M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
10 Ahab had seventy [grandsons] in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them from Jezreel to the rulers of Samaria, to the elders, and to those who brought up Ahab’s [grandsons], saying,
2 Now as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master [Joram’s] sons are with you and also chariots and horses, a fortified city, and weapons,
3 Select the best and most fit of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne; and fight for your master’s house.
4 But they were exceedingly afraid and reasoned, The two kings could not stand before [Jehu]; how then can we stand?
5 And he who was over the household, he who was over the city, the elders also, and the guardians and tutors sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants and will do all that you bid us; [but] we will not make any man king; do what is good in your eyes.
6 Then [Jehu] wrote a second letter to them, saying, If you are with me and will obey me, take the heads of your master [Joram’s] sons and come to me at Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the [dead] king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were bringing them up.
7 When the letter came to these men, they took the king’s sons and slew them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
8 When a messenger came and told him, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons, he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate until morning.
9 The next morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, You are just and innocent. Behold, I conspired against my master and slew him, but who smote all these?
10 Know now that nothing which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab shall be unfulfilled or ineffective; for the Lord has done what He said through His servant Elijah.
11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
12 And he arose and went to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house of the shepherds on the way,
13 Jehu met the kinsmen of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, Who are you? They answered, We are the kinsmen of Ahaziah, and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of [Jezebel] the queen mother.
14 He said, Take them alive. And they did so and slew them at the cistern of the shearing house, forty-two men; he left none of them.
15 When Jehu left there, he met Jehonadab son of Rechab coming to meet him. He saluted him and said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with yours? Jehonadab answered, It is. [Jehu said] If it is, give me your hand. He gave him his hand, and Jehu took him up into the chariot.
16 And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made [the Rechabite] ride in Jehu’s chariot.
17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he slew all who remained of Ahab’s family in Samaria, till he had destroyed them all, according to what the Lord said to Elijah.
18 Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.
19 So call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers, and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to make to Baal; whoever is missing shall not live. But Jehu did it with trickery, intending to destroy the Baal worshipers.
20 Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.
21 Jehu sent through all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came; not a man failed to come. They went to the house or temple of Baal, filling it from one end to the other.
22 And he said to the man over the vestry, Bring vestments for all the worshipers of Baal. And he brought them vestments.
23 Then Jehu with Jehonadab son of Rechab went into the house of Baal and said to the worshipers of Baal, Search and see that there are here with you none of the servants of the Lord—but Baal worshipers only.
24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed eighty men outside and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he who lets him go shall forfeit his own life for his life.
25 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and to the officers, Go in and slay them; let none escape. And they smote them with the sword; and the guards or runners [before the king] and the officers threw their bodies out and went into the inner dwelling of the house of Baal.
26 They brought out the pillars or obelisks of the house of Baal and burned them.
27 They broke down the pillars of Baal and the house of Baal, and made it [forever unclean] a privy to this day.
28 Thus Jehu rooted Baal out of Israel.
29 But Jehu did not give up the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, by which he made Israel to sin, that is, the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.(A)
30 And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have executed well what is right in My eyes and have done to the house of Ahab as I willed, your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on Israel’s throne. [Fulfilled in II Kings 15:12.]
31 But Jehu paid no attention to walking in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not quit the sins with which Jeroboam made Israel to sin.
32 [So] in those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael [of Syria] defeated them in all the [across the Jordan] territory of Israel
33 From the Jordan east, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, Reubenites, and Manassites, from Aroer which is by the Valley of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.
34 The rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
35 Jehu slept with his fathers. They buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.
36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
1 Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, [my] beloved child: Grace (favor and spiritual blessing), mercy, and [heart] peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!
3 I thank God Whom I worship with a pure conscience, [a]in the spirit of my fathers, when without ceasing I remember you night and day in my prayers,
4 And when, as I recall your tears, I yearn to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
5 I am calling up memories of your sincere and unqualified faith (the [b]leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), [a faith] that first lived permanently in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am [fully] persuaded, [dwells] in you also.
6 That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [[c]with those of the elders at your ordination].
7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.
8 Do not blush or be ashamed then, to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for His sake, but [[d]with me] take your share of the suffering [to which the preaching] of the Gospel [may expose you, and do it] in the power of God.
9 [For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].
10 [It is that purpose and grace] which He now has made known and has fully disclosed and made real [to us] through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, Who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life and immortality (immunity from eternal death) to light through the Gospel.
11 For [the proclaiming of] this [Gospel] I was appointed a herald (preacher) and an apostle (special messenger) and a teacher of the Gentiles.
12 And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still I am not ashamed, for I know (perceive, have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which [e]I have committed [to Him] until that day.
13 Hold fast and follow the pattern of wholesome and sound teaching which you have heard from me, in [all] the faith and love which are [for us] in Christ Jesus.
14 Guard and keep [with the greatest care] the precious and excellently adapted [Truth] which has been entrusted [to you], by the [help of the] Holy Spirit Who makes His home in us.
15 You already know that all who are in Asia turned away and forsook me, Phygelus and Hermogenes among them.
16 May the Lord grant [His] mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, for he often showed me kindness and ministered to my needs [comforting and reviving and bracing me like fresh air]! He was not ashamed of my chains and imprisonment [for Christ’s sake].
17 No, rather when he reached Rome, he searched diligently and eagerly for me and found me.
18 May the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord on that [great] day! And you know how many things he did for me and what a help he was at Ephesus [you know better than I can tell you].
2 [Hosea], say to your brethren, Ammi [or You-are-my-people], and to your sisters, Ruhamah [or You-have-been-pitied-and-have-obtained-mercy].
2 Plead with your mother [your nation]; plead, for she is not My wife and I am not her Husband; [plead] that she put away her [marks of] harlotry from her face and her adulteries from between her breasts,(A)
3 Lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her as a wilderness and set her like a parched land and slay her with thirst.
4 Yes, for her children I will have no love nor pity nor mercy, for they are the children of harlotry.
5 For their mother has played the harlot; she who conceived them has done shamefully, for she said, I will go after my lovers that give me my food and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my refreshing drinks.
6 Therefore, behold, I [the Lord God] will hedge up her way [even yours, O Israel] with thorns; and I will build a wall against her that she shall not find her paths.
7 And she shall follow after her lovers but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them [inquiring for and requiring them], but shall not find them. Then shall she say, Let me go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now.
8 For she has not noticed, understood, or realized that it was I [the Lord God] Who gave her the grain and the new wine and the fresh oil, and Who lavished upon her silver and gold which they used for Baal and made into his image.
9 Therefore will I return and take back My grain in the time for it and My new wine in the season for it, and will pluck away and recover My wool and My flax which were to cover her [Israel’s] nakedness.
10 And now will I uncover her lewdness and her shame in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of My hand.
11 I will also cause to cease all her mirth, her feastmaking, her New Moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts and appointed festive assemblies.
12 And I will lay waste and destroy her vines and her fig trees of which she has said, These are my reward or loose woman’s hire that my lovers have given me; and I will make [her plantations] an inaccessible forest, and the wild beasts of the open country shall eat them.
13 And I will visit [punishment] upon her for the feast days of the Baals, when she burned incense to them and decked herself with her earrings and nose rings and her jewelry and went after her lovers and forgot Me, says the Lord.
14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart.
15 There I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt.(B)
16 And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me Ishi [my Husband], and you shall no more call Me Baali [my Baal].
17 For I will take away the names of Baalim [the Baals] out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned or seriously remembered by their name.
18 And in that day will I make a covenant for Israel with the living creatures of the open country and with the birds of the heavens and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and [abolish battle equipment and] conflict out of the land and will make you lie down safely.
19 And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.
20 I will even betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness, and you shall know (recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, give heed to, and cherish) the Lord.
21 And in that day I will respond, says the Lord; I will respond to the heavens [which ask for rain to pour on the earth], and they shall respond to the earth [which begs for the rain it needs],
22 And the earth shall respond to the grain and the wine and the oil [which beseech it to bring them forth], and these shall respond to Jezreel [restored Israel, who prays for a supply of them].
23 And I will sow her for Myself anew in the land, and I will have love, pity, and mercy for her who had not obtained love, pity, and mercy; and I will say to those who were not My people, You are My people, and they shall say, You are my God!(C)
97 Oh, how love I Your law! It is my meditation all the day.(A)
98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies, for [Your words] are ever before me.
99 I have better understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers, because Your testimonies are my meditation.(B)
100 I understand more than the aged, because I keep Your precepts [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].
101 I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Your word [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it].(C)
102 I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me.
103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!(D)
104 Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.(E)
106 I have sworn [an oath] and have confirmed it, that I will keep Your righteous ordinances [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].(F)
107 I am sorely afflicted; renew and quicken me [give me life], O Lord, according to Your word!
108 Accept, I beseech You, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me Your ordinances.(G)
109 My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I do not stray from Your precepts.
111 Your testimonies have I taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart.(H)
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, even to the end.
113 I hate the thoughts of undecided [in religion], double-minded people, but Your law do I love.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.(I)
115 Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].(J)
116 Uphold me according to Your promise, that I may live; and let me not be put to shame in my hope!(K)
117 Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for Your statutes continually!
118 You spurn and set at nought all those who stray from Your statutes, for their own lying deceives them and their tricks are in vain.
119 You put away and count as dross all the wicked of the earth [for there is no true metal in them]; therefore I love Your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles and shudders for fear and reverential, worshipful awe of You, and I am afraid and in dread of Your judgments.
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