M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

King Jehoahaz of Israel

13 Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in the twenty-third year of Joash's rule in Judah. Jehoahaz ruled 17 years from Samaria ² and disobeyed the Lord by doing wrong. He never stopped following the example of Jeroboam, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

³ The Lord was angry with the Israelites, so he let King Hazael of Syria and his son Benhadad rule over them for a long time. ⁴ Jehoahaz prayed to the Lord for help, and the Lord saw how terribly Hazael was treating the Israelites. He answered Jehoahaz ⁵ by sending Israel a leader who rescued them from the Syrians,^[a] and the Israelites lived in peace as they had before. ^6-7 But Hazael had defeated Israel's army so badly that Jehoahaz had only 10 chariots, 50 cavalry troops, and 10,000 regular soldiers left in his army.

The Israelites kept sinning and following the example of Jeroboam's family. They did not tear down the sacred poles^[b] that had been set up in Samaria for the worship of the goddess Asherah.

⁸ Everything else Jehoahaz did while he was king, including his brave deeds, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ⁹ Jehoahaz died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoash became king.

King Jehoash of Israel

¹⁰ Jehoash became king of Israel in the thirty-seventh year of Joash's rule in Judah, and he ruled 16 years from Samaria. ¹¹ He disobeyed the Lord by doing just like Jeroboam, who had caused the Israelites to sin.

¹² Everything else Jehoash did while he was king, including his war against King Amaziah of Judah, is written in The History of the Kings of Israel. ¹³ Jehoash died and was buried in Samaria beside the other Israelite kings. His son Jeroboam then became king.

Elisha the Prophet Dies

^14 (A) Some time before the death of King Jehoash, Elisha the prophet was very sick and about to die. Jehoash went in and stood beside him, crying. He said, “Master, what will Israel's chariots and cavalry be able to do without you?”^[c]

^15-16 “Grab a bow and some arrows,” Elisha told him, “and hold them in your hand.” Jehoash grabbed the bow and arrows and held them. Elisha placed his hand on the king's hand ¹⁷ and said, “Open the window facing east.” When it was open, Elisha shouted, “Now shoot!” Jehoash shot an arrow and Elisha said, “That arrow is a sign that the Lord will help you completely defeat the Syrian army at Aphek.”

¹⁸ Elisha said, “Pick up the arrows and hit the ground with them.” Jehoash grabbed the arrows and hit the ground three times, then stopped. ¹⁹ Elisha became angry with the king and exclaimed, “If you had struck it five or six times, you would completely wipe out the Syrians. Now you will defeat them only three times.”

²⁰ Elisha died and was buried.

Every year in the spring, Moab's leaders sent raiding parties into Israel. ²¹ Once, while some Israelites were burying a man's body, they saw a group of Moabites. The Israelites quickly threw the body into Elisha's tomb and ran away. As soon as the man's body touched the bones of Elisha, the man came back to life and stood up.

Israel Defeats Syria

²² Israel was under the power of King Hazael of Syria during the entire rule of Jehoahaz. ²³ But the Lord was kind to the Israelites and showed them mercy because of his solemn agreement with their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In fact, he has never turned his back on them or let them be completely destroyed.

²⁴ Hazael died, and his son Benhadad then became king of Syria. ²⁵ King Jehoash of Israel attacked and defeated the Syrian army three times. He took back from Benhadad all the towns Hazael had captured in battle from his father Jehoahaz.

What People Will Be Like in the Last Days

3 You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times. ² People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, ³ heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything good. ⁴ They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure. ⁵ Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. Don't have anything to do with such people.

⁶ Some men fool whole families, just to get power over those women who are slaves of sin and are controlled by all sorts of desires. ⁷ These women always want to learn something new, but they never can discover the truth. ^8 (A) Just as Jannes and Jambres^[a] opposed Moses, these people are enemies of the truth. Their minds are sick, and their faith isn't real. ⁹ But they won't get very far with their foolishness. Soon everyone will know the truth about them, just as Jannes and Jambres were found out.

Paul's Last Instructions to Timothy

¹⁰ Timothy, you know what I teach and how I live. You know what I want to do and what I believe. You have seen how patient and loving I am, and how in the past I put up with ^11 (B) trouble and suffering in the cities of Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. Yet the Lord rescued me from all those terrible troubles. ¹² In fact, anyone who belongs to Christ Jesus and wants to live right will have trouble from others. ¹³ But evil people who pretend to be what they are not will become worse than ever, as they fool others and are fooled themselves.

¹⁴ Keep on being faithful to what you were taught and to what you believed. After all, you know who taught you these things. ¹⁵ Since childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise enough to have faith in Christ Jesus and be saved. ¹⁶ Everything in the Scriptures is God's Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. ¹⁷ The Scriptures train God's servants to do all kinds of good deeds.

Israel and Judah Will Be Judged

The Lord said:

The Lord Warns Israel and Judah

The Lord's People Speak

The Lord Speaks to Israel and Judah

The Lord Wants To Help Israel