M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Hoshea, Last King of Israel
17 Hoshea son of Elah became king over Israel during Ahaz’s twelfth year as king of Judah. Hoshea ruled in Samaria nine years. 2 He did what the Lord said was wrong, but he was not as bad as the kings of Israel who had ruled before him.
3 Shalmaneser king of Assyria came to attack Hoshea. Hoshea had been Shalmaneser’s servant and had made the payments to Shalmaneser that he had demanded. 4 But the king of Assyria found out that Hoshea had made plans against him by sending messengers to So, the king of Egypt. Hoshea had also stopped giving Shalmaneser the payments, which he had paid every year in the past. For that, the king put Hoshea in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria came and attacked all the land of Israel. He surrounded Samaria and attacked it for three years. 6 He defeated Samaria in the ninth year Hoshea was king, and he took the Israelites away to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
Israelites Punished for Sin
7 All these things happened because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God. He had brought them out of Egypt and had rescued them from the power of the king of Egypt, but the Israelites had honored other gods. 8 They lived like the nations the Lord had forced out of the land ahead of them. They lived as their evil kings had shown them, 9 secretly sinning against the Lord their God. They built places to worship gods in all their cities, from the watchtower to the strong, walled city. 10 They put up stone pillars to gods and Asherah idols on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 The Israelites burned incense everywhere gods were worshiped, just as the nations who lived there before them had done, whom the Lord had forced out of the land. The Israelites did wicked things that made the Lord angry. 12 They served idols when the Lord had said, “You must not do this.” 13 The Lord used every prophet and seer to warn Israel and Judah. He said, “Stop your evil ways and obey my commands and laws. Follow all the teachings that I commanded your ancestors, the teachings that I gave you through my servants the prophets.”
14 But the people would not listen. They were stubborn, just as their ancestors had been who did not believe in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected the Lord’s laws and the agreement he had made with their ancestors. And they refused to listen to his warnings. They worshiped useless idols and became useless themselves. They did what the nations around them did, which the Lord had warned them not to do.
16 The people rejected all the commands of the Lord their God. They molded statues of two calves, and they made an Asherah idol. They worshiped all the stars of the sky and served Baal. 17 They made their sons and daughters pass through fire and tried to find out the future by magic and witchcraft. They always chose to do what the Lord said was wrong, which made him angry. 18 Because he was very angry with the people of Israel, he removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.
Judah Is Also Guilty
19 But even Judah did not obey the commands of the Lord their God. They did what the Israelites had done, 20 so the Lord rejected all the people of Israel. He punished them and let others destroy them; he threw them out of his presence. 21 When the Lord separated them from the family of David, the Israelites made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam led the Israelites away from the Lord and led them to sin greatly. 22 So they continued to do all the sins Jeroboam did. They did not stop doing these sins 23 until the Lord removed the Israelites from his presence, just as he had said through all his servants the prophets. So the Israelites were taken out of their land to Assyria, and they have been there to this day.
The Beginning of the Samaritan People
24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and put them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelites. These people took over Samaria and lived in the cities. 25 At first they did not worship the Lord, so he sent lions among them which killed some of them. 26 The king of Assyria was told, “You sent foreigners into the cities of Samaria who do not know the law of the god of the land. This is why he has sent lions among them. The lions are killing them because they don’t know what the god wants.”
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send back one of the priests you took away. Let him live there and teach the people what the god wants.” 28 So one of the priests who had been carried away from Samaria returned to live in Bethel. And he taught the people how to honor the Lord.
29 But each nation made gods of its own and put them in the cities where they lived and in the temples where gods were worshiped. These temples had been built by the Samaritans. 30 The people from Babylon made Succoth Benoth their god. The people from Cuthah worshiped Nergal. The people of Hamath worshiped Ashima. 31 The Avvites worshiped Nibhaz and Tartak. The Sepharvites burned their children in the fire, sacrificing them to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They also honored the Lord, but they chose priests for the places where gods were worshiped. The priests were chosen from among themselves, and they made sacrifices for the people. 33 The people honored the Lord but also served their own gods, just as the nations did from which they had been brought. 34 Even today they do as they did in the past. They do not worship the Lord nor obey his rules and commands. They do not obey the teachings or the commands of the Lord, which he gave to the children of Jacob, whom he had named Israel. 35 The Lord had made an agreement with them and had commanded them, “Do not honor other gods. Do not bow down to them or worship them or offer sacrifices to them. 36 Worship the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and strength. Bow down to him and offer sacrifices to him. 37 Always obey the rules, orders, teachings, and commands he wrote for you. Do not honor other gods. 38 Do not forget the agreement I made with you, and do not honor other gods. 39 Instead worship the Lord your God, who will save you from all your enemies.”
40 But the Israelites did not listen. They kept on doing the same things they had done before. 41 So these nations honored the Lord but also worshiped their idols, and their children and grandchildren still do as their ancestors did.
The Right Way to Live
3 Remind the believers to yield to the authority of rulers and government leaders, to obey them, to be ready to do good, 2 to speak no evil about anyone, to live in peace, and to be gentle and polite to all people.
3 In the past we also were foolish. We did not obey, we were wrong, and we were slaves to many things our bodies wanted and enjoyed. We spent our lives doing evil and being jealous. People hated us, and we hated each other. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was shown, 5 he saved us because of his mercy. It was not because of good deeds we did to be right with him. He saved us through the washing that made us new people through the Holy Spirit. 6 God poured out richly upon us that Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Being made right with God by his grace, we could have the hope of receiving the life that never ends.
8 This teaching is true, and I want you to be sure the people understand these things. Then those who believe in God will be careful to use their lives for doing good. These things are good and will help everyone.
9 But stay away from those who have foolish arguments and talk about useless family histories and argue and quarrel about the law. Those things are worth nothing and will not help anyone. 10 After a first and second warning, avoid someone who causes arguments. 11 You can know that such people are evil and sinful; their own sins prove them wrong.
Some Things to Remember
12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to stay there this winter. 13 Do all you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey so that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to use their lives for doing good deeds to provide what is necessary so that their lives will not be useless.
15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Israel Will Pay for Sin
10 Israel is like a large vine
that produced plenty of fruit.
As the people became richer,
they built more altars for idols.
As their land became better,
they put up better stone pillars to honor gods.
2 Their heart was false,
and now they must pay for their guilt.
The Lord will break down their altars;
he will destroy their holy stone pillars.
3 Then they will say, “We have no king,
because we didn’t honor the Lord.
As for the king,
he couldn’t do anything for us.”
4 They make many false promises
and agreements which they don’t keep.
So people sue each other in court;
they are like poisonous weeds growing in a plowed field.
5 The people from Israel are worried about
the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven.
The people will cry about it,
and the priests will cry about it.
They used to shout for joy about its glory,
6 but it will be carried off to Assyria
as a gift to the great king.
Israel will be disgraced,
and the people will be ashamed for not obeying.
7 Israel will be destroyed;
its king will be like a chip of wood floating on the water.
8 The places of false worship will be destroyed,
the places where Israel sins.
Thorns and weeds will grow up
and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 “Israel, you have sinned since the time of Gibeah,[a]
and the people there have continued sinning.
But war will surely overwhelm them in Gibeah,
because of the evil they have done there.
10 When I am ready,
I will come to punish them.
Nations will come together against them,
and they will be punished for their double sins.
11 Israel is like a well-trained young cow
that likes to thresh grain.
I will put a yoke on her neck
and make her work hard in the field.
Israel will plow,
and Judah will break up the ground.
12 I said, ‘Plant goodness,
harvest the fruit of loyalty,
plow the new ground of knowledge.
Look for the Lord until he comes
and pours goodness on you like water.’
13 But you have plowed evil
and harvested trouble;
you have eaten the fruit of your lies.
Because you have trusted in your own power
and your many soldiers,
14 your people will hear the noise of battle,
and all your strong, walled cities will be destroyed.
It will be like the time King Shalman
destroyed Beth Arbel in battle,
when mothers and their children were bashed to death.
15 The same will happen to you, people of Bethel,
because you did so much evil.
When the sun comes up,
the king of Israel will die.
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song for going up to worship.
129 They have treated me badly all my life.
(Let Israel repeat this.)
2 They have treated me badly all my life,
but they have not defeated me.
3 Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back,
making long wounds.
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has set me free from those wicked people.
5 Let those who hate Jerusalem
be turned back in shame.
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it to fill a hand
or to make into a bundle to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the power of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Mercy
A song for going up to worship.
130 Lord, I am in great trouble,
so I call out to you.
2 Lord, hear my voice;
listen to my prayer for help.
3 Lord, if you punished people for all their sins,
no one would be left, Lord.
4 But you forgive us,
so you are respected.
5 I wait for the Lord to help me,
and I trust his word.
6 I wait for the Lord to help me
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn,
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn.
7 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
because he is loving
and able to save.
8 He will save Israel
from all their sins.
Childlike Trust in the Lord
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not proud;
I don’t look down on others.
I don’t do great things,
and I can’t do miracles.
2 But I am calm and quiet,
like a baby with its mother.
I am at peace, like a baby with its mother.
3 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
now and forever.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.