M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Jehu Is Anointed King of Israel

9 The prophet Elisha called one of the disciples of the prophets. He said, “Put on your belt. Take this flask of olive oil, and go to Ramoth Gilead. ² When you arrive there, look for Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Go inside, and have him get up and leave his companions. Take him into an inner room. ³ Take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I have anointed you king of Israel.’ Then open the door and leave immediately.”

⁴ The young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. ⁵ When he arrived there, the army’s generals were sitting together. He said, “I have something to tell you, General.”

Jehu asked, “Which one of us?”

He answered, “You, General!”

⁶ Jehu got up and went into the house. The prophet poured olive oil on his head and told him, “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: I have anointed you king of Yahweh’s people, king of Israel. ⁷ You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. I will get revenge on Jezebel for shedding the blood of my servants the prophets and all Yahweh’s other servants. ⁸ Ahab’s entire family will die. I will destroy every male^[a] from Ahab’s family, whether slave or freeman in Israel. ⁹ I will make Ahab’s family like the family of Jeroboam (Nebat’s son) and like the family of Baasha, son of Ahijah. ¹⁰ Dogs will eat Jezebel inside the walls of Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then he opened the door and left.

¹¹ Jehu came out to his master’s officials. One of them asked him, “Is everything alright? Why did this lunatic come to you?”

He answered, “You know the man and the kind of things he says.”

¹² They said, “That’s not an answer. Please tell us.”

Jehu replied, “We talked for a while, and he said to me, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I have anointed you king of Israel.’”

¹³ Then each one of them immediately took off his coat and laid it on the stairs below him. They blew a ram’s horn and said, “Jehu is king!”

Jehu Kills King Joram, King Ahaziah, and Queen Jezebel^(A)

¹⁴ So Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi, plotted against Joram. (Joram and all Israel were guarding Ramoth Gilead against King Hazael of Aram. ¹⁵ But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received while fighting King Hazael of Aram.)

Then Jehu said, “If you want me to be king, don’t let anyone escape from the city to take the news to Jezreel.” ¹⁶ So Jehu got on his chariot and drove to Jezreel because Joram was lying in bed there. (King Ahaziah of Judah had come to see Joram.)

¹⁷ The watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops coming. He said, “I see some troops.”

So Joram said, “Take a chariot driver, send him to meet them, and ask, ‘Is everything alright?’”

¹⁸ So a chariot driver rode off, met Jehu, and said, “The king asks, ‘Is everything alright?’”

Jehu replied, “Why should that matter to you? Follow me.”

So the watchman announced, “The messenger you sent has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”

¹⁹ Then Joram sent out a second driver. When he came to them, he said, “The king asks, ‘Is everything alright?’”

Jehu replied, “Why should that matter to you? Follow me.”

²⁰ So the watchman announced, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back. The troop’s leader is driving like a lunatic, like Jehu, grandson of Nimshi.”

²¹ “Hitch the horses to the chariot,” Joram ordered. When that was done, King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went to meet Jehu, each in his own chariot. They found him in the field that belonged to Naboth from Jezreel.

²² When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything alright, Jehu?”

Jehu answered, “How can everything be alright as long as your mother continues her idolatry and witchcraft?”

²³ As Joram turned his chariot around and tried to flee, he said to Ahaziah, “It’s a trap, Ahaziah!” ²⁴ But Jehu took his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow came out of his chest, and he slumped over in his chariot.

²⁵ Then Jehu said to his attendant Bidkar, “Take him away, and throw him into the field that belonged to Naboth from Jezreel. Remember when you and I were driving our chariots behind his father Ahab? Yahweh revealed this prophecy about him: ²⁶ ‘Just as I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday, I will pay you back in this field,’ declares Yahweh. Now take him and throw him into the field as Yahweh predicted.”

²⁷ When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled on the road leading to Beth Haggan. Jehu pursued him and ordered, “Shoot him down in his chariot.” They shot him at Gur Pass, which is near Ibleam. Ahaziah continued to flee until he got to Megiddo, where he died. ²⁸ His servants brought him in a chariot to Jerusalem. They buried him in a tomb with his ancestors in the City of David. ²⁹ (Ahaziah had become king of Judah in the eleventh year that Joram, Ahab’s son, was king of Israel.)

³⁰ When Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put on eye shadow, fixed her hair, and looked out of a second-story window. ³¹ When Jehu entered the gateway, she asked, “Is everything alright, Zimri, murderer of your master?”

³² Looking up at the window, he asked, “Is anyone on my side? Anyone?” Then two or three eunuchs looked out at him.

³³ He said, “Throw her down.” They threw her down, and some of her blood splattered on the wall and the horses. The horses trampled her.

³⁴ He went inside, ate, and drank. Then he said, “Take care of this woman who had a curse on her. After all, she was a king’s daughter.” ³⁵ But when they went out to bury her, they couldn’t find any of her body except her skull, feet, and hands. ³⁶ They came back and told him.

Jehu said, “Yahweh spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe. He said, ‘Dogs will eat Jezebel’s body inside the walls of Jezreel. ³⁷ Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure on the ground in the fields surrounding Jezreel so that no one will be able to say that this is Jezebel.’”

6 All slaves who believe must give complete respect to their own masters. In this way no one will speak evil of God’s name and what we teach. ² Slaves whose masters also believe should respect their masters even though their masters are also believers. As a result, believers who are slaves should serve their masters even better because those who receive the benefit of their work are believers whom they love.

Guidelines for Living a Godly Life

Teach and encourage people to do these things. ³ Whoever teaches false doctrine and doesn’t agree with the accurate words of our Lord Yeshua Christ and godly teachings ⁴ is a conceited person. He shows that he doesn’t understand anything. Rather, he has an unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words. This produces jealousy, rivalry, cursing, suspicion, ⁵ and conflict between people whose corrupt minds have been robbed of the truth. They think that a godly life is a way to make a profit.

⁶ A godly life brings huge profits to people who are content with what they have. ⁷ We didn’t bring anything into the world, and we can’t take anything out of it. ⁸ As long as we have food and clothes, we should be satisfied.

⁹ But people who want to get rich keep falling into temptation. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful desires which drown them in destruction and ruin. ¹⁰ Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief.

¹¹ But you, man of God, must avoid these things. Pursue what God approves of: a godly life, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight for the Christian faith. Take hold of everlasting life to which you were called and about which you made a good testimony in front of many witnesses.

¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and in the sight of Christ Yeshua, who gave a good testimony in front of Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ I insist that, until our Lord Yeshua Christ appears, you obey this command completely. Then you cannot be blamed for doing anything wrong. ¹⁵ At the right time God will make this known. God is the blessed and only ruler. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶ He is the only one who cannot die. He lives in light that no one can come near. No one has seen him, nor can they see him. Honor and power belong to him forever! Amen.

¹⁷ Tell those who have the riches of this world not to be arrogant and not to place their confidence in anything as uncertain as riches. Instead, they should place their confidence in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸ Tell them to do good, to do a lot of good things, to be generous, and to share. ¹⁹ By doing this they store up a treasure for themselves which is a good foundation for the future. In this way they take hold of what life really is.

²⁰ Timothy, guard the Good News which has been entrusted to you. Turn away from pointless discussions and the claims of false knowledge that people use to oppose the Christian faith. ²¹ Although some claim to have knowledge, they have abandoned the faith.

God’s good will^[a] be with all of you.

The Prophet Hosea

1 Yahweh spoke his word to Hosea, son of Beeri, when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and when Jeroboam, son of Joash, was king of Israel.

Hosea Marries a Prostitute

² When Yahweh first spoke to Hosea, Yahweh told him, “Marry a prostitute, and have children with that prostitute. The people in this land have acted like prostitutes and abandoned Yahweh.” ³ So Hosea married Gomer, daughter of Diblaim. She became pregnant and had a son.

⁴ Yahweh told Hosea, “Name him Jezreel. In a little while I will punish Jehu’s family for the people they slaughtered at Jezreel. Then I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. ⁵ On that day I will break Israel’s bows and arrows in the valley of Jezreel.”

⁶ Gomer became pregnant again and had a daughter. Yahweh told Hosea, “Name her Lo Ruhamah [Unloved]. I will no longer love the nation of Israel. I will no longer forgive them. ⁷ Yet, I will love the descendants of Judah. I will rescue them because I am Yahweh their Elohim. I won’t use bows, swords, wars, horses, or horsemen to rescue them.”

⁸ After Gomer had weaned Lo Ruhamah, she became pregnant again and had a son. ⁹ Yahweh said, “Name him Lo Ammi [Not My People]. You are no longer my people, and I am no longer your Ehyeh.^{[a] [b]}

¹⁰ “Yet, the Israelites will become as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to measure them or count them. Wherever they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be told, ‘You are the children of El Chay.’ ¹¹ The people of Judah and Israel will be gathered together. They will appoint one leader for themselves, and they will grow in the land. The day of Jezreel will be a great day.