M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Ziba, a False Servant

16 Now when David had gone on ^(A)a little beyond the summit, behold, ^(B)Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him ^(C)with a team of saddled donkeys, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a jug of wine. ² And the king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?” And Ziba said, “^(D)The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat, and the wine, ^(E)for whoever is weary in the wilderness to drink.” ³ Then the king said, “And where is ^(F)your master’s son?” And ^(G)Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me.’” ⁴ So the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” And Ziba said, “I prostrate myself; may I find favor in your sight, my lord, the king!”

David Is Cursed

⁵ When King David came to ^(H)Bahurim, behold, a man was coming out from there from the family of the house of Saul, and ^(I)his name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he was coming out, ^(J)cursing as he came. ⁶ He also threw stones at David and all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the warriors were on his right and on his left. ⁷ This is what Shimei said when he cursed: “Go away, go away, ^(K)you man of bloodshed and worthless man! ^8 (L)The Lord has brought back upon you all ^(M)the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have become king; and the Lord has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. And behold, you are caught in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!”

⁹ Then ^(N)Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should ^(O)this dead dog ^(P)curse my lord the king? Now let me go over and ^[a]cut off his head.” ¹⁰ But the king said, “^[b](Q)What business of mine is yours, you sons of Zeruiah? ^(R)If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, ‘Curse David,’ ^(S)then who should say, ‘Why have you done so?’” ¹¹ Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, ^(T)my son who came out of my own body seeks my life; how much more now this Benjaminite? Leave him alone and let him curse, ^(U)for the Lord has told him. ¹² Perhaps the Lord will look on my ^[c]misery and ^[d](V)return good to me instead of his cursing this day.” ¹³ So David and his men went on the road; and Shimei kept going on the hillside close beside him, and as he went he cursed and threw stones and dirt at him. ¹⁴ And the king and all the people who were with him arrived exhausted, and he refreshed himself there.

Absalom Enters Jerusalem

^15 (W)Then Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. ¹⁶ Now it came about, when ^(X)Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, that ^(Y)Hushai said to Absalom, “^(Z)Long live the king! Long live the king!” ¹⁷ But Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your ^[e]loyalty to your friend? ^(AA)Why did you not go with your friend?” ¹⁸ So Hushai said to Absalom, “No! For whomever the Lord, this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I shall be, and with him I shall remain. ¹⁹ Besides, ^(AB)whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of his son? Just as I have served in your father’s presence, so I shall be in your presence.”

²⁰ Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your advice. What should we do?” ²¹ Ahithophel said to Absalom, “^(AC)Have relations with your father’s concubines, whom he has left behind to take care of the house; then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself repulsive to your father. The hands of all who are with you will also be strengthened.” ²² So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, ^(AD)and Absalom had relations with his father’s concubines ^(AE)in the sight of all Israel. ²³ Now ^(AF)the advice of Ahithophel, which he ^[f]gave in those days, was taken as though one inquired of the word of God; ^(AG)so was all the advice of Ahithophel regarded by both David and Absalom.

God Gives Most

9 For ^(A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ^(B)ministry to the ^[a]saints; ² for I know your willingness, of which I ^(C)boast about you to the ^(D)Macedonians, namely, that ^(E)Achaia has been prepared since ^(F)last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³ But I have sent the brothers, in order that our ^(G)boasting about you may not prove empty in this case, so that, ^(H)as I was saying, you will be prepared; ⁴ otherwise, if any ^(I)Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to mention you—would be put to shame by this confidence. ⁵ So I considered it necessary to urge the ^(J)brothers that they go on ahead to you and arrange in advance your previously promised ^[b](K)generous gift, that the same would be ready as a ^[c](L)generous gift, and not as one grudgingly given due to greediness.

⁶ Now I say this: ^(M)the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows ^[d]generously will also reap ^[e]generously. ⁷ Each one must do just as he has decided in his heart, not ^(N)reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(O)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And ^(P)God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that, always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; ⁹ as it is written:

¹⁰ Now He who supplies ^(R)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^(S)increase the harvest of your righteousness; ¹¹ you will be ^(T)enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing ^(U)thanksgiving to God. ¹² For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying ^(V)the needs of the ^[g]saints, but is also overflowing ^(W)through many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ Because of the proof given by this ^(X)ministry, they will ^(Y)glorify God for your obedience to your ^(Z)confession of the ^(AA)gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your ^[h]contribution to them and to all, ¹⁴ while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. ^15 (AB)Thanks be to God for His indescribable ^(AC)gift!

Oholah and Oholibah’s Sin and Its Consequences

23 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ² “Son of man, there were ^(A)two women, the daughters of one mother; ³ and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. They ^(B)prostituted themselves in their youth; there their breasts were squeezed and there their virgin breasts were handled. ⁴ Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

⁵ “Oholah prostituted herself ^[a]while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the ^(C)Assyrians, her neighbors, ⁶ who were clothed in purple, ^(D)governors and officials, all of them handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses. ⁷ She bestowed her ^[b]obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest ^[c]men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she ^(E)defiled herself. ⁸ She did not abandon her obscene practices ^(F)from the time in Egypt; for in her youth ^[d]men had slept with her, and they handled her virgin breasts and poured out their obscene practice on her. ⁹ Therefore, I handed her over to her ^(G)lovers, to the ^[e]Assyrians, after whom she lusted. ¹⁰ They ^(H)uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. So she became a ^[f]subject of gossip among women, and they executed judgments on her.

¹¹ “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was ^(I)more corrupt in her lust than she, and her obscene practices were ^[g]more than the prostitution of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the ^[h](J)Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, opulently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them handsome young men. ¹³ And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took ^[i]the same way. ¹⁴ So she increased her obscene practices. And she saw men ^(K)carved on the wall, images of the ^(L)Chaldeans drawn in bright red, ¹⁵ wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, ^[j]like the ^[k]Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. ¹⁶ And ^[l]when she saw them she ^(M)lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the ^[m](N)Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, ^[n]she turned away from them in disgust. ¹⁸ She ^(O)exposed her obscene practices and exposed her nakedness; then ^[o]I turned away from her in ^(P)disgust, just as ^[p]I had turned away from her ^(Q)sister in disgust. ¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her obscene practices, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ She ^(R)lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose discharge is like the discharge of horses. ²¹ So you longed for the ^(S)outrageous sin of your youth, when ^[q]the Egyptians handled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.

²² “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord ^[r]God says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom ^[s]you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: ²³ the ^[t](T)Babylonians and all the ^(U)Chaldeans, ^(V)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the ^[u](W)Assyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and ^[v]men of renown, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ And they will come against you with weapons, ^(X)chariots, and ^[w]wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, ^[x]buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the ^(Y)judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. ²⁵ I will set My ^(Z)jealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your ^[y]survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your ^(AA)sons and your daughters; and your ^[z]survivors will be consumed by the fire. ²⁶ They will also ^(AB)strip you of your clothes and take away your ^(AC)beautiful jewelry. ²⁷ So ^(AD)I will remove from you your outrageous sin and your prostitution that you brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not raise your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ ²⁸ For this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand you over to those whom you ^(AE)hate, to those from whom ^[aa]you turned away in disgust. ²⁹ They will ^(AF)deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, both your outrageous sin and your obscene practices. ³⁰ These things will be done to you because you have ^(AG)adulterously pursued the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put ^(AH)her cup in your hand.’ ³² This is what the Lord God says:

for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God. ³⁵ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have ^(AM)forgotten Me and ^(AN)discarded Me behind your back, suffer on your own part the punishment for your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.’”

³⁶ Moreover, the Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you ^(AO)judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then ^(AP)declare to them their abominations. ³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, ^(AQ)whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to ^[ac]them as food. ³⁸ Again, they have done this to Me: they have ^(AR)defiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have ^(AS)profaned My Sabbaths. ³⁹ For when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My ^(AT)sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house.

⁴⁰ “Furthermore, ^[ad]they have even sent for men who come from a great distance, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, ^(AU)put makeup on your eyes, and ^(AV)adorned yourselves with jewelry; ⁴¹ and you sat on a splendid ^(AW)couch with a ^(AX)table arranged in front of it on which you had set My ^(AY)incense and My ^(AZ)oil. ⁴² And the sound of a ^[ae](BA)carefree multitude was with her; and ^(BB)heavy drinkers were brought from the wilderness with people from the multitude of humanity. And they put ^(BC)bracelets on ^[af]the wrists of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³ “Then I said concerning her who was ^(BD)worn out by adulteries, ‘^[ag]Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’ ^44 [ah]But they went in to her as they would go in to a prostitute. This is how they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. ⁴⁵ But they, righteous people, will ^(BE)judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶ “For this is what the Lord God says: ‘Bring up a contingent against them and turn them over to ^(BF)terror and plunder. ⁴⁷ The contingent will ^(BG)stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and ^(BH)burn their houses with fire. ⁴⁸ So I will eliminate outrageous conduct from the land, so that all women will take warning and not commit ^[ai]outrageous sin as you have done. ⁴⁹ Your outrageous conduct ^[aj]will be ^(BI)repaid to you, and you will bear the guilt for your idols; so you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

Prayer for Help against Persecutors.

For the music director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.

Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.