M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 15[a]
Saul’s Disobedience. 1 Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Therefore, hearken to the sound of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will remember what the Amalekites did to Israel when they waylaid them as they were coming up out of Egypt. 3 Go now, and attack Amalek. Wipe out everything that belongs to them. Do not spare any of them, kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”
4 Saul summoned the people and counted them at Telaim. There were two hundred thousand soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the valley.
6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites, so that I not destroy you along with them. You were kind to all of the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.[b]
7 Saul then struck down the Amalekites from Havilah down to Shur which lies to the east of Egypt. 8 He captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive, but he put all of the people to the sword. 9 Saul and the people spared Agag, all of the best of the sheep and oxen, the fat calves and lambs, everything that was good. Yet, everything that was weak and useless they totally destroyed.
10 Samuel Rebukes Saul. The word of the Lord came to Samuel saying, 11 “I am sorry that I appointed Saul as king, for he has turned away from me by not observing my commandments.” Samuel was disturbed, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. 12 Early in the morning, Samuel went out to meet Saul. Samuel was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. He set up a monument there for himself, so he turned around and traveled on, going down to Gilgal.”[c]
13 Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “May you be blessed. I have fulfilled the command of the Lord.” 14 Samuel responded, “Then what is the bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul answered, “They have brought them from the Amalekites. The people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord, your God. We have totally destroyed the rest of it.” 16 Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me tonight.” He said, “Keep speaking.” 17 Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own opinion, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? Has the Lord not anointed you as king over Israel? 18 The Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites. Fight against them until they are wiped out.’ 19 Why did you not heed the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil, doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20 Saul answered Samuel, “But I did hearken to the voice of the Lord. I went on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have wiped out Agag, the king of Amalek, and the Amalekites. 21 The people took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the dedicated things, to sacrifice them to the Lord, your God, in Gilgal.”
22 [d]But Samuel replied, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in heeding the voice of the Lord? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, being attentive is better than the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
24 Saul Asks for Pardon. Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned against the command of the Lord and against your instruction because I was afraid of the people and I listened to their complaints. 25 Now, I beg you, forgive my sin and return with me, so that I can worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not go back with you because you have rejected the word of the Lord. The Lord has rejected you as king over Israel.”
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed on to the hem of his garment and tore it. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn away the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given it to one of your neighbors, someone who is better than you. 29 He who is the strength of Israel does not lie nor does he repent, for he is not a man that he should change his mind.”
30 He said, “I have sinned. Please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me so that I might worship the Lord, your God.” 31 Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32 Agag’s Death. Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” Agag came before him cheerfully, for Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 Then Samuel said, “As your sword made women childless, so among women your mother will be childless.” Samuel then hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord.
34 After this Samuel traveled to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not go back to visit Saul again until the day of his death, though Samuel mourned for Saul. The Lord regretted that he had appointed Saul as king over Israel.
Chapter 13
Obedience to Authority.[a] 1 Let everyone submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which derives from God, and whatever authorities exist have been instituted by God. 2 Consequently, anyone who resists authority is rebelling against what God has appointed, and those who so resist will bring judgment upon themselves.
3 Rulers are a source of fear not to those who do good but rather to those who do evil. Do you wish to be free of fear from someone in authority? Then continue to do what is right and you will receive his approval. 4 For he is acting as God’s representative for your welfare. But if you do what is evil, then be afraid for he does not wear a sword for nothing. People in authority are God’s servants to mete out punishment to wrongdoers.
5 Therefore, you are obliged to submit, not only because of fear of punishment but also because of conscience. 6 That is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, and they devote themselves to this service. 7 Pay to each person what is rightfully his—taxes to the one to whom taxes are due, tolls to the one to whom tolls are due, respect to the one to whom respect is due, honor to the one to whom honor is due.
Love Is the Fulfillment of the Law.[b] 8 Owe nothing to anyone except the debt of love you owe one another. The one who loves others has fulfilled the Law. 9 “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and every other commandment are all summed up in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love cannot result in any harm to the neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfillment of the Law.
11 Live Honestly As in the Light.[c] Do this knowing that the hour has come. It is time for you to awaken from sleep. For our salvation is nearer to us now than it was when we first began to believe. 12 The night is nearly over, and the day is at hand.
Let us therefore cast aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave honorably as in the day: not in orgies and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and allow no opportunity for the flesh to gratify its sinful desires.
Historical Appendix
Chapter 52[a]
The Siege of Jerusalem. 1 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 Indeed Jerusalem and Judah so aroused the anger of the Lord that he cast them away from his presence.
Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 Therefore, in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped around the city and constructed siege-works against it on every side. 5 The city remained under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
6 On the ninth day of the fourth month there was such a severe famine in the city that there was no food available for the people to eat. 7 Then a breach was made in the city wall, and all of the soldiers fled, departing from the city under the cover of darkness by the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, and they set off in the direction of the Arabah, even though the Chaldeans were surrounding the city. 8 The army of the Chaldeans set off in pursuit of the king, and they overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, while his army deserted him and scattered in all directions.
9 After Zedekiah was captured, he was taken to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where the king of Babylon passed sentence on him. 10 He had the sons of Zedekiah slaughtered before their father’s eyes, and he also put to death the princes of Judah at Riblah. 11 Then the king of Babylon put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him in fetters, and took him to Babylon, confining him in prison until the day of his death.
12 The Fall of Jerusalem. On the tenth day of the fifth month—this was in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, arrived at Jerusalem as the representative of the king of Babylon. 13 He burned to the ground the house of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every large house he ordered to be set afire. 14 Meanwhile, all the Chaldean troops who had accompanied the captain of the guard demolished the walls that surrounded Jerusalem.
15 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, led into exile some of the poorest people and those who remained in the city, those deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the remaining artisans. 16 However, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left behind some of the poorest people of the land to serve as vinedressers and farmers.
17 The Chaldeans broke up into pieces the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the wheeled stand and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, and they carried away all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They removed the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the basins, the ladles, and all the bronze vessels used in worship. 19 The captain of the guard also took away the small bowls, the censers, the sprinkling bowls, the ash containers, the lampstands, the goblets, and the saucers—everything that was made of gold or of silver.
20 The bronze of the two pillars, of the one sea, and of the twelve oxen under the sea, and the wheeled stands that King Solomon had ordered to be made for the house of the Lord, encompassed more than could be weighed. 21 Each of the pillars was eighteen cubits high, and the circumference of each was twelve cubits; although it was hollow inside, its thickness was four fingers. 22 Upon it was a capital of bronze. The height of each capital was five cubits, encircled at the top of the capital with latticework and bronze pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, with one hundred pomegranates encircling the latticework.
24 The captain of the guard took as prisoners the chief priest Seraiah, Zephaniah, who was the next highest in rank, and the three guardians of the threshold. 25 He also took from the city an officer who had been in command of the soldiers, seven members of the king’s council who were discovered in the city, the secretary of the army commander who mustered the people of the land, and sixty of the common people who had not departed from the city.
26 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, arrested these men and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 There at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon ordered them to be executed. Thus Judah went into captivity after being deported from its own land.
28 [b]This is the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar led away into exile: in the seventh year, three thousand and twenty-three Judeans; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, eight hundred and thirty-two people were deported from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took into exile seven hundred and forty-five Judeans. Thus there was a total of four thousand six hundred persons.
31 Honor Bestowed on Jehoiachin. In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, the king of Babylon, in the year he ascended the throne, pardoned Jehoia-chin, the king of Judah and ordered him to be released from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honor above the seats of the other kings who were with him in Babylon.
33 Jehoiachin laid aside his prison clothes, and for the rest of his life, he always dined at the king’s table. 34 In addition, the king of Babylon granted him a regular daily allowance for as long as he lived, up to the day of his death.
Psalm 31[a]
Prayer of Trust and Thanksgiving
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
3 Turn your ear to me,
and act quickly to save me.
Be to me a rock[d] of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
4 You are truly my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your name,[e] lead and guide me.
5 Deliver me from the snare that has been set for me,
for you are my refuge.
6 Into your hands I commend my spirit;[f]
you will redeem me, O Lord, God of truth.
7 You hate those who cling to false idols,
but I put my trust in the Lord.
8 I will rejoice and exult in your kindness[g]
because you have witnessed my affliction
and have taken note of my anguish.
9 You have not abandoned me into the power of the enemy;
rather, you have set my feet in the open.
10 [h]Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am in trouble.
My weeping is laying waste to my eyes
as well as my soul[i] and my body.
11 My life is consumed with sorrow
and my years with sighing.
My strength ebbs because of my misery,
and my bones are wasting away.
12 I am an object of scorn
to all my enemies,
a loathsome sight to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my friends.
When people catch sight of me outside,
they quickly turn away.
13 I have passed out of their minds
like someone who has died;
I have become like a broken vessel.[j]
14 I have heard the hissing of many:
“There is terror on every side,”[k]
as they conspire together against me
and plot to end my life.
15 But I place my trust in you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my God.”
16 My life is in your hands;[l]
deliver me from the power of my enemies,
from the clutches of those who pursue me.
17 Let your face shine[m] upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
18 [n]Do not let me be put to shame, O Lord,
for I have cried out to you.
Let the wicked be put to shame
and lie silent in the netherworld.
19 Let their lying lips be struck dumb,
lips that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.
20 [o]How great is your goodness, O Lord,
which you have stored up[p] for those who fear you
and which you bestow on those who take refuge in you,
in the presence of all the people.
21 You hide them in the safety of your presence
from those who conspire against them;
you keep them safe in your shelter,
far away from contentious tongues.
22 Blessed[q] be the Lord,
for he has manifested his wondrous kindness to me
when I was under siege.
23 I had cried out in terror,
“I have been cut off from your sight.”
But you heard my plea
when I cried out to you for assistance.
24 Love the Lord, all his saints.[r]
The Lord protects his loyal servants,
but the arrogant he repays beyond measure.
25 Be strong and courageous in your hearts,
all you who place your hope in the Lord.
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