M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
18 1-3 New king of Judah: Hezekiah
Father’s name: Ahaz
His age at the beginning of his reign: 25 years old
Length of reign: 29 years, in Jerusalem
Mother’s name: Abi (daughter of Zechariah)
Character of his reign: good (similar to that of his ancestor David)
Reigning in Israel at that time: King Hoshea (son of Elah), who had been the king there for 3 years
4 He removed the shrines on the hills, broke down the obelisks, knocked down the shameful idols of Asherah, and broke up the bronze serpent that Moses had made, because the people of Israel had begun to worship it by burning incense to it; even though, as King Hezekiah[a] pointed out to them, it was merely a piece of bronze. 5 He trusted very strongly in the Lord God of Israel. In fact, none of the kings before or after him were as close to God as he was. 6 For he followed the Lord in everything, and carefully obeyed all of God’s commands to Moses. 7 So the Lord was with him and prospered everything he did. Then he rebelled against the king of Assyria and refused to pay tribute any longer. 8 He also conquered the Philistines as far distant as Gaza and its suburbs, destroying cities both large and small.[b]
9 It was during the fourth year of his reign (which was the seventh year of the reign of King Hoshea in Israel) that King Shalmaneser of Assyria attacked Israel and began a siege on the city of Samaria. 10 Three years later (during the sixth year of the reign of King Hezekiah and the ninth year of the reign of King Hoshea of Israel) Samaria fell. 11 It was at that time that the king of Assyria transported the Israelis to Assyria and put them in colonies in the city of Halath and along the banks of the Habor River in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. 12 For they had refused to listen to the Lord their God or to do what he wanted them to do. Instead, they had transgressed his covenant and disobeyed all the laws given to them by Moses the servant of the Lord.
13 Later, during the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria besieged and captured all the fortified cities of Judah. 14 King Hezekiah sued for peace and sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute you demand if you will only go away.” The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of $1,500,000. 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple and in the palace treasury. 16 He even stripped off the gold from the Temple doors, and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and gave it all to the Assyrian king.
17 Nevertheless the king of Assyria sent his field marshal, his chief treasurer, and his chief of staff from Lachish with a great army; and they camped along the highway beside the field where cloth was bleached, near the conduit of the upper pool. 18 They demanded that King Hezekiah come out to speak to them, but instead he sent a truce delegation of the following men: Eliakim, his business manager; Shebnah, his secretary; and Joah, his royal historian.
19 Then the Assyrian general sent this message to King Hezekiah: “The great king of Assyria says, ‘No one can save you from my power! 20-21 You need more than mere promises of help before rebelling against me. But which of your allies will give you more than words? Egypt? If you lean on Egypt, you will find her to be a stick that breaks beneath your weight and pierces your hand. The Egyptian Pharaoh is totally unreliable! 22 And if you say, “We’re trusting the Lord to rescue us”—just remember that he is the very one whose hilltop altars you’ve destroyed. For you require everyone to worship at the altar in Jerusalem!’ 23 I’ll tell you what: Make a bet with my master, the king of Assyria! If you have two thousand men left who can ride horses, we’ll furnish the horses! 24 And with an army as small as yours,[c] you are no threat to even the least lieutenant in charge of the smallest contingent in my master’s army. Even if Egypt supplies you with horses and chariots, it will do no good. 25 And do you think we have come here on our own? No! The Lord sent us and told us, ‘Go and destroy this nation!’”
26 Then Eliakim, Shebnah, and Joah said to them, “Please speak in Aramaic, for we understand it. Don’t use Hebrew, for the people standing on the walls will hear you.”
27 But the Assyrian general replied, “Has my master sent me to speak only to you and to your master? Hasn’t he sent me to the people on the walls too? For they are doomed with you to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine!”
28 Then the Assyrian ambassador shouted in Hebrew to the people on the wall, “Listen to the great king of Assyria! 29 ‘Don’t let King Hezekiah fool you. He will never be able to save you from my power. 30 Don’t let him fool you into trusting in the Lord to rescue you. 31-32 Don’t listen to King Hezekiah. Surrender! You can live in peace here in your own land until I take you to another land just like this one—with plentiful crops, grain, grapes, olive trees, and honey. All of this instead of death! Don’t listen to King Hezekiah when he tries to persuade you that the Lord will deliver you. 33 Have any of the gods of the other nations ever delivered their people from the king of Assyria? 34 What happened to the gods of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Did they rescue Samaria? 35 What god has ever been able to save any nation from my power? So what makes you think the Lord can save Jerusalem?’”
36 But the people on the wall remained silent, for the king had instructed them to say nothing. 37 Then Eliakim (son of Hilkiah) the business manager, and Shebnah the king’s secretary, and Joah (son of Asaph) the historian went to King Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the Assyrian general had said.
1-2 From: Paul, in jail for preaching the Good News about Jesus Christ, and from Brother Timothy.
To: Philemon, our much-loved fellow worker, and to the church that meets in your home, and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus who, like myself, is a soldier of the cross.
3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his blessings and his peace.
4 I always thank God when I am praying for you, dear Philemon, 5 because I keep hearing of your love and trust in the Lord Jesus and in his people. 6 And I pray that as you share your faith with others it will grip their lives too, as they see the wealth of good things in you that come from Christ Jesus. 7 I myself have gained much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because your kindness has so often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.
8-9 Now I want to ask a favor of you. I could demand it of you in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do, but I love you and prefer just to ask you—I, Paul, an old man now, here in jail for the sake of Jesus Christ. 10 My plea is that you show kindness to my child Onesimus, whom I won to the Lord while here in my chains. 11 Onesimus (whose name means “Useful”) hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is going to be of real use to both of us. 12 I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.
13 I really wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and you would have been helping me through him, 14 but I didn’t want to do it without your consent. I didn’t want you to be kind because you had to but because you wanted to. 15 Perhaps you could think of it this way: that he ran away from you for a little while so that now he can be yours forever, 16 no longer only a slave, but something much better—a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you too, because he is not only a servant but also your brother in Christ.
17 If I am really your friend, give him the same welcome you would give to me if I were the one who was coming. 18 If he has harmed you in any way or stolen anything from you, charge me for it. 19 I will pay it back (I, Paul, personally guarantee this by writing it here with my own hand) but I won’t mention how much you owe me! The fact is, you even owe me your very soul! 20 Yes, dear brother, give me joy with this loving act and my weary heart will praise the Lord.
21 I’ve written you this letter because I am positive that you will do what I ask and even more!
22 Please keep a guest room ready for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me come to you soon.
23 Epaphras my fellow prisoner, who is also here for preaching Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. 24 So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.
25 The blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon your spirit.
Paul
11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him as a son and brought him out of Egypt. 2 But the more I called to him, the more he rebelled, sacrificing to Baal and burning incense to idols. 3 I trained him from infancy, I taught him to walk, I held him in my arms. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who raised him.
4 “As a man would lead his favorite ox,[a] so I led Israel with my ropes of love. I loosened his muzzle so he could eat. I myself have stooped and fed him. 5 But my people shall return to Egypt and Assyria because they won’t return to me.
6 “War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their gates and trap them in their own fortresses. 7 For my people are determined to desert me. And so I have sentenced them to slavery, and no one shall set them free.
8 “Oh, how can I give you up, my Ephraim? How can I let you go? How can I forsake you like Admah and Zeboiim?[b] My heart cries out within me; how I long to help you! 9 No, I will not punish you as much as my fierce anger tells me to. This is the last time I will destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man; I am the Holy One living among you, and I did not come to destroy.
10 “For the people shall walk after the Lord. I shall roar as a lion at their enemies and my people shall return trembling from the west. 11 Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt—like doves flying from Assyria. And I will bring them home again; it is a promise from the Lord.”
12 Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit, but Judah still trusts in God and is faithful to the Holy One.
132 Lord, do you remember that time when my heart[a] was so filled with turmoil? 2-5 I couldn’t rest, I couldn’t sleep, thinking how I ought to build a permanent home for the Ark of the Lord,[b] a Temple for the Mighty One of Israel. Then I vowed that I would do it; I made a solemn promise to the Lord.
6 First the Ark was in Ephrathah,[c] then in the distant countryside of Jaar. 7 But now it will be settled in the Temple, in God’s permanent home here on earth. That is where we will go to worship him.[d] 8 Arise, O Lord, and enter your Temple with the Ark, the symbol of your power.
9 We will clothe the priests in white, the symbol of all purity. May our nation shout for joy.
10 Do not reject your servant David—the king you chose for your people. 11 For you promised me that my son would sit on my throne and succeed me. And surely you will never go back on a promise! 12 You also promised that if my descendants will obey the terms of your contract with me, then the dynasty of David shall never end.
13 O Lord, you have chosen Jerusalem[e] as your home: 14 “This is my permanent home where I shall live,” you said, “for I have always wanted it this way. 15 I will make this city prosperous and satisfy her poor with food. 16 I will clothe her priests with salvation; her saints shall shout for joy. 17 David’s power shall grow, for I have decreed for him a mighty Son.[f] 18 I’ll clothe his enemies with shame, but he shall be a glorious King.”
133 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live in harmony! 2 For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head and ran down onto his beard and onto the border of his robe. 3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew on Mount Hermon, on the mountains of Israel. And God has pronounced this eternal blessing on Jerusalem,[g] even life forevermore.
134 Oh, bless the Lord, you who serve him as watchmen in the Temple every night. 2 Lift your hands in holiness and bless the Lord.
3 The Lord bless you from Zion—the Lord who made heaven and earth.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.