M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
9 The names of all the people of Israel were listed in their family histories, and those family histories were put in the book of the kings of Israel.
The People in Jerusalem
The people of Judah were captured and forced to go to Babylon, because they were not faithful to God. 2 The first people to come back and live in their own lands and towns were some Israelites, priests, Levites, and Temple servants.
3 People from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem. This is a list of those people.
4 There was Uthai son of Ammihud. (Ammihud was Omri’s son. Omri was Imri’s son. Imri was Bani’s son. Bani was a descendant of Perez, and Perez was Judah’s son.)
5 Of the Shilonite people there were Asaiah and his sons. Asaiah was the oldest son in his family.
6 Of the Zerahite people there were Jeuel and other relatives of Zerah. There were six hundred ninety of them in all.
7 From the tribe of Benjamin there was Sallu son of Meshullam. (Meshullam was Hodaviah’s son, and Hodaviah was Hassenuah’s son.) 8 There was also Ibneiah son of Jeroham and Elah son of Uzzi. (Uzzi was Micri’s son.) And there was Meshullam son of Shephatiah. (Shephatiah was Reuel’s son, and Reuel was Ibnijah’s son.) 9 The family history of Benjamin lists nine hundred fifty-six people living in Jerusalem, and all these were leaders of their families.
10 Of the priests there were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jakin, and 11 Azariah son of Hilkiah. (Hilkiah was Meshullam’s son. Meshullam was Zadok’s son. Zadok was Meraioth’s son. Meraioth was Ahitub’s son. Ahitub was the officer responsible for the Temple of God.) 12 Also there was Adaiah son of Jeroham. (Jeroham was Pashhur’s son, and Pashhur was Malkijah’s son.) And there was Maasai son of Adiel. (Adiel was Jahzerah’s son. Jahzerah was Meshullam’s son. Meshullam was Meshillemith’s son, and Meshillemith was Immer’s son.) 13 There were one thousand seven hundred sixty priests. They were leaders of their families, and they were responsible for serving in the Temple of God.
14 Of the Levites there was Shemaiah son of Hasshub. (Hasshub was Azrikam’s son, and Azrikam was Hashabiah’s son. Hashabiah was from the family of Merari.) 15 There were also Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica. (Mica was Zicri’s son, and Zicri was Asaph’s son.) 16 There was also Obadiah son of Shemaiah. (Shemaiah was Galal’s son, and Galal was Jeduthun’s son.) And there was Berekiah son of Asa. (Asa was the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.)
17 Of the gatekeepers there were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives. Shallum was their leader. 18 These gatekeepers from the tribe of Levi still stand next to the King’s Gate on the east side of the city. 19 Shallum was Kore’s son. Kore was Ebiasaph’s son, and Ebiasaph was Korah’s son. Shallum and his relatives from the family of Korah were gatekeepers and were responsible for guarding the gates of the Temple. Their ancestors had also been responsible for guarding the entrance to the Temple of the Lord. 20 In the past Phinehas, Eleazar’s son, was in charge of the gatekeepers, and the Lord was with Phinehas. 21 Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was the gatekeeper at the entrance to the Temple.
22 In all, two hundred twelve men were chosen to guard the gates, and their names were written in their family histories in their villages. David and Samuel the seer chose these men because they were dependable. 23 The gatekeepers and their descendants had to guard the gates of the Temple of the Lord. (The Temple took the place of the Holy Tent.) 24 There were gatekeepers on all four sides of the Temple: east, west, north, and south. 25 The gatekeepers’ relatives who lived in the villages had to come and help them at times. Each time they came they helped the gatekeepers for seven days. 26 Because they were dependable, four gatekeepers were made the leaders of all the gatekeepers. They were Levites, and they were responsible for the rooms and treasures in the Temple of God. 27 They stayed up all night guarding the Temple of God, and they opened it every morning.
28 Some of the gatekeepers were responsible for the utensils used in the Temple services. They counted these utensils when people took them out and when they brought them back. 29 Other gatekeepers were chosen to take care of the furniture and utensils in the Holy Place. They also took care of the flour, wine, oil, incense, and spices, 30 but some of the priests took care of mixing the spices. 31 There was a Levite named Mattithiah who was dependable and had the job of baking the bread used for the offerings. He was the first son of Shallum, who was from the family of Korah. 32 Some of the gatekeepers from the Kohath family had the job of preparing the special bread that was put on the table every Sabbath day.
33 Some of the Levites were musicians in the Temple. The leaders of these families stayed in the rooms of the Temple. Since they were on duty day and night, they did not do other work in the Temple.
34 These are the leaders of the Levite families. Their names were listed in their family histories, and they lived in Jerusalem.
The Family History of King Saul
35 Jeiel lived in the town of Gibeon, where he was the leader. His wife was named Maacah. 36 Jeiel’s first son was Abdon. His other sons were Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth. 38 Mikloth was Shimeam’s father. Jeiel’s family lived near their relatives in Jerusalem.
39 Ner was Kish’s father. Kish was Saul’s father. Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal.
40 Jonathan’s son was Merib-Baal, who was the father of Micah.
41 Micah’s sons were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz. 42 Ahaz was Jadah’s father. Jadah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri was Moza’s father. 43 Moza was Binea’s father. Rephaiah was Binea’s son. Eleasah was Rephaiah’s son, and Azel was Eleasah’s son.
44 Azel had six sons: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. They were Azel’s sons.
The Death of King Saul
10 The Philistines fought against Israel, and the Israelites ran away from them. Many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines fought hard against Saul and his sons, killing his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting was heavy around Saul, and the archers shot him with their arrows and wounded him.
4 Then Saul said to the officer who carried his armor, “Pull out your sword and stab me. If you don’t, these Philistines who are not circumcised will come and hurt me.” But Saul’s officer refused, because he was afraid. So Saul took his own sword and threw himself on it. 5 When the officer saw that Saul was dead, he threw himself on his own sword and died. 6 So Saul and three of his sons died; all his family died together.
7 When the Israelites living in the valley saw that their army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and settled in them.
8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead soldiers, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 The Philistines stripped Saul’s body and took his head and his armor. Then they sent messengers through all their country to tell the news to their idols and to their people. 10 The Philistines put Saul’s armor in the temple of their idols and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 All the people in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12 So the brave men of Jabesh went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. They buried their bones under the large tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh fasted for seven days.
13 Saul died because he was not faithful to the Lord and did not obey the Lord. He even went to a medium and asked her for advice 14 instead of asking the Lord. This is why the Lord put Saul to death and gave the kingdom to Jesse’s son David.
Follow Jesus’ Example
12 We are surrounded by a great cloud of people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back. 2 Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. 3 Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to him. So do not get tired and stop trying.
God Is like a Father
4 You are struggling against sin, but your struggles have not yet caused you to be killed. 5 You have forgotten the encouraging words that call you his children:
“My child, don’t think the Lord’s discipline is worth nothing,
and don’t stop trying when he corrects you.
6 The Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as his child.” Proverbs 3:11–12
7 So hold on through your sufferings, because they are like a father’s discipline. God is treating you as children. All children are disciplined by their fathers. 8 If you are never disciplined (and every child must be disciplined), you are not true children. 9 We have all had fathers here on earth who disciplined us, and we respected them. So it is even more important that we accept discipline from the Father of our spirits so we will have life. 10 Our fathers on earth disciplined us for a short time in the way they thought was best. But God disciplines us to help us, so we can become holy as he is. 11 We do not enjoy being disciplined. It is painful at the time, but later, after we have learned from it, we have peace, because we start living in the right way.
Be Careful How You Live
12 You have become weak, so make yourselves strong again. 13 Keep on the right path, so the weak will not stumble but rather be strengthened.
14 Try to live in peace with all people, and try to live free from sin. Anyone whose life is not holy will never see the Lord. 15 Be careful that no one fails to receive God’s grace and begins to cause trouble among you. A person like that can ruin many of you. 16 Be careful that no one takes part in sexual sin or is like Esau and never thinks about God. As the oldest son, Esau would have received everything from his father, but he sold all that for a single meal. 17 You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father’s blessing, but his father refused. Esau could find no way to change what he had done, even though he wanted the blessing so much that he cried.
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire. You have not come to darkness, sadness, and storms. 19 You have not come to the noise of a trumpet or to the sound of a voice like the one the people of Israel heard and begged not to hear another word. 20 They did not want to hear the command: “If anything, even an animal, touches the mountain, it must be put to death with stones.”[a] 21 What they saw was so terrible that Moses said, “I am shaking with fear.”[b]
22 But you have come to Mount Zion,[c] to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands of angels gathered together with joy. 23 You have come to the meeting of God’s firstborn[d] children whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people, and to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the One who brought the new agreement from God to his people, and you have come to the sprinkled blood[e] that has a better message than the blood of Abel.[f]
25 So be careful and do not refuse to listen when God speaks. Others refused to listen to him when he warned them on earth, and they did not escape. So it will be worse for us if we refuse to listen to God who warns us from heaven. 26 When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once again I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[g] 27 The words “once again” clearly show us that everything that was made—things that can be shaken—will be destroyed. Only the things that cannot be shaken will remain.
28 So let us be thankful, because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We should worship God in a way that pleases him with respect and fear, 29 because our God is like a fire that burns things up.
Israel Will Be Destroyed
6 How terrible it will be for those who have an easy life in Jerusalem,
for those who feel safe living on Mount Samaria.
You think you are the important people of the best nation in the world;
the Israelites come to you for help.
2 Go look at the city of Calneh,
and from there go to the great city Hamath;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
You are no better than these kingdoms.
Your land is no larger than theirs.
3 You put off the day of punishment,
but you bring near the day when you can do evil to others.
4 You lie on beds decorated with ivory
and stretch out on your couches.
You eat tender lambs
and fattened calves.
5 You make up songs on your harps,
and, like David, you compose songs on musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful
and use the best perfumed lotions.
But you are not sad over the ruin of Israel,
7 so you will be some of the first ones taken as slaves.
Your feasting and lying around will come to an end.
8 The Lord God made this promise; the Lord God All-Powerful says:
“I hate the pride of the Israelites,
and I hate their strong buildings,
so I will let the enemy take the city
and everything in it.”
9 At that time there might be only ten people left alive in just one house, but they will also die. 10 When the relatives come to get the bodies to take them outside, one of them will call to the other and ask, “Are there any other dead bodies with you?”
That person will answer, “No.”
Then the one who asked will say, “Hush! We must not say the name of the Lord.”
11 The Lord has given the command;
the large house will be broken into pieces,
and the small house into bits.
12 Horses do not run on rocks,
and people do not plow rocks with oxen.
But you have changed fairness into poison;
you have changed what is right into a bitter taste.
13 You are happy that the town of Lo Debar was captured,
and you say, “We have taken Karnaim[a] by our own strength.”
14 The Lord God All-Powerful says,
“Israel, I will bring a nation against you
that will make your people suffer from Lebo Hamath in the north
to the valley south of the Dead Sea.”
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 Mary got up and went quickly to a town in the hills of Judea. 40 She came to Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the unborn baby inside her jumped, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She cried out in a loud voice, “God has blessed you more than any other woman, and he has blessed the baby to which you will give birth. 43 Why has this good thing happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 When I heard your voice, the baby inside me jumped with joy. 45 You are blessed because you believed that what the Lord said to you would really happen.”
Mary Praises God
46 Then Mary said,
“My soul praises the Lord;
47 my heart rejoices in God my Savior,
48 because he has shown his concern for his humble servant girl.
From now on, all people will say that I am blessed,
49 because the Powerful One has done great things for me.
His name is holy.
50 God will show his mercy forever and ever
to those who worship and serve him.
51 He has done mighty deeds by his power.
He has scattered the people who are proud
and think great things about themselves.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
and raised up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with nothing.
54 He has helped his servant, the people of Israel,
remembering to show them mercy
55 as he promised to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his children forever.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
The Birth of John
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she had a boy. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard how good the Lord was to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they came to circumcise him. They wanted to name him Zechariah because this was his father’s name, 60 but his mother said, “No! He will be named John.”
61 The people said to Elizabeth, “But no one in your family has this name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name him.
63 Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John,” and everyone was surprised. 64 Immediately Zechariah could talk again, and he began praising God. 65 All their neighbors became alarmed, and in all the mountains of Judea people continued talking about all these things. 66 The people who heard about them wondered, saying, “What will this child be?” because the Lord was with him.
Zechariah Praises God
67 Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Let us praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to help his people and has given them freedom.
69 He has given us a powerful Savior
from the family of God’s servant David.
70 He said that he would do this
through his holy prophets who lived long ago:
71 He promised he would save us from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 He said he would give mercy to our ancestors
and that he would remember his holy promise.
73 God promised Abraham, our father,
74 that he would save us from the power of our enemies
so we could serve him without fear,
75 being holy and good before God as long as we live.
76 “Now you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.
You will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
77 You will make his people know that they will be saved
by having their sins forgiven.
78 With the loving mercy of our God,
a new day from heaven will dawn upon us.
79 It will shine on those who live in darkness,
in the shadow of death.
It will guide us into the path of peace.”
80 And so the child grew up and became strong in spirit. John lived in the desert until the time when he came out to preach to Israel.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.