M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Josiah becomes the king of Judah
22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled as king in Jerusalem for 31 years. His mother's name was Jedidah. She was the daughter of Adaiah, who came from Bozkath. 2 Josiah did things that the Lord said were right. He lived in the good ways of his ancestor, King David. He did not turn away from the Lord's teaching in any way.
Hilkiah finds the Book of God's Law
3 When Josiah had been king for 18 years, he sent Shaphan to the Lord's temple. Shaphan was the son of Azaliah, and the grandson of Meshullam. He was the king's secretary. Josiah told Shaphan, 4 ‘Go to meet Hilkiah, the leader of the priests. Ask him to count the money that people have brought as gifts into the Lord's temple. Those are the offerings that the temple guards have received from people. 5 The priests must give the money to the men who have authority over the work on the Lord's temple. Those leaders must pay the men who are doing the repairs. 6 Those workers are the carpenters, the builders and the men who work with stones. The leaders of the work must also buy wood. And they must buy stones that are ready to use. They need those things to repair the temple. 7 The leaders of the work are honest men. So they do not need to give a report on how they use the money.’
8 Hilkiah, the leader of the priests, told Shaphan, the king's secretary, ‘I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord's temple.’ He gave the book to Shaphan and Shaphan read it. 9 Then Shaphan went to the king. He said to him, ‘Your officers have paid out all the money that was in the Lord's temple. They have given it to the men who are working on the temple repairs and to their leaders.’ 10 Then Shaphan told the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ Shaphan started to read the book while the king listened.
11 When the king heard the words from the Book of the Law, he was very upset. He tore his clothes. 12 He gave a command to Hilkiah the priest, Shaphan's son Ahikam, Micaiah's son Acbor, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's servant. 13 He told them, ‘Go to the temple. Ask the Lord about the message in this book that Hilkiah has found. I need to know what I should do, as well as all the people of Judah. The Lord has become very angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this book. They have not done the things that it tells us we should do.’
14 So Hilkiah, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to speak to Huldah. Huldah was a prophetess who lived in the north part of Jerusalem. She was the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah. Tikvah was the son of Harhas, who took care of the king's clothes. The king's men told Huldah why they had come to meet her. 15 She said to them, ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says, “Tell this to the man who sent you here to me: 16 This is what the Lord says. I will bring great trouble to this place and the people who live here. The message of the book that the king of Judah has read tells about what will happen. 17 I will send this trouble because they have turned away from me. They have offered sacrifices to other gods. I am very angry with them because of all the idols that they have made for themselves. My anger is like a fire that is burning and nobody can stop it!” 18 The king of Judah sent you here to ask for the Lord's answer. Say to the king, “The Lord, Israel's God, says this about the message that you have heard:
19 When you heard the message that I had spoken, you were very upset. You made yourself humble to respect me. You tore your clothes and you wept. You did that when you heard how I would punish this place and the people who live here. I said that I would destroy this place so that people would use its name as a curse. Because you became so upset, I have heard your prayer. 20 So I will let you die in peace and people will bury you beside your ancestors. You yourself will never see the great trouble that I will bring to this place.” That is what the Lord says.’
The men took Huldah's answer back to the king.
God's special place of rest
4 God promised his people that they could go to his special place of rest. That promise is still true for us today. So we must be very careful. Do not fail to arrive in that place. We certainly do not want that to happen. 2 We have heard God's good news, just like God's people in the wilderness heard his message. But that message did not help them, because they did not believe it. They did not trust God, like those who obeyed him. 3 But those of us who trust God do enjoy his special place of rest. This is what God said:
‘Because I was very angry with them, I promised this:
“They will never arrive in my special place of rest.” ’[a]
God said that, even though he had finished his work when he made the world. 4 In the Bible God has spoken about the seventh day like this:
‘God rested from all his work on the seventh day.’[b]
5 As we have already seen, God said something later about his rest:
‘They will never arrive in my special place of rest.’
6 So we see that there is still a chance for people to go to God's place of rest. But those people who first heard God's message in the wilderness refused to obey him. As a result, they did not arrive in his special place of rest. 7 So God chose another time for people to go to his place of rest. He called it ‘Today’. A long time after Moses, David spoke God's message. As we have already seen, he said:
‘You must listen when you hear God speak today.
Do not refuse to obey him.’
8 This shows that Joshua did not bring God's people to the place where they could rest. Later, God had to speak again about another day of rest. 9 So we see this: God still has a place ready for his people, where they can rest. They will rest as God rested on the seventh day. 10 When God made the world and everything, he rested after he had finished his work. It is the same for everyone who goes to God's place of rest. They too will rest. They will no longer need to work.[c]
11 So we must do everything possible to arrive in God's special place of rest. God's people in the wilderness did not obey him. We must not be like them. If we do not obey God, we also will fail to arrive in that place.
12 So be careful! God's message to us is alive and powerful. It is like a sword that has two sharp edges. Even more than a sword, God's message goes very deep into us. It cuts between our soul and our spirit. It is like a sharp knife that can cut deep into our body between our bones. God's message shows what we are really thinking. It shows what we really want. 13 There is nothing in the whole world that can hide from God. He sees everything clearly and he knows everything. We will have to explain to him everything that we have done during our lives.
Jesus is our great priest
14 Jesus, the Son of God, helps us as God's most important priest. He is our great priest who has gone up into heaven. We say that we believe in him. So we must continue to show people that we trust him. 15 Jesus, our great priest understands us. He knows how weak we are. He knows that we sometimes want to do wrong things. The Devil tried to make him do all those same kinds of wrong things. But Jesus never did anything wrong. 16 So we should come near to God and we should not be afraid. God is our King. We can ask him to help us when we need help. We know that he will forgive us and he will be kind to us in whatever way we need.[d]
Locusts eat all the plants in Israel
1 This is the word of the Lord that came to Joel, son of Pethuel.[a]
2 You older men, hear this! Listen, all people who live in this country.
Nothing like this has happened while you have been alive.
Nothing like this happened while your ancestors were alive.
3 Tell this to your children.
And they must tell it to their children.
And their children must tell it to their own children.
4 The great locusts have eaten what the big group of locusts left.
The young locusts have eaten what the great locusts left.
Other locusts have eaten what the young locusts left.
5 Wake up, you who have drunk too much wine!
Cry, all people who drink wine!
Cry because you will have no new wine.
Someone has taken it away from you.
6 A strong army has marched into my land.
It is powerful, and great in numbers.
It has the teeth of a strong animal.
And the teeth are long and dangerous.
7 It has broken my vines.
It has destroyed my fig trees.
It has eaten the outside of the trees.
It has thrown them away.
It has left their branches white.
8 Cry like a girl that no man ever loved.
She is crying because her promised husband is dead.
9 There will be no more gifts of food or drink.
They will not reach the house of the Lord.
The priests, the servants of the Lord,
are very, very sad.
10 Nobody can use the fields.
They are all dry.
The new wine has all gone.
The oil has all gone.
11 You farmers, you cry.
You who grow vines, cry.
Be sad for the seeds that are food.
Be sad because the fields are dry. And the plants have died.
12 The vine has become dry,
and the fig tree is dead.
The apple trees and other fruit trees,
all the trees have no more fruit.
Men have no more joy.
It has all gone.
Joel tells people to be sad about their sins
13 You priests, wear clothes that are not comfortable.
That will show that you are sad.
You cry, you who serve the Lord in his temple.
Come, you who serve in front of my God.
Sleep in the clothes that are not comfortable.
Cry for the gifts of food and drink.
Cry because they do not come to the house of your God any longer.
14 Tell everyone that they must not eat any food.
Tell the people that they must all come to hear the Lord.
Speak to the older leaders,
and all the people who live in this country.
Tell them that they must all come.
They must come to the house of the Lord your God
and they must shout out to the Lord.
15 Be afraid because of that day.
Be afraid because the day of the Lord is near.
It will be as if the great God would destroy everything.
16 No food has come.
We saw this with our own eyes.
The house of our God cannot make us happy.
17 The seeds under the earth are dry.
The places where they were stored have fallen down.
Someone has broken them up
because the seed does not grow.
18 The cows make a sad noise.
They all move about
because they cannot find any grass.
Even groups of sheep are hungry.
19 I speak to you, my Lord.
Fire has destroyed the grass in the wilderness,
and it has burned up all the trees.
20 Even the wild animals are thirsty and they want your help.
The rivers have no water in them.
Fire has destroyed the fields in the wilderness.
This is a song that David wrote.
It is for the music leader.
Please help me, Lord
140 Lord, please save me from evil people.
Keep me safe from people who like to attack others.
2 They think of evil ideas to hurt people.
They only want to cause trouble!
3 Their words hurt people,
like the tongue of a snake.
They bite with poison,
like a dangerous snake.
Selah
4 Lord, keep me safe from the power of wicked people.
Keep me safe from violent people who want to attack me.
5 Proud people have prepared a trap to catch me.
They have put their nets across my path.[a]
Selah.
6 Lord, I say to you, ‘You are my God.’
Lord, hear my prayer for help!
7 Lord, my Lord, you are my strong helper.
You keep me safe when I fight in a battle.
8 Lord, do not let wicked people do what they want to do.
Stop them when they prepare to attack.
Selah.
9 Give trouble to the people who come round me to attack!
Let the bad things that they say against me
happen to them instead![b]
10 Drop burning coals on them like rain!
Throw those people into the fire!
Let them fall into deep holes that they cannot get out of!
11 People who tell cruel lies should not live in our land.
Trouble will happen to people who like to fight.
Bad trouble will knock them down!
12 I know that the Lord helps poor people.
He makes sure that they receive justice.
13 Your righteous people will always praise you.
Good, honest people will live near to you.
David wrote this song.
An evening prayer[c]
141 Lord, I am calling to you for help.
Come to me quickly!
Please listen to what I am saying.
2 I offer my prayer to you like incense.
Please accept it when I raise my hands to you.
Accept it like a gift that I offer to you in the evening.
3 Lord, keep my mouth safe,
so that I do not speak bad things.
4 Do not let my mind want evil things.
Do not let me join with wicked people,
to do the same bad things that they do.
I do not even want to eat their good food.
5 If a good man hits me because he loves me,
he is being kind to me.
If he shows me that I have done a wrong thing,
that it is like special oil on my head.[d]
I would not refuse it.
I continue to pray against what wicked people do.
6 They will throw their rulers down
from high rocks.
Then they will agree that my words were true.
7 It will be like a farmer who ploughs his field,
and breaks the earth into pieces.
Just like that, they will break the bones of wicked people.
They will throw their bones on the ground
at the entrance to Sheol.
8 But I look to you for help, Almighty Lord.
I need you to keep me safe.
Do not let wicked people kill me.
9 They have prepared traps to catch me.
Do not let me fall into the traps of those evil people.
10 May those bad people fall into their own traps!
Then I will be free from their power.
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