M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Ahaz Becomes King Over Judah

16 Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah during the 17th year that Pekah son of Remaliah was king of Israel. ² Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. He ruled 16 years in Jerusalem. Unlike his ancestor David, Ahaz did not do what the Lord said was right. ³ He did the same bad things the kings of Israel had done. He even burned his son as a sacrifice.^[a] He copied the terrible sins of the nations that the Lord had forced to leave the country when the Israelites came. ⁴ Ahaz made sacrifices and burned incense at the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.

⁵ King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel came to fight against Jerusalem. Rezin and Pekah surrounded Ahaz, but could not defeat him. ⁶ At that time King Rezin of Aram took back Elath for Aram. Rezin took all the people of Judah who were living in Elath. The Arameans settled in Elath, and they still live there today.

⁷ Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria with this message: “I am your servant. I am like a son to you. Come and save me from the king of Aram and the king of Israel. They have come to fight me.” ⁸ Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was in the Temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king’s palace. Then Ahaz sent a gift to the king of Assyria. ⁹ The king of Assyria listened to Ahaz and went to fight against Damascus. The king captured that city and took the people from Damascus as prisoners to Kir. He also killed Rezin.

¹⁰ King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria. Ahaz saw the altar at Damascus. He sent a model and pattern of this altar to Uriah the priest. ¹¹ Then Uriah the priest built an altar just like the model King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus. Uriah the priest built the altar this way before King Ahaz came back from Damascus.

¹² When the king arrived from Damascus, he saw the altar. He offered sacrifices on the altar. ¹³ Ahaz burned his burnt offerings and grain offerings on it. He poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his fellowship offerings on this altar.

¹⁴ Ahaz took the bronze altar that was before the Lord from the front of the Temple. This bronze altar was between Ahaz’s altar and the Temple of the Lord. Ahaz put the bronze altar on the north side of his own altar. ¹⁵ He commanded Uriah the priest, “Use the large altar to burn the morning burnt offerings, the evening grain offerings, and the drink offerings from all the people of this country. Sprinkle all the blood from the burnt offering and other sacrifices on the large altar. But I will use the bronze altar to get answers from God.” ¹⁶ Uriah the priest did everything that King Ahaz commanded him to do.

¹⁷ There were carts with bronze panels and basins for the priests to wash their hands. King Ahaz removed the panels and basins and cut up the carts. He also took the large tank^[b] off the bronze bulls that stood under it. He put the large tank on a stone pavement. ¹⁸ Workers had built a covered place inside the Temple area for the Sabbath meetings. But Ahaz removed the covered place and the outside entrance for the king. He removed all these from the Lord’s Temple. Ahaz did this because of the king of Assyria.

¹⁹ All the great things that Ahaz did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. ²⁰ Ahaz died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became the new king after him.

Following the True Teaching

2 You, however, must tell everyone how to live in a way that agrees with the true teaching. ² Teach the older men to have self-control, to be serious, and to be wise. They must be strong in faith, in love, and in patience.

³ Also, teach the older women to live the way those who serve the Lord should live. They should not go around saying bad things about others or be in the habit of drinking too much. They should teach what is good. ⁴ By doing this they will teach the younger women to love their husbands and children. ⁵ They will teach them to be wise and pure, to take care of their homes, to be kind, and to be willing to serve their husbands. Then no one will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us.

⁶ In the same way, tell the young men to be wise. ⁷ You should be an example for them in every way by the good things you do. When you teach, be honest and serious. ⁸ And your teaching should be clearly right so that you cannot be criticized. Then anyone who is against you will be ashamed. There will not be anything bad they can say about us.

⁹ And tell this to those who are slaves: They should be willing to serve their masters at all times; they should try to please them, not argue with them; ¹⁰ they should not steal from them; and they should show their masters that they can be trusted. Then, in everything they do, they will show that the teaching of God our Savior is good.

¹¹ That is the way we should live, because God’s grace has come. That grace can save everyone. ¹² It teaches us not to live against God and not to do the bad things the world wants to do. It teaches us to live on earth now in a wise and right way—a way that shows true devotion to God. ¹³ We should live like that while we are waiting for the coming of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our great hope, and he will come with glory. ¹⁴ He gave himself for us. He died to free us from all evil. He died to make us pure—people who belong only to him and who always want to do good.

¹⁵ These are the things you should tell people. Encourage them, and when they are wrong, correct them. You have full authority to do this, so don’t let anyone think they can ignore you.

The Sadness of Exile

9 Israel, don’t celebrate like the nations do. Don’t be happy. You acted like a prostitute and left your God. You committed your sexual sin^[a] on every threshing floor. ² But the grain from those threshing floors will not provide enough food for Israel. There will not be enough wine for Israel.

³ The Israelites will not stay in the Lord’s land. Ephraim will return to Egypt. In Assyria they will eat food that they should not eat. ⁴ They will not be able to give offerings of wine to the Lord. None of their sacrifices will please him. What they offer will be like food eaten at a funeral—whoever eats it will become unclean. They can eat that food for their own hunger, but it cannot be taken into the Lord’s Temple. ⁵ They will not be able to celebrate the Lord’s feasts or festivals.^[b]

⁶ The people of Israel left because the enemy took everything from them. But Egypt will take the people themselves. Memphis^[c] will bury them. Weeds will grow over their silver treasures, and thorns will grow where the Israelites lived.

Israel Rejected the True Prophets

⁷ The prophet says, “Israel, learn this: The time of punishment has come. The time has come for you to pay for the evil things you did.” But the people of Israel say, “The prophet is a fool. This man with God’s Spirit is crazy.” The prophet says, “You will be punished for your terrible sins. You will be punished for your hate.” ⁸ God and the prophet are like guards watching over Ephraim, but there are many traps along his way. And people hate the prophet, even in the house of his God.

⁹ The Israelites have gone deep into ruin as in the time of Gibeah. God will remember the Israelites’ sins, and he will punish them.

Israel Is Ruined by Its Worship of Idols

¹⁰ “At the time I, the Lord, found Israel, they were like fresh grapes in the desert. They were like the first figs on a fig tree at the beginning of the season. But when they came to Baal Peor,^[d] they changed. So I had to cut them off like rotten fruit.^[e] They became like the terrible things that they loved.

The Israelites Will Have No Children

¹¹ “Like a bird, Ephraim’s glory will fly away. There will be no more pregnancies, no more births, and no more babies. ¹² But even if the Israelites do raise their children, it will not help, because I will take the children away from them. I will leave them, and they will have nothing but troubles.”

¹³ I can see that Ephraim is leading his children into a trap. Ephraim will lead his children out to the killer. ¹⁴ Lord, give them what you will. Give them a womb that loses babies and breasts that cannot give milk.

A song for going up to the Temple.

A song from Solomon for going up to the Temple.

A song for going up to the Temple.