M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Ahijah’s Prophecy Against Jeroboam

14 At that time Abijah became sick. He was the son of Jeroboam. ² Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go. Put on some different clothes. Then no one will recognize you as my wife. Go to Shiloh. That’s where Ahijah the prophet is. He told me I would be king over the Israelites. ³ Take ten loaves of bread with you. Take some cakes and a jar of honey. Go to him. He’ll tell you what will happen to our son.” ⁴ So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said. She went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh.

Ahijah couldn’t see. He was blind because he was so old. ⁵ But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming. Her son is sick. She’ll ask you about him. Give her the answer I give you. When she arrives, she’ll pretend to be someone else.”

⁶ Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door. He said, “Come in. I know that you are Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have some bad news for you. ⁷ Go. Tell Jeroboam that the Lord has a message for him. The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘I chose you from among the people. I appointed you king over my people Israel. ⁸ I tore the kingdom away from the royal house of David. I gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David. He obeyed my commands. He followed me with all his heart. He did only what was right in my eyes. ⁹ You have done more evil things than all those who lived before you. You have made other gods for yourself. You have made statues of gods out of metal. You have made me very angry. You have turned your back on me.

¹⁰ “ ‘Because of that, I am going to bring horrible trouble on your royal house. I will cut off from you every male in Israel. It does not matter whether they are slaves or free. I will burn up your royal house, just as someone burns up trash. I will burn it until it is all gone. ¹¹ Some of the people who belong to you will die in the city. Dogs will eat them up. Others will die in the country. The birds will eat them. The Lord has spoken!’

¹² “Now go back home. When you enter your city, your son will die. ¹³ All the Israelites will mourn for him. Then he will be buried. He is the only one who belongs to Jeroboam who will be buried. That is because he is the only one in Jeroboam’s royal house in whom I have found anything good. I am the Lord, the God of Israel.

¹⁴ “I will choose for myself a king over Israel. He will destroy the family of Jeroboam. This day your son will die. Even now this is beginning to happen. ¹⁵ I, the Lord, will strike down Israel. Israel will be like tall grass swaying in the water. I will pull Israel up from this good land by the roots. I gave it to their people who lived long ago. I will scatter Israel to the east side of the Euphrates River. That is because they made the Lord very angry. They made poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. ¹⁶ I will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed. He has also caused Israel to commit those same sins.”

¹⁷ Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left. She went to the city of Tirzah. As soon as she stepped through the doorway of the house, her son died. ¹⁸ He was buried and all the Israelites mourned for him. That’s what the Lord had said would happen. He had said it through his servant, Ahijah the prophet.

¹⁹ The other events of Jeroboam’s rule are written down. His wars and how he ruled are written down. They are written in the official records of the kings of Israel. ²⁰ Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. Jeroboam’s son Nadab became the next king after him.

Rehoboam King of Judah

²¹ Rehoboam was king in Judah. He was the son of Solomon. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem. It was the city the Lord had chosen out of all the cities in the tribes of Israel. He wanted to put his Name there. Rehoboam’s mother was Naamah from Ammon.

²² The people of Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. The sins they had committed made the Lord angry. The Lord was angry because they refused to worship only him. They did more to make him angry than their people who lived before them had done. ²³ Judah also set up for themselves high places for worship. They set up sacred stones. They set up poles used to worship the female god named Asherah. They did it on every high hill and under every green tree. ²⁴ There were even male prostitutes at the temples in the land. The people took part in all the practices of other nations. The Lord hated those practices. He had driven those nations out to make room for the Israelites.

²⁵ Shishak attacked Jerusalem. It was in the fifth year that Rehoboam was king. Shishak was king of Egypt. ²⁶ He carried away the treasures of the Lord’s temple. He also carried away the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything. That included all the gold shields Solomon had made. ²⁷ So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to take their place. He gave them to the commanders of the guards on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. ²⁸ Every time the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards carried the shields. Later, they took them back to the room where they were kept.

²⁹ The other events of Rehoboam’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Judah. ³⁰ Rehoboam and Jeroboam were always at war with each other. ³¹ Rehoboam joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in his family tomb in the City of David. His mother was Naamah from Ammon. Rehoboam’s son Abijah became the next king after him.

1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. Our brother Timothy joins me in writing.

² We are sending this letter to you, our brothers and sisters in Colossae. You belong to Christ. You are holy and faithful.

May God our Father give you grace and peace.

Paul Prays and Gives Thanks

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you. ⁴ We thank him because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus. We have also heard that you love all God’s people. ⁵ Your faith and love are based on the hope you have. What you hope for is stored up for you in heaven. You have already heard about it. You were told about it when the true message was given to you. I’m talking about the good news ⁶ that has come to you. In the same way, the good news is bearing fruit. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world. It has been doing that among you since the day you heard it. That is when you really understood God’s grace. ⁷ You learned the good news from Epaphras. He is dear to us. He serves Christ together with us. He faithfully works for Christ and for us among you. ⁸ He also told us about your love that comes from the Holy Spirit.

⁹ That’s why we have not stopped praying for you. We have been praying for you since the day we heard about you. We keep asking God to fill you with the knowledge of what he wants. We pray he will give you the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. ¹⁰ Then you will be able to lead a life that is worthy of the Lord. We pray that you will please him in every way. So we want you to bear fruit in every good thing you do. We pray that you will grow to know God better. ¹¹ We want you to be very strong, in keeping with his glorious power. We want you to be patient. We pray that you will never give up. ¹² We want you to give thanks with joy to the Father. He has made you fit to have what he will give to all his holy people. You will all receive a share in the kingdom of light. ¹³ He has saved us from the kingdom of darkness. He has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. ¹⁴ Because of what the Son has done, we have been set free. Because of him, all our sins have been forgiven.

The Son of God Is Better Than Everything Else

¹⁵ The Son is the exact likeness of God, who can’t be seen. The Son is first, and he is over all creation. ¹⁶ All things were created in him. He created everything in heaven and on earth. He created everything that can be seen and everything that can’t be seen. He created kings, powers, rulers and authorities. All things have been created by him and for him. ¹⁷ Before anything was created, he was already there. He holds everything together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning. He is the first to be raised from the dead. That happened so that he would be far above everything. ¹⁹ God was pleased to have his whole nature living in Christ. ²⁰ God was pleased to bring all things back to himself. That’s because of what Christ has done. These things include everything on earth and in heaven. God made peace through Christ’s blood, by his death on the cross.

²¹ At one time you were separated from God. You were enemies in your minds because of your evil ways. ²² But because Christ died, God has brought you back to himself. Christ’s death has made you holy in God’s sight. So now you don’t have any flaw. You are free from blame. ²³ But you must keep your faith steady and firm. You must not move away from the hope the good news holds out to you. This is the good news that you heard. It has been preached to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, now serve the good news.

Paul’s Work for the Church

²⁴ I am happy because of what I am suffering for you. My suffering joins with and continues the sufferings of Christ. I suffer for his body, which is the church. ²⁵ I serve the church. God appointed me to bring the complete word of God to you. ²⁶ That word contains the mystery that has been hidden for many ages. But now it has been made known to the Lord’s people. ²⁷ God has chosen to make known to them the glorious riches of that mystery. He has made it known among the Gentiles. And here is what it is. Christ is in you. He is your hope of glory.

²⁸ Christ is the one we preach about. With all the wisdom we have, we warn and teach everyone. When we bring them to God, we want them to be like Christ. We want them to be grown up as people who belong to Christ. ²⁹ That’s what I’m working for. I work hard with all the strength of Christ. His strength works powerfully in me.

The Priesthood Will Be Established Again

44 Then the man brought me back to the outer gate of the temple. It was the one that faced east. It was shut. ² The Lord said to me, “This gate must remain shut. It must not be opened. No one can enter through it. It must remain shut because I have entered through it. I am the God of Israel. ³ The prince is the only one who can sit in the gateway. There he can eat in front of me. He must enter through the porch of the gateway. And he must go out the same way.”

⁴ Then the man brought me through the north gate. He took me to the front of the temple. I looked up and saw the glory of the Lord. It filled his temple. I fell with my face toward the ground.

⁵ The Lord said to me, “Son of man, pay attention. Look carefully. Listen closely to everything I tell you. I’m telling you about all the rules and instructions concerning my temple. Pay attention to the entrance to the temple and to all its exits. ⁶ Speak to the people of Israel. They refuse to obey me. Tell them, ‘Here is what the Lord and King says. “People of Israel, I have had enough of your evil practices. I hate them. ⁷ You brought outsiders into my temple. They were not circumcised. Their hearts were stubborn. You made my temple ‘unclean.’ But you offered me food, fat and blood anyway. When you did all these things, you broke the covenant I made with you. I hated all the evil things you did. ⁸ You did not do what I told you to. You did not take care of my holy things. Instead, you put other people in charge of my temple.” ’ ” ⁹ The Lord and King says, “No outsider whose heart is stubborn can enter my temple. They have not been circumcised. Even if they live among the people of Israel they can’t enter my temple.

¹⁰ “Some Levites wandered far away from me when Israel went astray. They worshiped the statues of their gods. So they will be punished because they have sinned. ¹¹ They might serve in my temple. They might be in charge of its gates. They might kill the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people. And they might stand in front of the people and serve them in other ways. ¹² But these Levites served the people of Israel. They served while the Israelites were worshiping the statues of their gods. They made the people fall into sin. So I raised my hand and made a promise. I warned them that I would punish them because of their sin,” announces the Lord and King. ¹³ “They must not approach me to serve me as priests. They must not come near any of my holy things. They must stay away from my very holy offerings. They did many things they should have been ashamed of. I hated those things. ¹⁴ But I will still appoint them to guard the temple. They will guard it for all the work that has to be done there.

¹⁵ “But the priests must approach me to serve me. They are Levites from Zadok’s family line. They guarded my temple when the people of Israel turned away from me. These priests must serve me by offering sacrifices of fat and blood,” announces the Lord and King. ¹⁶ “They are the only ones who can enter my temple. Only they can come near to serve me as guards.

¹⁷ “They will enter the gates of the inner courtyard. When they do, they must wear linen clothes. They will serve at the gates of the inner courtyard or inside the temple. When they do, they must not wear any clothes made out of wool. ¹⁸ They must have linen turbans on their heads. They must wear linen underwear around their waists. They must not wear anything that makes them sweat. ¹⁹ They will go into the outer courtyard where the people are. When they do, they must take off the clothes they have been serving in. They must leave them in the sacred rooms. And they must put other clothes on. Then the people will not be made holy if they happen to touch the priests’ clothes.

²⁰ “The priests must not shave their heads. They must not let their hair grow long. They must keep it cut short. ²¹ No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner courtyard. ²² They must not get married to widows or divorced women. They may only marry Israelite virgins or the widows of priests. ²³ The priests must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is not. They must show them how to tell the difference between what is ‘clean’ and what is not.

²⁴ “When people do not agree, the priests must serve as judges between them. They must make their decisions based on my laws. They must obey my laws and rules for all my appointed feasts. And they must keep my Sabbath days holy.

²⁵ “A priest must not make himself ‘unclean’ by going near a dead person. But suppose the dead person was his father or mother. Or suppose it was his son or daughter or brother or unmarried sister. Then the priest may make himself ‘unclean.’ ²⁶ After he is pure and ‘clean’ again, he must wait seven days. ²⁷ Then he may go to the inner courtyard to serve in the temple. But when he does, he must sacrifice a sin offering for himself,” announces the Lord and King.

²⁸ “The priests will not receive any part of the land of Israel. I myself will be their only share. ²⁹ They will eat the grain offerings, sin offerings and guilt offerings. Everything in Israel that is set apart to me in a special way will belong to them. ³⁰ The best of every first share of the people’s crops will belong to the priests. So will all their special gifts. The people must give the priests the first share of their ground meal. Then I will bless my people’s families. ³¹ The priests must not eat any bird or animal that is found dead. They must not eat anything that wild animals have torn apart.

A psalm.