M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 19
Hezekiah and Isaiah. 1 When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the temple of the Lord.
2 He sent Eliakim, the major-domo, Shebna, the scribe, and all of the elders of the priests, all wearing sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to term but there is not enough strength to deliver them. 4 Perhaps the Lord, your God, will hear the words of the commander whom the king of Assyria, his master, has sent to taunt the living God. Perhaps he will rebuke him for the words which the Lord, your God, has heard. Therefore, raise up a prayer for the survivors who still remain.”
5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “This is what you are to tell your master: Thus says the Lord: Do not let the words you have heard, the words by which the king of Assyria blasphemed me, do not let them frighten you. 7 Behold, I will send a spirit into him so that when he hears a certain rumor, he will return to his own land. I will have him cut down by the sword in his own land.”
8 When the commander returned, he heard that the king of Assyria had withdrawn from Lachish and he found him in Libnah. 9 He had heard a report concerning Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, saying, “Behold, he has come to fight against you.”
So he once again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to Hezekiah, the king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you when he tells you that Jerusalem will be delivered out of the hands of the king of Assyria. 11 You have heard what the king of Assyria has done to every land, totally destroying them. Will you then be delivered? 12 Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my ancestors deliver them, the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the Edomites who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath? The king of Arpad? The king of the city of Shepharvaim? Of Hena? Of Ivvah?’ ”
14 Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messenger and he read it. He then went to the temple of the Lord and he spread it out before the Lord.
15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “O Lord, God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim, you alone are the God of all of the nations on the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 16 Bend your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open your eyes, O Lord, and see. Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to taunt the living God. 17 It is true, O Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands. 18 They have cast their gods into the flames, for they were not really gods. They were only the work of human hands, made from wood and stone. 19 Now, O Lord, our God, deliver us from out of his hands so that all of the kingdoms upon the earth might know that you, O Lord, are the only God.”
20 Punishment of Sennacherib. Isaiah, the son of Amoz, then sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I have heard your prayer to me concerning Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.’
21 [a]“This is the word that the Lord has spoken about him:
“The virgin daughter of Zion
despises you and laughs at you.
The daughter of Jerusalem
tosses her head at you.
22 Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel.
23 You have taunted the Lord through your messengers by saying,
‘I have come up to the heights of the mountains
with many chariots, to the peaks of Lebanon.
I have cut down tall cedars,
choice fir trees.
I have entered its most remote stand,
its finest forests.
24 I have dug wells in foreign lands and drunk the water.
I have dried up the streams of Egypt
with the soles of my feet.’
25 “Have you not heard?
Long ago I established it,
in ancient times I planned it.
Now I have ordained that you break down
fortified cities into piles of ruins.
26 Their inhabitants, having lost their power,
have become dismayed and confounded.
They are like the grass in the field,
like a green plant,
like grass growing on the roof
that is scorched before it can grow.
27 But I know where you live,
your going out, your coming in,
and how you rage against me.
28 The face that you rage against
and your arrogance have reached my ears.
I will put a ring in your nose
and a bridle in your mouth.
I will force you to return the way by which you came.
29 “This will be a sign for you:
This year you will eat what grows by itself,
and the next year you will eat what springs from that.
But in the third year you will sow and reap,
you will plant vineyards and eat its fruit.
30 Once more a remnant of Judah that has escaped
will take root below
and bear fruit above.
31 Out of Jerusalem a remnant will come,
out of Mount Zion survivors.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
32 “Therefore, thus says the Lord
concerning the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow there.
He will not come before it with a shield,
nor will he cast up a siege-work against it.
33 He will return by the way he came,
but he will not enter the city, says the Lord,
34 I will defend this city and save it, for my own sake
and that of David, my servant.”
35 That night an angel of the Lord went out and killed one hundred eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians. 36 Sennacherib, the king of Assyria withdrew, departed, and returned to Nineveh.
37 Once, when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down by the sword. They escaped into the land of Armenia, and Esarhaddon reigned in his stead.
Chapter 1
Prologue[a]
1 In previous times, God spoke to our ancestors
in many and various ways
through the Prophets,[b]
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us
through his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things
and through whom he created the universe.
3 He is the reflection of God’s glory
and the perfect expression of his very being,[c]
sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Achieving purification from sins,
he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
4 So he became as far superior to the angels
as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
The Son of God, Superior to the Angels[d]
Messianic Enthronement.[e] For to which of the angels did God ever say,“You are my Son;
this day I have begotten you”?
Or again,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?[f]
6 And again, when he brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all the angels of God pay him homage.”
7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his servants flames of fire.”
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and detested wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness far above your companions.”
10 He also says,
“In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands
11 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a cloak;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you are ever the same,
and your years will have no end.”
13 But to which of the angels has he ever said,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool”?
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
Chapter 12
Israel Ever Deceitful
1 Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
and the house of Israel with deceit.
But Judah still remains aligned with God
and is faithful to the Holy One.
2 Ephraim chases the wind,
ever pursuing the east wind throughout the day.
Numerous are his lies and treachery;
he makes a treaty with Assyria
while sending oil to Egypt.
3 The Lord has a charge to bring against Judah;
he will punish Jacob as his conduct deserves;
he will requite him according to his deeds.
4 While still in the womb he supplanted his brother,
and as a man he struggled with God.
5 He contended with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and entreated his favor.
He met God at Bethel
and spoke with him there.
6 The Lord, the God of hosts,
the Lord is his name.
7 Turn back with God’s help;
remain loyal and act justly,
and always put your trust in him.
8 Merchants use dishonest scales,
for they love to defraud.
9 Ephraim says,
“I have become very rich;
I have made a fortune.”
But all his wealth will avail him nothing
because of the guilt incurred by his sin.
10 I am the Lord, your God
who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents yet again
as in the days of the appointed festival.
11 I spoke to the prophets,
to whom I granted many visions
and through whom I will speak in parables.
12 Gilead is a hotbed of iniquity;
the people there are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls;
their altars are like piles of stones
on a plowed field.
13 Jacob fled to the country of Aram;
Israel did service to obtain a wife,
paying for her by tending sheep.
14 By a prophet[a] the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt,
and by a prophet they were protected.
15 Ephraim gave bitter provocation to the Lord;
therefore he will suffer for the blood he has shed,
and the Lord will punish him for his insults.
Psalm 135[a]
Praise of God, Benefactor of His People
1 [b]Alleluia.
Praise the name of the Lord;
offer him praise, you servants of the Lord,[c]
2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.[d]
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to honor his name, for he is gracious.[e]
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.[f]
5 [g]I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is superior to all gods.[h]
6 The Lord does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all their depths.[i]
7 He causes clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning[j] with the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
8 [k]He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,[l]
those of humans as well as of animals.
9 He sent signs and portents into your midst, O Egypt,[m]
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations
and slew mighty kings:
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.[n]
12 He then gave their lands as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.[o]
13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, lasts throughout the ages.[p]
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and show compassion to his servants.[q]
15 [r]The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see.
17 They have ears but they cannot hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them end up like them,
as do all who place their trust in them.
19 [s]O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed from Zion be the Lord,
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Alleluia.[t]
Psalm 136[u]
Thanksgiving for the Creation and Redemption
1 [v]Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his love endures forever.
4 He alone works great wonders,
for his love endures forever.
5 [w]In his wisdom he made the heavens,
for his love endures forever.
6 He spread out the earth upon the waters,[x]
for his love endures forever.
7 He made the great lights,
for his love endures forever.
8 He made the sun to rule over the day,
for his love endures forever.
9 He made the moon and stars to rule the night,
for his love endures forever.
10 [y]He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his love endures forever.
11 He led forth Israel from among them,
for his love endures forever.
12 He did so with a strong hand and outstretched arm,
for his love endures forever.
13 [z]He divided the Red Sea in two,
for his love endures forever.
14 Then he led Israel through its midst,
for his love endures forever.
15 But he swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,
for his love endures forever.
16 [aa]Then he led his people through the wilderness,
for his love endures forever.
17 He struck down great kings,
for his love endures forever.
18 He slew powerful kings,
for his love endures forever.
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his love endures forever.
20 Og, king of Bashan,
for his love endures forever.
21 [ab]He gave their land as a heritage,
for his love endures forever.
22 The heritage was for his servant Israel,
for his love endures forever.
23 The Lord remembered us in our wretched state,
for his love endures forever.
24 He rescued us from our enemies,
for his love endures forever.
25 [ac]He provides food to every creature,
for his love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his love endures forever.
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