M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

David and Bathsheba

11 ^(A)The following spring, at the time of the year when kings usually go to war, David sent out Joab with his officers and the Israelite army; they defeated the Ammonites and besieged the city of Rabbah. But David himself stayed in Jerusalem.

² One day, late in the afternoon, David got up from his nap and went to the palace roof. As he walked around up there, he saw a woman taking a bath in her house. She was very beautiful. ³ So he sent a messenger to find out who she was, and learned that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite. ⁴ David sent messengers to get her; they brought her to him and he made love to her. (She had just finished her monthly ritual of purification.) Then she went back home. ⁵ Afterward she discovered that she was pregnant and sent a message to David to tell him.

⁶ David then sent a message to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. ⁷ When Uriah arrived, David asked him if Joab and the troops were well, and how the fighting was going. ⁸ Then he said to Uriah, “Go on home and rest a while.” Uriah left, and David had a present sent to his home. ⁹ But Uriah did not go home; instead he slept at the palace gate with the king's guards. ¹⁰ When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he asked him, “You have just returned after a long absence; why didn't you go home?”

¹¹ Uriah answered, “The men of Israel and Judah are away in battle, and the Covenant Box is with them; my commander Joab and his officers are camping out in the open. How could I go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By all that's sacred, I swear that I could never do such a thing!”

¹² So David said, “Then stay here the rest of the day, and tomorrow I'll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. ¹³ David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket^[a] in the palace guardroom.

¹⁴ The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah. ¹⁵ He wrote: “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed.” ¹⁶ So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong. ¹⁷ The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah.

¹⁸ Then Joab sent a report to David telling him about the battle, ¹⁹ and he instructed the messenger, “After you have told the king all about the battle, ²⁰ he may get angry and ask you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight them? Didn't you realize that they would shoot arrows from the walls? ^21 (B)Don't you remember how Abimelech son of Gideon was killed? It was at Thebez, where a woman threw a millstone down from the wall and killed him. Why, then, did you go so near the wall?’ If the king asks you this, tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah was also killed.’”

²² So the messenger went to David and told him what Joab had commanded him to say. ²³ He said, “Our enemies were stronger than we were and came out of the city to fight us in the open, but we drove them back to the city gate. ²⁴ Then they shot arrows at us from the wall, and some of Your Majesty's officers were killed; your officer Uriah was also killed.”

²⁵ David said to the messenger, “Encourage Joab and tell him not to be upset, since you never can tell who will die in battle. Tell him to launch a stronger attack on the city and capture it.”

²⁶ When Bathsheba heard that her husband had been killed, she mourned for him. ²⁷ When the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to the palace; she became his wife and bore him a son. But the Lord was not pleased with what David had done.

Spiritual Treasure in Clay Pots

4 God in his mercy has given us this work to do, and so we do not become discouraged. ² We put aside all secret and shameful deeds; we do not act with deceit, nor do we falsify the word of God. In the full light of truth we live in God's sight and try to commend ourselves to everyone's good conscience. ³ For if the gospel we preach is hidden, it is hidden only from those who are being lost. ⁴ They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. ⁵ For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ^6 (A)The God who said, “Out of darkness the light shall shine!” is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.

⁷ Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us. ⁸ We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; ⁹ there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed. ¹⁰ At all times we carry in our mortal bodies the death of Jesus, so that his life also may be seen in our bodies. ¹¹ Throughout our lives we are always in danger of death for Jesus' sake, in order that his life may be seen in this mortal body of ours. ¹² This means that death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

^13 (B)The scripture says, “I spoke because I believed.” In the same spirit of faith we also speak because we believe. ¹⁴ We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus to life, will also raise us up with Jesus and take us, together with you, into his presence. ¹⁵ All this is for your sake; and as God's grace reaches more and more people, they will offer to the glory of God more prayers of thanksgiving.

Living by Faith

¹⁶ For this reason we never become discouraged. Even though our physical being is gradually decaying, yet our spiritual being is renewed day after day. ¹⁷ And this small and temporary trouble we suffer will bring us a tremendous and eternal glory, much greater than the trouble. ¹⁸ For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.

Individual Responsibility

18 The Lord spoke to me ^2 (A)and said, “What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel?

³ “As surely as I am the living God,” says the Sovereign Lord, “you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. ⁴ The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die.

⁵ “Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. ⁶ He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. ⁷ He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. ⁸ He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. ^9 (B)Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live,” says the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁰ “Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any^[a] of these things ¹¹ that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. ¹² He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, ¹³ and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death.

¹⁴ “Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. ¹⁵ He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife ¹⁶ or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. ¹⁷ He refuses to do evil^[b] and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. ¹⁸ His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed^[c] and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed.

¹⁹ “But you ask, ‘Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?’ The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. ^20 (C)It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do.

²¹ “If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. ²² All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. ²³ Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?” asks the Sovereign Lord. “No, I would rather see them repent and live.

²⁴ “But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins.

²⁵ “But you say, ‘What the Lord does isn't right.’ Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. ²⁶ When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. ²⁷ When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. ²⁸ He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. ²⁹ And you Israelites say, ‘What the Lord does isn't right.’ You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right.

³⁰ “Now I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. ³¹ Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? ^32 (D)I do not want anyone to die,” says the Sovereign Lord. “Turn away from your sins and live.”

Confidence in God's Protection^[a]

^(B)Longing for God^[b]