when they had sex with her. After they did it, she became sick of them. So she turned away from them. ¹⁸ She acted like a prostitute who had no shame at all. She openly showed her naked body. I became sick of what she was doing. So I turned away from her. I had also turned away from her sister. ¹⁹ But Oholibah offered her body to her lovers again and again. She remembered the days when she was a young prostitute in Egypt. ²⁰ There she had longed for her lovers. Their private parts seemed as big as those of donkeys. And their flow of semen appeared to be as much as that of horses. ²¹ So you wanted to return to the days when you were young. You longed for the time when you first became impure in Egypt. That was when you allowed your breasts to be kissed. And you permitted your young breasts to be touched.”

²² So the Lord and King says, “Oholibah, I will stir up your lovers against you. You became sick of them. You turned away from them. But I will bring them against you from every side. ²³ They include the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans. They include the men from Pekod, Shoa and Koa. They also include all the Assyrians. They are young and handsome. Some of them are governors and commanders. Others are chariot officers. Still others are very high officials. All of them ride horses. ²⁴ So a huge army will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons. They will take up positions against you on every side. They will carry large and small shields. They will wear helmets. I will turn you over to them to be punished. They will punish you in their own way. ²⁵ I will pour out my jealous anger on you. And the army’s anger will burn against you. They will cut off your noses and ears. Some of you who are left will be killed by swords. They will take away your sons and daughters. Others of you who are left will be burned up. ²⁶ The army will also strip off your clothes. They will take your fine jewelry away from you. ²⁷ You became an impure prostitute in Egypt. But I will put a stop to all of that. You will no longer want to do any of it. You will not remember Egypt anymore.”

²⁸ The Lord and King says, “I am about to hand you over to people you hate. You became sick of them. You turned away from them. ²⁹ They will punish you because they hate you so much. They will take away from you everything you have worked for. They will leave you completely naked. Then everyone will see that you are a prostitute who has no shame at all. You were impure. You offered your body to your lovers again and again. ³⁰ That is why you will be punished. You longed for lovers in other nations. You made yourself impure by worshiping their gods. ³¹ You did the same things your sister Oholah did. So I will put her cup in your hand. It is filled with the wine of my anger.”

³² The Lord and King says to Oholibah,

I have spoken,” announces the Lord and King.

³⁵ So the Lord and King says, “You have forgotten me. You have turned your back on me. You have been impure. You have acted like a prostitute. So I will punish you.”

³⁶ The Lord said to me, “Son of man, are you going to judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then tell them they have done many evil things. I hate those things. ³⁷ They have committed adultery. Their hands are covered with the blood of the people they have murdered. They have worshiped other gods. They have not been faithful to me. They have even sacrificed their children as food to other gods. Those children belonged to me. ³⁸ Here are some other things the sisters have done to me. They have made my temple ‘unclean.’ They have misused my Sabbath days. ³⁹ They have sacrificed their children to their gods. On that same day they entered my temple and made it ‘unclean.’ That is what they have done in my house.

⁴⁰ “They even sent messengers to bring men from far away. When the men arrived, Oholibah took a bath. She put makeup on her eyes. She put her jewelry on. ⁴¹ She sat down on a beautiful couch. A table was in front of it. There she put the incense and olive oil that belonged to me.

⁴² “The noise of a carefree crowd was all around her. Men who drink too much were brought from the desert. Other men were brought along with them. They put bracelets on the wrists of the two sisters. They put beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³ Then I spoke about Oholibah. She was worn out by adultery. I said, ‘Let them use her as a prostitute. After all, that is what she is.’ ⁴⁴ So they slept with her. In fact, they slept with both of these impure women, Oholah and Oholibah. They slept with them just as men sleep with prostitutes. ⁴⁵ But judges who are right with God will sentence the sisters to be punished. They will be punished in the same way as women who commit adultery and murder. After all, they have committed adultery. And their hands are covered with the blood of the people they have murdered.”

⁴⁶ The Lord and King says, “Bring an angry crowd against the sisters. Hand them over to those who will terrify them and steal everything they have. ⁴⁷ The crowd will kill them by throwing stones at them. They will use swords to cut them down. They will kill their sons and daughters. And they will burn down their houses.

⁴⁸ “So I will put an end to impurity in the land. Then all its women will be warned. They will not want to be like the sisters. ⁴⁹ Those sisters will be punished because of the impure things they have done. They will be judged because they have worshiped other gods. Then they will know that I am the Lord and King.”

For the director of music. A prayer of David.