M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 15
Abijam’s Reign. 1 In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Abijam became the king of Judah. 2 He reigned in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maacah, and she was the daughter of Abishalom.
3 He committed all of the sins that his father had committed before him. His heart was not at peace with the Lord, his God, as the heart of David, his father, had been. 4 In spite of this, the Lord, his God, gave him a lamp in Jerusalem for the sake of David, raising up his son to succeed him and making Jerusalem strong.[a] 5 He did this because of David who had done what was right in the sight of the Lord, and he had not turned away from anything that he had been commanded throughout his entire life with the exception of what happened with Uriah the Hittite. 6 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam during their entire reign.
7 The rest of the deeds of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? There was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
8 Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the City of David, and Asa, his son then reigned in his stead.
Asa’s Reign. 9 In the twentieth year of the reign of Jeroboam as the king of Israel, Asa became the king of Judah. 10 He reigned for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, as his father David had. 12 He expelled the male prostitutes from the land, and he removed all of the idols that his father had made. 13 He also deposed his mother Maacah as queen mother because she had made an image of an Asherah. Asa cut down her idol and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 But he did not do away with the high places. Nevertheless, Asa’s heart was at peace with the Lord all of his life. 15 He brought those things that his father had dedicated and those things that he had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels, into the temple of the Lord.
16 There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel, during their entire reigns. 17 Baasha, the king of Israel, attacked Judah, and he fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from going out or coming in to the king of Judah.
18 Asa took all of the silver and all of the gold that remained in the treasury of the Lord’s temple and the treasury of the royal palace. He gave them to his servants and King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad, the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, 19 “Let there be a covenant between me and you, between my father and your father. Behold, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha, the king of Israel, so that he might pull back from attacking me.”
20 Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa, and he sent the commanders of his army to attack the cities of Israel. He conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, as well as all of the Chinnereth and the land of Naphtali. 21 When Baasha heard about this, he stopped building Ramah and he dwelt in Tirzah.
22 King Asa then issued a proclamation to all of Judah from which no one was exempt that they should carry away the stones and the timber that Baasha was using for the construction of Ramah. King Asa used them to build up Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.
23 As for the rest of the deeds of Asa, all of his achievements, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? In his old age, he suffered from difficulties with his feet.
24 King Asa slept with his fathers, and he was buried with his fathers in the City of David, his father, and his son Jehoshaphat reigned in his stead.
25 Nadab’s Reign. Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became the king of Israel in the second year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel for two years. 26 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the way of his father, in his sin, which he also caused Israel to commit.
27 Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, plotted against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine city, while Nadab and all of Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. 28 Baasha killed him in the third year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, and he reigned in his stead.
29 As soon as he began to reign, he struck down all of Jeroboam’s household. He did not leave Jeroboam a single person who was still breathing; he wiped them out. This fulfilled what the Lord had said when he spoke through Ahijah, the Shilonite 30 because of the sins that Jeroboam committed and because he caused Israel to sin, provoking the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel.[b]
31 As for the other deeds of Nadab and all the other things that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
32 There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel, during their entire reigns.[c]
33 Baasha’s Reign. In the third year of the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, Baasha, the son of Ahijah, became the king over all of Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned for twenty-four years. 34 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam, in his sin, which he also caused Israel to commit.
Chapter 2
Closely United in Love.[a] 1 I want you to realize how greatly I am struggling for you as well as for those in Laodicea[b] and all the others who have never seen me face to face. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love so that they may grow rich in their complete understanding as they come to the knowledge of the mystery of God, that is, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4 I am telling you all this so that no one may deceive you with deceptive arguments. 5 Even if I am not physically present to you, I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your unity and the resolute firmness of your faith in Christ.
Instruction about Errors That Are Circulating
Walk in Christ.[c] 6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him. 7 Be rooted and built up in him, and remain established in the faith as you were taught, overflowing with thanksgiving. 8 Make sure that no one leads you astray with an empty and deceitful philosophy that depends on human tradition[d] and worldly principles, and not on Christ.
God Has Given You Life in Christ. 9 For it is in him that the entire fullness of deity dwells in bodily form,[e] 10 and you share this fullness in him who is the head of every ruler and power. 11 In him also you were circumcised, not with a physical circumcision but with a spiritual stripping away of the old nature with the circumcision of Christ.
12 When you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. 13 And even when you were dead in your sins and your flesh was uncircumcised, God gave you new life along with him. He has forgiven us all our sins, 14 erasing the record against us[f] with its decrees that are hostile to us. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 Disarming the rulers and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, parading them in his triumphal procession.
16 The Reality Is Christ.[g] Therefore, do not allow anyone to pass judgment on you in regard to what you eat or drink, or about the observance of Festivals, New Moons, or Sabbaths.[h] 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come. The reality is Christ.
18 Do not allow yourself to be declared disqualified by those who revel in false humility and worship angels and visions, their vanity foolishly inflated by a human way of thinking. 19 They are not united with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, achieves the growth that comes from God.
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental principles of this world, why are you living in the world as if you were subject to it? 21 “Do not handle!” “Do not taste!” “Do not touch!” 22 All this refers to things that perish as they are used. They are simply human commands and teachings. 23 Rules of this type indeed appear to be wise in promoting self-imposed piety, false humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they are of no value in combating the flesh.
Chapter 45
The Sacred Plot. 1 When you draw lots to divide the country as an inheritance, you shall set aside a sacred portion of the land for the Lord, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits wide. Its entire area will be regarded as sacred. 2 Of this land, a plot, five hundred cubits square, shall be set aside for the sanctuary, and that plot will be surrounded by an open space of fifty cubits.
3 Out of this area you must also set aside a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, within which will be the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. 4 This will be the sacred portion of the land belonging to the priests who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to serve him. It will be both a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary.
5 Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, will be set apart for the Levites who minister at the temple, so that they will have towns in which to live. 6 Near the land belonging to the sanctuary, you are to grant the city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long. This shall belong to the whole house of Israel.
7 To the prince will belong the land that borders on both sides of the sacred district and the property of the city, extending westward from the west and eastward from the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions and extending from the western to the eastern borders 8 of the land. This will be his property in Israel. Therefore, the princes of Israel will no longer oppress my people, but they will grant the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
Weights and Measures. 9 Thus says the Lord God: Enough, you princes of Israel! Cease your violence and oppression and do what is right and just. Stop evicting my people from their land, says the Lord God.
10 [a]You must use scales that are accurate, and have an honest ephah and an accurate liquid measure. 11 The ephah and the liquid measure must be of equal size. The liquid measure must contain one-tenth of a homer, and the ephah must contain one-tenth of a homer. The homer will be the standard measure for both. 12 The shekel must consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels will constitute one mina.
13 Grain Offerings. This is the special offering you shall make: one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley. 14 The prescribed portion of oil: one-tenth of a measure for every measure of oil, consisting of ten liquid measures to a kor (or a homer, since ten liquid measures equal one homer).
15 In addition, you must take from the pastures of Israel one sheep from every flock of two hundred. These will be used for sacrifice—burnt offerings and peace offerings and fellowship offerings—to make atonement for the people, says the Lord God.
16 All the people of the land will be required to contribute to this offering for the prince of Israel. 17 The prince himself has the obligation to provide the holocausts, the cereal offerings, and the libations for all of the feasts, new moons, Sabbaths, and appointed festivals of the house of Israel. He, himself, must provide the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the fellowship offerings to make atonement for the house of Israel.
18 The Feast of Passover. Thus says the Lord God: On the first day of the first month you shall sacrifice an unblemished young bull to purify the sanctuary. 19 The priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the doorposts of the gates of the inner court. 20 You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned inadvertently or because of ignorance. In this way, you will make atonement for the temple.
21 On the fourteenth day of the first month, you must celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days, everyone must eat unleavened bread. 22 On that day the prince must provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land.
23 On each of the seven days of the feast, the prince must offer as a holocaust to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, and as a sin offering, he must offer one male goat each day. 24 He also is to provide as a grain offering one ephah for each bull and one ephah for each ram, as well as a hin[b] of oil for each ephah.
25 The Feast of Booths. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and for the entire seven days of the festival, he shall provide the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, and oil.
Psalm 99[a]
God, King of Justice and Holiness
1 The Lord is King;[b]
let the nations tremble.
He sits enthroned on the cherubim;
let the earth quake.
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name:[c]
holy is he!
4 Mighty King, you love justice,
and you have established fairness;
in Jacob[d] you have brought about
what is just and right.
5 Exalt the Lord, our God,
and worship at his footstool;
holy is he![e]
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
and Samuel was among those who invoked his name;
they cried out to the Lord,
and he answered them.[f]
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;[g]
they obeyed his decrees and the law he gave them.
8 O Lord, our God,
you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but you punished their wrongdoings.[h]
9 Exalt the Lord, our God,
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord, our God, is holy.[i]
Psalm 100[j]
Processional Entrance Hymn
1 A psalm of thanksgiving.[k]
Acclaim the Lord[l] with joy, all the earth;
2 serve the Lord[m] with gladness;
enter his presence with songs of joy.
3 Proclaim that the Lord is God.[n]
He made us and we are his possession;
we are his people, the flock he shepherds.
4 Offer thanksgiving as you enter his gates,[o]
sing hymns of praise as you approach his courts;
give thanks to him and bless his name,
5 for the Lord is good.
His kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness is constant to all generations.[p]
Psalm 101[q]
Norm of Life for a Good Ruler
1 A psalm of David.
I will sing of kindness and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will offer praise in song.
2 I will walk in the path of blamelessness;
when will you come to me?[r]
Within my house[s] I will act
with integrity of heart.
3 I will not allow any shameful act
to be done before my eyes.
[t]I will refuse to associate
with people who do evil.
4 Let the perverse of heart remain far from me;
I will not tolerate the wicked.
5 [u]Anyone who secretly slanders a neighbor
I will reduce to silence.
Anyone with haughty glances and an arrogant heart
I cannot endure.
6 The faithful in the land are the ones
whom I will choose to be my companions.
Only the one who follows the path of integrity
will be allowed to be my servant.
7 No one who practices deceit
will be permitted to remain in my house.
No one who utters lies
will be numbered among my companions.[v]
8 Morning after morning[w] I will banish
all the wicked from the land,
removing all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
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