M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
19 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes in grief, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh’s temple. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and the leaders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day filled with misery, punishment, and disgrace. We are like a woman who is about to give birth but doesn’t have the strength to do it. 4 Yahweh your Elohim may have heard all the words of the field commander. His master, the king of Assyria, sent him to defy Elohim Chay. Yahweh your Elohim may punish him because of the message that Yahweh your Elohim heard. Pray for the few people who are left.”
5 So King Hezekiah’s men went to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah answered them, “Say this to your master, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Don’t be afraid of the message that you heard when the Assyrian king’s assistants slandered me. 7 I’m going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own country. I’ll have him assassinated in his own country.’”
8 The field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. He had heard that the king left Lachish. 9 Now, Sennacherib heard that King Tirhakah of Sudan was coming to fight him.
Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, ‘Don’t let the god whom you trust deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria. 11 You heard what the kings of Assyria did to all countries, how they totally destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations which my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers, read them, and went to Yahweh’s temple. He spread them out in front of Yahweh 15 and prayed to Yahweh, “Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, you are enthroned over the angels.[a] You alone are Elohim of all the kingdoms of the world. You made heaven and earth. 16 Turn your ear toward me, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib sent to defy Elohim Chay. 17 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have leveled nations.[b] 18 They have thrown the gods from these countries into fires because these gods aren’t real gods. They’re only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them. 19 Now, Yahweh our Elohim, rescue us from Assyria’s control so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are Yahweh Elohim.”
Isaiah’s Prophecy against King Sennacherib of Assyria(A)
20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. I have heard you. 21 This is the message that Yahweh speaks to him,
‘My dear people in Zion despise you and laugh at you.
My people in Jerusalem shake their heads behind your back.
22 Whom are you defying and slandering?
Against whom are you shouting?
Who are you looking at so arrogantly?
It is Qedosh Yisrael!
23 Through your servants[c] you defy Adonay and say,
“With my many chariots I’ll ride up the high mountains,
up the slopes of Lebanon.
I’ll cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypresses.
I’ll come to its most distant borders
and its most fertile forests.
24 I’ll dig wells and drink foreign water.
I’ll dry up all the streams of Egypt
with the trampling of my feet.”
25 “‘Haven’t you heard? I did this long ago.
I planned it in the distant past.
Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
26 Those who live in these cities are weak, discouraged, and ashamed.
They will be like plants in the field,
like fresh, green grass on the roofs,
scorched before it sprouted.
27 I know when you get up and sit down,
when you go out and come in,
and how you rage against me.
28 Since you rage against me and your boasting has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bridle in your mouth.
I will make you go back the way you came.
29 “‘And this will be a sign for you, Hezekiah: You will eat what grows by itself this year and next year. But in the third year you will plant and harvest, plant vineyards, and eat what is produced. 30 Those few people from the nation of Judah who escape will again take root and produce crops. 31 Those few people will go out from Jerusalem, and those who escape will go out of Mount Zion. Yahweh is determined to do this.’
32 “This is what Yahweh says about the king of Assyria:
He will never come into this city,
shoot an arrow here,
hold a shield in front of it,
or put up dirt ramps to attack it.
33 He will go back the way he came,
and he won’t come into this city,”
declares Yahweh.
34 “I will shield this city to rescue it for my sake
and for the sake of my servant David.”
35 It happened that night. Yahweh’s angel went out and killed 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp. When the Judeans got up early in the morning, they saw all the corpses.
36 Then King Sennacherib of Assyria left. He went home to Nineveh and stayed there. 37 While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, Adrammelech and Sharezer assassinated him and escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him as king.
God Has Spoken to Us Through His Son
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many different ways through the prophets. 2 In these last days he has spoken to us through his Son. God made his Son responsible for everything. His Son is the one through whom God made the universe. 3 His Son is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact likeness of God’s being. He holds everything together through his powerful words. After he had cleansed people from their sins, he received the highest position, the one next to the Father in heaven.
God’s Son Is Superior to the Angels
4 The Son has become greater than the angels since he has been given a name that is superior to theirs. 5 God never said to any of his angels,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.”
And God never said to any of his angels,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son.”
6 When God was about to send his firstborn Son into the world, he said,
“All of God’s angels must worship him.”
7 God said about the angels,
“He makes his messengers winds.
He makes his servants flames of fire.”
8 But God said about his Son,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
9 You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong.
That is why God, your God,
anointed you, rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.”
10 God also said,
“Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth.
With your own hands you made the heavens.
11 They will come to an end, but you will live forever.
They will all wear out like clothes.
12 They will be taken off like a coat.
You will change them like clothes.
But you remain the same, and your life will never end.
13 But God never said to any of the angels,
“Sit in the highest position in heaven
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
14 What are all the angels? They are spirits sent to serve those who are going to receive salvation.
The People of Israel Ignored What the Lord Had Done for Them
12 [a]The people of Ephraim try to catch the wind
and try to chase the east wind all day.
They are very violent and destructive.
They make treaties with Assyria and take olive oil to Egypt.
2 Yahweh brings charges against Judah and punishes Jacob
because of the way their people act.
He will pay them back for what they have done.
3 Their ancestor Jacob held on to his brother’s heel
while the two of them were in their mother’s womb.
When Jacob became a man, he struggled with Elohim.
4 He struggled with the Messenger and won.
Jacob cried and pleaded with him.
Jacob found him at Bethel,
and he talked with him there.
5 Yahweh is the God of Armies.
Yahweh is the name by which he is remembered.
6 Return to your Elohim.
Be loyal and fair, and always wait with hope for your Elohim.
7 The Lord says, “The merchants use dishonest scales.
They love to cheat people.
8 The people of Ephraim say, ‘We’re rich. We’ve made a fortune.
With all this wealth, no one will find us guilty of any sin.’
9 I am Yahweh your Elohim.
I brought you out of Egypt.
I will make you live in tents again
as you did during your appointed festivals.
10 I spoke to the prophets and gave them many visions.
I taught lessons through the prophets.”[b]
11 The people of Gilead are evil.
They are worthless.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal.
But their altars will become like piles of rubble
beside a plowed field.
12 Jacob fled to the country of Syria.
Israel worked to get a wife; he took care of sheep to pay for her.
13 Yahweh used a prophet to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt.
He used a prophet to take care of them.
14 The people of Ephraim made Yahweh bitter.
He will hold them guilty of murder.
Adonay will pay them back for their insults.
Psalm 135
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of Yahweh.
Praise him, you servants of Yahweh
2 who are standing in the house of Yahweh,
in the courtyards of the house of our Elohim.
3 Praise Yah because Yahweh is good.
Make music to praise his name because his name is beautiful.
4 Yah chose Jacob to be his own
and chose Israel to be his own special treasure.
5 I know that Yahweh is great,
that our Adonay is greater than all the false gods.
6 Yahweh does whatever he wants in heaven or on earth,
on the seas or in all the depths of the oceans.
7 He is the one who makes the clouds rise from the ends of the earth,
who makes lightning for the thunderstorms,
and who brings wind out of his storerooms.
8 He is the one who killed every firstborn male in Egypt.
He killed humans and animals alike.
9 He sent miraculous signs and amazing things into the heart of Egypt
against Pharaoh and all his officials.
10 He is the one who defeated many nations and killed mighty kings:
11 King Sihon of the Amorites,
King Og of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms in Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 O Yahweh, your name endures forever.
O Yahweh, you will be remembered throughout every generation.
14 Yahweh will provide justice for his people
and have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are made of silver and gold.
They were made by human hands.[a]
16 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
17 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They cannot breathe.
18 Those who make idols end up like them.
So does everyone who trusts them.
19 Descendants of Israel, praise Yahweh.
Descendants of Aaron, praise Yahweh.
20 Descendants of Levi, praise Yahweh.
You people who fear Yahweh, praise Yahweh.
21 Thank Yahweh in Zion.
Thank the one who lives in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 136
1 Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the Elohim of gods
because his mercy endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Adonay of lords
because his mercy endures forever.
4 Give thanks to the only one who does miraculous things—
because his mercy endures forever.
5 to the one who made the heavens by his understanding—
because his mercy endures forever.
6 to the one who spread out the earth on the water—
because his mercy endures forever.
7 to the one who made the great lights—
because his mercy endures forever.
8 the sun to rule the day—
because his mercy endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to rule the night—
because his mercy endures forever.
10 Give thanks to the one who killed the firstborn males in Egypt—
because his mercy endures forever.
11 He brought Israel out from among them—
because his mercy endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and a powerful arm—
because his mercy endures forever.
13 Give thanks to one who divided the Red Sea—
because his mercy endures forever.
14 He led Israel through the middle of it—
because his mercy endures forever.
15 He swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea—
because his mercy endures forever.
16 Give thanks to the one who led his people through the desert—
because his mercy endures forever.
17 Give thanks to the one who defeated powerful kings—
because his mercy endures forever.
18 He killed mighty kings—
because his mercy endures forever.
19 King Sihon of the Amorites—
because his mercy endures forever.
20 and King Og of Bashan—
because his mercy endures forever.
21 He gave their land as an inheritance—
because his mercy endures forever.
22 as an inheritance for his servant Israel—
because his mercy endures forever.
23 He remembered us when we were humiliated—
because his mercy endures forever.
24 He snatched us from the grasp of our enemies—
because his mercy endures forever.
25 He gives food to every living creature—
because his mercy endures forever.
26 Give thanks to El of heaven
because his mercy endures forever.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.