M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abijam Reigns over Judah: Idolatry and War

15 Now in the eighteenth year of King Jerobo′am the son of Nebat, Abi′jam began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma′acah the daughter of Abish′alom. ³ And he walked in all the sins which his father did before him; and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴ Nevertheless for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem; ⁵ because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uri′ah the Hittite. ⁶ Now there was war between Rehobo′am and Jerobo′am all the days of his life. ⁷ The rest of the acts of Abi′jam, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? And there was war between Abi′jam and Jerobo′am. ⁸ And Abi′jam slept with his fathers; and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Asa Reigns over Judah

⁹ In the twentieth year of Jerobo′am king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Judah, ¹⁰ and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Ma′acah the daughter of Abish′alom. ¹¹ And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done. ¹² He put away the male cult prostitutes out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. ¹³ He also removed Ma′acah his mother from being queen mother because she had an abominable image made for Ashe′rah; and Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁴ But the high places were not taken away. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was wholly true to the Lord all his days. ¹⁵ And he brought into the house of the Lord the votive gifts of his father and his own votive gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels.

Alliance with Aram against Israel

¹⁶ And there was war between Asa and Ba′asha king of Israel all their days. ¹⁷ Ba′asha king of Israel went up against Judah, and built Ramah, that he might permit no one to go out or come in to Asa king of Judah. ¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house, and gave them into the hands of his servants; and King Asa sent them to Ben-ha′dad the son of Tabrim′mon, the son of Hezi′on, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying, ¹⁹ “Let there be a league between me and you, as between my father and your father: behold, I am sending to you a present of silver and gold; go, break your league with Ba′asha king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” ²⁰ And Ben-ha′dad hearkened to King Asa, and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, and conquered Ijon, Dan, A′bel-beth-ma′acah, and all Chin′neroth, with all the land of Naph′tali. ²¹ And when Ba′asha heard of it, he stopped building Ramah, and he dwelt in Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa made a proclamation to all Judah, none was exempt, and they carried away the stones of Ramah and its timber, with which Ba′asha had been building; and with them King Asa built Geba of Benjamin and Mizpah. ²³ Now the rest of all the acts of Asa, all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? But in his old age he was diseased in his feet. ²⁴ And Asa slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father; and Jehosh′aphat his son reigned in his stead.

Nadab Reigns over Israel

²⁵ Nadab the son of Jerobo′am began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

²⁷ Ba′asha the son of Ahi′jah, of the house of Is′sachar, conspired against him; and Ba′asha struck him down at Gib′bethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gib′bethon. ²⁸ So Ba′asha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. ²⁹ And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jerobo′am; he left to the house of Jerobo′am not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by his servant Ahi′jah the Shi′lonite; ³⁰ it was for the sins of Jerobo′am which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

³¹ Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ³² And there was war between Asa and Ba′asha king of Israel all their days.

Second Dynasty: Baasha Reigns over Israel

³³ In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Ba′asha the son of Ahi′jah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴ He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jerobo′am and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

2 For I want you to know how greatly I strive for you, and for those at La-odice′a, and for all who have not seen my face, ² that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in love, to have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, of Christ, ³ in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I say this in order that no one may delude you with beguiling speech. ⁵ For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Fullness of Life in Christ

⁶ As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

⁸ See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have come to fulness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹ In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ; ¹² and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³ And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him.^[a]

¹⁶ Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. ¹⁷ These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Warnings against False Teachers

²⁰ If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, ²¹ “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh.^[b]

The Holy District

45 “When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty^[a] thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy throughout its whole extent. ² Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. ³ And in the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. ⁴ It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ⁵ Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.^[b]

⁶ “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

⁷ “And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. ⁸ It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness; cease your evictions of my people, says the Lord God.

Weights and Measures

¹⁰ “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. ¹¹ The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. ¹² The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; five shekels shall be five shekels, and ten shekels shall be ten shekels, and your mina shall be fifty shekels.^[c]

Offerings

¹³ “This is the offering which you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, ¹⁴ and as the fixed portion of oil,^[d] one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor,^[e] like the homer, contains ten baths); ¹⁵ and one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the families^[f] of Israel. This is the offering for cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ All the people of the land shall give^[g] this offering to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ It shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, cereal offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, cereal offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.

Festivals

¹⁸ “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary. ¹⁹ The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰ You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for any one who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

²¹ “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the feast of the passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. ²² On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. ²³ And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a he-goat daily for a sin offering. ²⁴ And he shall provide as a cereal offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. ²⁵ In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and cereal offerings, and for the oil.

Praise to God for His Holiness

All Lands Summoned to Praise God

A Psalm for the thank offering.

A Sovereign’s Pledge of Integrity and Justice

A Psalm of David.