M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 16
Samuel Is Sent to Bethlehem. 1 (A)The Lord said to Samuel: How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for from among his sons I have decided on a king.[a] 2 But Samuel replied: “How can I go? Saul will hear of it and kill me.” To this the Lord answered: Take a heifer along and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.” 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do; you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.(B)
Samuel Anoints David. 4 Samuel did as the Lord had commanded him. When he entered Bethlehem, the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and asked, “Is your visit peaceful, O seer?” 5 He replied: “Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. So purify yourselves and celebrate with me today.” He also had Jesse and his sons purify themselves and invited them to the sacrifice.(C) 6 As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the anointed is here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel: Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The Lord looks into the heart.(D) 8 (E)Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel, who said, “The Lord has not chosen him.” 9 Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 10 In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any one of these.” 11 Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he arrives here.”(F) 12 Jesse had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth with beautiful eyes, and good looking. The Lord said: There—anoint him, for this is the one!(G) 13 Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and from that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David. Then Samuel set out for Ramah.(H)
David Wins Saul’s Approval. 14 [b](I)The spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and he was tormented by an evil spirit from the Lord. 15 So the servants of Saul said to him: “Look! An evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 If your lordship will order it, we, your servants here attending to you, will look for a man skilled in playing the harp. When the evil spirit from God comes upon you, he will play and you will feel better.” 17 Saul then told his servants, “Find me a good harpist and bring him to me.” 18 (J)One of the servants spoke up: “I have observed that a son of Jesse of Bethlehem is a skillful harpist. He is also a brave warrior, an able speaker, and a handsome young man. The Lord is certainly with him.”
David Made Armor-Bearer. 19 Accordingly, Saul dispatched messengers to ask Jesse to send him his son David, who was with the flock. 20 Then Jesse took five loaves of bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them to Saul with his son David.(K) 21 Thus David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul became very fond of him and made him his armor-bearer.(L) 22 Saul sent Jesse the message, “Let David stay in my service, for he meets with my approval.” 23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take the harp and play, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, for the evil spirit would leave him.
Chapter 14
To Live and Die for Christ. 1 [a]Welcome anyone who is weak in faith,(A) but not for disputes over opinions.(B) 2 One person believes that one may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.(C) 3 The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him.(D) 4 Who are you to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.(E) 5 [For] one person considers one day more important than another, while another person considers all days alike.(F) Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind.[b] 6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the Lord. Also whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while whoever abstains, abstains for the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord,[c] and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.(G) 9 For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.(H) 10 Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;(I) 11 for it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”(J)
12 So [then] each of us shall give an account of himself [to God].(K)
Consideration for the Weak Conscience. 13 Then let us no longer judge one another, but rather resolve never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.(L) 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; still, it is unclean for someone who thinks it unclean.(M) 15 If your brother is being hurt by what you eat, your conduct is no longer in accord with love. Do not because of your food destroy him for whom Christ died.(N) 16 So do not let your good be reviled.(O) 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Spirit;(P) 18 whoever serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by others. 19 Let us[d] then pursue what leads to peace and to building up one another.(Q) 20 For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God.(R) Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to become a stumbling block by eating; 21 it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 Keep the faith [that] you have to yourself in the presence of God; blessed is the one who does not condemn himself for what he approves. 23 (S)But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because this is not from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.[e]
Chapter 1
The Desolation of Jerusalem[a]
1 How solitary sits the city,
once filled with people.
She who was great among the nations
is now like a widow.
Once a princess among the provinces,
now a toiling slave.
2 She weeps incessantly in the night,
her cheeks damp with tears.
She has no one to comfort her
from all her lovers;[b]
Her friends have all betrayed her,
and become her enemies.(A)
3 Judah has gone into exile,
after oppression and harsh labor;
She dwells among the nations,
yet finds no rest:(B)
All her pursuers overtake her
in the narrow straits.
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
empty of pilgrims to her feasts.
All her gateways are desolate,
her priests groan,
Her young women grieve;
her lot is bitter.(C)
5 Her foes have come out on top,
her enemies are secure;
Because the Lord has afflicted her
for her many rebellions.
Her children have gone away,
captive before the foe.
6 From daughter Zion has gone
all her glory:
Her princes have become like rams
that find no pasture.
They have gone off exhausted
before their pursuers.
7 Jerusalem remembers
in days of wretched homelessness,
All the precious things she once had
in days gone by.
But when her people fell into the hands of the foe,
and she had no help,
Her foes looked on and laughed
at her collapse.
8 Jerusalem has sinned grievously,
therefore she has become a mockery;
Those who honored her now demean her,
for they saw her nakedness;
She herself groans out loud,
and turns away.(D)
9 Her uncleanness is on her skirt;
she has no thought of her future.
Her downfall is astonishing,
with no one to comfort her.
“Look, O Lord, at my misery;
how the enemy triumphs!”[c]
10 The foe stretched out his hands
to all her precious things;
She has seen the nations
enter her sanctuary,
Those you forbade to come
into your assembly.(E)
11 All her people groan,
searching for bread;
They give their precious things for food,
to retain the breath of life.
“Look, O Lord, and pay attention
to how I have been demeaned!
12 Come, all who pass by the way,
pay attention and see:
Is there any pain like my pain,
which has been ruthlessly inflicted upon me,
With which the Lord has tormented me
on the day of his blazing wrath?
13 From on high he hurled fire down
into my very bones;
He spread out a net for my feet,
and turned me back.
He has left me desolate,
in misery all day long.(F)
14 The yoke of my rebellions is bound together,
fastened by his hand.
His yoke is upon my neck;
he has made my strength fail.
The Lord has delivered me into the grip
of those I cannot resist.
15 All my valiant warriors
my Lord has cast away;
He proclaimed a feast against me
to crush my young men;
My Lord has trodden in the wine press
virgin daughter Judah.
16 For these things I weep—My eyes! My eyes!
They stream with tears!
How far from me is anyone to comfort,
anyone to restore my life.
My children are desolate;
the enemy has prevailed.”(G)
17 Zion stretches out her hands,
with no one to comfort her;
The Lord has ordered against Jacob
his foes all around;
Jerusalem has become in their midst
a thing unclean.
18 “The Lord is in the right;
I had defied his command.
Listen, all you peoples,
and see my pain:
My young women and young men
have gone into captivity.(H)
19 I cried out to my lovers,
but they failed me.(I)
My priests and my elders
perished in the city;
How desperately they searched for food,
to save their lives!
20 Look, O Lord, at the anguish I suffer!
My stomach churns,
And my heart recoils within me:
How bitter I am!
Outside the sword bereaves—
indoors, there is death.(J)
21 Hear how I am groaning;
there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies hear of my misery and rejoice
over what you have done.
Bring on the day you proclaimed,
and let them become like me!
22 Let all their evil come before you
and deal with them
As you have so ruthlessly dealt with me
for all my rebellions.
My groans are many,
my heart is sick.”(K)
Psalm 32[a]
Remission of Sin
1 (A)Of David. A maskil.
I
Blessed is the one whose fault is removed,
whose sin is forgiven.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no deceit.
II
3 Because I kept silent,[b] my bones wasted away;
I groaned all day long.(B)
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength withered as in dry summer heat.
Selah
5 Then I declared my sin to you;
my guilt I did not hide.(C)
I said, “I confess my transgression to the Lord,”
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
Selah
6 Therefore every loyal person should pray to you
in time of distress.
Though flood waters[c] threaten,
they will never reach him.(D)
7 You are my shelter; you guard me from distress;
with joyful shouts of deliverance you surround me.
Selah
III
8 I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk,
give you counsel with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding;
with bit and bridle their temper is curbed,
else they will not come to you.
IV
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked one,
but mercy surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
exult, all you upright of heart.(E)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.