M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jeroboam’s Son Dies
14 At that time Abijah, son of Jeroboam, got sick. 2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Go to Shiloh, but disguise yourself so that people will not recognize you as my wife. The prophet Ahijah, who told me I would be king of these people, is there. 3 Take ten loaves of bread, some raisins,[a] and a jar of honey with you, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.” 4 Jeroboam’s wife did this. She left, went to Shiloh, and came to the home of Ahijah.
Ahijah couldn’t see. His eyesight had failed because he was old. 5 However, Yahweh had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son who is sick. When she comes, she will pretend to be someone else.” He also told Ahijah what to say to her.
6 Ahijah heard her footsteps when she came into the room. He said, “Come in. You’re Jeroboam’s wife. Why are you pretending to be someone else? I’ve been told to give you some terrible news. 7 Tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: I picked you out of the people and made you a leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from David’s heirs and gave it to you. But you have not been like my servant David. He obeyed my commands and faithfully followed me by doing only what I considered right. 9 You have done more evil things than everyone before you. You made other gods, metal idols, for yourself. You made me furious and turned your back to me.
10 “‘That is why I will bring disaster on Jeroboam’s house. I will destroy every male[b] in his house, whether slave or freeman in Israel. I will burn down Jeroboam’s house. It will burn like manure until it is gone. 11 If anyone from Jeroboam’s house dies in the city, dogs will eat him. If anyone dies in the country, birds will eat him.’ Yahweh has said this!
12 “Get up, and go home. The moment you set foot in the city the child will die. 13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one of Jeroboam’s family who will be properly buried. He was the only one in Jeroboam’s house in whom Yahweh Elohim of Israel found anything good. 14 Yahweh will appoint a king over Israel. That king will destroy Jeroboam’s house. This will happen today. It will happen right now.[c]
15 “Yahweh will strike Israel like cattails which shake in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which he gave their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River because they dedicated poles to the goddess Asherah and made Yahweh furious. 16 So Yahweh will desert Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins, the sins which he led Israel to commit.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife got up, left, and went to Tirzah. When she walked across the threshold of her home, the boy died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him as Yahweh had said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
19 Everything else concerning Jeroboam, his wars, and his reign is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. 20 Jeroboam ruled for 22 years. Then he lay down in death with his ancestors. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.
King Rehoboam of Judah(A)
21 Rehoboam, son of Solomon, ruled Judah. He was 41 years old when he began to rule. He ruled for 17 years in Jerusalem, the city that Yahweh chose from all the tribes of Israel, the city where Yahweh put his name. Rehoboam’s mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.
22 The people of Judah did what Yahweh considered evil. Their sins made him more angry than anything their ancestors had done. 23 They built worship sites for themselves and put up large stones and Asherah poles to worship on every high hill and under every large tree. 24 There were even male prostitutes in the temples of idols throughout the land. The people of Judah did all the disgusting practices done by the nations that Yahweh had forced out of the Israelites’ way.
King Shishak Takes the Temple Treasures(B)
25 In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 26 He took the treasures from Yahweh’s temple and the royal palace. He took them all. He took all the gold shields Solomon had made. 27 So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and put them by the entrance to the royal palace, where the captains of the guards were stationed. 28 Whenever the king went into Yahweh’s temple, guards carried the shields and then returned them to the guardroom.
29 Isn’t everything else concerning Rehoboam—everything he did—written in the official records of the kings of Judah? 30 There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam as long as they lived. 31 Rehoboam lay down in death with his ancestors and was buried with them in the City of David. (His mother was an Ammonite woman named Naamah.) His son Abijam succeeded him as king.
Greeting
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Yeshua by God’s will, and from our brother Timothy.
2 To God’s holy and faithful people, our brothers and sisters who are united with Christ in the city of Colossae.
Good will[a] and peace from God our Father are yours!
Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Yeshua Christ, in our prayers for you. 4 We thank God because we have heard about your faith in Christ Yeshua and your love for all of God’s people. 5 You have these because of the hope which is kept safe for you in heaven. Some time ago you heard about this hope in the Good News which is the message of truth. 6 This Good News is present with you now. It is producing results and spreading all over the world as it did among you from the first day you heard it. At that time you came to know what God’s kindness[b] truly means. 7 You learned about this Good News from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant. He is taking your place here as a trustworthy deacon[c] for Christ 8 and has told us about the love that the Spirit has given you.
9 For this reason we have not stopped praying for you since the day we heard about you. We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through every kind of spiritual wisdom and insight. 10 We ask this so that you will live the kind of lives that prove you belong to the Lord. Then you will want to please him in every way as you grow in producing every kind of good work by this knowledge about God. 11 We ask him to strengthen you by his glorious might with all the power you need to patiently endure everything with joy. 12 You will also thank the Father, who has made you able to share the light, which is what God’s people inherit.
What God Has Done Through Christ
13 God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of his Son, whom he loves. 14 His Son paid the price to free us, which means that our sins are forgiven.
15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
16 He created all things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible.
Whether they are kings or lords,
rulers or powers—
everything has been created through him and for him.
17 He existed before everything
and holds everything together.
18 He is also the head of the church, which is his body.
He is the beginning,
the first to come back to life
so that he would have first place in everything.
19 God was pleased to have all of himself live in Christ. 20 God was also pleased to bring everything on earth and in heaven back to himself through Christ. He did this by making peace through Christ’s blood sacrificed on the cross.
21 Once you were separated from God. The evil things you did showed your hostile attitude. 22 But now Christ has brought you back to God by dying in his physical body. He did this so that you could come into God’s presence without sin, fault, or blame. 23 This is on the condition that you continue in faith without being moved from the solid foundation of the hope that the Good News contains. You’ve heard this Good News of which I, Paul, became a servant. It has been spread throughout all creation under heaven.
Paul Describes His Work
24 I am happy to suffer for you now. In my body I am completing whatever remains of Christ’s sufferings. I am doing this on behalf of his body, the church. 25 I became a servant of the church when God gave me the work of telling you his entire message. 26 In the past God hid this mystery, but now he has revealed it to his people. 27 God wanted his people throughout the world to know the glorious riches of this mystery—which is Christ living in you, giving you the hope of glory.
28 We spread the message about Christ as we instruct and teach everyone with all the wisdom there is. We want to present everyone as mature Christian people. 29 I work hard and struggle to do this while his mighty power works in me.
The East Gate Is Sealed Shut
44 Then the man took me back to the outer east gate of the holy place, and the gate was shut. 2 Yahweh said to me, “This gate will stay shut and will not be opened. No one may enter through it because Yahweh Elohim of Israel entered through it. It must be kept shut. 3 Only the prince may sit there and eat food in the presence of Yahweh. He will enter through the entrance hall of the gateway and leave the same way.”
4 The man brought me through the north gate in front of the temple. When I looked, I saw Yahweh’s glory fill Yahweh’s temple. I immediately bowed down.
The People Serving in the New Temple
5 Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, pay close attention. Look, and listen to everything I’m going to tell you. Listen to all the rules and regulations for Yahweh’s temple. Pay close attention to everyone who enters the temple and leaves from the holy place. 6 Tell the rebellious people of Israel, ‘This is what Adonay Yahweh says: I’ve had enough of all the disgusting things that you have done, people of Israel. 7 You brought godless foreigners[a] into my holy place. You dishonored my temple when you offered fat and blood to me. You rejected my promise so that you could do all your disgusting things. 8 You didn’t take care of my holy things. You put foreigners in charge of my temple. 9 So this is what Adonay Yahweh says: Any godless foreigner who lives among the Israelites may not enter my holy place.
10 “‘Some Levites went far away from me when Israel wandered off to follow their idols. They must be punished for their sins. 11 They could have served in my holy place. They could have guarded the gates of the temple. They could have served in the temple by slaughtering the animals for the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for the people. They could have stood in front of the people and served them. 12 But they served the people by standing in front of their idols and by making Israel fall into sin. So I raised my hand and swore that they would be punished for their sins, declares Adonay Yahweh. 13 They must not come near me and serve me as priests. They must not come near any of my holy things or my most holy things. They must suffer disgrace because of the disgusting things that they have done. 14 I will assign them all of the less important work in the temple.
15 “‘But the priests who are Levites and descendants of Zadok took care of my holy place when the Israelites wandered away from me. They may come near me and serve me, and they may stand in my presence. They may bring fat and blood to me, declares Adonay Yahweh. 16 They may enter my holy place, come near my table to serve me, and take care of everything I gave them. 17 When they enter the gateways to the inner courtyard, they must wear linen clothes. They must have no wool on them while they serve in the gateways to the inner courtyard and in the temple. 18 They must wear linen turbans on their heads and linen undergarments. They must not wear anything that makes them sweat. 19 When they go out among the people in the outer courtyard, they must take off the clothes that they wore as they served. They must leave their clothes in the side rooms of the holy place and put on other clothes so that they do not transfer the holiness from their clothes to the people.
20 “‘They must not shave their heads or let their hair grow long. They must keep the hair on their heads trimmed. 21 None of the priests may drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard. 22 They must not marry widows or women who have been divorced. They may marry only virgins from the nation of Israel or widows of priests. 23 They must teach my people the difference between what is holy and what is unholy. They must show the people how to tell the difference between what is clean and what is unclean.[b] 24 In all disputes the priests must act as judges and make decisions based on my laws. They must obey my rules and my regulations at all my festivals. They must observe holy days to worship me.
25 “‘A priest must not make himself unclean by going near a dead body. But a priest may become unclean if the dead person is his father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried sister. 26 After a priest is made clean, he must wait seven days. 27 When he enters the inner courtyard of the holy place to serve in the holy place, he must bring his offering for sin, declares Adonay Yahweh.
28 “‘The priests will have no inheritance. I am their inheritance. Don’t give them any possessions in Israel. The priests belong to me. 29 They will eat grain offerings, offerings for sin, and guilt offerings. Everything in Israel that is devoted to the Lord will belong to them. 30 The priests should have the best of all the first ripened fruits. The best of every gift from all your contributions must go to the priests. The best of your dough must go to the priests. This will cause a blessing to rest on your home. 31 The priests must never eat any bird or animal that has died naturally or was killed by other wild animals.
Psalm 97
1 Yahweh rules as king.
Let the earth rejoice.
Let all the islands be joyful.
2 Clouds and darkness surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.
3 Fire spreads ahead of him.
It burns his enemies who surround him.
4 His flashes of lightning light up the world.
The earth sees them and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax in the presence of Yahweh,
in the presence of the Adonay of the whole earth.
6 The heavens tell about his righteousness,
and all the people of the world see his glory.
7 Everyone who worships idols
and brags about false gods will be put to shame.
All the gods will bow to him.
8 Zion hears about this and rejoices.
The people of Judah are delighted with your judgments, O Yahweh.
9 You, O Yahweh Elyon, are above the whole earth.
You are highest. You are above all the gods.
10 Let those who love Yahweh hate evil.
The one who guards the lives of his godly ones
will rescue them from the power of wicked people.
11 Light dawns for righteous people[a]
and joy for those whose motives are decent.
12 Find joy in Yahweh, you righteous people.
Give thanks to him as you remember how holy he is.
Psalm 98
A psalm.
1 Sing a new song to Yahweh
because he has done miraculous things.
His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him.
2 Yahweh has made his salvation known.
He has uncovered his righteousness for the nations to see.
3 He has not forgotten to be merciful and faithful
to Israel’s descendants.
All the ends of the earth have seen how our Elohim saves them.
4 Shout happily to Yahweh, all the earth.
Break out into joyful singing, and make music.
5 Make music to Yahweh with a lyre,
with a lyre and the melody of a psalm,
6 with trumpets and the playing of a ram’s horn.
Shout happily in the presence of the Melek, Yahweh.
7 Let the sea, everything in it,
the world, and those who live in it roar like thunder.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains sing joyfully
9 in Yahweh’s presence
because he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and its people with fairness.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.