M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Manasseh Rules Judah

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. And he ruled fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. ² Manasseh did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did the sinful things that were done by the nations whom the Lord drove out from the people of Israel. ³ He built again the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built altars for Baal and made an object out of wood to worship the false goddess Asherah. He did as Ahab king of Israel had done. He worshiped all the stars of heaven and served them. ⁴ He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” ⁵ Manasseh built altars for all the stars of heaven in the two open spaces of the Lord’s house. ⁶ He gave his son as a burnt gift, used witchcraft and told the future. He listened to those who spoke with spirits and used their secret ways. He did things that were very sinful in the eyes of the Lord, and made the Lord angry. ⁷ Then Manasseh put the object he had made for Asherah into the house of the Lord. But the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, “I have chosen this house and Jerusalem from all the families of Israel. Here I will put My name forever. ⁸ I will not make the feet of Israel travel any more from the land I gave to their fathers. But they must obey all that I have told them, and all the Law that My servant Moses told to them.” ⁹ But they did not listen. Manasseh led them to sin more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed from in front of the people of Israel.

¹⁰ Now the Lord spoke through His servants who tell what will happen in the future. He said, ¹¹ “Manasseh king of Judah has done these sinful things. He has sinned more than all the Amorites who were before him. And he has made Judah sin with his false gods. Because he has done this, ¹² the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘See, I am bringing such trouble upon Jerusalem and Judah, that the ears of whoever hears it will be painful. ¹³ I will punish Jerusalem as I did Samaria and as I did the family of Ahab. I will dry Jerusalem as one dries a dish, rubbing it and turning it upside-down. ¹⁴ I will leave alone all who are left of My people, and give them to those who hate them. They will become something taken after the battle by those who fight against them. ¹⁵ Because they have done what is bad in My eyes. They have been making Me angry since the day their fathers came from Egypt until this day.’”

¹⁶ Manasseh killed many who were without guilt. He filled Jerusalem with blood from one end to another. He sinned and made Judah sin, by doing what is sinful in the eyes of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and his sins are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ¹⁸ Manasseh died and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon became king in his place.

Amon Rules Judah

¹⁹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king. He ruled for two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. ²⁰ Amon did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ He walked in all the ways that his father had walked. He worshiped false gods like his father had. ²² So he turned away from the Lord, the God of his fathers. He did not walk in the way of the Lord. ²³ And the servants of Amon made plans against him, and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴ Then the people of the land killed all those who had made plans against King Amon. And they made Josiah his son king in his place. ²⁵ Now the rest of the acts of Amon are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. ²⁶ He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza. And his son Josiah became king in his place.

Jesus Was Greater Than Moses

3 Christian brothers, you have been chosen and set apart by God. So let us think about Jesus. He is the One God sent and He is the Religious Leader of our Christian faith. ² Jesus was faithful in God’s house just as Moses was faithful in all of God’s house. ³ The man who builds a house gets more honor than the house. That is why Jesus gets more honor than Moses. ⁴ Every house is built by someone. And God is the One Who has built everything. ⁵ Moses was a faithful servant owned by God in God’s house. He spoke of the things that would be told about later on. ⁶ But Christ was faithful as a Son Who is Head of God’s house. We are of God’s house if we keep our trust in the Lord until the end. This is our hope. ⁷ The Holy Spirit says, “If you hear His voice today, ⁸ do not let your hearts become hard as your early fathers did when they turned against Me. It was at that time in the desert when they put Me to the test. ⁹ Your early fathers tempted Me and tried Me. They saw the work I did for forty years. ¹⁰ For this reason, I was angry with the people of this day. And I said to them, ‘They always think wrong thoughts. They have never understood what I have tried to do for them.’ ¹¹ I was angry with them and said to Myself, ‘They will never go into My rest.’” ^(A)

¹² Christian brothers, be careful that not one of you has a heart so bad that it will not believe and will turn away from the living God. ¹³ Help each other. Speak day after day to each other while it is still today so your heart will not become hard by being fooled by sin. ¹⁴ For we belong to Christ if we keep on trusting Him to the end just as we trusted Him at first. ¹⁵ The Holy Writings say, “If you hear His voice today, do not let your hearts become hard as your early fathers did when they turned against Me.” ^(B)

¹⁶ Who heard God’s voice and turned against Him? Did not all those who were led out of the country of Egypt by Moses? ¹⁷ Who made God angry for forty years? Was it not those people who had sinned in the desert? Was it not those who died and were buried there? ¹⁸ Who did He say could never go into His rest? Was it not those who did not obey Him? ¹⁹ So we can see that they were not able to go into His rest because they did not put their trust in Him.

Hosea’s Last Words to Israel

14 Return to the Lord your God, O Israel, for you have fallen because of your sin. ² Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all sin, and receive us in kindness, that we may praise You with our lips. ³ Assyria will not save us. We will not ride on horses. And we will never say again, ‘Our god,’ to what we have made with our hands. For those who have no father find loving-kindness in You.”

New Life for Israel

⁴ “I will bring My people back to Me. I will not hold back My love from them, for I am no longer angry with them. ⁵ I will be to Israel like the water on the grass in the early morning. He will grow like the lily, and have roots like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁶ His young branches will spread out and his beauty will be like the olive tree. His smell will be like the cedars of Lebanon. ⁷ Those who live in his shadow will grow like grain and like flowers of the vine. He will be known like the wine of Lebanon.

⁸ “O Ephraim, what have I to do with false gods? It is I Who answer and take care of you. I am like a green cypress tree. Your fruit comes from Me.”

⁹ Whoever is wise, let him understand these things and know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and those who are right and good will follow them, but sinners will not follow them.

God Cares for His People

139 O Lord, You have looked through me and have known me. ² You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far away. ³ You look over my path and my lying down. You know all my ways very well. ⁴ Even before I speak a word, O Lord, You know it all. ⁵ You have closed me in from behind and in front. And You have laid Your hand upon me. ⁶ All You know is too great for me. It is too much for me to understand.

⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where You are? ⁸ If I go up to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in the place of the dead, You are there! ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea, ¹⁰ even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me. ¹¹ If I say, “For sure the darkness will cover me and the light around me will be night,” ¹² even the darkness is not dark to You. And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to You.

¹³ For You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother. ¹⁴ I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. ¹⁵ My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.

¹⁷ Your thoughts are of great worth to me, O God. How many there are! ¹⁸ If I could number them, there would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.

¹⁹ If only You would kill the sinful, O God, and the men of blood would go away from me! ²⁰ For they speak against You in sin. Those who hate You use Your name in a wrong way. ²¹ Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not hate those who rise up against You? ²² I hate them with the strongest hate. They have become men who hate me.

²³ Look through me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. ²⁴ See if there is any sinful way in me and lead me in the way that lasts forever.