M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

26 The Temple guards were from the Asaph division of the Korah clan. The captain of the guard was Meshelemiah, the son of Kore.

^2-3 His sergeants were his sons: Zechariah (the oldest), Jediael (the second), Zebadiah (the third), Jathniel (the fourth), Elam (the fifth), Jehohanan (the sixth), Eliehoenai (the seventh).

^4-5 The sons of Obed-edom were also appointed as Temple guards: Shemaiah (the oldest), Jehozabad (the second), Joah (the third), Sacar (the fourth), Nethanel (the fifth), Ammiel (the sixth), Issachar (the seventh), Peullethai (the eighth). What a blessing God gave him with all those sons!

^6-7 Shemaiah’s sons were all outstanding men and had positions of great authority in their clan. Their names were: Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad.

Their brave brothers, Elihu and Semachiah, were also very able men.

⁸ All of these sons and grandsons of Obed-edom—all sixty-two of them—were outstanding men who were particularly well qualified for their work. ⁹ Meshelemiah’s eighteen sons and brothers, too, were real leaders. ¹⁰ Hosah, one of the Merari group, appointed Shimri as the leader among his sons, though he was not the oldest. ¹¹ The names of some of his other sons were: Hilkiah, the second; Tebaliah, the third; Zechariah, the fourth. Hosah’s sons and brothers numbered thirteen in all.

¹² The divisions of the Temple guards were named after the leaders. Like the other Levites, they were responsible to minister at the Temple. ¹³ They were assigned guard duty at the various gates without regard to the reputation of their families, for it was all done by coin-toss. ^14-15 The responsibility of the east gate went to Shelemiah and his group; of the north gate to his son Zechariah, a man of unusual wisdom; of the south gate to Obed-edom and his group (his sons were given charge of the storehouses); ¹⁶ of the west gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the upper road, to Shuppim and Hosah. ¹⁷ Six guards were assigned daily to the east gate, four to the north gate, four to the south gate, and two to each of the storehouses. ¹⁸ Six guards were assigned each day to the west gate, four to the upper road, and two to the nearby areas. ¹⁹ The Temple guards were chosen from the clans of Korah and Merari.

^20-22 Other Levites, led by Ahijah, were given the care of the gifts brought to the Lord and placed in the Temple treasury. These men of the Ladan subclan from the clan of Gershom included Zetham and Joel, the sons of Jehieli. ^23-24 Shebuel, son of Gershom and grandson of Moses, was the chief officer of the treasury. He was in charge of the divisions named after Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

²⁵ The line of descendants from Eliezer went through Rehabiah, Jeshaiah, Joram, Zichri, and Shelomoth. ²⁶ Shelomoth and his brothers were appointed to care for the gifts given to the Lord by King David and the other leaders of the nation such as the officers and generals of the army. ²⁷ For these men dedicated their war loot to support the operating expenses of the Temple. ²⁸ Shelomoth and his brothers were also responsible for the care of the items dedicated to the Lord by Samuel the prophet, Saul the son of Kish, Abner the son of Ner, Joab the son of Zeruiah, and anyone else of distinction^[a] who brought gifts to the Lord.

²⁹ Chenaniah and his sons (from the subclan of Izhar) were appointed public administrators and judges. ³⁰ Hashabiah and 1,700 of his clansmen from Hebron, all outstanding men, were placed in charge of the territory of Israel west of the Jordan River; they were responsible for the religious affairs and public administration of that area. ^31-32 Twenty-seven hundred outstanding men of the clan of the Hebronites, under the supervision of Jerijah, were appointed to control the religious and public affairs of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. These men, all of whom had excellent qualifications, were appointed on the basis of their ancestry and ability at Jazer in Gilead in the fortieth year of King David’s reign.

27 The Israeli army was divided into twelve regiments, each with 24,000 troops, including officers and administrative staff. These units were called up for active duty one month each year. Here is the list of the units and their regimental commanders:

^2-3 The commander of the First Division was Jashobeam. He had charge of 24,000 troops who were on duty the first month of each year.

⁴ The commander of the Second Division was Dodai (a descendant of Ahohi). He had charge of 24,000 troops who were on duty the second month of each year. Mikloth was his executive officer.

^5-6 The commander of the Third Division was Benaiah. His 24,000 men were on duty the third month of each year. (He was the son of Jehoiada the High Priest and was the chief of The Thirty, a group including the mightiest of David’s men.) His son Ammizabad succeeded him as division commander.

⁷ The commander of the Fourth Division was Asahel (the brother of Joab), who was later replaced by his son Zebadiah. He had 24,000 men on duty the fourth month of each year.

⁸ The commander of the Fifth Division was Shamuth from Izrah, with 24,000 men on duty the fifth month of each year.

⁹ The commander of the Sixth Division was Ira, the son of Ikkesh from Tekoa; he had 24,000 men on duty the sixth month of each year.

¹⁰ The commander of the Seventh Division was Helez from Pelona in Ephraim, with 24,000 men on duty the seventh month of each year.

¹¹ The commander of the Eighth Division was Sibbecai of the Hushite subclan from Zerah, who had 24,000 men on duty the eighth month of each year.

¹² The commander of the Ninth Division was Abiezer (from Anathoth in the tribe of Benjamin), who commanded 24,000 troops during the ninth month of each year.

¹³ The commander of the Tenth Division was Maharai from Netophah in Zerah, with 24,000 men on duty the tenth month of each year.

¹⁴ The commander of the Eleventh Division was Benaiah from Pirathon in Ephraim, with 24,000 men on duty during the eleventh month of each year.

¹⁵ The commander of the Twelfth Division was Heldai from Netophah in the area of Othniel, who commanded 24,000 men on duty during the twelfth month of each year.

^16-22 The top political officers of the tribes of Israel were as follows:

²³ When David took his census, he didn’t include the twenty-year-olds or those younger, for the Lord had promised a population explosion for his people.^{[b] 24} Joab began the census, but he never finished it, for the anger of God broke out upon Israel; the final total was never put into the annals of King David.

²⁵ Azmaveth (son of Adiel) was the chief financial officer in charge of the palace treasuries, and Jonathan (son of Uzziah) was chief of the regional treasuries throughout the cities, villages, and fortresses of Israel.

²⁶ Ezri (son of Chelub) was manager of the laborers on the king’s estates. ²⁷ And Shimei from Ramath had the oversight of the king’s vineyards; and Zabdi from Shiphma was responsible for his wine production and storage. ²⁸ Baal-hanan from Gedera was responsible for the king’s olive yards and sycamore trees in the lowlands bordering Philistine territory, while Joash had charge of the supplies of olive oil.

²⁹ Shitrai from Sharon was in charge of the cattle on the plains of Sharon, and Shaphat (son of Adlai) had charge of those in the valleys. ³⁰ Obil, from the territory of Ishmael, had charge of the camels, and Jehdeiah from Meronoth had charge of the donkeys. ³¹ The sheep were under the care of Jaziz the Hagrite. These men were King David’s overseers.

³² The attendant to the king’s sons was Jonathan, David’s uncle, a wise counselor and an educated man.^[c] Jehiel (the son of Hachmoni) was their tutor.

³³ Ahithophel was the king’s official counselor, and Hushai the Archite was his personal advisor. ³⁴ Ahithophel was assisted by Jehoiada (the son of Benaiah) and by Abiathar. Joab was commander-in-chief of the Israeli army.

1 From: Simon Peter, a servant and missionary of Jesus Christ.

To: All of you who have our kind of faith. The faith I speak of is the kind that Jesus Christ our God and Savior gives to us. How precious it is, and how just and good he is to give this same faith to each of us.

² Do you want more and more of God’s kindness and peace? Then learn to know him better and better. ³ For as you know him better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us! ⁴ And by that same mighty power he has given us all the other rich and wonderful blessings he promised; for instance, the promise to save us from the lust and rottenness all around us, and to give us his own character.

⁵ But to obtain these gifts, you need more than faith; you must also work hard to be good, and even that is not enough. For then you must learn to know God better and discover what he wants you to do. ⁶ Next, learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and godly, gladly letting God have his way with you. ⁷ This will make possible the next step, which is for you to enjoy other people and to like them, and finally you will grow to love them deeply. ⁸ The more you go on in this way, the more you will grow strong spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But anyone who fails to go after these additions to faith is blind indeed, or at least very shortsighted and has forgotten that God delivered him from the old life of sin so that now he can live a strong, good life for the Lord.

¹⁰ So, dear brothers, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen, and then you will never stumble or fall away. ¹¹ And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹² I plan to keep on reminding you of these things even though you already know them and are really getting along quite well! ^13-14 But the Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that my days here on earth are numbered, and I am soon to die. As long as I am still here I intend to keep sending these reminders to you, ¹⁵ hoping to impress them so clearly upon you that you will remember them long after I have gone.

¹⁶ For we have not been telling you fairy tales when we explained to you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. My own eyes have seen his splendor and his glory: ^17-18 I was there on the holy mountain when he shone out with honor given him by God his Father; I heard that glorious, majestic voice calling down from heaven, saying, “This is my much-loved Son; I am well pleased with him.”

¹⁹ So we have seen and proved that what the prophets said came true. You will do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, for, like lights shining into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise would be dark and difficult. But when you consider the wonderful truth of the prophets’ words, then the light will dawn in your souls and Christ the Morning Star will shine in your hearts. ^20-21 For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God.

4 But in the last days Mount Zion will be the most renowned of all the mountains of the world, praised by all nations; people from all over the world will make pilgrimages there.

² “Come,” they will say to one another, “let us visit the mountain of the Lord, and see the Temple of the God of Israel; he will tell us what to do, and we will do it.” For in those days the whole world will be ruled by the Lord from Jerusalem! He will issue his laws and announce his decrees from there.

³ He will arbitrate among the nations and dictate to strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall no longer fight each other, for all war will end. There will be universal peace, and all the military academies and training camps will be closed down.

⁴ Everyone will live quietly in his own home in peace and prosperity, for there will be nothing to fear. The Lord himself has promised this. ⁵ (Therefore we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever, even though all the nations around us worship idols!)

⁶ In that coming day, the Lord says that he will bring back his punished people—sick and lame and dispossessed— ⁷ and make them strong again in their own land, a mighty nation, and the Lord himself shall be their King from Mount Zion forever. ⁸ O Jerusalem—the Watchtower of God’s people—your royal might and power will come back to you again, just as before.

⁹ But for now, you scream in terror. Where is your king to lead you? He is dead! Where are your wise men? All are gone! Pain has gripped you like a woman in labor. ¹⁰ Writhe and groan in your terrible pain, O people of Zion, for you must leave this city and live in the fields; you will be sent far away into exile in Babylon. But there I will rescue you and free you from the grip of your enemies.

¹¹ True, many nations have gathered together against you, calling for your blood, eager to destroy you. ¹² But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord nor understand his plan, for the time will come when the Lord will gather together the enemies of his people like sheaves upon the threshing floor, helpless before Israel.

¹³ Rise, thresh, O daughter of Zion; I will give you horns of iron and hoofs of brass; you will trample to pieces many people, and you will give their wealth as offerings to the Lord, the Lord of all the earth.

13 About this time he was informed that Pilate had butchered some Jews from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem.

² “Do you think they were worse sinners than other men from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? ³ Not at all! And don’t you realize that you also will perish unless you leave your evil ways and turn to God?

⁴ “And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? ⁵ Not at all! And you, too, will perish unless you repent.”

⁶ Then he used this illustration: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if he could find any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. ⁷ Finally he told his gardener to cut it down. ‘I’ve waited three years and there hasn’t been a single fig!’ he said. ‘Why bother with it any longer? It’s taking up space we can use for something else.’

⁸ “‘Give it one more chance,’ the gardener answered. ‘Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. ⁹ If we get figs next year, fine; if not, I’ll cut it down.’”

¹⁰ One Sabbath as he was teaching in a synagogue, ¹¹ he saw a seriously handicapped woman who had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to straighten herself.

¹² Calling her over to him Jesus said, “Woman, you are healed of your sickness!” ¹³ He touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God!

¹⁴ But the local Jewish leader in charge of the synagogue was very angry about it because Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week to work,” he shouted to the crowd. “Those are the days to come for healing, not on the Sabbath!”

¹⁵ But the Lord replied, “You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath! Don’t you untie your cattle from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water? ¹⁶ And is it wrong for me, just because it is the Sabbath day, to free this Jewish woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?”

¹⁷ This shamed his enemies. And all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.

¹⁸ Now he began teaching them again about the Kingdom of God: “What is the Kingdom like?” he asked. “How can I illustrate it? ¹⁹ It is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; soon it grows into a tall bush and the birds live among its branches.

^20-21 “It is like yeast kneaded into dough, which works unseen until it has risen high and light.”

²² He went from city to city and village to village, teaching as he went, always pressing onward toward Jerusalem.

²³ Someone asked him, “Will only a few be saved?”

And he replied, ^24-25 “The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, for the truth is that many will try to enter but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. Then if you stand outside knocking, and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us,’ he will reply, ‘I do not know you.’

²⁶ “‘But we ate with you, and you taught in our streets,’ you will say.

²⁷ “And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you. You can’t come in here, guilty as you are. Go away.’

²⁸ “And there will be great weeping and gnashing of teeth as you stand outside and see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets within the Kingdom of God— ²⁹ for people will come from all over the world to take their places there. ³⁰ And note this: some who are despised now will be greatly honored then; and some who are highly thought of now will be least important then.”

³¹ A few minutes later some Pharisees said to him, “Get out of here if you want to live, for King Herod is after you!”

³² Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and doing miracles of healing today and tomorrow; and the third day I will reach my destination. ³³ Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day! For it wouldn’t do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem!

³⁴ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! The city that murders the prophets. The city that stones those sent to help her. How often I have wanted to gather your children together even as a hen protects her brood under her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. ³⁵ And now—now your house is left desolate. And you will never again see me until you say, ‘Welcome to him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”