M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abijah King of Judah

15 Abijah became king of Judah. It was in the 18th year of Jeroboam’s rule over Israel. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat. ² Abijah ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother’s name was Maakah. She was Abishalom’s daughter.

³ Abijah committed all the sins his father had committed before him. Abijah didn’t obey the Lord his God with all his heart. He didn’t do what King David had done. ⁴ But the Lord still kept the lamp of Abijah’s kingdom burning brightly in Jerusalem. He did it by giving him a son to be the next king after him. He also did it by making Jerusalem strong. The Lord did those things because of David. ⁵ David had done what was right in the sight of the Lord. He had kept all the Lord’s commands. He had obeyed them all the days of his life. But he hadn’t obeyed the Lord in the case of Uriah, the Hittite.

⁶ There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam all through Abijah’s life. ⁷ The other events of Abijah’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written down. All these things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah. There was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abijah joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the City of David. Abijah’s son Asa became the next king after him.

Asa King of Judah

⁹ Asa became king of Judah. It was in the 20th year that Jeroboam was king of Israel. ¹⁰ Asa ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah. She was Abishalom’s daughter.

¹¹ Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord. That’s what King David had done. ¹² Asa threw out of the land the male prostitutes who were at the temples. He got rid of all the statues of gods made by his people of long ago. ¹³ He even removed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother. That’s because she had made a pole used to worship the female god named Asherah. The Lord hated it. So Asa cut it down. He burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ Asa didn’t remove the high places from Israel. But he committed his whole life completely to the Lord. ¹⁵ He and his father had set apart silver, gold and other things to the Lord. Asa brought them into the Lord’s temple.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel. It lasted the whole time they were kings. ¹⁷ Baasha was king of Israel. He marched out against Judah. Baasha built up the walls of Ramah. He did it to keep people from leaving or entering the territory of Asa, the king of Judah.

¹⁸ Asa took all the silver and gold left among the treasures of the Lord’s temple and his own palace. He put his officials in charge of it. He sent the officials to Ben-Hadad. Ben-Hadad was king of Aram. He was ruling in Damascus. He was the son of Tabrimmon and the grandson of Hezion. ¹⁹ “Let’s make a peace treaty between us,” Asa said. “My father and your father had made a peace treaty between them. Now I’m sending you a gift of silver and gold. So break your treaty with Baasha, the king of Israel. Then he’ll go back home.”

²⁰ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. He sent his army commanders against the towns of Israel. He captured Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maakah and the whole area of Kinnereth in addition to Naphtali. ²¹ Baasha heard about it. So he stopped building up Ramah. He went back home to Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa gave an order to all the men of Judah. Everyone was required to help. They carried away from Ramah the stones and wood Baasha had been using there. King Asa used them to build up Geba in the territory of Benjamin. He also used them to build up Mizpah.

²³ All the other events of Asa’s rule are written down, including the cities he built. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah. But when Asa became old, his feet began to give him trouble. ²⁴ He joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in his family tomb. It was in the city of King David. Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became the next king after him.

Nadab King of Israel

²⁵ Nadab became king of Israel. It was in the second year that Asa was king of Judah. Nadab ruled over Israel for two years. He was the son of Jeroboam. ²⁶ Nadab did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He lived the way his father had lived. He committed the same sin his father Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

²⁷ Baasha was from the tribe of Issachar. He was the son of Ahijah. Baasha made plans against Nadab and struck him down at Gibbethon. It was a Philistine town. Baasha struck him down while Nadab and all the men of Israel were getting ready to attack Gibbethon. ²⁸ He killed Nadab in the third year that Asa was king of Judah. Baasha became the next king after Nadab.

²⁹ As soon as Baasha became king, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family. He didn’t leave any of them alive. He destroyed every one of them. He did what the Lord had said would happen. The Lord had spoken that message through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. ³⁰ The Lord judged Jeroboam’s family because of the sins Jeroboam had committed. He had also caused Israel to commit those same sins. He had made the Lord very angry. The Lord is the God of Israel.

³¹ The other events of Nadab’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. ³² There was war between Asa and Baasha, the king of Israel. It lasted the whole time they were kings.

Baasha King of Israel

³³ Baasha became king of Israel in Tirzah. It was in the third year that Asa was king of Judah. Baasha ruled for 24 years. He was the son of Ahijah. ³⁴ Baasha did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He lived the way Jeroboam had lived. He committed the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

2 I want you to know how hard I am working for you. I’m concerned for those who are in Laodicea. I’m also concerned for everyone who has not met me in person. ² My goal is that their hearts may be encouraged and strengthened. I want them to be joined together in love. Then their understanding will be rich and complete. They will know the mystery of God. That mystery is Christ. ³ All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. ⁴ But I don’t want anyone to fool you with words that only sound good. ⁵ So even though I am away from you in body, I am with you in spirit. And I am glad to see that you are controlling yourselves. I am happy that your faith in Christ is so strong.

Having All Things in Christ

⁶ You received Christ Jesus as Lord. So keep on living your lives in him. ⁷ Have your roots in him. Build yourselves up in him. Grow strong in what you believe, just as you were taught. Be more thankful than ever before.

⁸ Make sure no one controls you. They will try to control you by using false reasoning that has no meaning. Their ideas depend on human teachings. They also depend on the basic spiritual powers of this world. They don’t depend on Christ.

⁹ God’s whole nature is living in Christ in human form. ¹⁰ Because you belong to Christ, you have been made complete. He is the ruler over every power and authority. ¹¹ When you received Christ, your circumcision was not done by human hands. Instead, your circumcision was done by Christ. He put away the person you used to be. At that time, sin’s power ruled over you. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried together with Christ. And you were raised to life together with him when you were baptized. You were raised to life by believing in God’s work. God himself raised Jesus from the dead.

¹³ At one time you were dead in your sins. Your desires controlled by sin were not circumcised. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave us all our sins. ¹⁴ He wiped out what the law said that we owed. The law stood against us. It judged us. But he has taken it away and nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ He took away the weapons of the powers and authorities. He made a public show of them. He won the battle over them by dying on the cross.

Freedom From Human Rules

¹⁶ So don’t let anyone judge you because of what you eat or drink. Don’t let anyone judge you about holy days. I’m talking about special feasts and New Moons and Sabbath days. ¹⁷ They are only a shadow of the things to come. But what is real is found in Christ. ¹⁸ Some people enjoy pretending they aren’t proud. They worship angels. But don’t let people like that judge you. These people tell you every little thing about what they have seen. They are proud of their useless ideas. That’s because their minds are not guided by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ They aren’t connected anymore to the head, who is Christ. But the whole body grows from the head. The muscles and tendons hold the body together. And God causes it to grow.

²⁰ Some people still follow the basic spiritual powers of the world. But you died with Christ as far as these powers are concerned. So why do you act as if you still belong to the world? Here are the rules you follow. ²¹ “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” ²² Rules like these are about things that will pass away soon. They are based on merely human rules and teachings. ²³ It is true that these rules seem wise. Because of them, people give themselves over to their own kind of worship. They pretend they are humble. They treat their bodies very badly. But rules like these don’t help. They don’t stop people from chasing after sinful pleasures.

The Lord Establishes Israel Again

45 “People of Israel, you will divide up the land you will receive. When you do, give me my share of it. It will be a sacred area. It will be eight miles long and six and a half miles wide. The entire area will be holy. ² The temple area in it will be 875 feet long and 875 feet wide. An 88-foot strip around it will be open land. ³ In the sacred area, measure off a large strip of land. It will be eight miles long and three and a third miles wide. The temple will be in it. It will be the most holy place of all. ⁴ The large strip will be the sacred share of land for the priests. There they will serve in the temple. And they will approach me to serve me there. Their houses will be built on that land. The holy temple will also be located there. ⁵ So the Levites will serve in the temple. They will have an area eight miles long and three and a third miles wide. The towns they live in will be located there.

⁶ “Give the city an area one and two-thirds miles wide and eight miles long. It will be right next to the sacred area. It will belong to all the people of Israel.

⁷ “The prince will have land on both sides of the sacred area and the city. Its border will run east and west along the land of one of the tribes. ⁸ The prince will own this land in Israel. And my princes will not crush my people anymore. Instead, they will allow the people of Israel to receive their own share of land. It will be divided up based on their tribes.”

⁹ The Lord and King says, “Princes of Israel, you have gone far enough! Stop hurting others. Do not crush them. Do what is fair and right. Stop taking my people’s land away from them,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁰ “Use weights and measures that are honest and exact. ¹¹ Use the same standard to measure dry and liquid products. Use a 6-bushel measure for dry products. And use a 60-gallon measure for liquids. ¹² Every amount of money must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights.

¹³ “You must offer a special gift. It must be six pounds out of every six bushels of grain. ¹⁴ Give two and a half quarts out of every 60 gallons of olive oil. ¹⁵ Also give one sheep from every flock of 200 sheep. Get them from the grasslands of Israel that receive plenty of water. Use them for grain offerings, burnt offerings and friendship offerings. They will be used to pay for the sin of the people,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁶ “All the people in the land will be required to give this special gift. They must give it to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ He must provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings. They will be for the yearly feasts, New Moon feasts and Sabbath days. So they will be for all the appointed feasts of the people of Israel. The prince will provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings and friendship offerings. They will be used to pay for the sin of the Israelites.”

¹⁸ The Lord and King says, “Get a young bull. It must not have any flaws. Use it to make the temple pure and ‘clean.’ Do this on the first day of the first month. ¹⁹ The priest must get some of the blood from the sin offering. He must put some on the doorposts of the temple. He must apply some to the four corners of the upper ledge of the altar. He must put the rest on the gateposts of the inner courtyard. ²⁰ Do the same thing on the seventh day of the month. Do this for those who sin without meaning to. And do this for those who sin without realizing what they are doing. So you will make the temple pure and ‘clean.’

²¹ “Keep the Passover Feast on the 14th day of the first month. It will last for seven days. During that time you must eat bread made without yeast. ²² The prince must provide a bull as a sin offering. It will be for him and all the people of the land. ²³ For each of the seven days of the feast he must provide seven bulls and seven rams. They must not have any flaws. They will be a burnt offering to me. The prince must also provide a male goat for a sin offering. ²⁴ He must bring 35 pounds for each bull or ram. He must also provide four quarts of olive oil for each of them.

²⁵ “The seven days of the feast begin on the 15th day of the seventh month. During those days the prince must provide the same sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and olive oil.”

A psalm for giving grateful praise.

A psalm of David.