M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Temple Guards

26 These are the assignments of work for the Levites who served as Temple guards. From the clan of Korah there was Meshelemiah son of Kore, of the family of Asaph. ² He had seven sons, listed in order of age: Zechariah, Jediael, Zebadiah, Jathniel, ³ Elam, Jehohanan, and Eliehoenai.

^4 (A)There was also Obed Edom, whom God blessed by giving him eight sons, listed in order of age: Shemaiah, Jehozabad, Joah, Sachar, Nethanel, ⁵ Ammiel, Issachar, and Peullethai.

^6-7 Obed Edom's oldest son, Shemaiah, had six sons: Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad, Elihu, and Semachiah. They were important men in their clan because of their great ability; the last two were especially talented.

⁸ Obed Edom's family furnished a total of sixty-two highly qualified men for this work.

⁹ Meshelemiah's family furnished eighteen qualified men.

¹⁰ From the clan of Merari there was Hosah, who had four sons: Shimri (his father made him the leader, even though he was not the oldest son), ¹¹ Hilkiah, Tebaliah, and Zechariah. In all there were thirteen members of Hosah's family who were Temple guards.

¹² The Temple guards were divided into groups, according to families, and they were assigned duties in the Temple, just as the other Levites were. ¹³ Each family, regardless of size, drew lots to see which gate it would be responsible for. ¹⁴ Shelemiah drew the east gate, and his son Zechariah, a man who always gave good advice, drew the north gate. ¹⁵ Obed Edom was allotted the south gate, and his sons were allotted to guard the storerooms. ¹⁶ Shuppim and Hosah were allotted the west gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road. Guard duty was divided into assigned periods, one after another. ¹⁷ On the east, six guards were on duty each day, on the north, four, and on the south, four. Four guards were stationed at the storerooms daily, two at each storeroom. ¹⁸ Near the western pavilion there were four guards by the road and two at the pavilion itself. ¹⁹ This is the assignment of guard duty to the clan of Korah and the clan of Merari.

Other Temple Duties

²⁰ Others of their fellow Levites^[a] were in charge of the Temple treasury and the storerooms for gifts dedicated to God. ²¹ Ladan, one of the sons of Gershon, was the ancestor of several family groups, including the family of his son Jehiel. ²² Ladan's two other sons, Zetham and Joel, had charge of the Temple treasury and storerooms.

²³ Duties were also assigned to the descendants of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁴ Shebuel, of the clan of Moses' son Gershom, was the chief official responsible for the Temple treasury. ²⁵ Through Gershom's brother Eliezer he was related to Shelomith. Eliezer was the father of Rehabiah, who was the father of Jeshaiah, the father of Joram, the father of Zichri, the father of Shelomith. ²⁶ Shelomith and the members of his family were in charge of all the gifts dedicated to God by King David, the heads of families, leaders of clan groups, and army officers. ²⁷ They took some of the loot they captured in battle and dedicated it for use in the Temple. ²⁸ Shelomith and his family were in charge of everything that had been dedicated for use in the Temple, including the gifts brought by the prophet Samuel, by King Saul, by Abner son of Ner, and by Joab son of Zeruiah.

Duties of Other Levites

²⁹ Among the descendants of Izhar, Chenaniah and his sons were assigned administrative duties: keeping records and settling disputes for the people of Israel.

³⁰ Among the descendants of Hebron, Hashabiah and seventeen hundred of his relatives, all outstanding men, were put in charge of the administration of all religious and civil matters in Israel west of the Jordan River. ³¹ Jeriah was the leader of the descendants of Hebron. In the fortieth year that David was king, an investigation was made of the family line of Hebron's descendants, and outstanding soldiers belonging to this family were found living at Jazer in the territory of Gilead. ³² King David chose twenty-seven hundred outstanding heads of families from Jeriah's relatives and put them in charge of administering all religious and civil matters in Israel east of the Jordan River—the territories of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh.

Military and Civil Organization

27 This is the list of the Israelite heads of families and clan leaders and their officials who administered the work of the kingdom. Each month of the year a different group of twenty-four thousand men was on duty under the commander for that month.

^2-15 The following were the commanders for each month:

Administration of the Tribes of Israel

^16-22 This is the list of the administrators of the tribes of Israel:

^23 (B)King David did not take a census of the people who were under the age of twenty, because of the Lord's promise to make the people of Israel as numerous as the stars in the sky. ^24 (C)Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, began to take a census, but he did not complete it. God punished Israel because of this census, so the final figures were never recorded in King David's official records.

Administrators of the Royal Property

^25-31 This is the list of those who administered the royal property:

David's Personal Advisers

³² Jonathan, King David's uncle, was a skillful adviser and a scholar. He and Jehiel son of Hachmoni were in charge of the education of the king's sons. ³³ Ahithophel was adviser to the king, and Hushai the Archite was the king's friend and counselor. ³⁴ After Ahithophel died, Abiathar and Jehoiada son of Benaiah became advisers. Joab was commander of the royal army.

1 From Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ—

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have been given a faith as precious as ours:

² May grace and peace be yours in full measure through your knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

God's Call and Choice

³ God's divine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in his own^[a] glory and goodness. ⁴ In this way he has given us the very great and precious gifts he promised, so that by means of these gifts you may escape from the destructive lust that is in the world, and may come to share the divine nature. ⁵ For this very reason do your best to add goodness to your faith; to your goodness add knowledge; ⁶ to your knowledge add self-control; to your self-control add endurance; to your endurance add godliness; ⁷ to your godliness add Christian affection; and to your Christian affection add love. ⁸ These are the qualities you need, and if you have them in abundance, they will make you active and effective in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But if you do not have them, you are so shortsighted that you cannot see and have forgotten that you have been purified from your past sins.

¹⁰ So then, my friends, try even harder to make God's call and his choice of you a permanent experience; if you do so, you will never abandon your faith.^{[b] 11} In this way you will be given the full right to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹² And so I will always remind you of these matters, even though you already know them and are firmly grounded in the truth you have received. ¹³ I think it only right for me to stir up your memory of these matters as long as I am still alive. ¹⁴ I know that I shall soon put off this mortal body, as our Lord Jesus Christ plainly told me. ¹⁵ I will do my best, then, to provide a way for you to remember these matters at all times after my death.

Eyewitnesses of Christ's Glory

¹⁶ We have not depended on made-up stories in making known to you the mighty coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. With our own eyes we saw his greatness. ^17 (A)We were there when he was given honor and glory by God the Father, when the voice came to him from the Supreme Glory, saying, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased!” ¹⁸ We ourselves heard this voice coming from heaven, when we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹ So we are even more confident of the message proclaimed by the prophets. You will do well to pay attention to it, because it is like a lamp shining in a dark place until the Day dawns and the light of the morning star shines in your hearts. ²⁰ Above all else, however, remember that none of us can explain by ourselves a prophecy in the Scriptures. ²¹ For no prophetic message ever came just from the human will, but people were under the control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that came from God.

The Lord's Universal Reign of Peace^(A)

⁵ Each nation worships and obeys its own god, but we will worship and obey the Lord our God forever and ever.

Israel Will Return from Exile

⁶ “The time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will gather together the people I punished, those who have suffered in exile. ⁷ They are crippled and far from home, but I will make a new beginning with those who are left, and they will become a great nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion from that time on and forever.”

⁸ And you, Jerusalem, where God, like a shepherd from his lookout tower, watches over his people, will once again be the capital of the kingdom that was yours. ⁹ Why do you cry out so loudly? Why are you suffering like a woman in labor? Is it because you have no king, and your counselors are dead? ¹⁰ Twist and groan,^[b] people of Jerusalem, like a woman giving birth, for now you will have to leave the city and live in the open country. You will have to go to Babylon, but there the Lord will save you from your enemies. ¹¹ Many nations have gathered to attack you. They say, “Jerusalem must be destroyed! We will see this city in ruins!” ¹² But these nations do not know what is in the Lord's mind. They do not realize that they have been gathered together to be punished in the same way that grain is brought in to be threshed.

¹³ The Lord says, “People of Jerusalem, go and punish your enemies! I will make you as strong as a bull with iron horns and bronze hoofs. You will crush many nations, and the wealth they got by violence you will present to me, the Lord of the whole world.”

Turn from Your Sins or Die

13 At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God. ² Jesus answered them, “Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? ³ No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did. ⁴ What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on them? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem? ⁵ No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did.”

The Parable of the Unfruitful Fig Tree

⁶ Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was once a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. He went looking for figs on it but found none. ⁷ So he said to his gardener, ‘Look, for three years I have been coming here looking for figs on this fig tree, and I haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it go on using up the soil?’ ⁸ But the gardener answered, ‘Leave it alone, sir, just one more year; I will dig around it and put in some fertilizer. ⁹ Then if the tree bears figs next year, so much the better; if not, then you can have it cut down.’”

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

¹⁰ One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue. ¹¹ A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!” ¹³ He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

^14 (A)The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath. ¹⁶ Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?” ¹⁷ His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(B)

¹⁸ Jesus asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with? ¹⁹ It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and plants it in his field. The plant grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make their nests in its branches.”

The Parable of the Yeast^(C)

²⁰ Again Jesus asked, “What shall I compare the Kingdom of God with? ²¹ It is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”

The Narrow Door^(D)

²² Jesus went through towns and villages, teaching the people and making his way toward Jerusalem. ²³ Someone asked him, “Sir, will just a few people be saved?”

Jesus answered them, ²⁴ “Do your best to go in through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able. ²⁵ The master of the house will get up and close the door; then when you stand outside and begin to knock on the door and say, ‘Open the door for us, sir!’ he will answer you, ‘I don't know where you come from!’ ²⁶ Then you will answer, ‘We ate and drank with you; you taught in our town!’ ^27 (E)But he will say again, ‘I don't know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wicked people!’ ^28 (F)How you will cry and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, while you are thrown out! ²⁹ People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God. ^30 (G)Then those who are now last will be first, and those who are now first will be last.”

Jesus' Love for Jerusalem^(H)

³¹ At that same time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “You must get out of here and go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you.”

³² Jesus answered them, “Go and tell that fox: ‘I am driving out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall finish my work.’ ³³ Yet I must be on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day; it is not right for a prophet to be killed anywhere except in Jerusalem.

^34 (I)“Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets, you stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! ^35 (J)And so your Temple will be abandoned. I assure you that you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”