M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abijah’s Reign over Judah^(A)

15 Abijah reigned over Judah starting in the eighteenth year of Nebat’s son Jeroboam’s reign. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. ³ He practiced the same sins that his father committed before he was born. Unlike his ancestor David, his heart never became devoted to the Lord his God. ⁴ Nevertheless, for the sake of David, the Lord his God maintained a lamp for David^[a] in Jerusalem by raising up his son after him so that Jerusalem would be established, ⁵ because David had practiced what the Lord considered to be right. He never avoided anything that the Lord had commanded him during his entire lifetime, except for the case of Uriah the Hittite.

⁶ There was continual military conflict between Rehoboam and Jeroboam throughout his entire lifetime. ⁷ The rest of Abijah’s accomplishments, including everything he undertook, are written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? And a state of war continued to exist between Abijah and Jeroboam. ⁸ Eventually, Abijah died, as did his ancestors, and he was buried in the City of David. His son Asa succeeded him as king.

Asa Reigns over Judah^(B)

⁹ Asa began to reign as Judah’s king during the twentieth year of the reign of^[b] Jeroboam as king over Israel. ¹⁰ He reigned 41 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ Asa practiced what the Lord considered to be right, just like his ancestor David. ¹² He also removed the male cult prostitutes^[c] from the land and destroyed all the idols that his ancestors had made. ¹³ He removed his mother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had made a detestable image dedicated to Asherah.^[d] Asa cut down his mother’s idol, crushed it, and burned it at the Kidron Brook. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, the high places were not removed, even though Asa’s heart was blameless toward the Lord all of his life. ¹⁵ Asa brought into the Lord’s Temple the things that his father had dedicated, as well as his own dedicated gifts such as silver, gold, and temple service^[e] implements.

Alliances with Aram against Israel^(C)

¹⁶ A state of continual military unrest existed between Asa and King Baasha of Israel throughout their lifetimes. ¹⁷ King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and interdicted Ramah by building fortifications around it so no one could enter or leave to join King Asa of Judah. ¹⁸ But Asa removed all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Lord’s Temple and from his royal palace, placed them into the care of some servants, and then sent them to Tabrimmon’s son King Ben-hadad of Aram, the grandson of Hezion, who lived in Damascus.

¹⁹ “Let’s make a treaty between you and me,” he said, “just like the one between my father and your father. Notice that I’ve sent you silver and gold to break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he’ll retreat from his attack^[f] on me.”

²⁰ So King Ben-hadad did just what King Asa had asked: he sent his commanding officers to attack the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all of Chinneroth,^[g] and the territory of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and remained in Tirzah, ²² so King Asa published a proclamation throughout Judah (no one was left out) and they carried away the stones and timber with which Baasha had been fortifying Judah. King Asa used them to fortify Geba in Benjamin and Mizpah.

²³ The rest of Asa’s accomplishments, his strength, everything that he undertook, and the cities that he fortified are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? However, as he approached old age, he became diseased in his feet. ²⁴ Then Asa died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David, his ancestor. His son Jehoshaphat reigned in his place.

Nadab Reigns over Israel

²⁵ Jeroboam’s son Nadab became king over Israel during the second year of the reign of^[h] King Asa over Judah. He reigned over Israel for two years, ²⁶ practicing what the Lord considered to be evil, living the way his father did, committing sins, and leading Israel to sin. ²⁷ So Ahijah’s son Baasha from the household of Issachar conspired against him and killed Nadab at Gibbethon in Philistia while Nadab and all of Israel were attacking Gibbethon. ²⁸ Baasha killed him during the third year of the reign of^[i] King Asa of Judah and took Nadab’s^[j] place as king.

²⁹ As soon as he was established as king, he killed everyone in the household of Jeroboam. He left not even one single person alive. He destroyed them completely, just as the Lord had spoken through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite,^{[k] 30} because of the sins that Jeroboam had committed, and because he led Israel into sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to become angry.

³¹ Now the rest of Nadab’s accomplishments, including everything he undertook, are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, are they not? ³² Meanwhile, a state of war continued to exist between Asa and Baasha king of Israel, throughout their reigns.

Baasha Reigns over Israel

³³ During the third year of the reign of^[l] King Asa of Judah, Ahijah’s son Baasha became king over all of Israel. He reigned for 24 years at Tirzah. ³⁴ He practiced what the Lord considered to be evil, living like Jeroboam did and leading Israel into sin.

2 For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face.^{[a] 2} Because they are united in love, I pray^[b] that their hearts may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of the full knowledge of the Messiah,^[c] who is^[d] the mystery of God. ³ In him are stored all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this so that no one will mislead you with nice-sounding rhetoric. ⁵ For although I am physically absent, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in the Messiah^[e] is.

Fullness of Life

⁶ So then, just as you have received the Messiah^[f] Jesus the Lord, continue to live dependent on him. ⁷ For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you continue to be thankful. ⁸ See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world,^[g] and not according to the Messiah,^{[h] 9} because all the essence^[i] of deity inhabits him in bodily form. ¹⁰ And you have been filled by him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹ In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human^[j] hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah.^{[k] 12} When you were buried with the Messiah^[l] in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ Even when you were dead because of your offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God^[m] made you alive with him when he forgave us all of our offenses, ¹⁴ having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross. ¹⁵ And when he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross.^[n]

¹⁶ Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days.^{[o] 17} These are a shadow of the things to come, but the reality^[p] belongs to the Messiah.^{[q] 18} Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels cheat you out of the prize by rejoicing about what he has seen.^[r] Such a person is puffed up for no reason by his carnal mind. ¹⁹ He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body, which is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God enables it.

The New Life in the Messiah

²⁰ If you have died with the Messiah^[s] to the basic principles of the world,^[t] why are you submitting to its decrees as though you still lived in the world? ²¹ “Don’t handle this! Don’t taste or touch that!” ²² All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³ These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.

Israel’s Future Temple Park

45 “When you divide the land for an inheritance, you are to present a Terumah^[a] to the Lord, a consecrated portion of the land 25,000 cubits^[b] long and 20,000^[c] cubits^[d] wide. Everything within this area is to be treated as holy. ² A Holy Place is to be dedicated from this area in the form of a square measuring 500 by 500 cubits,^[e] with a 50 cubit^[f] buffer zone^[g] surrounding it. ³ From this area a measure is to be made 25,000 cubits^[h] long and 10,000 cubits^[i] wide, which is to contain the sanctuary, the holiest of holy objects. ⁴ It is to be a holy portion of the land, set aside^[j] for the priests who serve the sanctuary, who approach the Lord to serve him. It is to be a place for their houses, as well as the Holy Place of the sanctuary. ⁵ An area 25,000 cubits^[k] long by 10,000 cubits wide is to be set aside^[l] for use by the Levite^[m] servants of the Temple, 20 parcels^[n] for their residential properties. ⁶ The land allocation for the city is to be set at 5,000 cubits^[o] wide and 25,000 cubits^[p] long, adjacent to the sanctuary district, reserved for the entire house of Israel.”

The Portion for the Regent Prince

⁷ “The Regent Prince is to have a portion^[q] on both sides of the consecrated allotment for the sanctuary and the city’s land allotment, adjacent to both on the west^[r] and the east sides, comparable in length to one of the portions from the west^[s] border to the east border. ⁸ This property in Israel is to belong to the Regent Prince,^[t] so my regent princes will no longer mistreat my nation. The remaining portion of the land is to be allotted to the house of Israel, that is, to its tribes.”

An Exhortation to Honest Business

⁹ “This is what the Lord God says, ‘Enough of you, you regent princes of Israel! Abandon your violence and destruction. Practice what is just and right instead! Stop confiscating property from my people!’ declares the Lord God. ¹⁰ ‘You’re to use an honest scale, an honest dry measure,^[u] and an honest liquid measure!^{[v] 11} The ephah and the bath are to be of equal volume; that is, the bath is to contain one tenth of an omer and the ephah one tenth of an omer. The omer is to be the standard on which their volume measurement is to be based. ¹² The shekel^[w] is to weigh 20 gerahs. The mina^[x] is to be comprised of three coins weighing^[y] 20, 25, and fifteen shekels, respectively.’”

Weight Standards for Offerings

¹³ “Here are the standards for presenting offerings: a sixth of an ephah that is based on the standard omer of wheat, and a sixth of an ephah based on the standard omer of barley. ¹⁴ The olive oil quota is to be based on the bath, measured at ten baths to each omer, which is equal to one kor. ¹⁵ The sheep quota is to be one from each flock of 200 taken from the pastures of Israel. From all of these you are to present grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁶ “The entire nation living in the land is to present this offering to the Regent Prince in Israel. ¹⁷ The Regent Prince is to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings at the festivals, on the New Moons and Sabbaths, and at all of the prescribed festivals of the house of Israel. He is to provide the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings in order to make atonement for the house of Israel.”

¹⁸ “This is what the Lord God says, ‘On the first day of the first month, you are to present a young bull without defect in order to cleanse the sanctuary. ¹⁹ The priest is to place some of the blood from the sin offering on the door posts of the Temple, on the four corners of the ledge around the altar, and on the posts of the gate leading to the inner court. ²⁰ You are also to do this on the seventh day of the month, to make atonement for any person who wanders away or who sins through ignorance in order to make atonement for the Temple.

²¹ “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month, you are to observe the Passover as a festival for seven days. Unleavened bread is to be eaten. ²² On that day, the Regent Prince is to provide, both for himself and for all the people who live in the land, a bull for a sin offering. ²³ Each day during the seven days of the festival, he is to provide a burnt offering to the Lord, consisting of seven bulls and seven rams without defect, offered each day throughout the seven days, along with a male goat offered each day as a sin offering.

²⁴ “‘The Regent Prince^[z] is also to present a grain offering consisting of an ephah with each bull and an ephah with each ram, along with a hin of olive oil mixed with an ephah of grain. ²⁵ On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, during a seven day festival, the Regent Prince^[aa] is to present these as daily sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings mixed with oil.’”

The Lord is Holy

A psalm of thanksgiving

Give Thanks to the Lord

A Davidic Psalm

Remembering God’s Love