M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Saul Rejected as King
15 Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people Israel.(A) Now, listen to the words of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed[a] what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt.(B) 3 Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have.(C) Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”(D)
4 Then Saul summoned the troops and counted them at Telaim: 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah. 5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the wadi. 6 He warned the Kenites,(E) “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came out of Egypt,(F) go on and leave! Get away from the Amalekites, or I’ll sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites(G) from Havilah(H) all the way to Shur,(I) which is next to Egypt. 8 He captured Agag(J) king of Amalek alive, but he completely destroyed all the rest of the people with the sword.(K) 9 Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, cattle, and choice animals,[b] as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, 11 “I regret that I made Saul king,(L) for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.”(M) So Samuel became angry and cried out to the Lord all night.(N)
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but it was reported to Samuel, “Saul went to Carmel(O) where he set up a monument for himself. Then he turned around and went down to Gilgal.”(P) 13 When Samuel came to him, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you.(Q) I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
14 Samuel replied, “Then what is this sound of sheep[c] and cattle I hear?”
15 Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord your God,(R) but the rest we destroyed.”(S)
16 “Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” he replied.
17 Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant,(T) have you not become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel 18 and then sent you on a mission and said: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’ 19 So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder(U) and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”
20 “But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered.[d] “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21 The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”(V)
22 Then Samuel said:
Does the Lord(W) take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.(X)
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,(Y)
and defiance is like wickedness(Z) and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He has rejected you as king.(AA)
24 Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned.(AB) I have transgressed the Lord’s command(AC) and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. 25 Now therefore, please forgive my sin(AD) and return with me so I can worship the Lord.”
26 Samuel replied to Saul, “I will not return with you. Because you rejected the word of the Lord,(AE) the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today(AF) and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.(AG) 29 Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel(AH) does not lie or change His mind, for He is not man who changes his mind.”(AI)
30 Saul said, “I have sinned. Please honor me(AJ) now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me so I can bow in worship to the Lord your God.”(AK) 31 Then Samuel went back, following Saul, and Saul bowed down to the Lord.
32 Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of Amalek.”
Agag came to him trembling,[e] for he thought, “Certainly the bitterness of death has come.”[f][g]
33 Samuel declared:
As your sword has made women childless,
so your mother will be childless among women.(AL)
Then he hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
34 Samuel went to Ramah,(AM) and Saul went up to his home in Gibeah(AN) of Saul. 35 Even to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul.(AO) Samuel mourned for Saul,(AP) and the Lord regretted He had made Saul king over Israel.
A Christian’s Duties to the State
13 Everyone must submit to the governing authorities,(A) for there is no authority except from God,(B) and those that exist are instituted by God. 2 So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror(C) to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. 4 For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger(D) that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. 5 Therefore, you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of your conscience.(E) 6 And for this reason you pay taxes, since the authorities are God’s public servants, continually attending to these tasks.[a] 7 Pay your obligations(F) to everyone: taxes to those you owe taxes,(G) tolls to those you owe tolls, respect to those you owe respect,(H) and honor to those you owe honor.
Love, Our Primary Duty
8 Do not owe anyone anything,[b] except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.(I) 9 The commandments:
and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself.(K)[e]
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.
Put On Christ
11 Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour(L) for you[f] to wake up from sleep,(M) for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.(N) 12 The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near,(O) so let us discard the deeds of darkness(P) and put on the armor of light.(Q) 13 Let us walk with decency,(R) as in the daylight: not in carousing and drunkenness;(S) not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,(T) and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.(U)
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah. 2 Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight just as Jehoiakim had done.(A) 3 Because of the Lord’s anger, it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence. Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.(B)
4 In the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem with his entire army. They laid siege to the city and built a siege wall all around it. 5 The city was under siege until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year.
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that the people of the land had no food. 7 Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled. They left the city by night by way of the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans surrounded the city. They made their way along the route to the Arabah.(C) 8 The Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. Zedekiah’s entire army was scattered from him. 9 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him.
10 At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes and also slaughtered the Judean commanders. 11 Then he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze chains. The king of Babylon brought Zedekiah to Babylon, where he kept him in custody[a] until his dying day.(D)
12 On the tenth day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, entered Jerusalem as the representative of[b] the king of Babylon. 13 He burned the Lord’s temple, the king’s palace, all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the nobles. 14 The whole Chaldean army with the commander of the guards tore down all the walls surrounding Jerusalem.(E) 15 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported some of the poorest of the people, as well as the rest of the people who were left in the city, the deserters who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But some of the poorest people of the land Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, left to be vinedressers and farmers.(F)
17 Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars for the Lord’s temple and the water carts and the bronze reservoir that were in the Lord’s temple,(G) and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 They took the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, dishes, and all the bronze articles used in the temple service. 19 The commander of the guards took away the bowls, firepans, sprinkling basins, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls(H)—whatever was gold or silver.
20 As for the two pillars, the one reservoir, and the 12 bronze bulls under the water carts that King Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, the weight of the bronze of all these articles was beyond measure. 21 One pillar was 27 feet[c] tall, had a circumference of 18 feet,[d] was hollow—four fingers thick— 22 and had a bronze capital on top of it.(I) One capital, encircled by bronze latticework and pomegranates, stood 7½ feet[e] high. The second pillar was the same, with pomegranates. 23 Each capital had 96 pomegranates all around it. All the pomegranates around the latticework numbered 100.
24 The commander of the guards also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three doorkeepers. 25 From the city he took a court official who had been appointed over the warriors; seven trusted royal aides[f] found in the city; the secretary of the commander of the army, who enlisted the people of the land for military duty; and 60 men from the common people who were found within the city. 26 Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 The king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah went into exile from its land.(J)
28 These are the people Nebuchadnezzar deported:(K) in the seventh year, 3,023 Jews; 29 in his eighteenth year,[g] 832 people from Jerusalem; 30 in Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year, Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guards, deported 745 Jews. All together 4,600 people were deported.
Jehoiachin Pardoned
31 On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, pardoned King Jehoiachin of Judah and released him from prison. 32 He spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life. 34 As for his allowance, a regular allowance was given to him by the king of Babylon, a portion for each day until the day of his death, for the rest of his life.(L)
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(A)
Save me by Your righteousness.
2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.(B)
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;(C)
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.(D)
4 You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.(E)
5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;(F)
You redeem[a] me, Lord, God of truth.(G)
6 I[b] hate those who are devoted to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.(H)
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithful love
because You have seen my affliction.
You have known the troubles of my life(I)
8 and have not handed me over to the enemy.(J)
You have set my feet in a spacious place.(K)
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am in distress;(L)
my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—
my whole being[c] as well.(M)
10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;(N)
my strength has failed
because of my sinfulness,[d]
and my bones waste away.(O)
11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries
and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street run from me.(P)
12 I am forgotten: gone from memory
like a dead person—like broken pottery.(Q)
13 I have heard the gossip of many;
terror is on every side.(R)
When they conspired against me,
they plotted to take my life.(S)
14 But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”(T)
15 The course of my life is in Your power;(U)
deliver me from the power of my enemies
and from my persecutors.(V)
16 Show Your favor to Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love.(W)
17 Lord, do not let me be disgraced when I call on You.(X)
Let the wicked be disgraced;
let them be silent[e][f] in Sheol.(Y)
18 Let lying lips be quieted;(Z)
they speak arrogantly against the righteous
with pride and contempt.(AA)
19 How great is Your goodness
that You have stored up for those who fear You
and accomplished in the sight of everyone
for those who take refuge in You.(AB)
20 You hide them in the protection of Your presence;
You conceal them in a shelter[g]
from the schemes of men,
from quarrelsome tongues.(AC)
21 May the Lord be praised,
for He has wonderfully shown His faithful love to me
in a city under siege.[h](AD)
22 In my alarm I had said,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”(AE)
But You heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to You for help.(AF)
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