Boundaries: A Biblical Perspective

Perfectly Imperfect | Discovering Grace When Perfect Isn’t Possible, a 7-Day Devotional by Jacques McNeil

Women of the New Testament

When Grief or Loss Hits Like a Wave

I Said Yes to Jesus: A 5-Day Journey to Take Your Next Steps in Faith by Youth Alive Australia

Seeing With Your Ears

Acts 19:23-41 | Living for Christ in a Confused World

The Cultivation of Consistency

Sent With Purpose

THE RIPPLE EFFECT: The Art of Discipleship

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2SA">
 <div class="chapter ch17" data-usfm="2SA.17">
 <div class="label">17</div><div class="p"> 1Ahithophel said to Absalom, &#8220;I would#17:1 Or Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David. 2I would attack him while he is weary and weak. I would strike him with terror, and then all the people with him will flee. I would strike down only the king 3and bring all the people back to you. The death of the man you seek will mean the return of all; all the people will be unharmed.&#8221; 4This plan seemed good to Absalom and to all the elders of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 5But Absalom said, &#8220;Summon also Hushai the Arkite, so we can hear what he has to say as well.&#8221; 6When Hushai came to him, Absalom said, &#8220;Ahithophel has given this advice. Should we do what he says? If not, give us your opinion.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7Hushai replied to Absalom, &#8220;The advice Ahithophel has given is not good this time. 8You know your father and his men; they are fighters, and as fierce as a wild bear robbed of her cubs. Besides, your father is an experienced fighter; he will not spend the night with the troops. 9Even now, he is hidden in a cave or some other place. If he should attack your troops first,#17:9 Or When some of the men fall at the first attack whoever hears about it will say, &#8216;There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.&#8217; 10Then even the bravest soldier, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will melt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a fighter and that those with him are brave.</div><div class="p"> 11&#8220;So I advise you: Let all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba&#8212;as numerous as the sand on the seashore&#8212;be gathered to you, with you yourself leading them into battle. 12Then we will attack him wherever he may be found, and we will fall on him as dew settles on the ground. Neither he nor any of his men will be left alive. 13If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will drag it down to the valley until not so much as a pebble is left.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Absalom and all the men of Israel said, &#8220;The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than that of Ahithophel.&#8221; For the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.</div><div class="p"> 15Hushai told Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, &#8220;Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the elders of Israel to do such and such, but I have advised them to do so and so. 16Now send a message at once and tell David, &#8216;Do not spend the night at the fords in the wilderness; cross over without fail, or the king and all the people with him will be swallowed up.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel. A female servant was to go and inform them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they could not risk being seen entering the city. 18But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So the two of them left at once and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. He had a well in his courtyard, and they climbed down into it. 19His wife took a covering and spread it out over the opening of the well and scattered grain over it. No one knew anything about it.</div><div class="p"> 20When Absalom&#8217;s men came to the woman at the house, they asked, &#8220;Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?&#8221;</div><div class="p">The woman answered them, &#8220;They crossed over the brook.&#8221;#17:20 Or &#8220;They passed by the sheep pen toward the water.&#8221; The men searched but found no one, so they returned to Jerusalem.</div><div class="p"> 21After they had gone, the two climbed out of the well and went to inform King David. They said to him, &#8220;Set out and cross the river at once; Ahithophel has advised such and such against you.&#8221; 22So David and all the people with him set out and crossed the Jordan. By daybreak, no one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.</div><div class="p"> 23When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father&#8217;s tomb.</div><div class="s1">Absalom&#8217;s Death</div><div class="p"> 24David went to Mahanaim, and Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of Jether,#17:25 Hebrew Ithra, a variant of Jether an Ishmaelite#17:25 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 2:17); Hebrew and other Septuagint manuscripts Israelite who had married Abigail,#17:25 Hebrew Abigal, a variant of Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah the mother of Joab. 26The Israelites and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.</div><div class="p"> 27When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils,#17:28 Most Septuagint manuscripts and Syriac; Hebrew lentils, and roasted grain 29honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows&#8217; milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, &#8220;The people have become exhausted and hungry and thirsty in the wilderness.&#8221;</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk2CO">
 <div class="chapter ch10" data-usfm="2CO.10">
 <div class="label">10</div><div class="s1">Paul&#8217;s Defense of His Ministry</div><div class="p"> 1By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you&#8212;I, Paul, who am &#8220;timid&#8221; when face to face with you, but &#8220;bold&#8221; toward you when away! 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.</div><div class="p"> 7You are judging by appearances.#10:7 Or Look at the obvious facts If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10For some say, &#8220;His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.&#8221; 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.</div><div class="p"> 12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else&#8217;s territory. 17But, &#8220;Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.&#8221;#10:17 Jer. 9:24 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch24" data-usfm="EZK.24">
 <div class="label">24</div><div class="s1">Jerusalem as a Cooking Pot</div><div class="p"> 1In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Put on the cooking pot; put it on</div><div class="q2">and pour water into it.</div><div class="q1"> 4Put into it the pieces of meat,</div><div class="q2">all the choice pieces&#8212;the leg and the shoulder.</div><div class="q1">Fill it with the best of these bones;</div><div class="q2"> 5take the pick of the flock.</div><div class="q1">Pile wood beneath it for the bones;</div><div class="q2">bring it to a boil</div><div class="q2">and cook the bones in it.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="m"> 6&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Woe to the city of bloodshed,</div><div class="q2">to the pot now encrusted,</div><div class="q2">whose deposit will not go away!</div><div class="q1">Take the meat out piece by piece</div><div class="q2">in whatever order it comes.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"> 7&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;For the blood she shed is in her midst:</div><div class="q2">She poured it on the bare rock;</div><div class="q1">she did not pour it on the ground,</div><div class="q2">where the dust would cover it.</div><div class="q1"> 8To stir up wrath and take revenge</div><div class="q2">I put her blood on the bare rock,</div><div class="q2">so that it would not be covered.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="m"> 9&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:</div><div class="q1">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Woe to the city of bloodshed!</div><div class="q2">I, too, will pile the wood high.</div><div class="q1"> 10So heap on the wood</div><div class="q2">and kindle the fire.</div><div class="q1">Cook the meat well,</div><div class="q2">mixing in the spices;</div><div class="q2">and let the bones be charred.</div><div class="q1"> 11Then set the empty pot on the coals</div><div class="q2">till it becomes hot and its copper glows,</div><div class="q1">so that its impurities may be melted</div><div class="q2">and its deposit burned away.</div><div class="q1"> 12It has frustrated all efforts;</div><div class="q2">its heavy deposit has not been removed,</div><div class="q2">not even by fire.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Ezekiel&#8217;s Wife Dies</div><div class="p"> 15The word of the Lord came to me: 16&#8220;Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. 17Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded.</div><div class="p"> 19Then the people asked me, &#8220;Won&#8217;t you tell us what these things have to do with us? Why are you acting like this?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20So I said to them, &#8220;The word of the Lord came to me: 21Say to the people of Israel, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate my sanctuary&#8212;the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword. 22And you will do as I have done. You will not cover your mustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners. 23You will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep but will waste away because of#24:23 Or away in your sins and groan among yourselves. 24Ezekiel will be a sign to you; you will do just as he has done. When this happens, you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 25&#8220;And you, son of man, on the day I take away their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes, their heart&#8217;s desire, and their sons and daughters as well&#8212; 26on that day a fugitive will come to tell you the news. 27At that time your mouth will be opened; you will speak with him and will no longer be silent. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.&#8221;</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

M'Cheyne Modified One Year Reading PlanSample

Scripture

About this Plan

Related Plans