M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Queen Athaliah of Judah^(A)

11 As soon as King Ahaziah's mother Athaliah learned of her son's murder, she gave orders for all the members of the royal family to be killed. ² Only Ahaziah's son Joash escaped. He was about to be killed with the others, but was rescued by his aunt Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's half sister. She took him and his nurse into a bedroom in the Temple and hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. ³ For six years Jehosheba took care of the boy and kept him hidden in the Temple, while Athaliah ruled as queen.

⁴ But in the seventh year Jehoiada the priest sent for the officers in charge of the royal bodyguard and of the palace guards, and told them to come to the Temple, where he made them agree under oath to what he planned to do. He showed them King Ahaziah's son Joash ⁵ and gave them the following orders: “When you come on duty on the Sabbath, one third of you are to guard the palace; ⁶ another third are to stand guard at the Sur Gate, and the other third are to stand guard at the gate behind the other guards.^{[a] 7} The two groups that go off duty on the Sabbath are to stand guard at the Temple to protect the king. ⁸ You are to guard King Joash with drawn swords and stay with him wherever he goes. Anyone who comes near you is to be killed.”

⁹ The officers obeyed Jehoiada's instructions and brought their men to him—those going off duty on the Sabbath and those going on duty. ¹⁰ He gave the officers the spears^[b] and shields that had belonged to King David and had been kept in the Temple, ¹¹ and he stationed the men with drawn swords all around the front of the Temple, to protect the king. ¹² Then Jehoiada led Joash out, placed the crown on his head, and gave him a copy of the laws governing kingship. Then Joash was anointed and proclaimed king. The people clapped their hands and shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹³ Queen Athaliah heard the noise being made by the guards and the people, so she hurried to the Temple, where the crowd had gathered. ^14 (B)There she saw the new king standing by the column at the entrance of the Temple, as was the custom. He was surrounded by the officers and the trumpeters, and the people were all shouting joyfully and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in distress and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁵ Jehoiada did not want Athaliah killed in the Temple area, so he ordered the army officers: “Take her out between the rows of guards, and kill anyone who tries to rescue her.” ¹⁶ They seized her, took her to the palace, and there at the Horse Gate they killed her.

Jehoiada's Reforms^(C)

¹⁷ The priest Jehoiada had King Joash and the people make a covenant with the Lord that they would be the Lord's people; he also made a covenant between the king and the people. ¹⁸ Then the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down; they smashed the altars and the idols, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

Jehoiada put guards on duty at the Temple, ¹⁹ and then he, the officers, the royal bodyguard, and the palace guards escorted the king from the Temple to the palace, followed by all the people. Joash entered by the Guard Gate and took his place on the throne. ²⁰ All the people were filled with happiness, and the city was quiet, now that Athaliah had been killed in the palace.

²¹ Joash became king of Judah at the age of seven.

King Joash of Judah^(D)

12 In the seventh year of the reign of King Jehu of Israel, Joash became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother was Zibiah from the city of Beersheba. ² Throughout his life he did what pleased the Lord, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. ³ However, the pagan places of worship were not destroyed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.

^4 (E)Joash called the priests and ordered them to save up the money paid in connection with the sacrifices in the Temple, both the dues paid for the regular sacrifices and the money given as freewill gifts. ⁵ Each priest was to be responsible for the money brought by those he served, and the money was to be used to repair the Temple, as needed.

⁶ But by the twenty-third year of Joash's reign the priests still had not made any repairs in the Temple. ⁷ So he called in Jehoiada and the other priests and asked them, “Why aren't you repairing the Temple? From now on you are not to keep the money you receive; you must hand it over, so that the repairs can be made.” ⁸ The priests agreed to this and also agreed not to make the repairs in the Temple.

⁹ Then Jehoiada took a box, made a hole in the lid, and placed the box by the altar, on the right side as one enters the Temple. The priests on duty at the entrance put in the box all the money given by the worshipers. ¹⁰ Whenever there was a large amount of money in the box, the royal secretary and the High Priest would come, melt down the silver, and weigh it.^{[c] 11} After recording the exact amount, they would hand the silver over to the men in charge of the work in the Temple, and these would pay the carpenters, the builders, ¹² the masons, and the stone cutters, buy the timber and the stones used in the repairs, and pay all other necessary expenses. ¹³ None of the money, however, was used to pay for making silver cups, bowls, trumpets, or tools for tending the lamps, or any other article of silver or of gold. ¹⁴ It was all used to pay the workers and to buy the materials used in the repairs. ^15 (F)The men in charge of the work were thoroughly honest, so there was no need to require them to account for the funds. ^16 (G)The money given for the repayment offerings and for the offerings for sin was not deposited in the box; it belonged to the priests.

¹⁷ At that time King Hazael of Syria attacked the city of Gath and conquered it; then he decided to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ King Joash of Judah took all the offerings that his predecessors Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah had dedicated to the Lord, added to them his own offerings and all the gold in the treasuries of the Temple and the palace, and sent them all as a gift to King Hazael, who then led his army away from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Everything else that King Joash did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

^20-21 King Joash's officials plotted against him, and two of them, Jozacar son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer, killed him at the house built on the land that was filled in on the east side of Jerusalem, on the road that goes down to Silla. Joash was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

A Loyal Soldier of Christ Jesus

2 As for you, my son, be strong through the grace that is ours in union with Christ Jesus. ² Take the teachings that you heard me proclaim in the presence of many witnesses, and entrust them to reliable people, who will be able to teach others also.

³ Take your part in suffering, as a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ A soldier on active duty wants to please his commanding officer and so does not get mixed up in the affairs of civilian life. ⁵ An athlete who runs in a race cannot win the prize unless he obeys the rules. ⁶ The farmer who has done the hard work should have the first share of the harvest. ⁷ Think about what I am saying, because the Lord will enable you to understand it all.

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, who was raised from death, who was a descendant of David, as is taught in the Good News I preach. ⁹ Because I preach the Good News, I suffer and I am even chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not in chains, ¹⁰ and so I endure everything for the sake of God's chosen people, in order that they too may obtain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory. ¹¹ This is a true saying:

An Approved Worker

¹⁴ Remind your people of this, and give them a solemn warning in God's presence not to fight over words. It does no good, but only ruins the people who listen. ¹⁵ Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth. ¹⁶ Keep away from profane and foolish discussions, which only drive people farther away from God. ¹⁷ Such teaching is like an open sore that eats away the flesh. Two men who have taught such things are Hymenaeus and Philetus. ¹⁸ They have left the way of truth and are upsetting the faith of some believers by saying that our resurrection has already taken place. ^19 (B)But the solid foundation that God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: “The Lord knows those who are his” and “Those who say that they belong to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing.”

²⁰ In a large house there are dishes and bowls of all kinds: some are made of silver and gold, others of wood and clay; some are for special occasions, others for ordinary use. ²¹ Those who make themselves clean from all those evil things, will be used for special purposes, because they are dedicated and useful to their Master, ready to be used for every good deed. ²² Avoid the passions of youth, and strive for righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who with a pure heart call out to the Lord for help. ²³ But keep away from foolish and ignorant arguments; you know that they end up in quarrels. ²⁴ As the Lord's servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher, ²⁵ who is gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth. ²⁶ And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.

Hosea and the Unfaithful Woman

3 The Lord said to me, “Go again^[a] and show your love for a woman who is committing adultery with a lover. You must love her just as I still love the people of Israel, even though they turn to other gods and like to take offerings of raisins to idols.”^[b]

² So I paid fifteen pieces of silver and seven bushels of barley to buy her. ³ I told her that for a long time she would have to wait for me without being a prostitute or committing adultery; and during this time I would wait for her. ⁴ In just this way the people of Israel will have to live for a long time without kings or leaders, without sacrifices or sacred stone pillars, without idols or images to use for divination. ⁵ But the time will come when the people of Israel will once again turn to the Lord their God and to a descendant of David their king. Then they will fear the Lord and will receive his good gifts.

The Lord's Accusation against Israel

4 The Lord has an accusation to bring against the people who live in this land. Listen, Israel, to what he says: “There is no faithfulness or love in the land, and the people do not acknowledge me as God. ² They make promises and break them; they lie, murder, steal, and commit adultery. Crimes increase, and there is one murder after another. ³ And so the land will dry up, and everything that lives on it will die. All the animals and birds, and even the fish, will die.”

The Lord Accuses the Priests

⁴ The Lord says, “Let no one accuse the people or reprimand them—my complaint is against you priests.^{[c] 5} Night and day you blunder on, and the prophets do no better than you. I am going to destroy Israel, your mother. ⁶ My people are doomed because they do not acknowledge me. You priests have refused to acknowledge me and have rejected my teaching, and so I reject you and will not acknowledge your sons as my priests.

⁷ “The more of you priests there are, the more you sin against me, and so I will turn your honor into disgrace. ⁸ You grow rich from the sins of my people, and so you want them to sin more and more. ⁹ You will suffer the same punishment as the people! I will punish you and make you pay for the evil you do. ¹⁰ You will eat your share of the sacrifices, but still be hungry. You will worship the fertility gods, but still have no children, because you have turned away from me to follow other gods.”

The Lord Condemns Pagan Worship

¹¹ The Lord says, “Wine, both old and new, is robbing my people of their senses! ¹² They ask for revelations from a piece of wood! A stick tells them what they want to know! They have left me. Like a woman who becomes a prostitute, they have given themselves to other gods. ¹³ At sacred places on the mountaintops they offer sacrifices, and on the hills they burn incense under tall, spreading trees, because the shade is so pleasant!

“As a result, your daughters serve as prostitutes, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. ¹⁴ Yet I will not punish them for this, because you yourselves go off with temple prostitutes,^[d] and together with them you offer pagan sacrifices. As the proverb says, ‘A people without sense will be ruined.’

¹⁵ “Even though you people of Israel are unfaithful to me, may Judah not be guilty of the same thing. Don't worship at Gilgal or Bethaven,^[e] or make promises there in the name of the living Lord. ¹⁶ The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow? ¹⁷ The people of Israel are under the spell of idols. Let them go their own way. ¹⁸ After drinking much wine, they delight in their prostitution, preferring disgrace to honor. ¹⁹ They will be carried away as by the wind, and they will be ashamed of their pagan sacrifices.^[f][g]

Obedience to the Law of the Lord

Desire to Obey the Law of the Lord

The Justice of the Law of the Lord