M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Families of Ahab and Ahaziah Killed
10 Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officers and elders of Jezreel and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab. Jehu said, 2 “You have your master’s sons with you, and you have chariots, horses, a city with strong walls, and weapons. When you get this letter, 3 choose the best and most worthy person among your master’s sons, and make him king. Then fight for your master’s family.”
4 But the officers and leaders of Jezreel were frightened. They said, “Two kings could not stand up to Jehu, so how can we?”
5 The palace manager, the city governor, the leaders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu. “We are your servants,” they said. “We will do everything you tell us to do. We won’t make any man king, so do whatever you think is best.”
6 Then Jehu wrote a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, cut off the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.”
Now the seventy sons of the king’s family were with the leading men of the city who were their guardians. 7 When the leaders received the letter, they took the king’s sons and killed all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel. 8 The messenger came to Jehu and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”
Then Jehu said, “Lay the heads in two piles at the city gate until morning.”
9 In the morning, Jehu went out and stood before the people and said to them, “You are innocent. Look, I made plans against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? 10 You should know that everything the Lord said about Ahab’s family will come true. The Lord has spoken through his servant Elijah, and the Lord has done what he said.” 11 So Jehu killed everyone of Ahab’s family in Jezreel who was still alive. He also killed all Ahab’s leading men, close friends, and priests. No one who had helped Ahab was left alive.
12 Then Jehu left and went to Samaria by way of the road to Beth Eked of the Shepherds. 13 There Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah. Jehu asked, “Who are you?”
They answered, “We are relatives of Ahaziah. We have come down to get revenge for the families of the king and the king’s mother.”
14 Then Jehu said, “Take them alive!” So they captured Ahaziah’s relatives alive and killed them at the well near Beth Eked—forty-two of them. Jehu did not leave anyone alive.
15 After Jehu left there, he met Jehonadab son of Recab, who was also on his way to meet Jehu. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you as good a friend to me as I am to you?”
Jehonadab answered, “Yes, I am.”
Jehu said, “If you are, then give me your hand.” So Jehonadab gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him into the chariot. 16 “Come with me,” Jehu said. “You can see how strong my feelings are for the Lord.” So Jehu had Jehonadab ride in his chariot.
17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all of Ahab’s family in Samaria. He destroyed all those who were left, just as the Lord had told Elijah it would happen.
Baal Worshipers Killed
18 Then Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve Baal much. 19 Now call for me all Baal’s prophets and priests and all the people who worship Baal. Don’t let anyone miss this meeting, because I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who is not there will not live.” But Jehu was tricking them so he could destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20 He said, “Prepare a holy meeting for Baal.” So they announced the meeting. 21 Then Jehu sent word through all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came; not one stayed home. They came into the temple of Baal, and the temple was filled from one side to the other.
22 Jehu said to the man who kept the robes, “Bring out robes for all the worshipers of Baal.” After he brought out robes for them, 23 Jehu and Jehonadab son of Recab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the worshipers of Baal, “Look around, and make sure there are no servants of the Lord with you. Be sure there are only worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then the worshipers of Baal went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Jehu had eighty men waiting outside. He had told them, “Don’t let anyone escape. If you do, you must pay with your own life.”
25 As soon as Jehu finished offering the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and the captains, “Go in and kill the worshipers of Baal. Don’t let anyone come out.” So the guards and captains killed the worshipers of Baal with the sword and threw their bodies out. Then they went to the inner rooms of the temple 26 and brought out the pillars of the temple of Baal and burned them. 27 They tore down the stone pillar of Baal, as well as the temple of Baal. And they made it into a sewage pit, as it is today.
28 So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel, 29 but he did not stop doing the sins Jeroboam son of Nebat had done. Jeroboam had led Israel to sin by worshiping the golden calves in Bethel and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well in obeying what I said was right. You have done to the family of Ahab as I wanted. Because of this, your descendants as far as your great-great-grandchildren will be kings of Israel.” 31 But Jehu was not careful to follow the teachings of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not stop doing the same sins Jeroboam had done, by which he had led Israel to sin.
32 At that time the Lord began to make Israel smaller. Hazael defeated the Israelites in all the land of Israel, 33 taking all the land of the Jordan known as the land of Gilead. (It was the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh.) He took land from Aroer by the Arnon Ravine through Gilead to Bashan.
34 The other things Jehu did—everything he did and all his victories—are recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. 35 Jehu died and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz became king in his place. 36 Jehu was king over Israel in Samaria for twenty-eight years.
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. God sent me to tell about the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus.
2 To Timothy, a dear child to me:
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Encouragement for Timothy
3 I thank God as I always mention you in my prayers, day and night. I serve him, doing what I know is right as my ancestors did. 4 Remembering that you cried for me, I want very much to see you so I can be filled with joy. 5 I remember your true faith. That faith first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I know you now have that same faith. 6 This is why I remind you to keep using the gift God gave you when I laid my hands on[a] you. Now let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire. 7 God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control.
8 So do not be ashamed to tell people about our Lord Jesus, and do not be ashamed of me, in prison for the Lord. But suffer with me for the Good News. God, who gives us the strength to do that, 9 saved us and made us his holy people. That was not because of anything we did ourselves but because of God’s purpose and grace. That grace was given to us through Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but it is now shown to us by the coming of our Savior Christ Jesus. He destroyed death, and through the Good News he showed us the way to have life that cannot be destroyed. 11 I was chosen to tell that Good News and to be an apostle and a teacher. 12 I am suffering now because I tell the Good News, but I am not ashamed, because I know Jesus, the One in whom I have believed. And I am sure he is able to protect what he has trusted me with until that day.[b] 13 Follow the pattern of true teachings that you heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Protect the truth that you were given; protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
15 You know that everyone in Asia has left me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord show mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, who has often helped me and was not ashamed that I was in prison. 17 When he came to Rome, he looked eagerly for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord allow him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. You know how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
2 “You are to call your brothers, ‘my people,’ and your sisters, ‘you have been shown pity.’
God Speaks About Israel
2 “Plead with your mother.[a]
Accuse her, because she is no longer my wife,
and I am no longer her husband.
Tell her to stop acting like a prostitute,
to stop behaving like an unfaithful wife.
3 If she refuses, I will strip her naked
and leave her bare like the day she was born.
I will make her dry like a desert,
like a land without water,
and I will kill her with thirst.
4 I will not take pity on her children,
because they are the children of a prostitute.
5 Their mother has acted like a prostitute;
the one who became pregnant with them has acted disgracefully.
She said, ‘I will chase after my lovers,[b]
who give me my food and water,
wool and flax, wine and olive oil.’
6 So I will block her road with thornbushes;
I will build a wall around her
so she cannot find her way.
7 She will run after her lovers,
but she won’t catch them.
She will look for them,
but she won’t find them.
Then she will say, ‘I will go back to my first husband,[c]
because life was better then for me than it is now.’
8 But she does not know that I was the one
who gave her grain, new wine, and oil.
I gave her much silver and gold,
but she used it for Baal.
9 “So I will come back and take away my grain at harvest time
and my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and linen
that covered her nakedness.
10 So I will show her nakedness to her lovers,
and no one will save her from me.
11 I will put an end to all her celebrations:
her yearly festivals, her New Moon festivals, and her Sabbaths.
I will stop all of her special feasts.
12 I will destroy her vines and fig trees,
which she said were her pay from her lovers.
I will turn them into a forest,
and wild animals will eat them.
13 I will punish her for all the times
she burned incense to the Baals.
She put on her rings and jewelry
and went chasing after her lovers,
but she forgot me!”
says the Lord.
14 “So I am going to attract her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and I will make the Valley of Trouble a door of hope.
There she will respond as when she was young,
as when she came out of Egypt.”
16 The Lord says, “In the future she will call me ‘my husband’;
no longer will she call me ‘my baal.’[d]
17 I will never let her say the names of Baal again;
people won’t use their names anymore.
18 At that time I will make an agreement for them
with the wild animals, the birds, and the crawling things.
I will smash from the land
the bow and the sword and the weapons of war,
so my people will live in safety.
19 And I will make you my promised bride forever.
I will be good and fair;
I will show you my love and mercy.
20 I will be true to you as my promised bride,
and you will know the Lord.
21 “At that time I will speak to you,” says the Lord.
“I will speak to the skies,
and they will give rain to the earth.
22 The earth will produce grain, new wine, and oil;
much will grow because my people are called Jezreel.[e]
23 I will plant my people in the land,
and I will show pity to the one I had called ‘not shown pity.’
I will say, ‘You are my people’
to those I had called ‘not my people.’
And they will say to me, ‘You are our God.’”
97 How I love your teachings!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because they are mine forever.
99 I am wiser than all my teachers,
because I think about your rules.
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
because I follow your orders.
101 I have avoided every evil way
so I could obey your word.
102 I haven’t walked away from your laws,
because you yourself are my teacher.
103 Your promises are sweet to me,
sweeter than honey in my mouth!
104 Your orders give me understanding,
so I hate lying ways.
105 Your word is like a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path.
106 I will do what I have promised
and obey your fair laws.
107 I have suffered for a long time.
Lord, give me life by your word.
108 Lord, accept my willing praise
and teach me your laws.
109 My life is always in danger,
but I haven’t forgotten your teachings.
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me,
but I haven’t strayed from your orders.
111 I will follow your rules forever,
because they make me happy.
112 I will try to do what you demand
forever, until the end.
113 I hate disloyal people,
but I love your teachings.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Get away from me, you who do evil,
so I can keep my God’s commands.
116 Support me as you promised so I can live.
Don’t let me be embarrassed because of my hopes.
117 Help me, and I will be saved.
I will always respect your demands.
118 You reject those who ignore your demands,
because their lies mislead them.
119 You throw away the wicked of the world like trash.
So I will love your rules.
120 I shake in fear of you;
I respect your laws.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.