M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Lord Appears to Samuel

3 In those days, when the boy Samuel was serving the Lord under the direction of Eli, there were very few messages from the Lord, and visions from him were quite rare. ² One night Eli, who was now almost blind, was sleeping in his own room; ³ Samuel was sleeping in the sanctuary, where the sacred Covenant Box was. Before dawn, while the lamp was still burning, ⁴ the Lord called Samuel. He answered, “Yes, sir!” ⁵ and ran to Eli and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “I didn't call you; go back to bed.” So Samuel went back to bed.

^6-7 The Lord called Samuel again. The boy did not know that it was the Lord, because the Lord had never spoken to him before. So he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

But Eli answered, “My son, I didn't call you; go back to bed.”

⁸ The Lord called Samuel a third time; he got up, went to Eli, and said, “You called me, and here I am.”

Then Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling the boy, ⁹ so he said to him, “Go back to bed; and if he calls you again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed.

¹⁰ The Lord came and stood there, and called as he had before, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Samuel answered, “Speak; your servant is listening.”

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Some day I am going to do something to the people of Israel that is so terrible that everyone who hears about it will be stunned. ¹² On that day I will carry out all my threats against Eli's family, from beginning to end. ¹³ I have already told him^[a] that I am going to punish his family forever because his sons have spoken evil things against me. Eli knew they were doing this, but he did not stop them. ¹⁴ So I solemnly declare to the family of Eli that no sacrifice or offering will ever be able to remove the consequences of this terrible sin.”

¹⁵ Samuel stayed in bed until morning; then he got up and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli about the vision. ¹⁶ Eli called him, “Samuel, my boy!”

“Yes, sir,” answered Samuel.

¹⁷ “What did the Lord tell you?” Eli asked. “Don't keep anything from me. God will punish you severely if you don't tell me everything he said.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything; he did not keep anything back. Eli said, “He is the Lord; he will do whatever seems best to him.”

¹⁹ As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and made come true everything that Samuel said. ²⁰ So all the people of Israel, from one end of the country to the other, knew that Samuel was indeed a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ The Lord continued to reveal himself at Shiloh, where he had appeared to Samuel and had spoken to him. And when Samuel spoke, all Israel listened.

3 Do the Jews then have any advantage over the Gentiles? Or is there any value in being circumcised? ² Much, indeed, in every way! In the first place, God trusted his message to the Jews. ³ But what if some of them were not faithful? Does this mean that God will not be faithful? ^4 (A)Certainly not! God must be true, even though all human beings are liars. As the scripture says,

⁵ But what if our doing wrong serves to show up more clearly God's doing right? Can we say that God does wrong when he punishes us? (This would be the natural question to ask.) ⁶ By no means! If God is not just, how can he judge the world?

⁷ But what if my untruth serves God's glory by making his truth stand out more clearly? Why should I still be condemned as a sinner? ⁸ Why not say, then, “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Some people, indeed, have insulted me by accusing me of saying this very thing! They will be condemned, as they should be.

No One Is Righteous

⁹ Well then, are we Jews in any better condition than the Gentiles? Not at all!^[a] I have already shown that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ^10 (B)As the Scriptures say:

¹⁹ Now we know that everything in the Law applies to those who live under the Law, in order to stop all human excuses and bring the whole world under God's judgment. ^20 (G)For no one is put right in God's sight by doing what the Law requires; what the Law does is to make us know that we have sinned.

How We Are Put Right with God

²¹ But now God's way of putting people right with himself has been revealed. It has nothing to do with law, even though the Law of Moses and the prophets gave their witness to it. ^22 (H)God puts people right through their faith in Jesus Christ. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all: ²³ everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence. ²⁴ But by the free gift of God's grace all are put right with him through Christ Jesus, who sets them free. ^25-26 God offered him, so that by his blood^[b] he should become the means by which people's sins are forgiven through their faith in him. God did this in order to demonstrate that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and overlooked people's sins; but in the present time he deals with their sins, in order to demonstrate his righteousness. In this way God shows that he himself is righteous and that he puts right everyone who believes in Jesus.

²⁷ What, then, can we boast about? Nothing! And what is the reason for this? Is it that we obey the Law? No, but that we believe. ²⁸ For we conclude that a person is put right with God only through faith, and not by doing what the Law commands. ²⁹ Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also? Of course he is. ^30 (I)God is one, and he will put the Jews right with himself on the basis of their faith, and will put the Gentiles right through their faith. ³¹ Does this mean that by this faith we do away with the Law? No, not at all; instead, we uphold the Law.

41 ^(A)In the seventh month of that year, Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah and grandson of Elishama, a member of the royal family and one of the king's chief officers, went to Mizpah with ten men to see Governor Gedaliah. While they were all eating a meal together, ² Ishmael and the ten men with him pulled out their swords and killed Gedaliah. ³ Ishmael also killed all the Israelites who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah and the Babylonian soldiers who happened to be there.

⁴ The next day, before anyone knew about Gedaliah's murder, ⁵ eighty men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and gashed themselves. They were taking grain and incense to offer in the Temple. ⁶ So Ishmael went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping as he went. When he came to them, he said, “Please come in to see Gedaliah.” ⁷ As soon as they were inside the city, Ishmael and his men killed them and threw their bodies in a well.

⁸ But there were ten men in the group who said to Ishmael, “Please don't kill us! We have wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey hidden in the fields.” So he spared them. ⁹ The well into which Ishmael threw the bodies of the men he had killed was the large one^[a] that King Asa had dug when he was being attacked by King Baasha of Israel. Ishmael filled the well with the bodies. ¹⁰ Then he made prisoners of the king's daughters and all the rest of the people in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the commanding officer had placed under the care of Gedaliah. Ishmael took them prisoner and started off in the direction of the territory of Ammon.

¹¹ Johanan and all the army leaders with him heard of the crime that Ishmael had committed. ¹² So they went after him with their men and overtook him near the large pool at Gibeon. ¹³ When Ishmael's prisoners saw Johanan and the leaders of the forces with him, they were glad, ¹⁴ and turned and ran to them. ¹⁵ But Ishmael and eight of his men got away from Johanan and escaped to the land of Ammon.

¹⁶ Then Johanan and the leaders of the forces with him took charge of the people whom Ishmael had taken away as prisoners from Mizpah after murdering Gedaliah—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs. ^17-18 They were afraid of the Babylonians because Ishmael had murdered Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylonia had made governor of the land. So they set out for Egypt, in order to get away from the Babylonians. On the way they stopped at Chimham near Bethlehem.

The Prayer of an Innocent Person^[a]