M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 10
The Killing of Ahab’s Descendants. 1 Now there were seventy sons of Ahab in Samaria, so Jehu wrote letters that he sent to Samaria, to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and the guardians of Ahab’s children, saying,[a] 2 “As soon as you receive this letter, for your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses and a fortified city and armor, 3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him upon his father’s throne, and fight for your master.”
4 They were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, then how could we resist him?” 5 The major-domo of the palace who was in charge of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants. We will do whatever you tell us. We will not appoint anyone as king; we will do as you see fit.”
6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are with me and willing to obey me, then take off the heads[b] of these men, the sons of Ahab, and bring them to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
There were seventy sons of the king who were being raised by the leading citizens of the city. 7 When they received the letter, they slew the king’s sons, seventy of them, and they put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jezreel.
8 When the messenger arrived, he told him, “We have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” He said, “Put them in two piles at the entrance to the gates until the morning.”
9 The next morning, he went out and stood before all the people and said to them, “You are innocent! I plotted against my master and killed him, but who killed all of these? 10 Know then that not a word of the Lord which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab will fall to the ground. The Lord has fulfilled what he said through his servant Elijah.”
11 So Jehu killed all of those who remained from the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his chief men, all of his relatives, and all of his priests, so that none of them were left alive.
12 Ahaziah’s Kinsmen. He then rose up and left and went to Samaria. On the way, at Beth-eked of the shepherds, 13 Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah. He said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.” 14 He said, “Take them alive!” They took them alive and they slew them at the well of Beth-eked, forty-two of them. He did not leave any of them alive.
15 When he left there, he encountered Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, who came out to meet him. He greeted him and said, “Is your heart right? Is your heart with my heart?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” He said, “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand, and he took him up into his chariot. 16 He said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. 17 When he arrived in Samaria, he killed all of those who were left of Ahab in Samaria until he had wiped them out, fulfilling what the Lord had said when he spoke through Elijah.
18 Baal’s Temple Destroyed. Jehu then gathered together all of the people and said to them, “Ahab only served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. 19 Summon all of the prophets of Baal to me, all of his servants, and all of his priests. Let no one be missing, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” Jehu did this as a trick so that he might put to death those who worshiped Baal. 20 Jehu said, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it.
21 Jehu sent throughout all of Israel, and all of the worshipers of Baal came. There was not a single one of them who did not come. The temple of Baal was full from one end to the other. 22 He said to the person who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring forth the vestments for all of the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought forth vestments for them.[c]
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went to the temple of Baal. He said to the worshipers of Baal, “Look around and see that there are no servants of the Lord here, only worshipers of Baal.” 24 They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Jehu posted eighty men and said, “If any of the men whom I have placed in your hands escapes, it will be your life for his life.” 25 As soon as he had finished offering up the burnt offerings, Jehu said to the guards and the captains, “Go in and slay them. Let no one escape.” They put them to the sword. The guards and the captains then cast them out, and they entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred pillars out from the temple of Baal and they burned them. 27 They smashed the idol of Baal, and they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a refuse dump, which it is up to the present. 28 Thus, Jehu destroyed Baal throughout Israel.
29 Death of Jehu. However, Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, that is, following the golden calves in Bethel and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done what was right in my sight, doing everything that was in my heart to the house of Ahab, your sons to the fourth generation will sit upon the throne of Israel.”
31 But Jehu did not take heed to walk in the ways of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart, nor did he turn away from the sins of Jeroboam who caused Israel to sin. 32 Therefore, the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel, and Hazael conquered them throughout all of the territory of Israel 33 to the east of the Jordan: all of the land of Gilead, that is, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aroer which is near the Arnon River, including Gilead and Bashan.
34 Now the rest of the deeds of Jehu, and all that he did, and his accomplishments, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
35 Jehu slept with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz, his son, then reigned in his stead. 36 Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria for a period of twenty-eight years.
Chapter 1
Salutation[a]
Address. 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, whose promise of life is fulfilled in Christ Jesus, 2 to Timothy, my beloved child: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving and Prayer. 3 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clean conscience as did my ancestors—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I recall your tears,[b] I long to see you again so that my joy may be complete. 5 I also remember your sincere faith, a faith that first came to life in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and that I am convinced also dwells in you.[c]
The Endurance of a Man of God[d]
Revive the Gift of God. For this reason, I remind you to stir up the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands.[e] 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but rather a spirit of power and of love and of wisdom. 8 Therefore, you should never be ashamed of bearing witness to our Lord, nor of me because I am imprisoned for his sake. Rather, you should utilize the strength that comes from God to share in my hardships for the sake of the gospel.9 God saved us and called us to a life of holiness, not because of our works but according to his own purpose and the grace that has been bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.[f] 10 That grace has now been revealed by the appearance[g] of our Savior Jesus Christ. He has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I have been appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.[h]
12 Guard the Treasure Entrusted to Us. That is the reason why I am undergoing my present sufferings. However, I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have placed my trust, and I am confident that he is able to guard until that Day[i] what he has entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of sound teaching that you heard from me, with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 With the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, guard the treasure that has been entrusted to us.
15 Comfort Those in Suffering. As you are well aware, everyone in Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.[j] 16 May the Lord be merciful to the household of Onesiphorus,[k] because he has often been a comfort to me in my troubles, and he has never been ashamed of my chains. 17 When he arrived in Rome, he concentrated on searching for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord[l] on that Day. He also helped me in many ways at Ephesus, as you are well aware.
Chapter 2
To Conjure Up One’s Destiny
1 The Israelites will be as numerous
as the sands of the sea,
which can be neither measured nor numbered.
And in the very place where it was said to them,
“You are not my people,”
they will be called, “Children of the Living God.”
2 The people of Judah and of Israel
shall be gathered together.
They will choose one person to be their leader,
and they shall enlarge their boundaries,
for great will be the day of Jezreel.
3 Say to your brothers, “You are my people,”
and to your sisters, “You are beloved.”
Repudiation and Return to First Love[a]
I Shall Strip Her Bare[b]
4 Insist that your mother repent,[c]
for she is no longer my wife,
and I am not her husband.
If she does not cease her harlotry
and the use of her breasts in adulterous acts,
5 I shall strip her bare,[d]
leaving her as naked as the day she was born.
I shall make her as barren as the wilderness
and as parched as the desert,
leaving her to die of thirst.
6 Nor will I feel any pity for her children,
since they are the offspring of adultery.
7 Yes, their mother has been a whore;
she who conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, “I will go after my lovers;
they will supply me with my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.”
8 That is why I will block her path with thornbushes
and erect a wall to hinder her,
so that she cannot proceed on her journey.
9 Although she pursues her lovers,[e]
she will not be able to overtake them.
If she looks for them,
she will not find them.
Finally she will say,
“I will return to my first husband,
since I was far better off then than I am now.”
10 She has never realized
that I was the one who gave her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished upon her the silver and gold
that they used for Baal.
11 For this reason I intend to take back
my grain when it is ready for the harvest
and my new wine during the time of vintage.
And I will retrieve the wool and the flax
with which her nakedness was to be covered.
12 Now I will reveal her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers,
and no one shall rescue her from my hands.
13 I will put an end to all her merrymaking,
her festivals, her new moons, and her sabbaths,
and all of her solemn festivals.
14 I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
about which she said,
“These are the payment
I have received from my lovers.”
I shall allow them to grow wild,
and ferocious beasts will devour them.
15 I will inflict punishment on her
for the festival days of the Baals,
when she burned incense to them,
and adorned herself with her rings and jewels
and ran after her lovers
while she forgot me, says the Lord.
I Intend To Allure Her . . . and Speak Tenderly to Her[f]
16 As a result, now I intend to allure her,
lead her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
17 From there I will restore her vineyards to her
and make the Valley of Achor[g] a gateway of hope.
There she will respond as she did in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
18 On that day, says the Lord,
she will call me “My husband,”
and never again call me “My Baal.”
19 I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth;
never again shall their names be invoked.
20 On that day I will make for you
a covenant with the wild animals,
with the birds of the air,
and the things that creep on the ground.
I will destroy bows and swords and warfare
and banish them from the land
so that you may lie down in security.
21 I will betroth you to myself forever;
I will espouse you in righteousness and in justice,
in steadfast love and in mercy.
22 I will take you for my wife in fidelity,
and you will know the Lord.
23 On that day I will respond,
says the Lord.
I will respond to the heavens,
and they will respond to the earth,
24 and the earth will respond to the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.
25 I will sow her for myself in the land,
and I will have pity on Lo-ruhama.
I will say to Lo-ammi, “You are my people,”
and he will say, “You are my God.”
97 [a]I truly love your law.
It is my meditation throughout the day.
98 [b]Your precept has given me greater wisdom than my enemies,
for it is mine forever.
99 I am wiser than all my teachers
because I meditate on your commands.
100 I have greater insight than the elders,[c]
because I keep your commandments.
101 I point my feet away from evil paths
so that I might observe your word.
102 I refuse to ignore your judgments,
for it is you yourself who have taught me.
103 Your words are sweet to my palate,
even sweeter to my tongue than honey.[d]
104 Through your commandments I achieve wisdom;
therefore, I hate every way that is false.
Nun
105 [e]Your word is a lamp for my feet[f]
and a light to my path.
106 With a solemn vow I have sworn[g]
to obey the judgments of your righteousness.
107 I have been afflicted beyond measure;
O Lord, let me live in accord with your word.
108 Receive, O Lord, the homage my lips offer you,
and instruct me about your judgments.
109 Even though I continually take my life in my hands,[h]
I do not neglect your law.
110 The wicked seek to entrap me,
but I have not strayed from your commands.
111 [i]Your statutes are my everlasting heritage;
they are the very joy of my heart.
112 I have set my heart on keeping your decrees,
even to the end.
Samekh
113 [j]I detest those who are hypocritical,[k]
but I love your law.
114 You are my refuge and my shield;
I put my hope in your word.
115 Depart from my presence, you evildoers,
so that I may observe the precepts of my God.
116 Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live;
do not delude me in my hope.
117 Uphold me, and I will be saved
and will remain completely focused on your decrees.
118 You cast away all those who swerve from your decrees;
their cunning is futile.
119 You discard all the wicked of the earth like dross;[l]
therefore, I love your teachings.
120 My flesh trembles[m] before you in terror;
your judgments fill me with awe.
Ayin
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