M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

16 Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ² “I took you from the dust and gave you honor. I made you leader over My people Israel. But you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin. You have made Me angry with their sins. ³ So I will destroy Baasha and his house. I will make your house like the family of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴ The dogs will eat anyone of Baasha’s family who dies in the city. And the birds of the air will eat anyone of his who dies in the field.”

⁵ The rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his strength, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶ Baasha died and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah became king in his place. ⁷ The word of the Lord came against Baasha and his house through the man who spoke for God, Jehu the son of Hanani because Baasha had done what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He made the Lord angry with the work of his hands, in being like the family of Jeroboam, and because he destroyed it.

Elah Rules Israel

⁸ In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king of Israel at Tirzah. He ruled for two years. ⁹ His servant Zimri, captain of half his war-wagons, made plans against him. Elah was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the family of Arza. Arza was the head of the house at Tirzah. ¹⁰ Zimri went in and hit him and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. And Zimri became king in his place. ¹¹ When he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, he killed all those of Baasha’s house. He did not leave alive one male, of his brothers or of his friends. ¹² So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, as was spoken against Baasha by the word of the Lord through Jehu the man who spoke for God. ¹³ It happened because of all the sins of Baasha and his son Elah. They sinned and they made Israel sin. They made the Lord God of Israel angry with their false gods. ¹⁴ Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Zimri Rules Israel

¹⁵ In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri ruled seven days at Tirzah. Now the people were gathered against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶ The people who were gathered heard it said, “Zimri has made plans and has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, the king of Israel that day among the tents. ¹⁷ Then Omri went with all Israel up from Gibbethon, and they gathered in battle around Tirzah. ¹⁸ When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into an inside room of the king’s house. And he burned the king’s house over him with fire, and died. ¹⁹ He died because of his sins. He did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam. And in his sin, he made Israel sin. ²⁰ The rest of the acts of Zimri and the plan he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Omri Rules Israel

²¹ Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king. The other half followed Omri. ²² But the people who followed Omri won over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. Tibni died and Omri became king. ²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became the king of Israel. He ruled for twelve years. He ruled six years at Tirzah. ²⁴ And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for silver weighing as much as two men. He built on the hill, and gave the city he built the name of Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill. ²⁵ Omri did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He acted worse than all who were before him. ²⁶ For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. And in his sin he made Israel sin. They made the Lord God of Israel angry with their false gods. ²⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Omri and the strength that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸ Omri died and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.

Ahab Rules Israel

²⁹ Omri’s son Ahab became king of Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah. He ruled over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. ³⁰ Ahab the son of Omri did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord more than all who were before him. ³¹ He thought it was a small thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. Then he went to serve the false god Baal and worshiped him. ³² He built an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab made an object of wood to look like the false goddess Asherah. So Ahab did more to make the Lord God of Israel angry than all the kings of Israel before him. ³⁴ In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. His first-born son Abiram died as he began to build the city. His youngest son Segub died as he put up its gates. It happened as it was told by the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua the son of Nun.

The New Life Lived by the Power of Christ

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, keep looking for the good things of heaven. This is where Christ is seated on the right side of God. ² Keep your minds thinking about things in heaven. Do not think about things on the earth. ³ You are dead to the things of this world. Your new life is now hidden in God through Christ. ⁴ Christ is our life. When He comes again, you will also be with Him to share His shining-greatness.

The Old Person Put Aside

⁵ Destroy the desires to sin that are in you. These desires are: sex sins, anything that is not clean, a desire for sex sins, and wanting something someone else has. This is worshiping a god. ⁶ It is because of these sins that the anger of God comes down on those who do not obey Him. ⁷ You used to do these sins when you lived that kind of life. ⁸ Put out of your life these things also: anger, bad temper, bad feelings toward others, talk that hurts people, speaking against God, and dirty talk. ⁹ Do not lie to each other. You have put out of your life your old ways. ¹⁰ You have now become a new person and are always learning more about Christ. You are being made more like Christ. He is the One Who made you. ¹¹ There is no difference in men in this new life. Greeks and Jews are the same. The man who has gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew and the one who has not are the same. There is no difference between nations. Men who are servants and those who are free are the same. Christ is everything. He is in all of us.

¹² God has chosen you. You are holy and loved by Him. Because of this, your new life should be full of loving-pity. You should be kind to others and have no pride. Be gentle and be willing to wait for others. ¹³ Try to understand other people. Forgive each other. If you have something against someone, forgive him. That is the way the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And to all these things, you must add love. Love holds everything and everybody together and makes all these good things perfect. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ have power over your hearts. You were chosen as a part of His body. Always be thankful.

¹⁶ Let the teaching of Christ and His words keep on living in you. These make your lives rich and full of wisdom. Keep on teaching and helping each other. Sing the Songs of David and the church songs and the songs of heaven with hearts full of thanks to God. ¹⁷ Whatever you say or do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give thanks to God the Father through the Lord Jesus.

How Families Should Live

¹⁸ Wives, obey your husbands. This is what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives. Do not hold hard feelings against them. ²⁰ Children, obey your parents in everything. The Lord is pleased when you do. ²¹ Fathers, do not be so hard on your children that they will give up trying to do what is right.

²² You who are servants who are owned by someone, obey your owners. Work hard for them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Work for them as you would for the Lord because you honor God. ²³ Whatever work you do, do it with all your heart. Do it for the Lord and not for men. ²⁴ Remember that you will get your reward from the Lord. He will give you what you should receive. You are working for the Lord Christ. ²⁵ If anyone does wrong, he will suffer for it. God does not respect one person more than another.

The Way of Worship

46 ‘The Lord God says, “The east gate of the inner open space must stay shut during the six working days. But it may be opened on the Day of Rest and on the day of the new moon. ² The ruler will come in through the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the pillar of the gate. The religious leaders will make ready his burnt gift and his peace gifts, and he will worship at the gate and then go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening. ³ The people of the land will also worship at the gate before the Lord on the Days of Rest and on the new moons. ⁴ The burnt gift the ruler gives to the Lord on the Day of Rest will be six lambs that are perfect and a ram that is perfect. ⁵ The grain gift will be one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. ⁶ On the day of the new moon he will give a young bull that is perfect, and six lambs and a ram that are perfect. ⁷ He will give a grain gift, one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the bull, one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. ⁸ When the ruler comes in, he must come in through this gateway, and go out the same way. ⁹ But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the special suppers, he who comes in through the north gate to worship must go out through the south gate. And he who comes in through the south gate must go out through the north gate. No one should leave through the same gate that he came in. Each person must go out the gate on the other side from where he came in. ¹⁰ The ruler should come in when the people come in, and leave when they leave. ¹¹ At the special times and special suppers, the grain gift will be one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with a bull, and one-tenth part of a barrel with a ram. A person should give as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. ¹² When the ruler brings a free-will gift to the Lord, a burnt gift or a peace gift, the east gate must be opened for him. He will bring his burnt gift and his peace gifts as he does on the Day of Rest. Then he will leave, and the gate will be shut after he goes out.

¹³ “You must bring a one-year-old lamb that is perfect for a burnt gift to the Lord each day. Morning by morning you must bring it. ¹⁴ And you must bring a grain gift with it each morning. Bring one-sixtieth part of a barrel of grain, and one-third part of a large jar of oil to mix with the flour. This is the law for the grain gift to the Lord forever. ¹⁵ In this way the lamb, the grain gift and the oil will be brought each morning for a burnt gift forever.”

¹⁶ ‘The Lord God says, “If the ruler gives some of his land to any of his sons, it will belong to his sons. They will own the land for their families. ¹⁷ But if he gives some of his land to one of his servants, it will be his until the year he is set free. Then it will be returned to the ruler. His land may be kept only by his sons. It will belong to them. ¹⁸ The ruler must not take any land from the people, driving them away from what belongs to them. He must give only his own land to his sons, so that My people will not be divided from what belongs to them.”’”

¹⁹ Then he brought me through the door beside the gate into the holy rooms for the religious leaders, toward the north. And I saw a place at the far west end. ²⁰ He said to me, “This is the place where the religious leaders will boil the guilt gift and the sin gift, and make the grain gift ready. This is so they will not bring them into the outer open space and make the people holy.” ²¹ Then he brought me into the outer open space and led me to its four corners. And in every corner I saw a small open space. ²² In the four corners there were open spaces with walls around them, as long as twenty long steps and as wide as fifteen long steps. All four spaces in the corners were the same in length and width. ²³ There was a fireplace of stone all around in each of them. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the places where those who serve in the house will boil the gifts brought by the people.”

The Prayer of a Man in Trouble

102 Hear my prayer, O Lord! Let my cry for help come to You. ² Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble. Turn Your ear to me. Hurry to answer me in the day when I call. ³ For my days go up in smoke. And my bones are burned as with fire. ⁴ My heart is crushed and dried like grass. And I forget to eat my food. ⁵ I am nothing but skin and bones because of my loud cries. ⁶ I am like a pelican in the desert. I am like an owl of the waste places. ⁷ I lie awake. And I feel like a bird alone on the roof.

⁸ Those who hate me have made it hard for me all day long. Those who are angry with me curse my name. ⁹ For I have eaten ashes like bread and have mixed my drink with tears, ¹⁰ because of Your great anger. For You have lifted me up and thrown me away. ¹¹ My days are like the evening shadow. I dried up like grass.

¹² But You and Your name, O Lord, will always be forever and to all people for all time. ¹³ You will rise up and have loving-pity on Zion. For it is time to show favor to her. The set time has come. ¹⁴ For Your servants respect her stones and show pity for her dust. ¹⁵ The nations will fear the name of the Lord. All the kings of the earth will fear Your shining-greatness. ¹⁶ For the Lord has built up Zion. He will come in His shining-greatness. ¹⁷ He will answer the prayer of those in need. He will not turn from their prayer.

¹⁸ This will be written for the children-to-come. So a people not yet born may give thanks to the Lord. ¹⁹ For He looked down from His holy place. He watched the earth from heaven, ²⁰ to hear the loud cries of those in prison and to set free those who are being sent to death. ²¹ So the name of the Lord will be made known in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem, ²² when the people gather together and the nations gather to serve the Lord.

²³ He has taken away my strength. He has taken days from my life. ²⁴ I said, “O my God, do not take me away when my days are only half done. Your years go on to all people of all time. ²⁵ You made the earth in the beginning. You made the heavens with Your hands. ²⁶ They will be destroyed but You will always live. They will all become old as clothing becomes old. You will change them like a coat. And they will be changed, ²⁷ but You are always the same. Your years will never end. ²⁸ The children of those who work for You will live on. And their children will be set before You.”