M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Kings of Israel and Judah
Chapter 14
Amaziah of Judah. 1 Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah, began to reign during the second year of the reign of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. 2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jehoaddin, and she was from Jerusalem.
3 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, but not like David, his father. He did everything like his father Joash had done. 4 He did not eliminate the high places, and the people continued to sacrifice and burn incense upon the high places.
5 As soon as the kingdom was firmly in his hands, he killed the servants of his father, the king. 6 He did not put to death the sons of the murderers for it is written in the book of the law of Moses, “You shall not put the fathers to death on account of the sons, nor shall you put to death the sons on account of the fathers. Each man is to be put to death for his own sins.”[a]
7 He slew ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and he captured Sela in battle. He named it Joktheel, which is its name up to the present.
8 Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, the king of Israel saying, “Come, let us meet face to face.” 9 Jehoash, the king of Israel, replied to Amaziah, the king of Judah, saying, “A thistle in Lebanon sent to a cedar in Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son in marriage.’ A wild beast in Lebanon passed by and trampled on the thistle. 10 You have defeated Edom, and now you have become arrogant. Stay at home in your glory. Why should you stir up trouble and cause the downfall of yourself and of Judah as well?”
11 But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash, the king of Israel, attacked him. He and Amaziah, the king of Judah, met face to face at Beth-shemesh in Judah. 12 Judah was defeated by Israel, and each man fled to his own tent.
13 Jehoash, the king of Israel, captured Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-shemesh. He then went to Jerusalem and broke down the walls of Jerusalem from the Ephraim Gate up to the Corner Gate, a distance of four hundred cubits. 14 He took all of the gold and all of the silver and all of the utensils from the temple of the Lord and from the treasury of the royal palace. He also took hostages and returned to Samaria.
15 As for the other deeds of Jehoash, what he did, his achievements, and how he defeated Amaziah, the king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
16 Jehoash slept with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel, and Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead.
17 Amaziah, the king of Judah, the son of Joash, lived for another fifteen years after the death of Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz, the king of Israel. 18 As for the other deeds of Amaziah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
19 They plotted against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. They sent for him in Lachish and they killed him there. 20 They brought him back by horse and they buried him in Jerusalem with his fathers in the City of David.
21 The people of Judah then took Azariah who was sixteen years old, and they made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. 22 He rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after the king was sleeping with his fathers.
23 Jeroboam II of Israel.[b] Jeroboam, the son of Joash, became the king of Israel in Samaria during the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah, the son of Joash, the king of Judah. He reigned for forty-one years.
24 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
25 He restored the boundaries of Israel from the entrance of Lebo-hamath to the Sea of Arabah. This fulfilled the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, that had been proclaimed by his servant Jonah, the son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath-hepher.[c]
26 The Lord saw how terribly everyone in Israel was suffering, whether they were slave or free, for there was no one to help them in Israel. 27 He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, for the Lord had not said that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the heavens.
28 As for the other deeds of Jeroboam, what he did, his achievements, how he fought and recovered Damascus and Hamath for Israel which had previously belonged to Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
29 Jeroboam slept with his fathers, with the kings of Israel, and Zechariah his son, reigned in his stead.
Chapter 4
The Preaching of a Man of God[a]
The Charge To Preach. 1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead,[b] and by his appearing and his kingdom, I charge you: 2 preach the message; be persistent in doing so, whether in season or out of season; convince, reprove, and encourage, but with great patience and instruction.
The Need for Preaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not accept sound doctrine, but they will follow their own desires and accumulate teachers who will preach to their itching ears. 4 They will shut their ears to the truth and be captivated by myths. 5 As for you, always be sober. Endure hardships, do the work of preaching the gospel, and carry out your ministry to the fullest extent.[c]
The Triumphs of a Man of God[d]
Reward for Fidelity. 6 As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. 8 Now waiting for me is the crown[e] of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day—and not only to me, but to all those who have eagerly longed for his appearance.
Comfort in Trial. 9 Make every effort to come to me as soon as possible. 10 Because of his love of worldly pursuits, Demas[f] has deserted me and gone off to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has left for Dalmatia. 11 No one but Luke[g] is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he has been helpful to me in my ministry.
12 I have sent Tychicus[h] to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring along with you the cloak[i] that I left with Carpus in Troas, and also the scrolls, particularly the parchments.
14 Alexander the coppersmith[j] has done me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for his deeds. 15 Be on guard yourself against him, for he has been strongly opposed to our teaching.
16 At the first hearing of my case, no one came to court to support me. Every one of them deserted me. May it not be held against them! 17 But the Lord stood at my side[k] and gave me strength so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
Thus was I rescued from the lion’s jaws. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.[l]
Conclusion[m]
19 Final Greetings. Greet Prisca and Aquila,[n] and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus[o] remained in Corinth, while I left Trophimus ill in Miletus. 21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren.[p]
22 Farewell. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with all of you.[q]
Chapter 7
1 Whenever I decide to restore the fortunes of my people
and prepare to heal Israel,
the guilt of Ephraim confronts me
as well as the wicked deeds of Samaria.
They practice deceit;
thieves break into houses
while bandits plunder in the streets.[a]
2 But they somehow fail to remind themselves
that I remember all their wickedness.
I will not forget their wicked deeds;
they are constantly before my eyes.
The Conspirators
3 They delight the king with their wickedness
and the princes with their treachery.
4 All of them are adulterers;
they are like an oven all ablaze
whose fire the baker does not need to stoke
from the kneading of the dough until it has risen.
5 On the festal day of their king,
the princes become inflamed with wine
while the king extends his hand
to those who mock him.[b]
6 For they are heated like ovens
while their heart burns within them.
All through the night their passion slumbers;
in the morning it blazes forth like a flaming fire.
7 All of them are as hot as ovens,
and they consume their rulers.
All their kings have fallen;
not one of them calls out to me.
They Call upon Egypt, They Turn to Assyria
8 Ephraim mixes with the nations;
Ephraim is a half-baked cake.[c]
9 Foreigners have sapped his strength,
but he is unaware of it.
His hair is beginning to turn gray,
but he does not realize it.
10 Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,
but despite all this,
they do not return to the Lord, their God,
nor do they seek him.
11 Ephraim has become like a dove,
silly and without any sense.
They call upon Egypt;
they turn to Assyria.
12 Wherever they turn,
I will cast my net over them.
I will bring them down
like birds of the sky.
I will discipline them
because of their evil deeds.
13 Woe to them,
for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
for they have rebelled against me!
I longed to redeem them,
but they continued to tell lies about me.
14 They have not cried out to me from their hearts
while they wailed upon their beds.
When they gash themselves to obtain grain and new wine,[d]
they are still rebelling against me.
15 Even though I supported and strengthened them,
they devise evil plots against me.
16 Everything they devise is of no avail;
they are like a defective bow.
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent words.
As a result, they will be ridiculed
in the land of Egypt.
The Songs of Ascents and Great Hallel—Pss 120–136[a]
Psalm 120[b]
A Complaint against Treacherous Tongues
1 A song of ascents.
Whenever I am in distress,
I cry out to the Lord and he answers me.
2 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.[c]
3 What will he[d] inflict upon you,
and what more will he add to it,
O deceitful tongue?
4 He has prepared a warrior’s sharp arrows
and red-hot coals[e] of the broom tree.
5 Why have I been doomed as an exile in Meshech
and forced to dwell among the tents of Kedar?[f]
6 Far too long have I lived
among people who despise peace.[g]
7 When I proclaim peace,
they shout for war.[h]
Psalm 121[i]
God, Guardian of His People
1 A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains;[j]
from where will I receive help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[k]
3 He will not permit your foot to stumble;
he who guards you will not fall asleep.[l]
4 Indeed, the one who guards Israel
never slumbers, never sleeps.[m]
5 [n]The Lord serves as your guardian;
he is at your right hand to serve as your shade.
6 The sun will not strike you during the day,
nor the moon during the night.
7 [o]The Lord will protect you against all evil;
he will watch over your life.
8 The Lord will watch over your coming and your going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 122[p]
The Pilgrim’s Greeting to the Holy City
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[q]I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 And finally our feet are standing
at your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
that is firmly bound together[r] in unity.
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as it was decreed for Israel
to celebrate the name of the Lord.[s]
5 For there the thrones of judgment[t] were established,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace[u] of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you rest secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security in your palaces.”
8 [v]Out of love for my relatives and friends,
I will say, “May peace be within you.”
9 Out of love for the house of the Lord, our God,
I will pray for your well-being.
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