M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abijam Rules Judah

15 In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nabat, Abijam became king over Judah. ² He ruled for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³ And he walked in all the sins which his father had done before him. He was not faithful to the Lord with all his heart, like the heart of his father David. ⁴ But the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem because of David. He gave him a son to rule after him and to keep Jerusalem strong. ⁵ Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn away from anything the Lord told him to do all the days of his life, except in what happened with Uriah the Hittite. ⁶ And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.

⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸ Abijam died and they buried him in the city of David. His son Asa became king in his place.

Asa Rules Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jeroboam the king of Israel, Asa began to rule as king of Judah. ¹⁰ He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ¹¹ And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father. ¹² He sent away the men from the land who sold the use of their bodies in their religion. He took away all the false gods his father had made. ¹³ He stopped his mother Maacah from being queen mother, because she had made a hated object of the false goddess Asherah. And Asa cut down her hated object and burned it at the river Kidron. ¹⁴ The high places were not taken away. But Asa was faithful to the Lord with all his heart for all his days. ¹⁵ He brought into the house of the Lord the holy things of his father and his own holy things, silver, gold, and holy objects.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ Baasha king of Israel went up against Judah. He built walls around Ramah to stop anyone from going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold which were left in the storerooms of the Lord’s house and the king’s house, and gave them to his servants. King Asa sent them to Ben-hadad the son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who lived in Damascus. Asa said, ¹⁹ “Let there be an agreement of peace between me and you, as between my father and your father. See, I have sent you a gift of silver and gold. Go and break your agreement of peace with Baasha king of Israel, so that he will leave me.” ²⁰ Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. He destroyed Ijon, Dan, Abel-bethmaacah, all Chinneroth, and all the land of Naphtali. ²¹ When Baasha heard about it, he stopped building a wall around Ramah, and stayed in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made the news known to all Judah. There was no one who did not hear it. They carried away the stones of Ramah and its pieces of wood with which Baasha had built. And King Asa used them to build Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah.

²³ Now the rest of all the acts of Asa and all his strength and all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But when he was old he had a disease in his feet. ²⁴ Asa died and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David. His son Jehoshaphat ruled in his place.

Nadab Rules Israel

²⁵ Jeroboam’s son Nadab became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah. And he ruled over Israel for two years. ²⁶ He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel sin. ²⁷ Then Baasha the son of Ahijah of the family of Issachar made plans against him. Baasha killed him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. Nadab and all Israel had been gathering their army in battle around Gibbethon. ²⁸ So Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and ruled in his place. ²⁹ As soon as he was king, Baasha killed all those of the family of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam any person alive, destroying them all. It happened just as the word of the Lord was spoken through God’s servant Ahijah the Shilonite. ³⁰ It happened because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he made Israel sin. He made the Lord God of Israel angry.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ³² And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

Baasha Rules Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king of all Israel at Tirzah. He ruled for twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.

The Christian Is Complete in Christ

2 I want you to know how hard I have worked for you and for the Christians in the city of Laodicea and for those who have never seen me. ² May their hearts be given comfort. May they be brought close together in Christian love. May they be rich in understanding and know God’s secret. It is Christ Himself. ³ In Christ are hidden all the riches of wisdom and understanding. ⁴ I tell you this so no one will try to change your mind with big sounding talk. ⁵ Even if I am far away from you in body, I am with you in spirit. I am happy to learn how well you are getting along. It is good to hear that your faith is so strong in Christ. ⁶ As you have put your trust in Christ Jesus the Lord to save you from the punishment of sin, now let Him lead you in every step. ⁷ Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.

Wisdom of the World Is Empty

⁸ Be careful that no one changes your mind and faith by much learning and big sounding ideas. Those things are what men dream up. They are always trying to make new religions. These leave out Christ. ⁹ For Christ is not only God-like, He is God in human flesh. ¹⁰ When you have Christ, you are complete. He is the head over all leaders and powers. ¹¹ When you became a Christian, you were set free from the sinful things of the world. This was not done by human hands. You were set free from the sins of your old self by what was done in Christ’s body. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried as Christ was buried. When you were raised up in baptism, you were raised as Christ was raised. You were raised to a new life by putting your trust in God. It was God Who raised Jesus from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your sins, you were not set free from the sinful things of the world. But God forgave your sins and gave you new life through Christ. ¹⁴ We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ God took away the power of the leaders of this world and the powers of darkness. He showed them to the world. The battle was won over them through Christ.

Watch for Those Who Want to Keep the Law

¹⁶ Do not let anyone tell you what you should or should not eat or drink. They have no right to say if it is right or wrong to eat certain foods or if you are to go to religious suppers. They have no right to say what you are to do at the time of the new moon or on the Day of Rest. ¹⁷ These things are a picture of what is coming. The important thing is Christ Himself. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone rob you of your crown. They will try to get you to bow down in worship of angels. They think this shows you are not proud. They say they were told to do this in a dream. These people are proud because of their sinful minds. ¹⁹ Such people are not a part of Christ. Christ is the Head. We Christians make up His body. We are joined together as a body is held together. Our strength to grow comes from Christ.

²⁰ You have died with Christ and become dead to those old ways. Then why do you follow the old ways of worship? Why do you obey man-made rules? ²¹ These rules say, “You must not put your hand on this.” “Do not put this into your mouth.” “You must not put your finger on that.” ²² All these things come to an end when they are used. You are following only man-made rules. ²³ It looks as if it is wise to follow these rules in an act of worship, because they are hard on the body. It looks as if they are done without pride, but they are worth nothing. They do not take away a man’s desire to sin.

The Land Is Divided

45 “When the land is divided and each family receives its part, you must give a part to the Lord. This will be a holy piece of land, as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. This whole piece of land will be holy. ² Of this, there will be a piece of land for the holy place, as long as 250 long steps and as wide as 250 long steps. It will have four sides of the same length. And there will be an open space around it as wide as fifty cubits. ³ In the holy piece of land, number a length of 12,500 long steps and a width of 5,000 long steps. And in it will be the most holy place. ⁴ It will be the holy part of the land. It will be for the religious leaders, those who do the work in the holy place, who come near to serve the Lord. It will also be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the Lord’s House. ⁵ Another piece of land as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps will be for the Levites who serve in the house. It will be land to build their houses on. ⁶ Next to the holy piece of land, another piece as wide as 2,500 long steps and as long as 12,500 long steps will be set aside for a city belonging to all the people of Israel. ⁷ The ruler will have land on both sides of the holy piece of land and the place for the city. His land will be next to these two pieces of land, on the west side and on the east side. It will be as long as one of the shares of land, from the west side of the whole land to the east side. ⁸ This land in Israel will belong to him. So My rulers will no longer make it hard for My people. They will give the rest of the land to the people of Israel by their family groups.”

⁹ ‘The Lord God says, “Enough, you rulers of Israel! Stop ruling in bad ways with your power and do what is right and good. Stop driving My people off their land,” says the Lord God. ¹⁰ “Be honest in your weights. ¹¹ One barrel of grain must be the same amount as one barrel of water. And one-tenth part of a barrel of grain must be the same amount as one-tenth part of a barrel of water. ¹² The silver piece of money must be worth the same as twenty small silver pieces. And sixty silver pieces of money must be worth the same as the heavy silver weight.

¹³ “This is the gift that you must bring: One-sixtieth part of a barrel of wheat, one-sixtieth part of a barrel of barley, ¹⁴ and one-hundredth part of a barrel of oil. ¹⁵ Also bring one lamb from each flock of 200 sheep from the well-watered fields of Israel. Bring them for a grain gift, a burnt gift, and a peace gift, to pay for the people’s sins,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “All the people of the land must take these gifts to the ruler in Israel. ¹⁷ It will be the ruler’s duty to bring the burnt gifts, the grain gifts, and the drink gifts, to the special suppers on the new moons and on the Days of Rest, and to all the special suppers of the people of Israel. He must bring the sin gift, the grain gift, the burnt gift, and the peace gifts, to pay for the sins of the people of Israel.”

The Special Suppers

¹⁸ ‘The Lord God says, “On the first day of the first month, you must take a young bull that is perfect and make the holy place clean. ¹⁹ The religious leader will take some of the blood from the sin gift and put it on the door pillars of the house, on the four corners of the altar, and on the pillars of the gate of the inner open space. ²⁰ You must do the same on the seventh day of the month for every one who sins by mistake or because he does not know any better. In this way you will keep the Lord’s house holy.

²¹ “On the fourteenth day of the first month, you will have the Passover, a special supper that lasts for seven days. Every one will eat bread made without yeast. ²² On that day the ruler is to bring a bull as a sin gift for himself and all the people of the land. ²³ During the seven days of the special supper he will bring as a burnt gift to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams that are perfect, on each of the seven days. And he will bring a male goat each day for a sin gift. ²⁴ For a grain gift he will bring a tenth part of a barrel of grain for each bull, a tenth part of a barrel for each ram. And he will bring a large jar of oil for each tenth part of a barrel of grain. ²⁵ On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and for the seven days of the special supper, he is to bring the same amount for the sin gift, the burnt gift, the grain gift, and the oil.”

The Lord Is Good to His People

99 The Lord rules! Let the people shake in fear! He sits on His throne above the angels. Let the earth shake! ² The Lord is great in Zion. And He is honored above all people. ³ Let them praise Your great name. It is to be honored with fear. He is holy!

⁴ The strength of the King loves what is right. You have set up what is fair. You do what is right and fair in Jacob. ⁵ Honor the Lord our God. Worship at His feet. For He is holy!

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among His religious leaders. And Samuel was among those who called on His name. They called upon the Lord, and He answered them. ⁷ He spoke to them from the cloud. They kept His Word and the Law that He gave them. ⁸ O Lord our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them. But You punished them for their wrong-doing. ⁹ Honor the Lord our God. And worship at His holy mountain. For the Lord our God is holy!

A Song of Praise

100 Call out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. ² Be glad as you serve the Lord. Come before Him with songs of joy. ³ Know that the Lord is God. It is He Who made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His field.

⁴ Go into His gates giving thanks and into His holy place with praise. Give thanks to Him. Honor His name. ⁵ For the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. And He is faithful to all people and to all their children-to-come.

A Song of Praise

101 I will sing of loving-kindness and of what is right and fair. I will sing praises to You, O Lord. ² I will be careful to live a life without blame. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a right and good heart. ³ I will set no sinful thing in front of my eyes. I hate the work of those who are not faithful. It will not get hold of me. ⁴ A sinful heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with sin. ⁵ I will stop whoever talks against his neighbor in secret. I will not listen to anyone who has a proud look and a proud heart.

⁶ My eyes will look with favor on the faithful in the land, so they may serve me. He who walks without blame will help me. ⁷ He whose ways are false will not live in my house. He who tells lies will not stand in front of me. ⁸ I will destroy all the sinful in the land every morning. I will cut off all those who do wrong from the city of the Lord.