M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abijam King of Judah

15 Abijam became king of Judah. This was during the eighteenth year Jeroboam son of Nebat ruled Israel. ² And Abijam ruled in Jerusalem for three years. His mother was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. ³ He did all the same sins his father before him had done. Abijam was not faithful to the Lord his God. In this way he was not like David, his great-grandfather. ⁴ Because the Lord had loved David, the Lord gave Abijam a kingdom in Jerusalem. And the Lord allowed him to have a son to be king after him. The Lord also kept Jerusalem safe. ⁵ David had always done what the Lord said was right. All his life he had always obeyed the Lord’s commands. There was only one time David did not obey the Lord. This was when he sinned against Uriah the Hittite.

⁶ Now there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam during Abijam’s lifetime. ⁷ Everything else Abijam did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. During the time Abijam ruled, there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ⁸ And Abijam died and was buried in Jerusalem. Abijam’s son Asa became king in his place.

Asa King of Judah

⁹ During the twentieth year Jeroboam was king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah. ¹⁰ Asa ruled in Jerusalem for 41 years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah. She was the daughter of Abishalom.

¹¹ Asa did what the Lord said was right. This was as his ancestor David had done. ¹² There were male prostitutes at the places where false gods were worshiped. Asa forced them to leave the country. He also took away the idols that his ancestors had made. ¹³ His grandmother Maacah had made a terrible Asherah idol. So Asa removed her from being queen. He cut down this idol and burned it in the Kidron Valley. ¹⁴ Asa was faithful to the Lord all his life. But he did not destroy the places where false gods were worshiped. ¹⁵ Asa and his father had given some things to God. They had given gifts of gold, silver and other objects. Asa put all these things in the Temple.

¹⁶ There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel. ¹⁷ Baasha fought against Judah. He wanted to stop people from leaving or entering Asa’s country, Judah. So he made the city of Ramah very strong.

¹⁸ Then Asa took all the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and his own palace. He gave it to his officers. And he sent them to Ben-Hadad king of Aram. (Ben-Hadad was the son of Tabrimmon. And he was the son of Hezion.) Ben-Hadad was ruling in the city of Damascus. ¹⁹ Asa sent this message: “My father and your father had a peace agreement. I am sending you a gift of gold and silver. Break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel so that he will leave my land.”

²⁰ Ben-Hadad agreed with King Asa. So he sent his army to fight against the towns of Israel. He defeated the towns of Ijon, Dan and Abel Bethmaacah. And he defeated all the land near Lake Galilee and the area of Naphtali. ²¹ Baasha heard about these attacks. So he stopped building up Ramah and returned to Tirzah. ²² Then King Asa gave an order to all the people of Judah. Everyone had to help. They carried away all the stones and wood Baasha had been using in Ramah. King Asa used those things to build up Geba and Mizpah. (Geba was in the land of Benjamin.)

²³ Everything else Asa did is written down. His victories and the cities he built are written down. They are in the book of the history of the kings of Judah. When he became old, he got a disease in his feet. ²⁴ Then Asa died. And he was buried with his ancestors in Jerusalem. It was the city of David, his ancestor. Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king in his place.

Nadab King of Israel

²⁵ Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel. This was during the second year Asa was king of Judah. And Nadab was king of Israel for two years. ²⁶ He did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. Nadab sinned in the same way his father Jeroboam had sinned.

²⁷ Baasha son of Ahijah was from the tribe of Issachar. He made plans to kill Nadab. Nadab and all Israel were attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon. So Baasha killed Nadab there. ²⁸ This happened during Asa’s third year as king of Judah. And Baasha became the next king of Israel.

Baasha King of Israel

²⁹ As soon as Baasha became king, he killed all of Jeroboam’s family. He left no one in Jeroboam’s family alive. This happened as the Lord had said it would. The Lord had said this through his servant Ahijah from Shiloh. ³⁰ This happened because King Jeroboam had sinned very much. And he had caused the people of Israel to sin. Jeroboam had made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry.

³¹ Everything else Nadab did is written down. It is in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. ³² There was war between Asa king of Judah and Baasha king of Israel all the time they were kings.

³³ Baasha son of Ahijah became king of Israel. This was during Asa’s third year as king of Judah. And Baasha ruled in Tirzah for 24 years. ³⁴ But Baasha did what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had caused the people of Israel to sin. And Baasha sinned in the same way Jeroboam had sinned.

2 I want you to know that I am trying very hard to help you. And I am trying to help those in Laodicea and others who have never seen me. ² I want them to be strengthened and joined together with love. I want them to be rich in the strong belief that comes from understanding. I mean I want you to know fully God’s secret truth. That truth is Christ himself. ³ And in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are safely kept.

⁴ I say this so that no one can fool you by arguments that seem good, but are false. ⁵ I am not there with you, but my heart is with you. I am happy to see your good lives and your strong faith in Christ.

Continue to Live in Christ

⁶ As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him. ⁷ Keep your roots deep in him and have your lives built on him. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught. And always be thankful.

⁸ Be sure that no one leads you away with false ideas and words that mean nothing. Those ideas come from men. They are the worthless ideas of this world. They are not from Christ. ⁹ All of God lives fully in Christ (even when Christ was on earth). ¹⁰ And in him you have a full and true life. He is ruler over all rulers and powers.

¹¹ In Christ you had a different kind of circumcision. That circumcision was not done by hands. I mean, you were made free from the power of your sinful self. That is the kind of circumcision Christ does. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ and you were raised up with Christ because of your faith in God’s power. That power was shown when he raised Christ from death. ¹³ You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God made you alive with Christ. And God forgave all our sins. ¹⁴ We owed a debt because we broke God’s laws. That debt listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us that debt. He took away that debt and nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ God defeated the spiritual rulers and powers. With the cross God won the victory and defeated them. He showed the world that they were powerless.

Don’t Follow People’s Rules

¹⁶ So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ In the past, these things were like a shadow of what was to come. But the new things that were coming are found in Christ. ¹⁸ Some enjoy acting as if they were humble and love to worship angels. They are always talking about the visions they have seen. Do not let them tell you that you are wrong. They are full of foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. ¹⁹ They do not keep themselves under the control of Christ, the head. The whole body depends on Christ. Because of him all the parts of the body care for each other and help each other. This strengthens the body and holds it together. And so the body grows in the way God wants.

²⁰ You died with Christ and were made free from the worthless rules of the world. So why do you act as if you still belong to this world? I mean, why do you follow rules like these: ²¹ “Don’t handle this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t touch that thing”? ²² These rules are talking about earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only human commands and teachings. ²³ These rules seem to be wise. But they are only part of a human religion. They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies. But they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self.

The Land Is Divided

45 “‘Divide the land for the Israelite tribes by throwing lots. At that time you will give a part of the land to belong to the Lord. It will be about 7 miles long and about 6 miles wide. All of this land will be holy. ² An area of 875 feet square will be for the Temple. There will be an open space around the Temple that is 87½ feet wide. ³ In the holy area you will measure a part about 7 miles long and 3 miles wide. The Most Holy Place will be in this holy area. ⁴ This holy part of the land will be for the priests who serve in the Temple. This is where they come near to serve the Lord. It will be a place for the priests’ houses. And it will be the place for the Temple. ⁵ Another area will be about 7 miles long and more than 3 miles wide. It will be for the Levites, who serve in the Temple. It will belong to them so they will have cities in which to live.

⁶ “‘And you will give the city an area that is about 1½ miles wide and about 7 miles long. It will be along the side of the holy area. It will belong to all the people of Israel.

⁷ “‘The ruler will have land on both sides of the holy area and the city. On the west of the holy area, his land will reach to the Mediterranean Sea. On the east of the holy area, his land will reach to the eastern border. It will be as long as the land given to each tribe. ⁸ This land will be the ruler’s property in Israel. So my rulers will not be cruel to my people anymore. But they will give land to each tribe in the nation of Israel.

⁹ “‘This is what the Lord God says: You have gone far enough, you rulers of Israel! Stop being cruel and hurting people. Do what is right and fair. Stop forcing my people out of their homes, says the Lord God. ¹⁰ You must have honest scales, an honest dry measurement and an honest liquid measurement. ¹¹ The dry measure and the liquid measure will be the same: The liquid measure will always be a tenth of a homer.^[a] The ephah will always be a tenth of a homer. The measurement they follow will be the homer. ¹² The shekel^[b] will be worth 20 gerahs. A mina will be worth 60 shekels.

Offerings and Holy Days

¹³ “‘This is the gift you will offer: a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley. ¹⁴ The amount of oil you are to offer is a tenth of a bath from each cor. (Ten baths make a homer and also make a cor.) ¹⁵ You should give 1 sheep from each flock of 200 from the watering places of Israel. They are to be offered with the grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. These offerings are to remove sins so you will belong to God, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ All people in the land will give this special offering for the ruler of Israel. ¹⁷ It will be the ruler’s responsibility to supply the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings. These offerings will be given at the feasts and at the New Moons. They will also be given on the Sabbaths and at all the other feasts of Israel. The ruler will supply the sin offerings, grain offerings and fellowship offerings. These offerings are to pay for the sins of Israel.

¹⁸ “‘This is what the Lord God says: On the first day of the first month take a young bull that has nothing wrong with it. Use it to make the Temple pure and ready for God’s service. ¹⁹ The priest will take some of the blood from the sin offering. And he will put it on the doorposts of the Temple. He will put it on the four corners of the ledge of the altar. And he will put it on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard. ²⁰ You will do the same thing on the seventh day of the month. You will do it for anyone who has sinned by accident or without knowing it. This is how you make the Temple pure and ready for God’s service.

Passover Feast Offerings

²¹ “‘On the fourteenth day of the first month you will celebrate the Feast of Passover. It will be a feast of seven days when you eat bread made without yeast. ²² On that day the ruler must offer a bull for himself and for all the people of the land. The bull will be a sin offering. ²³ During the seven days of the feast the ruler must offer seven bulls. And he must offer seven male sheep. The bulls and sheep must have nothing wrong with them. They will be burnt offerings to the Lord. The ruler will offer them every day of the seven days of the feast. He must also offer a male goat every day as a sin offering. ²⁴ The ruler must give as a grain offering a half bushel for each bull and a half bushel for each sheep. He must give a gallon of olive oil for each half bushel.

²⁵ “‘Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you will celebrate the Feast of Shelters. During the feast, the ruler will do the same things for seven days. He will supply the sin offering, burnt offering, grain offering and the olive oil.

God the Fair and Holy King

A Call to Praise God

A song of thanks.

A Promise to Rule Well

A song of David.