M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord saves Jerusalem
19 When King Hezekiah heard the report of his officers, he tore his clothes. Then he put on rough sackcloth and he went into the Lord's temple. 2 He sent Eliakim, Shebna and the leaders of the priests to Amoz's son, Isaiah the prophet. Eliakim was the most important officer in the king's palace. Shebna was a government officer. They were all wearing sackcloth. 3 They told Hezekiah's message to Isaiah: ‘This is a time of great trouble. Assyria has insulted us to make us ashamed. Our nation is like a woman who is ready to give birth, but she is too weak to push the child out. 4 The Assyrian officer has brought a message from his king to insult the God who lives for ever. Maybe the Lord your God has heard that message. He should punish the officer for his wicked message. So please pray for the people who remain in Jerusalem.’ 5 When King Hezekiah's officers told their message to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, ‘Tell your master that the Lord says this: “Do not let the words that you have heard make you afraid. The servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me, the Lord. 7 Listen to me! I will put a spirit into the king of Assyria's mind. He will hear a report which will cause him to return to his own country. There, in his own land, I will cause someone to kill him with a sword.” ’
8 At that time, the king of Assyria had left Lachish city. When the Assyrian officer heard that news, he left Jerusalem. He went to meet the king at Libnah, where the king was now fighting a battle. 9 Then the king of Assyria heard a report about Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia. People told him, ‘He has brought his army from Ethiopia to fight against you.’
When the king of Assyria heard that news, he sent another message to Hezekiah in Jerusalem. 10 This was his message to King Hezekiah of Judah: ‘You are hoping that your God will help you. Your God may say that the king of Assyria will not destroy Jerusalem. But do not let him deceive you. 11 You have heard how the kings of Assyria have completely destroyed all other countries. So do not think that your God will rescue you. 12 The gods of those other countries did not save them. Our kings destroyed the nations of Gozan, Haran and Rezeph. They killed the people of Eden who lived in Tel Assar. 13 The kings of Hamath and Arpad have gone. The king of Sepharvaim city has gone. The kings of Hena and Ivvah have also gone.’
14 When Hezekiah received the letter with this message, he read it. Then he went up to the Lord's temple. He put the letter there, in front of the Lord. 15 Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Lord, you are Israel's God. You sit on your throne between the cherubs. Only you are the God who rules all the kingdoms in the world. You have made the heavens and the earth. 16 Lord, please listen carefully to me. Lord, look carefully at this letter. Listen to Sennacherib's message. He is insulting you, the God who lives for ever. 17 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire. Those idols are not really gods. People used wood and stone to make them. So the Assyrians could destroy them. 19 So now, our Lord and our God, please save us from the power of Sennacherib! Then all the kingdoms in the world will know that you Lord are the only God.’
20 Then Amoz's son Isaiah sent this message to Hezekiah: ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says, “I heard your prayer to me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.” 21 This is the Lord's reply. The Lord says this about King Sennacherib:
“The holy people of Zion laugh at you!
They think that you are useless.
Yes, the people of Jerusalem shake their heads
as you run away.
22 Who do you think it is that you have insulted?
Who have you shouted at?
Who have you looked at so proudly?
The answer is the Holy God of Israel!
23 You have sent your servants
to insult the Lord God.
You have said, ‘I have taken all my chariots
and I have gone up high mountains,
the highest mountains in Lebanon.
I have cut down its tall cedar trees,
and I have cut down its best pine trees.
I went up to its highest places,
and I went far into its forests.
24 I dug wells in other countries,
and they gave me water to drink.
My army marched through all the rivers in Egypt,
and the rivers became dry.’
25 You said that, but now listen to this![a]
You must surely have heard it already.
I decided what to do a long time ago!
Now I am causing it to happen.
I decided that you would destroy strong cities
so that they became heaps of stones.
26 The people of those cities have no power.
They are afraid and they are confused.
They are like plants in a field,
that cannot live for a long time.
They are like fresh green grass,
or grass that grows on the roof of a house.
When a hot wind blows on them,
it burns them and they die.
27 I know everything about you.
I know where you live.
I know when you go out.
And I know when you return home.
I know how much you shout against me,
when you are angry.
28 Yes, you do shout at me!
And I have heard all your proud noise.
So I will put my hook in your nose.
I will tie a rope to your mouth.
Then I will pull you back home
by the same way that you came.”
29 King Hezekiah, this is how you will know that I have spoken a true message from the Lord.[b] This year, you will eat crops that grow by themselves. And next year you will eat what grows from the same seeds. But in the third year you will plant seeds for yourselves, and they will give you a harvest of crops. You will plant vines again and you will eat grapes from them.
30 The people who remain in Judah will be like strong plants that put their roots down into the ground. Their branches will give lots of fruit.
31 A small number of people will still be alive in Jerusalem. They will leave Mount Zion and they will go to other places. The great love that the Lord Almighty has for his people will cause that to happen!
32 This is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
“His army will not come into this city.
His soldiers will not shoot any arrows here.
They will not attack the city as they hold their shields.
They will not build heaps of earth against the city's walls.
33 No! The king will return home by the way that he came.
He will not come into this city.”
That is what the Lord says.
34 “I will make this city safe and I will rescue it.
I will do that to show that I am great.
I promised my servant David that I would do it. So I will do it.” ’
35 That night, the Lord's angel went to the camp of the Assyrian army. He killed 185,000 of their soldiers. When people got up in the morning, they saw all those dead bodies! 36 So King Sennacherib of Assyria took his army away. He returned to Assyria and he lived in Nineveh.
37 One day, Sennacherib was worshipping his god Nisrok in Nisrok's temple. Two of Sennacherib's sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, went in and they killed him with their swords. Then they ran away to the region of Ararat. Sennacherib's son Esarhaddon now ruled Assyria as king.[c]
In Jesus, God has shown us who he is
1 Many years ago, God spoke to our ancestors by his prophets.[a] He spoke many times and in many different ways. 2 But in these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son.[b] In the beginning, God worked through his Son to make the whole universe. He decided that everything should belong to his Son. 3 The Son shows us completely what God is like. He shines with God's great glory. His nature is the same as God's nature. The Son's powerful word causes everything to continue. He himself made it possible for us to be clean from our sins. After he had done that, he returned to heaven. He went and he sat at the right side of God, who rules with all authority.[c]
God's Son is greater than the angels
4 That shows us that God's Son is much greater than the angels. God has given him a name that shows he is more important than they are. 5 God never said this to any angel:
‘You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.’[d]
In another place in the Bible, God says,
‘I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son.’[e]
6 Also, when God was ready to bring his greatest Son into the world, he said:
‘All God's angels must worship him.’
7 God speaks about the angels like this:
‘God makes his angels like winds.
They serve him like fires that burn brightly.’
8 But this is what God says to his Son:
‘You are God and you will rule as King for ever!
You will rule your kingdom in a completely good way.
9 You love everything that is right.
And you hate everything that is wrong.
Because of that, you will be completely happy.
I am your God and I have blessed you.
I have chosen you to be greater than others who are with you.’
10 The Bible also says this:
‘Lord, in the beginning you made the earth.
With your own power, you also made everything above the earth.
11 All these things will come to an end.
But as for you, you will continue for ever.
Like clothes, those things will all become old.
12 Then you will put them away like an old coat.
You will change them, like people change clothes.
But you will always continue to be the same.
Your life will never come to an end.’
13 Also, God has never said this to any of the angels:
‘Sit at my right side until I win against your enemies completely.
Then you will be able to put your feet on them.’
14 So we see that all the angels are spirits who serve God. God sends them as his servants to help the people that he will save.
12 Ephraim's people chase after useless things all the time.
They think that they can catch the wind that comes from the east!
But the result is more violence and lies.
They make an agreement with Assyria to get their help.
They also send their olive oil to Egypt to ask for their help.[a]
2 The Lord is ready to accuse Judah's people in a court of law.
He will punish Jacob's descendants for the bad way that they live.
He will punish them as their sins deserve.
3 Before Jacob was born, he cheated his brother.
He did that when they were both inside their mother's body.[b]
When Jacob became a man, he fought against God.
4 He fought against an angel and he won.
He wept and he asked God to bless him.
There at Bethel, Jacob met with God. God spoke to him there.
5 This was the Lord God Almighty!
We know him as the Lord, his special name.
6 So now, you must return to your God.
You must show faithful love for each other.
You must judge people in a fair way.
You must be patient. Trust God to come and help you.
7 Your traders love to cheat people.
They use false weights and measures.
8 Ephraim's people proudly say,
‘We are rich! We have become very rich!
In all the ways that we have found riches,
nobody can accuse us.
We have not really done anything that is a sin!’
9 God says,
‘Remember that I am the Lord your God!
I brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.
Now I will make you live in tents again,
as you did before, in the wilderness.
10 I gave my messages to the prophets.
I showed them many visions.[c]
I used stories for the prophets to teach the people about me.
11 The people in Gilead do wicked things.[d]
They will become as useless as their idols.
At Gilgal, the people offer bulls as sacrifices on their altars.
Those altars will be like heaps of stones in a farmer's field.’
12 Jacob ran away to the land of Aram.[e]
He worked there as a shepherd so that he could get a wife.
13 The Lord used a prophet to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
He used a prophet to keep them safe in the wilderness.
14 But Ephraim's people have made the Lord very angry.
He will punish them with death for their terrible sins.
Their Lord will pay them back as they deserve,
because they have insulted him.
A song to praise God
135 Hallelujah![a]
Praise the name of the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord!
2 You serve the Lord in his temple.
You serve him in the temple yards.
3 The Lord is good, so praise him!
His name is good and great,
so praise him with songs!
4 The Lord chose Jacob's family for himself.
Yes, he chose Israel's people to belong to him.[b]
5 I know that the Lord is great.
Our Lord is greater than any other god.
6 He does whatever he decides to do.
He rules the sky and the earth,
and the deepest parts of the sea.
7 The Lord causes clouds to rise up all over the earth.
He sends lightning with the storms of rain.
He sends out the wind from its place,
so that it blows where he chooses.
8 God destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt,
both men and animals.[c]
9 He did great miracles in Egypt.
He warned Pharaoh and his officers
that he would punish them.
10 He destroyed many nations
and he killed powerful kings.
11 He killed Sihon, the king of the Amorites.
He killed Og, the king of Bashan,
and all the other kings of Canaan.
12 He gave their land to his people, the Israelites.
The land would belong to them and to their descendants.
13 Lord, people will always remember your name.
You will always be famous.
14 The Lord shows that his people are right.
He is kind to those who serve him.
15 Other nations make idols with silver and gold.
People worship things that they have made with their hands!
16 Their idols have mouths, but they cannot speak!
They have eyes, but they cannot see!
17 They have ears, but they cannot hear!
They cannot even breathe!
18 The people who made them will become as they are.
Everyone who trusts in idols
will become as useless as their idols are.[d]
19 Israel's family, praise the Lord!
Descendants of Aaron, praise the Lord!
20 Descendants of Levi, praise the Lord!
Everyone who serves the Lord, praise him!
21 Everyone in Zion should praise the Lord.
He is the one who has his home in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
The Lord's special love[e]
136 Thank the Lord, because he is good!
His faithful love will always continue.
2 Thank God, who rules all gods.
His faithful love will always continue.
3 Thank the Lord who rules all lords.
His faithful love will always continue.
4-9 The Lord himself does great miracles.
He was wise when he made the skies.
He put the earth across the water of the seas.
He made the great lights to shine in the sky.
He made the sun to rule over the day.
He made the moon and the stars to rule the night.
So thank the Lord!
His faithful love will always continue.[f]
10-16 The Lord destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt.
He brought the Israelites out from among the Egyptians.
He did this with his great power and strength.
He cut the Red Sea into two separate parts.
He led the Israelites through the middle of the sea.
He threw Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea to drown.
The Lord led his people through the wilderness.
So thank the Lord!
His faithful love will always continue.[g]
17-22 The Lord destroyed great kings.
Yes, he killed powerful kings.
He killed Sihon, king of the Amorites.
He killed Og, the king of Bashan.
He gave their land to his people, the Israelites.
He gave it to them as their own land.
So thank the Lord!
His faithful love will always continue.[h]
23-25 The Lord thought about us when we were upset.
He saved us from the power of our enemies.
He gives food to everything that lives.
So thank the Lord!
His faithful love will always continue.[i]
26 Yes, thank the God of heaven!
His faithful love will always continue.
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