M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Nathan's Message to David^(A)

17 King David was now living in his palace. One day he sent for the prophet Nathan and said to him, “Here I am living in a house built of cedar, but the Lord's Covenant Box is kept in a tent!”

² Nathan answered, “Do whatever you have in mind, because God is with you.”

³ But that night God said to Nathan, ⁴ “Go and tell my servant David that I say to him, ‘You are not the one to build a temple for me to live in. ⁵ From the time I rescued the people of Israel from Egypt until now I have never lived in a temple; I have always lived in tents and moved from place to place. ⁶ In all my traveling with the people of Israel I never asked any of the leaders that I appointed why they had not built me a temple made of cedar.’

⁷ “So tell my servant David that I, the Lord Almighty, say to him, ‘I took you from looking after sheep in the fields and made you the ruler of my people Israel. ⁸ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have defeated all your enemies as you advanced. I will make you as famous as the greatest leaders in the world. ^9-10 I have chosen a place for my people Israel and have settled them there, where they will live without being oppressed any more. Ever since they entered this land they have been attacked by violent people, but this will not happen again. I promise to defeat all your enemies and to give you descendants. ¹¹ When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. ¹² He will be the one to build a temple for me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever. ^13 (B)I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not withdraw my support from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed so that you could be king. ¹⁴ I will put him in charge of my people and my kingdom forever. His dynasty will never end.’”

¹⁵ Nathan told David everything that God had revealed to him.

David's Prayer of Thanksgiving^(C)

¹⁶ Then King David went into the Tent of the Lord's presence, sat down, and prayed, “I am not worthy of what you have already done for me, Lord God, nor is my family. ¹⁷ Yet now you are doing even more; you have made promises about my descendants in the years to come, and you, Lord God, are already treating me like someone great.^{[a] 18} What more can I say to you! You know me well, and yet you honor me, your servant. ¹⁹ It was your will and purpose to do this for me and to show me my future greatness. ²⁰ Lord, there is none like you; we have always known that you alone are God. ²¹ There is no other nation on earth like Israel, whom you rescued from slavery to make them your own people. The great and wonderful things you did for them spread your fame throughout the world. You rescued your people from Egypt and drove out other nations as your people advanced. ²² You have made Israel your own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

²³ “And now, O Lord, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would. ²⁴ Your fame will be great, and people will forever say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.’ And you will preserve my dynasty for all time. ²⁵ I have the courage to pray this prayer to you, my God, because you have revealed all this to me, your servant, and have told me that you will make my descendants kings. ²⁶ You, Lord, are God, and you have made this wonderful promise to me. ²⁷ I ask you to bless my descendants so that they will continue to enjoy your favor. You, Lord, have blessed them, and your blessing will rest on them forever.”

Friendship with the World

4 Where do all the fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your desires for pleasure, which are constantly fighting within you. ² You want things, but you cannot have them, so you are ready to kill; you strongly desire things, but you cannot get them, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have what you want because you do not ask God for it. ³ And when you ask, you do not receive it, because your motives are bad; you ask for things to use for your own pleasures. ⁴ Unfaithful people! Don't you know that to be the world's friend means to be God's enemy? If you want to be the world's friend, you make yourself God's enemy. ⁵ Don't think that there is no truth in the scripture that says, “The spirit that God placed in us is filled with fierce desires.”^{[a] 6 (A)}But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

⁷ So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners! Purify your hearts, you hypocrites! ⁹ Be sorrowful, cry, and weep; change your laughter into crying, your joy into gloom! ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Warning against Judging One Another

¹¹ Do not criticize one another, my friends. If you criticize or judge another Christian, you criticize and judge the Law. If you judge the Law, then you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it. ¹² God is the only lawgiver and judge. He alone can save and destroy. Who do you think you are, to judge someone else?

Warning against Boasting

^13 (B)Now listen to me, you that say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.” ¹⁴ You don't even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. ¹⁵ What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you are proud, and you boast; all such boasting is wrong.

¹⁷ So then, if we do not do the good we know we should do, we are guilty of sin.

Jonah Disobeys the Lord

1 ^(A)One day the Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai. ² He said, “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against it; I am aware of how wicked its people are.” ³ Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the Lord.

⁴ But the Lord sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up. ⁵ The sailors were terrified and cried out for help, each one to his own god. Then, in order to lessen the danger,^[a] they threw the cargo^[b] overboard. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone below and was lying in the ship's hold, sound asleep.

⁶ The captain found him there and said to him, “What are you doing asleep? Get up and pray to your god for help. Maybe he will feel sorry for us and spare our lives.”

⁷ The sailors said to each other, “Let's draw lots and find out who is to blame for getting us into this danger.” They did so, and Jonah's name was drawn. ⁸ So they said to him, “Now, then, tell us! Who is to blame for this? What are you doing here? What country do you come from? What is your nationality?”

⁹ “I am a Hebrew,” Jonah answered. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made land and sea.” ¹⁰ Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the Lord.

The sailors were terrified, and said to him, “That was an awful thing to do!”^{[c] 11} The storm was getting worse all the time, so the sailors asked him, “What should we do to you to stop the storm?”

¹² Jonah answered, “Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm.”

¹³ Instead, the sailors tried to get the ship to shore, rowing with all their might. But the storm was becoming worse and worse, and they got nowhere. ¹⁴ So they cried out to the Lord, “O Lord, we pray, don't punish us with death for taking this man's life! You, O Lord, are responsible for all this; it is your doing.” ¹⁵ Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it calmed down at once. ¹⁶ This made the sailors so afraid of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice and promised to serve him.

^17 (B)At the Lord's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

The Question about the Sabbath^(A)

6 ^(B)Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples began to pick the heads of wheat, rub them in their hands, and eat the grain. ² Some Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what our Law says you cannot do on the Sabbath?”

³ Jesus answered them, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry? ^4 (C)He went into the house of God, took the bread offered to God, ate it, and gave it also to his men. Yet it is against our Law for anyone except the priests to eat that bread.”

⁵ And Jesus concluded, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

The Man with a Paralyzed Hand^(D)

⁶ On another Sabbath Jesus went into a synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was paralyzed. ⁷ Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. ⁸ But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Stand up and come here to the front.” The man got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone's life or destroy it?” ¹⁰ He looked around at them all; then he said^[a] to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand became well again.

¹¹ They were filled with rage and began to discuss among themselves what they could do to Jesus.

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles^(E)

¹² At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. ¹³ When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon (whom he named Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon (who was called the Patriot), ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.

Jesus Teaches and Heals^(F)

¹⁷ When Jesus had come down from the hill with the apostles, he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples. A large crowd of people was there from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from the coast cities of Tyre and Sidon; ¹⁸ they had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were troubled by evil spirits also came and were healed. ¹⁹ All the people tried to touch him, for power was going out from him and healing them all.

Happiness and Sorrow^(G)

²⁰ Jesus looked at his disciples and said,

^22 (H)“Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! ^23 (I)Be glad when that happens and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets.

²⁶ “How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets.

Love for Enemies^(J)

²⁷ “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. ^31 (K)Do for others just what you want them to do for you.

³² “If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them! ³³ And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that! ³⁴ And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount! ^35 (L)No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others^(M)

³⁷ “Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you. ³⁸ Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands—all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”

^39 (N)And Jesus told them this parable: “One blind man cannot lead another one; if he does, both will fall into a ditch. ^40 (O)No pupils are greater than their teacher; but all pupils, when they have completed their training, will be like their teacher.

⁴¹ “Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the log in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Please, brother, let me take that speck out of your eye,’ yet cannot even see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit^(P)

⁴³ “A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit. ^44 (Q)Every tree is known by the fruit it bears; you do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from bramble bushes. ^45 (R)A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

The Two House Builders^(S)

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and yet don't do what I tell you? ⁴⁷ Anyone who comes to me and listens to my words and obeys them—I will show you what he is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But anyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house it fell at once—and what a terrible crash that was!”