M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Azariah Reigns over Judah
15 In the twenty-seventh year of King Jeroboam of Israel, King Azariah son of Amaziah of Judah began to reign.(A) 2 He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.(B) 3 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places.(C) 5 The Lord struck the king so that he had a defiling skin disease to the day of his death and lived in a separate house. Jotham the king’s son was in charge of the palace, governing the people of the land.(D) 6 Now the rest of the acts of Azariah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 7 Azariah slept with his ancestors; they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David; his son Jotham succeeded him.(E)
Zechariah Reigns over Israel
8 In the thirty-eighth year of King Azariah of Judah, Zechariah son of Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria six months. 9 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his ancestors had done. He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin. 10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him and struck him down in Ibleam[a] and killed him and reigned in place of him.(F) 11 Now the rest of the deeds of Zechariah are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 12 This was the promise of the Lord that he gave to Jehu, “Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” And so it happened.(G)
Shallum Reigns over Israel
13 Shallum son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of King Uzziah of Judah; he reigned one month in Samaria.(H) 14 Then Menahem son of Gadi came up from Tirzah and came to Samaria; he struck down Shallum son of Jabesh in Samaria and killed him; he reigned in place of him.(I) 15 Now the rest of the deeds of Shallum, including the conspiracy that he made, are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 16 At that time Menahem sacked Tiphsah, all who were in it and its territory from Tirzah on; because they did not open it to him, he sacked it. He ripped open all the pregnant women in it.(J)
Menahem Reigns over Israel
17 In the thirty-ninth year of King Azariah of Judah, Menahem son of Gadi began to reign over Israel; he reigned ten years in Samaria.(K) 18 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart all his days from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin. 19 King Pul of Assyria came against the land; Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver, so that he might help him confirm his hold on the royal power.(L) 20 Menahem exacted the silver from Israel, that is, from all the wealthy, fifty shekels of silver from each one, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back and did not stay there in the land. 21 Now the rest of the deeds of Menahem and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 22 Menahem slept with his ancestors, and his son Pekahiah succeeded him.
Pekahiah Reigns over Israel
23 In the fiftieth year of King Azariah of Judah, Pekahiah son of Menahem began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned two years.(M) 24 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin. 25 Pekah son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired against him with fifty of the Gileadites and attacked him in Samaria, in the citadel of the palace along with Argob and Arieh; he killed him and reigned in place of him.(N) 26 Now the rest of the deeds of Pekahiah and all that he did are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
Pekah Reigns over Israel
27 In the fifty-second year of King Azariah of Judah, Pekah son of Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned twenty years.(O) 28 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin.
29 In the days of King Pekah of Israel, King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he carried the people captive to Assyria.(P) 30 Then Hoshea son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah son of Remaliah, attacked him, and killed him; he reigned in place of him, in the twentieth year of Jotham son of Uzziah. 31 Now the rest of the acts of Pekah and all that he did are written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
Jotham Reigns over Judah
32 In the second year of King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel, King Jotham son of Uzziah of Judah began to reign.(Q) 33 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha daughter of Zadok. 34 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done.(R) 35 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord.(S) 36 Now the rest of the acts of Jotham and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 37 In those days the Lord began to send King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.(T) 38 Jotham slept with his ancestors and was buried with his ancestors in the city of David, his ancestor; his son Ahaz succeeded him.
Salutation
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that is in accordance with godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began(A)— 3 in due time he revealed his word through the proclamation with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior,(B)
4 To Titus, my true child[a] in the faith we share:
Grace[b] and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.(C)
Titus in Crete
5 I left you behind in Crete for this reason, so that you should put in order what remained to be done and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you:(D) 6 someone who is blameless, married only once,[c] whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious.(E) 7 For a bishop,[d] as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain,(F) 8 but he must be hospitable,[e] a lover of goodness, self-controlled, upright, devout, and restrained, 9 holding tightly to the trustworthy word of the teaching, so that he may be able both to exhort with sound instruction and to refute those who contradict it.
10 There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision;(G) 11 they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach.(H) 12 It was one of them, their very own prophet, who said,
“Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.”
13 That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith,(I) 14 not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth.(J) 15 To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted.(K) 16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions; they are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.(L)
Israel’s Apostasy
8 Set the trumpet to your lips!
One like a vulture[a] is over the house of the Lord,
because they have broken my covenant
and transgressed my law.(A)
2 They cry to me,
“My God, we know you!”[b](B)
3 Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.
4 They made kings but not through me;
they set up princes but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.(C)
5 Your calf is rejected, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?(D)
6 For it is from Israel,
an artisan made it;
it is not God.
The calf of Samaria
shall be broken to pieces.(E)
7 For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no meal;
if it were to yield,
foreigners would devour it.(F)
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now they are among the nations
as a useless vessel.(G)
9 For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild ass wandering alone;
Ephraim has bargained for lovers.(H)
10 Though they bargain with the nations,
I will now gather them up.
They shall soon writhe
under the burden of kings and princes.(I)
11 When Ephraim multiplied altars to expiate sin,
they became to him altars for sinning.
12 Though I write for him the multitude of my instructions,
they are regarded as a strange thing.(J)
13 Though they offer choice sacrifices,[c]
though they eat flesh,
the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
they shall return to Egypt.(K)
14 Israel has forgotten his Maker
and built palaces,
and Judah has multiplied fortified cities,
but I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour his strongholds.(L)
Psalm 123
Supplication for Mercy
A Song of Ascents.
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!(A)
2 As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.(B)
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.(C)
4 Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.(D)
Psalm 124
Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—(E)
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;(F)
4 then the flood would have swept us away;
the torrent would have gone over us;(G)
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.(H)
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.(I)
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(J)
Psalm 125
The Security of God’s People
A Song of Ascents.
1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved but abides forever.(K)
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people
from this time on and forevermore.(L)
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.(M)
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
and to those who are upright in their hearts.(N)
5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways,
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!(O)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.