M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
16 A message of condemnation from the Lord was delivered to King Baasha at this time by the prophet Jehu:
2 “I lifted you out of the dust,” the message said, “to make you king of my people Israel; but you have walked in the evil paths of Jeroboam. You have made my people sin, and I am angry! 3 So now I will destroy you and your family, just as I did the descendants of Jeroboam. 4-7 Those of your family who die in the city will be eaten by dogs, and those who die in the fields will be eaten by the birds.”
The message was sent to Baasha and his family because he had angered the Lord by all his evil deeds. He was as evil as Jeroboam despite the fact that the Lord had destroyed all of Jeroboam’s descendants for their sins.
The rest of Baasha’s biography—his deeds and conquests—are written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
8 Elah, Baasha’s son, began reigning during the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Asa of Judah, but he reigned only two years. 9 Then General Zimri, who had charge of half the royal chariot troops, plotted against him. One day King Elah was half drunk at the home of Arza, the superintendent of the palace, in the capital city of Tirzah. 10 Zimri simply walked in and struck him down and killed him. (This occurred during the twenty-seventh year of the reign of King Asa of Judah.) Then Zimri declared himself to be the new king of Israel.
11 He immediately killed the entire royal family—leaving not a single male child. He even destroyed distant relatives and friends. 12 This destruction of the descendants of Baasha was in line with what the Lord had predicted through the prophet Jehu. 13 The tragedy occurred because of the sins of Baasha and his son Elah; for they had led Israel into worshiping idols, and the Lord was very angry about it. 14 The rest of the history of Elah’s reign is written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
15-16 But Zimri lasted only seven days; for when the army of Israel, which was then engaged in attacking the Philistine city of Gibbethon, heard that Zimri had assassinated the king, they decided on General Omri, commander-in-chief of the army, as their new ruler. 17 So Omri led the army of Gibbethon to besiege Tirzah, Israel’s capital. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the palace and burned it over him and died in the flames. 19 For he, too, had sinned like Jeroboam; he had worshiped idols and had led the people of Israel to sin with him. 20 The rest of the story of Zimri and his treason are written in The Annals of the Kings of Israel.
21 But now the kingdom of Israel was split in two; half the people were loyal to General Omri, and the other half followed Tibni, the son of Ginath. 22 But General Omri won and Tibni was killed; so Omri reigned without opposition.
23 King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-one years when Omri began his reign over Israel, which lasted twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. 24 Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for $4,000 and built a city on it, calling it Samaria in honor of Shemer. 25 But Omri was worse than any of the kings before him; 26 he worshiped idols as Jeroboam had and led Israel into this same sin. So God was very angry. 27 The rest of Omri’s history is recorded in The Annals of the Kings of Israel. 28 When Omri died he was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab became king in his place.
29 King Asa of Judah had been on the throne thirty-eight years when Ahab became the king of Israel; and Ahab reigned for twenty-two years. 30 But he was even more wicked than his father Omri; he was worse than any other king of Israel! 31 And as though that were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and then began worshiping Baal. 32 First he built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. 33 Then he made other idols and did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
34 (It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid the foundations, his oldest son, Abiram, died; and when he finally completed it by setting up the gates, his youngest son, Segub, died. For this was the Lord’s curse upon Jericho[a] as declared by Joshua, the son of Nun.)
3 Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power. 2 Let heaven fill your thoughts; don’t spend your time worrying about things down here. 3 You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God. 4 And when Christ who is our real life comes back again, you will shine with him and share in all his glories.
5 Away then with sinful, earthly things; deaden the evil desires lurking within you; have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires; don’t worship the good things of life, for that is idolatry. 6 God’s terrible anger is upon those who do such things. 7 You used to do them when your life was still part of this world; 8 but now is the time to cast off and throw away all these rotten garments of anger, hatred, cursing, and dirty language.
9 Don’t tell lies to each other; it was your old life with all its wickedness that did that sort of thing; now it is dead and gone. 10 You are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more and more of what is right, and trying constantly to be more and more like Christ who created this new life within you. 11 In this new life one’s nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and he is equally available to all.
12 Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of his deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others. Don’t worry about making a good impression on them, but be ready to suffer quietly and patiently. 13 Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
14 Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony. 15 Let the peace of heart that comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. And always be thankful.
16 Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with him into the presence of God the Father to give him your thanks.
18 You wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what the Lord has planned for you. 19 And you husbands must be loving and kind to your wives and not bitter against them nor harsh.
20 You children must always obey your fathers and mothers, for that pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, don’t scold your children so much that they become discouraged and quit trying.
22 You slaves must always obey your earthly masters, not only trying to please them when they are watching you but all the time; obey them willingly because of your love for the Lord and because you want to please him. 23 Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, just as though you were working for the Lord and not merely for your masters, 24 remembering that it is the Lord Christ who is going to pay you, giving you your full portion of all he owns. He is the one you are really working for. 25 And if you don’t do your best for him, he will pay you in a way that you won’t like—for he has no special favorites who can get away with shirking.
46 The Lord God says: “The inner wall’s eastern entrance shall be closed during the six work days but open on the Sabbath and on the days of the new moon celebrations. 2 The prince shall enter the outside entry hall of the passageway and proceed to the inner wall at the other end while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He shall worship inside the passageway and then return back to the entrance, which shall not be closed until evening. 3 The people shall worship the Lord in front of this passageway on the Sabbaths and on the days of the new moon celebrations.
4 “The burnt offering that the prince sacrifices to the Lord on the Sabbath days shall be six lambs and a ram, all unblemished. 5 He shall present a meal offering of a half bushel of flour to go with the ram and whatever amount he is willing to give with each lamb. And he shall bring three quarts of olive oil for each half bushel of flour. 6 At the new moon celebration, he shall bring one young bull in perfect condition, six lambs, and one ram, all without any blemish. 7 With the young bull, he must bring a half bushel[a] of flour for a meal offering. With the ram he must bring a half bushel of flour. With the lamb he is to bring whatever he is willing to give. With each half bushel of grain he is to bring three quarts of olive oil.
8 “The prince shall go in at the entry hall of the passageway and out the same way; 9 but when the people come in through the north passageway to sacrifice during the religious feasts, they must go out through the south passageway. Those coming in from the south must go out by the north. They must never go out the same way they come in, but must always use the opposite passageway. 10 The prince shall enter and leave with the common people on these occasions.
11 “To summarize: At the special feasts and sacred festivals the meal offering shall be a half bushel with the young bull; a half bushel with the ram; as much as the prince is willing to give with each lamb; and three quarts of oil with each half bushel of grain. 12 Whenever the prince offers an extra burnt offering or peace offering to be sacrificed to the Lord, the inner eastern gate shall be opened up for him to enter, and he shall offer his sacrifices just as on the Sabbaths. Then he shall turn around and go out, and the passage shall be shut behind him.
13 “Each morning a yearling lamb must be sacrificed as a burnt offering to the Lord. 14-15 And there must be a meal offering each morning—five pounds of flour with one quart of oil with which to mix it. This is a permanent ordinance—the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil shall be provided every morning for the daily sacrifice.”
16 The Sovereign Lord says: “If the prince gives a gift of land to one of his sons, it will belong to him forever. 17 But if he gives a gift of land to one of his servants, the servant may keep it only until the Year of Release (every seventh year) when he is set free; then the land returns to the prince. Only gifts to his sons are permanent. 18 And the prince may never take anyone’s property by force. If he gives property to his sons, it must be from his own land, for I don’t want my people losing their property and having to move away.”
19-20 After that, using the door through the wall at the side of the main passageway, he led me through the entrance to the block of sacred chambers that faced north. There, at the extreme west end of these rooms, I saw a place where, my guide told me, the priests boil the meat of the trespass offering and sin offering and bake the flour of the flour offerings into bread. They do it here to avoid the necessity of carrying the sacrifices through the outer court, in case they harm the people.
21-22 Then he brought me out to the outer court again and led me to each of the four corners of the court. I saw that in each corner there was a room 70 feet long by 52-1/2 feet wide, enclosed by walls. 23 Around the inside of these walls there ran a line of brick boiling vats with ovens underneath. 24 He said these rooms were where the Temple assistants—the Levites—boil the sacrifices the people offer.
102 A prayer when overwhelmed with trouble.
Lord, hear my prayer! Listen to my plea!
2 Don’t turn away from me in this time of my distress. Bend down your ear and give me speedy answers, 3-4 for my days disappear like smoke. My health is broken, and my heart is sick; it is trampled like grass and is withered. My food is tasteless, and I have lost my appetite. 5 I am reduced to skin and bones because of all my groaning and despair. 6 I am like a vulture in a far-off wilderness or like an owl alone in the desert. 7 I lie awake, lonely as a solitary sparrow on the roof.
8 My enemies taunt me day after day and curse at me. 9-10 I eat ashes instead of bread. My tears run down into my drink because of your anger against me, because of your wrath. For you have rejected me and thrown me out. 11 My life is passing swiftly as the evening shadows. I am withering like grass, 12 while you, Lord, are a famous King forever. Your fame will endure to every generation.
13 I know that you will come and have mercy on Jerusalem—and now is the time to pity her—the time you promised help. 14 For your people love every stone in her walls and feel sympathy for every grain of dust in her streets. 15 Now let the nations and their rulers tremble before the Lord, before his glory. 16 For Jehovah will rebuild Jerusalem! He will appear in his glory!
17 He will listen to the prayers of the destitute, for he is never too busy to heed their requests. 18 I am recording this so that future generations will also praise the Lord for all that he has done. And a people that shall be created shall praise the Lord. 19 Tell them that God looked down from his temple in heaven 20 and heard the groans of his people in slavery—they were children of death—and released them, 21-22 so that multitudes would stream to the Temple in Jerusalem to praise him, and his praises were sung throughout the city; and many rulers throughout the earth came to worship him.
23 He has cut me down in middle life, shortening my days. 24 But I cried to him, “O God, you live forever and forever! Don’t let me die halfway through my years! 25 In ages past you laid the foundations of the earth and made the heavens with your hands! 26 They shall perish, but you go on forever. They will grow old like worn-out clothing, and you will change them like a man putting on a new shirt and throwing away the old one! 27 But you yourself never grow old. You are forever, and your years never end.
28 “But our families will continue; generation after generation will be preserved by your protection.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.