M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

25 ¹ So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s rule, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem with his entire army. He camped beside the city and built a siege wall all around it. ² The city was under attack until King Zedekiah’s eleventh year. ³ On the ninth day of the month, the famine in the city got so bad that no food remained for the common people. ⁴ Then the enemy broke into the city. All the soldiers fled^[a] by night using the gate between the two walls near the King’s Garden. The Chaldeans were surrounding the city, so the soldiers ran toward the desert plain. ⁵ But the Chaldean army chased King Zedekiah and caught up with him in the Jericho plains. His entire army deserted him. ⁶ So the Chaldeans captured the king and brought him back to the Babylonian king, who was at Riblah. There his punishment was determined. ⁷ Zedekiah’s sons were slaughtered right before his eyes. Then he was blinded, put in bronze chains, and taken off to Babylon.

⁸ On the seventh day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan arrived at Jerusalem. He was the commander of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king. ⁹ He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, and all of Jerusalem’s houses. He burned down every important building. ¹⁰ The whole Chaldean army under the commander of the guard tore down the walls surrounding Jerusalem. ¹¹ Then Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard exiled the people who were left in the city, those who had already surrendered to Babylon’s king, and the rest of the population. ¹² The commander of the guard left some of the land’s poor people behind to work the vineyards and be farmers. ¹³ The Chaldeans shattered the bronze columns, the stands, and the bronze Sea that were in the Lord’s temple. They carried the bronze off to Babylon. ¹⁴ They also took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the dishes, and all the bronze items that had been used in the temple. ¹⁵ The commander of the guard took the fire pans and the sprinkling bowls, which were made of pure gold and pure silver. ¹⁶ The bronze in all these objects—the two pillars, the Sea, and the stands that Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple—was too heavy to weigh. ¹⁷ Each pillar was twenty-seven feet high. The bronze capital on top of the first pillar was four and a half feet high. Decorative lattices and pomegranates, all made from bronze, were around the capital. And the second pillar was decorated with lattices just like the first.

¹⁸ The commander of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three doorkeepers. ¹⁹ Of those still left in the city, Nebuzaradan took away an officer who was in charge of the army and five royal advisors who were discovered in the city. He also took away the secretary of the officer responsible for drafting the land’s people to fight, as well as sixty people who were discovered in the city. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard took all of these people and brought them to the Babylonian king at Riblah. ²¹ The king of Babylon struck them down, killing them in Riblah in the land of Hamath.

So Judah was exiled from its land.

Gedaliah governs Judah

²² Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar put Gedaliah, Ahikam’s son and Shaphan’s grandson, in charge of the people he had left behind in the land of Judah. ²³ All the army officers and their soldiers heard that the Babylonian king had appointed Gedaliah as governor, so they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah. The officers were Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son; Johanan, Kareah’s son; Seraiah, Tanhumeth’s son who was a Netophathite; and Jaazaniah, Maacathite’s son. ²⁴ Gedaliah made a solemn pledge to them and their soldiers, telling them, “Don’t be afraid of the Chaldean officials. Stay in the land and serve the Babylonian king, and things will go well for you.”

²⁵ But in the seventh month, Ishmael, Nethaniah’s son and Elishama’s grandson, who was from the royal family, came with ten soldiers, and they struck Gedaliah, and he died. They also killed the Judeans and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. ²⁶ Then all the people, young and old, along with the army officers, departed for Egypt because they were afraid of the Chaldeans.

Jehoiachin in Babylon

²⁷ In the year that Awil-merodach^[b] became king of Babylon, he released Judah’s King Jehoiachin from prison. This happened in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month. ²⁸ Awil-merodach spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and seated him above the other kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁹ So Jehoiachin took off his prisoner clothes and ate regularly in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. ³⁰ At the king’s command, a regular food allowance was given to him every day for the rest of his life.

7 ¹ This Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he returned from the defeat of the kings, and Melchizedek blessed him. ² Abraham gave a tenth of everything to him. His name means first “king of righteousness,” and then “king of Salem,” that is, “king of peace.” ³ He is without father or mother or any family. He has no beginning or end of life, but he’s like God’s Son and remains a priest for all time.

A priest like Melchizedek

⁴ See how great Melchizedek was! Abraham, the father of the people, gave him a tenth of everything he captured. ⁵ The descendants of Levi who receive the office of priest have a commandment under the Law to collect a tenth of everything from the people who are their brothers and sisters, though they also are descended from Abraham. ⁶ But Melchizedek, who isn’t related to them, received a tenth of everything from Abraham and blessed the one who had received the promises. ⁷ Without question, the less important person is blessed by the more important person. ⁸ In addition, in one case a tenth is received by people who die, and in the other case, the tenth is received by someone who continues to live, according to the record. ⁹ It could be said that Levi, who received a tenth, paid a tenth through Abraham ¹⁰ because he was still in his ancestor’s body when Abraham paid the tenth to Melchizedek.

¹¹ So if perfection came through the levitical office of priest (for the people received the Law under the priests), why was there still a need to speak about raising up another priest according to the order of Melchizedek rather than one according to the order of Aaron? ¹² When the order of the priest changes, there has to be a change in the Law as well. ¹³ The person we are talking about belongs to another tribe, and no one ever served at the altar from that tribe. ¹⁴ It’s clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, but Moses never said anything about priests from that tribe. ¹⁵ And it’s even clearer if another priest appears who is like Melchizedek. ¹⁶ He has become a priest by the power of a life that can’t be destroyed, rather than a legal requirement about physical descent. ¹⁷ This is confirmed:

Able to save completely

¹⁸ On the one hand, an earlier command is set aside because it was weak and useless ¹⁹ (because the Law made nothing perfect). On the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. ²⁰ And this was not done without a solemn pledge! The others have become priests without a solemn pledge, ²¹ but this priest was affirmed with a solemn pledge by the one who said,

²² As a result, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. ²³ The others who became priests are numerous because death prevented them from continuing to serve. ²⁴ In contrast, he holds the office of priest permanently because he continues to serve forever. ²⁵ This is why he can completely save those who are approaching God through him, because he always lives to speak with God for them.

²⁶ It’s appropriate for us to have this kind of high priest: holy, innocent, incorrupt, separate from sinners, and raised high above the heavens. ²⁷ He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests, first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people. He did this once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ The Law appoints people who are prone to weakness as high priests, but the content of the solemn pledge, which came after the Law, appointed a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Introduction

1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He perceived these things concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days of Judah’s King Uzziah and in the days of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Joash’s son.

Proclamation of divine judgment

A word to Damascus

A word to Gaza and Ashdod

A word to Tyre

A word to Edom

A word to Ammon

Psalm 144

Of David.