M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 15
Azariah of Judah.[a] 1 Azariah, the son of Amaziah, the king of Judah, began to reign during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Jeroboam, the king of Israel. 2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah who was from Jerusalem.
3 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, doing everything as Amaziah, his father, had done. 4 However, he did not eliminate the high places, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
5 The Lord struck down the king so that he was a leper until the day of his death. He lived in a separate house while Jotham, the king’s son, took charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.
6 As for the other deeds of Azariah, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
7 Azariah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the City of David. Jotham, his son, then reigned in his stead.
Zechariah of Israel. 8 Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, became the king of Israel in Samaria during the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned for six months.
9 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
10 Shallum, the son of Jabesh, plotted against him. He attacked him in front of the people and killed him, reigning in his stead.
11 The other deeds of Zechariah are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 12 This fulfilled the word of the Lord that had been spoken to Jehu: “Your sons to the fourth generation will sit upon the throne of Israel.”
13 Shallum of Israel. Shallum, son of Jabesh, began to reign during the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Uzziah, the king of Judah, and he reigned for a full month in Samaria. 14 Then Menahem, the son of Gadi, from Tirzah, went up to Samaria. He attacked Shallum, the son of Jabesh, in Samaria and he killed him. He then reigned in his stead.
15 As for the rest of the deeds of Shallum, and his plot, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
16 Menahem then started out from Tirzah and he attacked Tappuah and everyone in it and its environs because they would not open up its gates. He killed everyone in it, even ripping open the bellies of the pregnant women.
17 Menahem of Israel. Menahem, son of Gadi, began to reign over Israel during the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned in Samaria for ten years.
18 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. During his entire reign he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
19 Then Pul, the king of Assyria, attacked Israel, and Menahem gave Pul one thousand talents of silver so that he might have his support and strengthen his hold upon the kingdom. 20 Menahem took the money from Israel. Every wealthy man had to give fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria therefore withdrew and did not remain in the land any longer.
21 As for the other deeds of Menahem and what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
22 Menahem slept with his fathers, and Pekahiah, his son, reigned in his stead.
23 Pekahiah of Israel. Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, began to reign over Israel in Samaria during the fiftieth year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned for two years.
24 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
25 Pekah, the son of Remaliah, one of his captains, plotted against him. He attacked him in Samaria, in the citadel of the royal palace. Taking fifty Gileadites with him, he killed him, Argob, and Arieh. He then reigned in his stead.
26 The other deeds of Pekahiah and what he did are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
27 Pekah of Israel. Pekah, the son of Remaliah, began to reign over Israel in Samaria during the fifty-second year of the reign of Azariah, the king of Judah. He reigned for twenty years.[b]
28 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin.
29 During the reign of Pekah, the king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, and Hazor. He captured Gilead and Galilee, including all of the land of Naphtali, and he took them captive into Assyria.
30 Then Hoshea, the son of Elah, plotted against Pekah, the son of Remaliah. He attacked him and killed him and reigned in his stead during the twentieth year of the reign of Jotham, the son of Uzziah.
31 As for the rest of the deeds of Pekah and what he did, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
32 Jotham of Judah. Jotham, the son of Uzziah, the king of Judah, began to reign during the second year of the reign of Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
34 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, everything just as his father Uzziah had done. 35 The high places were not eliminated, though, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He rebuilt the upper gate to the temple of the Lord.
36 As for the other deeds of Jotham, what he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
37 In those days, the Lord began to send Rezin, the king of Aram, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, against Judah.
38 Jotham slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David, his father. Ahaz, his son, reigned in his stead.
Salutation[a]
Chapter 1
Address. 1 Paul, a servant of God[b] and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith of those whom God has chosen and their knowledge of religious truth, 2 with its hope of eternal life that God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and who now at his appointed time has revealed his word through the proclamation with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior, 4 to Titus, my loyal child in the faith we share:[c] grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.[d]
Church Organization
A Bishop Must Be Blameless.[e] 5 The reason I left you behind in Crete was so that you could finish up the work that remained to be done and appoint presbyters in every town as I directed you. 6 Each man must be blameless and the husband of only one wife, with children who are believers and free from any suspicion of licentious or rebellious behavior.
7 For in his role as God’s steward a bishop[f] must be blameless. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or prone to drunkenness or violent or avaricious. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 9 In addition, he must hold firmly to the authentic message he has been taught, so that he may be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.
10 For the Pure All Things Are Pure.[g] For there are also many rebellious people, especially among the Jewish converts,[h] who deceive others with their empty talk. 11 It is essential to silence them, since they are ruining whole households by teaching for dishonest gain what it is not right to teach. 12 It was one of their very own prophets, a man from Crete, who said,
“Cretans have always been liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons.”
13 This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply so that they may be restored to a sound faith, 14 rather than paying attention to Jewish myths or to the commandments of those who turn away from the truth.
15 To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are corrupt and without faith nothing is pure.[i] Their very minds and their consciences have been corrupted. 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds. They are detestable and disobedient, totally unfit for any good work.
Chapter 8
When Israel Sows the Wind, It Will Reap the Whirlwind
1 Put the trumpet to your lips!
An eagle is circling over the sanctuary of the Lord.
The people have broken my covenant
and been unfaithful to my law.
2 Israel cries out to me,
“We acknowledge you to be our God.”
3 However, Israel has rejected what is good;
the enemy will pursue them.
4 [a]They anointed kings, but not by my authority;
they appointed princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols for themselves,
idols for their own destruction.
5 I reject your calf-idol, O Samaria!
My anger burns against them.
How long will it be
before they regain their innocence?
6 The calf was made in Israel;
it is no god at all,
for it was fashioned by a craftsman.
The calf of Samaria
will be broken to pieces.
7 When Israel sows the wind,
it will reap the whirlwind.
When the standing grain has no heads,
it will yield no flour.
And if it were to yield flour,
foreigners would devour it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now they are among the nations
like something of no value.
9 For they have gone up to Assyria
like a wild ass wandering on its own;
Ephraim has bargained for lovers.
10 Because they have bargained with the nations,
I will now gather them up.
They will soon begin to suffer
under the weight of kings and princes.
11 Although Ephraim built many altars for sin offerings,
those altars became occasions for sin.
12 I provided Ephraim with many written laws,
but they regarded such laws as irrelevant.
13 Although they offer sacrifices to me
and eat the meat,
the Lord does not accept them.
On the contrary, he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they will be forced to return to Egypt.
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces;
Judah also has fortified many cities.
However, I will send fire upon his cities
that will devour their citadels.
Psalm 123[a]
Prayer in Time of Spiritual Need
1 A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who are enthroned in heaven.[b]
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants[c]
are on the hand of their master,
or as the eyes of a maid
focus on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord, our God,
as we wait for him to show us his mercy.
3 Show us your mercy, O Lord, show us your mercy,
for we have suffered more than our share of contempt.[d]
4 We have had to suffer far too long
the insults of the haughty[e]
and the contempt of the arrogant.
Psalm 124[f]
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Help
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[g]If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel now proclaim—[h]
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when our enemies attacked[i] us,
3 [j]then they would have swallowed us alive
as their wrath was kindled against us.
4 [k]The waters would have washed us away,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 and we would have drowned
in the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.[l]
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[m]
Psalm 125[n]
God, Protector of His People
1 A song of ascents.
Those who put their trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but stands fast forever.[o]
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forevermore.[p]
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
over the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous will not be tempted
to turn their hands to evil.[q]
4 [r]Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to those who are upright of heart.[s]
5 But the Lord will assign to the ranks of the evildoers
those who turn their hearts to wickedness.[t]
May peace be granted to Israel.
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