M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jehu Kills Ahab’s Family
10 Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria, so Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, that is, to the officials of Samaria,[a] the elders, and to the guardians appointed by Ahab, saying, 2 “Now, when this letter comes to you, since you have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons, 3 choose the best and most upright of your master’s sons and seat him on his father’s throne and fight for your master’s house.”
4 They were terrified and said, “Look, two kings could not stand before him, so how can we?”
5 Then the palace administrator, the ruler of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants. We will do everything you tell us. We will not make any man king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.”
6 Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at this time tomorrow in Jezre’el.”
Now the king’s seventy sons were with the leaders of the city who were raising them. 7 When the letter came, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered all seventy of them. Then they put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezre’el. 8 When the messenger arrived, he said, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu said, “Put them in two piles at the entrance to the gate until morning.”
9 When morning came, he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are innocent. Indeed I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? 10 Know, therefore, that nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab, will fail. For the Lord did what he said through his servant Elijah.”
11 Then Jehu killed everyone who remained from the house of Ahab in Jezre’el and all his important people, his close friends, and his priests, so that no survivor was left to him.
12 Then he set out toward Samaria. While he was on the way, at Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah. He said, “Who are you?” They said, “We are Ahaziah’s relatives. We have come down to greet the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons.”
14 Then he said, “Take them alive!” So they took them. Then they slaughtered them at the cistern of Beth Eked—forty-two men, and he did not let one survive.
15 Then he set out from there and met Jehonadab son of Recab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Is your heart as true to my heart as my heart is to yours?”
He said, “It is.”
Then Jehu said, “If it is, then give me your hand!” So Jehonadab gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot.
16 Then Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he had him ride with him in his chariot. 17 When he came to Samaria, he struck down everyone who was left to Ahab there. He wiped out Ahab completely, according to the word which the Lord had spoken to Elijah.
Jehu Slaughters the Prophets of Baal
18 Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little. Jehu will serve him a great deal. 19 But now, gather all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests! Let no one be missing because I am going to make a great sacrifice to Baal. No one who misses it will live.”
But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to exterminate the servants of Baal.
20 Then Jehu said, “Consecrate a festival for Baal,” and they proclaimed it.
21 Then Jehu sent word through all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came. Not a man was left who did not come. They came into the temple[b] of Baal so that the temple of Baal was filled from end to end. 22 Then he said to the person in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Recab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Make a careful search, and see to it that there are no servants of the Lord with you, but only servants of Baal.”
24 Then they went in to make sacrifices and whole burnt offerings. But Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “If any man escapes from these men whom I am putting into your hands, it will be your life for his life.”
25 When he was finished offering the whole burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and to the officers, “Go strike them down! Don’t let anyone out!” So they struck them down with their swords, and the guards and the officers threw the bodies out. They then went into the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred memorial stones out from the temple of Baal and burned them. 27 They tore down the memorial stone for Baal and tore down the temple of Baal. They have used it for a latrine to this day. 28 In this way Jehu exterminated Baal worship from Israel.
Jehu Falters in His Faithfulness
29 But when it came to the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from following the golden calves which were in Bethel and in Dan. 30 But the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well by doing what is right in my eyes—you have done everything that was in my heart to the house of Ahab—four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.”
31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins which Jeroboam caused Israel to commit.
32 In those days, the Lord began to break off pieces from Israel. Then Hazael attacked all the territory of Israel 33 east of the Jordan, all the land of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aroer, which is above the canyon of the Arnon, up to Gilead and Bashan.
34 As for the rest of Jehu’s acts and everything he did and all his mighty deeds, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 35 Jehu rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then his son Jehoahaz became king in his place. 36 The time that Jehu ruled as king over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
Greeting and Thanksgiving
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in accordance with the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my child, whom I love:
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clean conscience as my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day. 4 When I remember your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I remember your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it also lives in you.
Guard the Gospel
6 For this reason I am reminding you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a timid spirit, but a spirit of power and love and sound judgment. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Instead, join with me in suffering for the gospel while relying on the power of God. 9 He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, 10 and it has now been revealed through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles,[a] 12 and that is why I am suffering these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 Hold fast to the pattern of sound words that you heard from me, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Through the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you.
Onesiphorus
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he refreshed me many times and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, after he arrived in Rome, he searched diligently for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know very well how much he did when he served in Ephesus.
Israel Rebuked, Punished, and Restored
2 Plead with[c] your mother!
Plead with her, because she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her put away her sexual immorality from her presence
and her acts of adultery from between her breasts.
3 Otherwise, I will strip her naked
and expose her as she was on the day she was born.
I will make her like a wilderness.
I will cause her to be like a dry land.
I will cause her to die of thirst.
4 I will have no compassion on her children,
because they are children of promiscuity,
5 because their mother has been promiscuous.[d]
She who conceived them has acted shamefully.
She said, “I will chase after my lovers,
the ones who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my flax, my olive oil and my drinks.”
6 Therefore, this is what I will do:
I will block your[e] way with thorns.
I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
7 She will chase after her lovers,
but she will not reach them.
She will seek them,
but she will not find them.
She will say, “I will go back to my first husband,
because then it was better for me than it is now.”
8 But she would not acknowledge that I gave her the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil.
I gave her large amounts of silver and gold—her people used it for Baal!
9 That is why I will take back my grain during harvest time,
and my new wine in its season.
I will also take away my wool and my flax that were given to cover her nakedness.
10 Then I will expose her shameful nakedness in the sight of her lovers.
No one will deliver her from my hand.
11 I will put an end to all her celebration:
her pilgrimage festivals,[f] her monthly new moons, and her weekly Sabbaths—
all her appointed festivals.
12 I will devastate her vines and her fig trees,
about which she said, “These are the payment[g] that my lovers gave me.”
I will make them into a scrub forest,
and the wild animals will eat the crops.
13 I will punish her for the days with the Baals, on which she repeatedly offered incense to them.
She adorned herself with her rings[h] and her jewelry,
and then she chased after her lovers,
and she forgot me, declares the Lord.
14 But watch! I am going to court her.
I will bring her into the wilderness.
I will speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her vineyards back to her.
The Valley of Achor[i] will be a door of hope.
She will respond there as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up from the land of Egypt.
16 In that day, declares the Lord, this is what will take place:
You will call me “my husband.”
You will no longer call me “my master.”[j]
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth.
She will no longer call them by their names.[k]
18 In that day I will make a covenant for the Israelites with the wild animals, with the birds of the sky and the things that creep on the ground.
I will break the bow and the sword.
I will abolish war from the land.
I will allow the people to lie down safely.[l]
19 I will pledge you to myself in marriage forever.
I will pledge you to myself in marriage—
with righteousness, justice, mercy, and compassion.
20 In faithfulness I will pledge you to myself in marriage,
and you will know the Lord.
21 In that day this is what will happen:
I will respond, declares the Lord.
I will respond to the heavens,
and they will respond to the earth.
22 The earth will respond to the grain, the new wine, and the fresh oil.
They will respond to Jezre’el.
23 I will sow her for myself in the land.
I will have compassion for Lo Ruhamah,[m]
and I will tell Lo Ammi,[n] “You are my people,”
and he will say, “You are my God!”
Mem: Sweeter Than Honey
97 How I love your laws!
I meditate on them all day long.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
because it is always with me.
99 I have more wisdom than all my teachers,
because your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
because I guard your precepts.
101 I have kept my feet off every evil path
in order to keep your words.
102 I have not turned from your judgments,
because you yourself have instructed me.
103 How sweet are your sayings to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 From your precepts I gain understanding.
Therefore, I hate every false road.
Nun: A Lamp for My Feet
105 Your words are a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path.
106 I have sworn and affirmed
that I will keep your righteous judgments.
107 I have suffered much.
Lord, give me life according to your words.
108 Lord, please accept the willing praise from my mouth,
and teach me your judgments.
109 I take my life in my hands constantly,
but I will not forget your law.
110 The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not wandered from your precepts.
111 I have inherited your testimonies forever.
Yes, they are the joy of my heart.
112 I turn my heart to do your statutes,
forever, right to the end.
Samekh: Get Away From Me, You Evildoers
113 I hate the doubleminded, but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I wait confidently for your word.
115 Get away from me, you evildoers,
so that I may guard the commandments of my God!
116 Sustain me according to your sayings, and I will live.
Do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold me up, and I will be saved.
Then I will always have regard for your statutes.
118 You reject all who stray from your statutes,
because their deceitfulness is built on a lie.[a]
119 You discard all the wicked of the earth like slag.
Therefore, I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles because I am afraid of you,
because I fear your judgments.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.