M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 3
Samuel’s Call.[a] 1 Young Samuel ministered to the Lord under Eli. Now the word of the Lord was rare in those days, there were not many visions. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow so weak so that he could not see well anymore, was lying down in his place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the Ark of God was kept.[b] 4 The Lord called out, “Samuel.” He answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, you called me.” He said, “I did not call you, go back and lie down.” He went and lay down.
6 The Lord called again, “Samuel.” Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, you called me.” He said, “I did not call you, my son, lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
8 The Lord called Samuel a third time. He got up and went to Samuel and said, “Here I am, you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord had called him. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’ ” So he went and lay down in his place.
10 Then the Lord came and stood and called out as he had the other times, “Samuel, Samuel.” Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” 11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am going to do something in Israel that will cause the ears of everyone who hears it to ring. 12 On that day I will bring against Eli all of the things that I have proclaimed against his house, from beginning to end. 13 I have told him that I would judge his household forever because of the sin about which he knew, because his sons brought a curse upon themselves and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli that the guilt will never be atoned from Eli’s house by either sacrifice or offering.”
15 Samuel lay down until the morning, and then he opened the doors to the house of the Lord. However, he was afraid to reveal the vision to Eli, 16 but Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son,” and he answered, “Here I am.” 17 He said, “What is it that the Lord said to you? Please, do not hide it from me. May the Lord do it to you[c] and even more if you hide anything from me of all those things that he said to you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. He then said, “He is the Lord, let him do what seems best to him.”
19 Samuel the Prophet. Samuel grew up, and the Lord was with him and did not let any of his words fall to the ground. 20 All of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba,[d] knew that Samuel had been confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh through the word of the Lord.
Chapter 3
The Value of Judaism. 1 Is there any advantage, therefore, in being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 A great deal in every respect. In the first place, they were entrusted with the words of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their lack of faith nullify the fidelity of God? 4 By no means! God must be true even if every human being is a liar,[a] as it is written,
“That you may be justified in your words,
and vindicated when you are judged.”
5 But if our wickedness serves to confirm the righteousness of God, what are we to say? Is God unjust (I speak of him in human terms) to bring retribution upon us? 6 Of course not! For that would imply that God could not judge the world. 7 But if, as a result of my falsehood, God demonstrates his truthfulness, to his greater glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not say, as some people slanderously accuse us of proposing, “Let us do evil so that good may result”? Such people deserve their condemnation.
The Whole World Guilty before God.[b] 9 Well, then, are we any better?[c] No, not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written,
“There is no one who is righteous,
not even one.
11 There is no one who has understanding,
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away;
together they have become worthless.
There is no one who shows kindness,
not even one.
13 Their throats are open graves;
they use their tongues to deceive.
The venom of vipers is on their lips;
14 their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
15 Their feet hasten to shed blood;
16 ruin and misery mark their paths.
17 The way of peace they do not know;
18 there is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that what the Law says is addressed to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the entire world may be seen as guilty before God. 20 For no one can be regarded as justified in the sight of God by keeping the Law. The Law brings only the consciousness of sin.
The Redemption in Jesus Christ[d]
21 God’s Righteousness through Faith in Jesus Christ.[e] But now the righteousness of God that is attested by the Law and the Prophets has been manifested apart from law: 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. No distinction has been made. 23 For all have sinned and thereby are deprived of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified by the gift of his grace that is given freely through the redemption in Christ Jesus.
25 God designated him to be a sacrifice of expiation of sin through faith by the shedding of his blood because in his divine forbearance he allowed to be unpunished the sins previously committed. 26 He thus demonstrated his righteousness in the present time so that he might show himself to be just as the one who justifies anyone who has faith in Jesus.
27 Justification through Faith Apart from the Works of the Law. What reason then does one have to boast? It is excluded! By works of the Law? No, rather by the law of faith. 28 For we maintain that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.
29 Is God the God only of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is the God of the Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, and he will justify both the circumcised and the uncircumcised on the basis of their faith. 31 Are we thereby nullifying the Law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we are upholding the Law.
Chapter 41
1 In the seventh month, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. While they were eating together there at Mizpah, 2 Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men who had accompanied him rose up and struck Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with their swords and assassinated him because the king of Babylon had appointed him to be the governor of the land. 3 Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah in Mizpah as well as the Chaldean soldiers who were present.
4 On the day after Gedaliah had been slain, before news of the assassination had spread, 5 eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, with their beards shaved and their clothes torn and their bodies covered with self-inflicted gashes. They were carrying grain offerings and incense to present at the temple of the Lord.
6 Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he proceeded, and as he met them, he said, 7 “Come to Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam.” But when they had proceeded a good distance into the city, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, and his men slaughtered them and threw them into a cistern.
8 However, there were ten men among them who cried out to Ishmael, “Do not kill us. We have large stores of wheat and barley, oil and honey, buried in the fields.” Therefore, he spared them and did not kill them, as he had done with their companions. 9 The cistern into which Ishmael threw the corpses of all the men he had killed was the large cistern that King Asa had built as a defensive measure against Baasha, the king of Israel. Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, filled this cistern with the slain.
10 Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, then led away as prisoners the remaining people who were in Mizpah—the king’s daughters as well as all the others who were left there, and over whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had appointed Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam. With these captives, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, set out to cross over to the Ammonites.
11 Flight to Egypt. When Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all of the army officers who were with him learned of the crimes that Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had committed, 12 they took all their men and set forth to attack Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, finally catching up with him by the great pool in Gibeon.
13 At the sight of Johanan, the son of Kareah, and the other army leaders, the people who were Ishmael’s captives were delighted. 14 All the people whom Ishmael had taken as prisoners from Mizpah went over to Johanan, the son of Kareah. 15 However, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, escaped from the clutches of Johanan and fled to the Ammonites with eight men.
16 Then Johanan, the son of Kareah, and all the military leaders who were with him, led away all of the remaining people whom Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had carried away as prisoners from Mizpah after he had slain Gedaliah—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, whom he had brought from Gibeon. 17 After they started out, they stopped at Chinham, near Bethlehem, intending to flee into Egypt. 18 They had no wish to engage in a confrontation with the Chaldeans, since Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, had slain Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the country.
Psalm 17[a]
Prayer in Time of Persecution
1 A prayer of David.
Hear, O Lord, my call for justice;
give heed to my cry.
Listen to the prayer of my lips,
for they are free of deceit.
2 Let my vindication issue forth from you;
let your eyes discern what is right.
3 You have probed my heart[b]
and examined me throughout the night.
You have tested me
and found no malice in me,
for I have not sinned with my mouth.
4 Despite what other people do,
I have been guided by the word of your lips[c]
and refrained from their acts of violence.
5 My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not wavered.
6 I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me.
Incline your ear to me and listen to my plea.
7 Show how wonderful is your kindness,[d]
you who save those who seek protection
by taking refuge at your right hand.
8 Guard me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings[e]
9 from the wicked who treat me with violence,
from deadly enemies who surround me.
10 There is no compassion in their hearts,[f]
and arrogance issues from their mouths.
11 They track me down and begin to close in,
watching for the chance to strike me down,
12 like a lion primed to attack it prey,
like a young lion lurking in hiding.
13 Rise up, O Lord, confront them, and cast them down;[g]
deliver me from the wicked by your sword.
14 With your hand, O Lord, snatch me from such people,
from the worldly whose reward is in this life.[h]
You satisfy the hunger of those you cherish;
their children have all they desire
and leave their wealth to their little ones.
15 But in my righteousness I will see your face;[i]
when I awaken, I will be blessed by beholding you.
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