M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

12 And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. ² And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it (for he was yet in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt, ³ and they sent and called him), that Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. ⁵ And he said unto them, Depart yet for three days, then come again to me. And the people departed.

⁶ And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me to return answer to this people? ⁷ And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever. ⁸ But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men that were grown up with him, that stood before him. ⁹ And he said unto them, What counsel give ye, that we may return answer to this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke that thy father did put upon us lighter? ¹⁰ And the young men that were grown up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou say unto this people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it lighter unto us; thus shalt thou speak unto them, My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. ¹¹ And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

¹² So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come to me again the third day. ¹³ And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, ¹⁴ and spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. ¹⁵ So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was a thing brought about of Jehovah, that he might establish his word, which Jehovah spake by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

¹⁶ And when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. ¹⁷ But as for the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the men subject to taskwork; and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. ¹⁹ So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day. ²⁰ And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was returned, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

²¹ And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, that were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ Speak unto Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ Thus saith Jehovah, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is of me. So they hearkened unto the word of Jehovah, and returned and went their way, according to the word of Jehovah.

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and he went out from thence, and built Penuel. ²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now will the kingdom return to the house of David: ²⁷ if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me, and return to Rehoboam king of Judah. ²⁸ Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, ^[a]It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. ²⁹ And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before ^[b]the one, even unto Dan. ³¹ And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, that were not of the sons of Levi. ³² And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he ^[c]went up unto the altar; so did he in Beth-el, ^[d]sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³ And he ^[e]went up unto the altar which he had made in Beth-el on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised ^[f]of his own heart: and he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and ^[g]went up unto the altar, to burn incense.

3 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not irksome, but for you it is safe. ² Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the concision: ³ for we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh: ⁴ though I myself might have confidence even in the flesh: if any other man ^[a]thinketh to have confidence in the flesh, I yet more: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as touching zeal, persecuting the church; as touching the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. ⁷ Howbeit what things were ^[b]gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ, ⁹ and be found in him, ^[c]not having a righteousness of mine own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God ^[d]by faith: ¹⁰ that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming conformed unto his death; ¹¹ if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. ¹² Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may ^[e]lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brethren, I count not myself ^[f]yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the ^[g]high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let us therefore, as many as are ^[h]perfect, be thus minded: and if in anything ye are otherwise minded, this also shall God reveal unto you: ¹⁶ only, whereunto we have attained, by that same rule let us walk.

¹⁷ Brethren, be ye imitators together of me, and mark them that so walk even as ye have us for an ensample. ¹⁸ For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: ¹⁹ whose end is perdition, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. ²⁰ For our ^[i]citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: ²¹ who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.

42 Then he brought me forth into the outer court, the way toward the north: and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was over against the building toward the north. ² Before the length of a hundred cubits was the north door, and the breadth was fifty cubits. ³ Over against the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery ^[a]in the third story. ⁴ And before the chambers was a walk of ten cubits’ breadth inward, a way of ^[b]one cubit; and their doors were toward the north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were shorter; for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middlemost, in the building. ⁶ For they were in three stories, and they had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore the uppermost was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground. ⁷ And the ^[c]wall that was without by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court before the chambers, the length thereof was fifty cubits. ⁸ For the length of the chambers that were in the outer court was fifty cubits: and, lo, before the temple were a hundred cubits. ⁹ And from under these chambers was the entry on the east side, as one goeth into them from the outer court.

¹⁰ In the thickness of the ^[d]wall of the court toward the east, before the separate place, and before the building, there were chambers. ¹¹ And the way before them was like the appearance of the way of the chambers which were toward the north; ^[e]according to their length so was their breadth: and all their egresses were both according to their fashions, and according to their doors. ¹² And according to the doors of the chambers that were toward the south was a door at the head of the way, even the way directly before the ^[f]wall toward the east, as one entereth into them.

¹³ Then said he unto me, The north chambers and the south chambers, which are before the separate place, they are the holy chambers, where the priests that are near unto Jehovah shall eat the most holy things: there shall they lay the most holy things, and the meal-offering, and the sin-offering, and the trespass-offering; for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter in, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the outer court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy: and they shall put on other garments, and shall approach to that which pertaineth to the people.

¹⁵ Now when he had made an end of measuring the inner house, he brought me forth by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east, and measured it round about. ¹⁶ He measured on the east ^[g]side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds, with the measuring reed round about. ¹⁷ He measured on the north ^[h]side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed round about. ¹⁸ He measured on the south ^[i]side five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ¹⁹ He turned about to the west ^[j]side, and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ²⁰ He measured it ^[k]on the four sides: it had a wall round about, the length five hundred, and the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which was holy and that which was common.

Jehovah implored to avenge his people.