M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 10
Saul Is Anointed. 1 Samuel took a flask of oil, and he poured it upon his head. He kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you as leader over his inheritance?[a] 2 When you leave me today, you will encounter two men near the Tomb of Rachel on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you were looking for have been found. Your father has stopped worrying about the donkeys and has begun to worry about you saying, “What shall I do about my son?” ’
3 “From there you are to continue on until you arrive at the Terebinth of Tabor. Three men who are on their way to God in Bethel will meet you there. One will be bringing three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and the third a bottle of wine. 4 They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread. Take them from them.
Signs and Prophecies. 5 “After that go to Gibeath-elohim where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the city, you will meet a band of prophets coming down from the high places with lyres, tambourines, flutes, and harps being played before them. They will be prophesying.[b] 6 The Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them, for you will be changed into another person. 7 Once these signs occur, do whatever comes to hand, for God is with you. 8 Precede me to Gilgal, and I will come down to be with you and to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. You are to wait for seven days until I come to you and show you what to do.”
The Signs Fulfilled. 9 When Saul turned around to leave Samuel, God changed his heart. All those signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, they were met by a band of prophets. The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him and he prophesied among them. 11 When all of those who had known him saw him prophesying among the prophets, they said to one another, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also one of the prophets?” 12 A man who lived there asked, “Who is their father?” This is why it became a saying, “Is Saul also one of the prophets?”
13 After Saul stopped prophesying, he went up to the high places. 14 Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant, “Where have you been?” He answered, “Looking for the donkeys. When we realized that we could not find them, we went to Samuel.” 15 Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 Saul said to his uncle, “He informed us that the donkeys had been found.” He did not tell him about what Samuel had said concerning the kingdom.
17 Saul Is Chosen King.[c] Samuel summoned the people of Israel to Mizpah. 18 He said to the Israelites, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt and delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians and all of the nations that oppressed you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God who himself delivers you from all of your adversities and difficulties. You have said to him, ‘Appoint a king over us.’ Now present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and by clans.”
20 When Samuel had all of the tribes of Israel approach him, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. 21 Then he had the tribe of Benjamin approach him clan by clan, and the clan of Matri was chosen. Finally Saul, the son of Kish, was chosen. But when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 They then asked the Lord, “Has the man arrived yet?” The Lord answered, “Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 They ran and brought him back from there. When he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of them. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see whom the Lord has chosen? There is no one else like him among the people.” All the people cried out, “Long live the king.”
25 Samuel instructed the people concerning the ordinances of the kingdom. He wrote this in a book and placed it before the Lord. Then Samuel dismissed all of the people, each to his own home. 26 Saul also went home to Gibeah, and he was accompanied by a group of brave men whose hearts God had touched.[d] 27 But some sons of Belial said, “How can this one save us?” They held him in contempt and brought him no gifts, but he held his peace.
The Spirit of God Dwells in Christians[a]
Chapter 8
There Is No Longer Any Condemnation. 1 Hence, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 That which the Law, weakened by the flesh, was unable to do, God has done. By sending his own Son in the likeness of our sinful nature as a sin offering, he condemned sin in the flesh 4 so that the righteous requirements of the Law[b] might be fulfilled in us who live not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Animated by the Spirit and Rendered Children of God.[c] 5 Those who live according to the flesh fix their attention on the things of the flesh, while those who live according to the Spirit set their thoughts on spiritual things. 6 The desires of the flesh result in death, but the desires of the Spirit result in life and peace. 7 Indeed, the desires of the flesh will be hostile to God, for they do not submit to the Law of God, nor could they do so. 8 Those who live according to the flesh can never be pleasing to God.
9 You, however, do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not possess the Spirit of Christ cannot belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though the body is dead as a result of sin, the Spirit is alive in you because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then the one who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you.[d]
12 Consequently, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh and obliged to live according to the flesh. 13 If you do live according to the flesh, you will die. However, if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 [e]Those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery leading to fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God. 17 And if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, provided that we share his sufferings so that we may also share his glory.
18 The Future Glory That Shall Be Revealed.[f] I consider that the sufferings we presently endure are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed in us. 19 Indeed, creation itself eagerly awaits the revelation of the children of God. 20 For creation was subjected to frustration, not of its own choice but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope 21 that creation itself will be freed from its slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 As we know, the entire creation has been groaning in labor pains until now— 23 and not only creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for our adoption as children, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now to see something does not involve hope. For why should we hope for what we have already seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet see, then we wait for it with patience.
26 In the same way, even the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs that cannot be put into words. 27 And the one who searches hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
28 We know that God makes all things work together for good for those who love him[g] and who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son so that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 Who Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ? What then can we say in response to all this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for all of us. How then can he fail also to give us everything else along with him?
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who acquits. 34 Who will condemn? Christ Jesus, who died, or rather rose again, who is at God’s right hand and intercedes for us?[h] 35 Who then can separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or the sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being slain all day long;
we are treated like sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, throughout all these things we are conquerors because of him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth,[i] nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Chapter 47[a]
Against the Philistines. 1 This is the word of the Lord that came to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. 2 Thus says the Lord:
Behold how the waters are rising from the north;
they will become an everlasting torrent.
They shall flood the land and all that is in it,
the towns and those who live in them.
People will cry out for help,
and all the inhabitants of the land will wail.
3 On hearing the thundering hooves of the stallions,
the noise of the chariots and their rumbling wheels,
fathers do not turn to help their children;
their hands fall limp,
4 [b]because the day has come
to destroy all the Philistines,
and to cut off Tyre and Sidon
from any allies who could support them.
The Lord is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
5 Baldness has afflicted Gaza;
Ashkelon has been silenced.
O remnant of the Philistine strength,
how long will you continue to gash yourselves?
6 Ah, sword of the Lord,
how long will it be before you rest?
Return back to your scabbard.
Cease and be still.
7 But how can you be at rest
when the Lord has given you an order,
when he has commanded you to subdue
Ashkelon and the seacoast?
Psalm 23[a]
Prayer to the Good Shepherd
1 A psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall lack.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;[b]
he leads me to tranquil streams.
3 He restores my soul,[c]
guiding me in paths of righteousness
so that his name may be glorified.
4 Even though I wander
through the valley of the shadow of death,[d]
I will fear no evil,
for you are at my side,
with your rod and your staff
that comfort me.
5 [e]You spread a table for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;[f]
my cup overflows.
6 Only goodness and kindness[g] will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever and ever.
Psalm 24[h]
The Lord’s Solemn Entry into Jerusalem
1 [i]A psalm of David.
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it.[j]
2 For he founded it on the seas
and established[k] it on the rivers.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 One who has clean hands and a pure heart,[l]
who does not turn his mind to vanities
or swear an oath in order to deceive.
5 He will receive a blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God, his Savior.
6 This is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 [m]Lift up your arches, O gates;
rise up, you ancient portals,[n]
so that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, valiant in battle.
9 Lift up your arches, O gates,
rise up, you ancient portals,
so that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts:[o]
he is the King of glory. Selah
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