M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jehu Continues Purging the House of Ahab
10 Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu wrote letters, and he sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab, saying, 2 “Now, when this letter comes to you and your master’s sons are with you, the chariots are with you, the horses, a fortified city, and weapons, 3 then you must select the best and the most suitable from the sons of your master, and you must place him on the throne of his father, and they must fight for the house of your masters.” 4 But they were very afraid, and they said, “Look, two kings could not stand before him; how can we stand?” 5 So whoever was over the house, and whoever was over the city, and the elders and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants; all that you say to us, we shall do. We shall not make anyone a king. Do what is good in your eyes.”
6 Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, “If you are for me, and you are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men of the sons of your master and come to me at this time tomorrow at Jezreel.” Now the sons of the king, seventy men, were with the leaders of the city who were raising them. 7 When the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king, and they killed seventy men. Then they put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. 8 Then the messenger came and told him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” and he said, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the gate until morning.” 9 It happened in the morning that he went out, stood, and said to all of the people, “You are righteous. Look, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all of these? 10 Know then that the word of Yahweh will not fail[a] which Yahweh spoke concerning the house of Ahab; Yahweh has done what he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah. 11 Then Jehu killed all of the remainder of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all of his leaders, his close friends, and his priests, until there was no survivor left for him.
12 Then he arose and went and came to Samaria. On the way, he was at Beth-Eked of the shepherds, 13 and Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah. He asked, “Who are you?” They said, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah; we came down for the peace of the king’s children and the children of the queen.” 14 Then he said, “Seize them alive!” So they seized them alive but then slaughtered them at the cistern of Beth-Eked, forty-two men. He did not allow any of them to survive.
15 Next he went from there and found Jehonadab the son of Recab to meet him. He greeted him and asked him, “Is your heart right with me as my heart is with you?”[b] Then Jehonadab said, “Yes, it is. Give your hand!” And he gave his hand and took him up to him on the chariot. 16 Then he said, “Come with me! Look at my zeal for Yahweh!” So he let him ride in his chariot. 17 Then he came to Samaria and killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria until he wiped them out according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken to Elijah.
Jehu Purges the Baal Worshipers
18 Then Jehu assembled all of the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will worship him greatly. 19 So then, summon to me all of the prophets of Baal and all of his servants and his priests; no man should fail to come, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come shall not live!” Now Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the servants of Baal. 20 Then Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal!” So they proclaimed it. 21 Jehu sent word through all of Israel, and all of the servants of Baal came; there did not remain a man who did not come. They came to the house of Baal so that the house of Baal was filled from wall to wall.[c] 22 He said to the one who was over the wardrobe, “Bring out clothing for all of the servants of Baal.” So he brought the clothing out for them. 23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Recab came to the temple of Baal, and he said to the servants of Baal, “Search and see that there is none of the servants of Yahweh here with you; only those who serve Baal.” 24 They came to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he said, “The man who lets anyone escape from the men who I am entrusting to you,[d] he will pay with his life!”[e]
25 It happened that when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the royal guard and to the officers, “Come and kill them; let no man go free!” So they put them to the sword,[f] and the royal guard and the officers threw them out, then they went up to the citadel of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought out the stone pillars of the temple of Baal and burned them.[g] 27 So they broke down the stone pillars of Baal and destroyed the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine until this day. 28 So Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel.
29 Only Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat by which he caused Israel to sin; namely, the calf-shaped idols of gold which were in Bethel and Dan. 30 Yahweh said to Jehu, “Because you have done well by doing right in my eyes and you have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart; therefore, sons of the fourth generation will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” 31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of Yahweh God of Israel with all his heart; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam by which he caused Israel to sin.
32 In those days, Yahweh began to reduce Israel, so Hazael defeated them in every territory of Israel, 33 from the Jordan eastward: all of the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer which is on the Wadi Arnon and Gilead and Bashan. 34 Now the remainder of the acts of Jehu and all that he did and all of his powerful deeds, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel? 35 So Jehu slept with his ancestors,[h] and they buried him in Samaria, and Jehoahaz his son became king in his place. 36 Now the days which Jehu had reigned over Israel were twenty-eight years in Samaria.
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 to Timothy, my dear child. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Timothy’s Spiritual Heritage
3 I am thankful[a] to God, whom I have served with a clear conscience as my ancestors did[b], when I remember you constantly[c] in my prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you as I[d] remember your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, 5 remembering the[e] sincere faith in you, which lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that is in you also, 6 for which reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and love and self-discipline.
Exhortation to Share Paul’s Suffering
8 Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor me his prisoner, but suffer along with me for the gospel, according to the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace that was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began[f], 10 but has now been disclosed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ,[g] who has abolished death and brought to light life and immortality through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a proclaimer and an apostle and a teacher, 12 for which reason also I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know in whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted until that day. 13 Hold fast to the pattern of sound words which you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
15 You know this, that all those in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he refreshed me many times, and was not ashamed of my imprisonment, 17 but when he[h] was in Rome, he diligently sought me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord in that day! And how much he served me in Ephesus you know very well.
The Unfaithful Wife
2 Say to your brother,[a] “Ammi,”[b]
and to your sister,[c] “Ruhamah.”[d]
2 Plead with your mother, plead—
because she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her put away her whoring from before her,[e]
and her adultery from between her breasts.
3 Lest I strip her naked
and expose her like the day when she was born;
I will make her like the desert
and turn her into parched land;
I will kill her with thirst.
4 And I will not have pity on her children,
because they are children of whoredom.
5 Because their mother was unfaithful;[f]
she who conceived them has acted shamefully,
for she said:
“I will go after my lovers,
the ones who give me my bread, my water,
my wool, and my flax,
my oil, and my drink.”
6 Therefore, Look!
I am going to hedge her path[g] with thorns,[h]
and I will build a stone wall, a stone wall against her,
and she will not find her paths.
7 Then she will pursue her lovers,[i]
but she will not overtake them;
she will seek them and not find them;
and she will say, “I will go
and return to my first husband
because it was better for me then than now.”
8 But she did not know
that it was I who gave her
grain, new wine, and oil,
and who gave her silver in abundance,
and gold which they made into a Baal.
9 Therefore I will take again
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season;
and I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.
10 And now I will uncover her nakedness
before the eyes of her lovers,
and no one will rescue her from my hand.
11 And I will put an end to all her mirth,
her festivals,[j] her new moons,[k] and her Sabbaths,[l]
and all her appointed festivals;[m]
12 and I will lay waste to her vines[n] and her fig trees,[o]
of which she said,
“They are my payment for prostitution,
which my lovers gave to me.”
I will make them a forest,
and the wild animals[p] of the field will devour them.
13 I will punish her[q] for the days of the Baals,
to whom she burns incense,
and she decked herself with her ornamental ring and jewelry,
and she went after her lovers, and forgot me
—a declaration of Yahweh.
14 Therefore, Look! I am going to allure her
and bring her into the desert,
and I will speak tenderly to her.[r]
15 From there I will give her
her vineyards,
and the Valley of Achor as a doorway of hope.
And there she will respond,
as in the days of her youth,
just as in the day of her coming out of
the land of Egypt.
16 And on that day—[s]
a declaration of Yahweh—
you will call me, “My husband;”[t]
you will no longer call me, “My Baal.”[u]
17 I will remove the names
of the Baals from her mouth,
and they will no longer be mentioned by their name.
18 I will make a covenant for them on that day,
with the animals[v] of the field,
with the birds[w] of the heaven, and
with the creeping things[x] of the ground;
the bow, the sword, and the war I will abolish from the land, and I will let them lie down in safety.
19 And I will take you as my wife forever;
I will take you as a wife for myself in righteousness and in justice,
in steadfast love and in mercy.
20 I will take you as my wife[y] in faithfulness,
and you will know Yahweh.
21 On that day I will answer, declares Yahweh,[z]
I will answer the heavens,
and they will answer the earth.
22 And the earth will answer
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and they will answer Jezreel.[aa]
23 I will sow her for myself in the land;
I will have pity on Lo-ruhama;[ab]
I will say to Lo-ammi,[ac]
“You are my people,”
and he himself will say, “you are my God.”
Mem
97 How I love your law!
The whole day it is my meditation.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because they[a] are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the elders,
for I keep your precepts.
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
so that I may heed your word.
102 I have not turned aside from your ordinances,
for you have taught me.
103 How smooth[b] are your words[c] to my palate,
more than honey in my mouth.
104 From your precepts I get understanding,
therefore I hate every false way.
Nun
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it,
to heed your righteous ordinances.[d]
107 I am very much afflicted;
O Yahweh, revive me according to your word.
108 Please accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Yahweh,
and teach me your ordinances.
109 My life is in danger[e] continually,
yet I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,
yet I do not wander from your precepts.
111 I have taken as my own your testimonies forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to do your statutes
forever, to the end.
Samek
113 I hate the double-minded,[f]
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Turn aside from me, you evildoers,
for I will keep the commands of my God.
116 Sustain me according to your word,[g] that I may live,
and do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Uphold me, that I may be delivered,
and have regard for your statutes continually.
118 You reject all who stray from your statutes,
for their deceit is a breach of faith.
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like dross,
therefore I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of you,
and I am afraid of your judgments.
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