M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
9 The names of all the people of Israel were listed in their family histories. 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. This is 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. 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 690 of them in all.
7 From the tribe of Benjamin there was Sallu son of Meshullam. (Meshullam was Hodaviah’s son. 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 956 people living in Jerusalem. All these men 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 who was 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 1,760 priests. They were leaders of their families. They were responsible for serving in the Temple of God.
14 Of the Levites there was Semaiah son of Hasshub. (Hasshub was Azrikam’s son. 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. 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 Elkanah’s son. Elkanah lived in the villages of the Netophathite people.)
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. Ebiasaph was Korah’s son. Shallum and his relatives from the family of Korah were gatekeepers. They were responsible for guarding the gates of the Temple. Their ancestors had also been responsible for guarding the entrance to the Temple. 20 In the past Phinehas was in charge of the gatekeepers. He was Eleazar’s son. The Lord was with Phinehas. 21 Zechariah was the gatekeeper at the entrance to the Temple. He was the son of Meshelemiah.
22 In all, 212 men were chosen to guard the gates. 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 the responsibility of guarding 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 certain 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. 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 tools and dishes used in the Temple services. They counted these tools and dishes when people took them out. And they counted them when people brought them back. 29 Other gatekeepers were chosen to take care of the things 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. Because he was dependable, he had the job of baking the bread used for the offerings. He was Shallum’s first son. Shallum was from the family of Korah. 32 Some of the gatekeepers had the job of preparing the special bread. This was the bread that was put on the table every Sabbath. These people were from the Kohath family.
33 Some of the Levites were musicians in the Temple. The leaders of these families stayed in the rooms of the Temple. They were on duty day and night. So 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. 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. And Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal.
40 Jonathan’s son was Merib-Baal. Merib-Baal was Micah’s father.
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. Their names were Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. They were Azel’s sons.
The Death of King Saul
10 The Philistine people fought against the people of Israel. The Israelites ran away from them. And many Israelites were killed on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines continued chasing Saul and his sons. And they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3 The fighting became heavy around Saul. 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 kill me. If you don’t, these men who are not circumcised will come and hurt me.” But the officer was afraid. So he refused to kill Saul. Then Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5 The officer saw that Saul was dead. So he fell on his own sword and died. 6 So Saul and three of his sons died. All his family died together.
7 The Israelites living in the valley saw that their army had run away. And they saw that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their towns and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in those towns.
8 The next day the Philistines came to take valuable things from the dead bodies. On Mount Gilboa they found the bodies of Saul and his sons. 9 The Philistines stripped Saul’s body. And they took his head and his armor. They sent messengers through all their country to tell the news to their idols and their people. 10 The Philistines put Saul’s armor in the temple of their idols. And they hung his head in the temple of Dagon.
11 All the people living in Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12 So all the brave men from Jabesh Gilead went and got the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh Gilead. Then they buried the bones of Saul and his sons under the large tree in Jabesh. And they gave up eating for seven days.
13 Saul died because he was not faithful to the Lord. He did not obey the Lord. He even went to a medium and asked her for advice. 14 He did this instead of asking the Lord for help. This is why the Lord put Saul to death and gave the kingdom to Jesse’s son David.
Follow Jesus’ Example
12 So we have many people of faith around us. Their 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 we should remove the sin that so easily catches us. 2 Let us look only to Jesus. He is the one who began our faith, and he makes our faith perfect. Jesus suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing. He did this 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. He held on patiently while sinful men were doing evil things against him. Look at Jesus’ example so that you will 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 his encouraging words for his sons:
“My son, don’t think the Lord’s discipline of you is worth nothing.
And don’t stop trying when the Lord corrects you.
6 The Lord corrects those he loves.
And he punishes everyone he accepts as his child.” Proverbs 3:11-12
7 So accept your sufferings as if they were a father’s punishment. God does these things to you as a father punishing his sons. All sons are punished by their fathers. 8 If you are never punished (and every son must be punished), you are not true children and not really sons. 9 We have all had fathers here on earth who punished us. And we respected our fathers. So it is even more important that we accept punishment from the Father of our spirits. If we do this, we will have life. 10 Our fathers on earth punished us for a short time. They punished us the way they thought was best. But God punishes us to help us, so that we can become holy as he is. 11 We do not enjoy punishment. Being punished is painful at the time. But later, after we have learned from being punished, 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 lives free from sin. If anyone’s life is not holy, he will never see the Lord. 15 Be careful that no one fails to get God’s grace. Be careful that no one becomes like a bitter weed growing among you. A person like that can ruin all of you. 16 Be careful that no one takes part in sexual sin. And be careful that no person is unholy like Esau. He sold all his rights as the oldest son for a single meal. 17 You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father’s blessing. He wanted this blessing so much that he cried. But his father refused to give him the blessing, because Esau could find no way to change what he had done.
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. When the people of Israel heard the voice, they begged not to have 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 not come to that kind of place. The new place you have come to is Mount Zion.[c] You have come 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. Their names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people. And you have come 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. 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. They refused to listen to him when he warned them on earth. And they did not escape. Now God is warning us from heaven. So it will be worse for us if we refuse to listen to him. 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 will be destroyed. These are the things that can be shaken. And 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. So let us worship 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 you who have it easy in Jerusalem.
How terrible for you who live on Mount Samaria and feel safe.
You think you are important people of the best nation in the world.
The Israelites come to you for help.
2 Go look at the city of Calneh.
From there go to the great city Hamath.
Go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Are their lands larger than yours?
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.
You stretch out on your couches.
You eat tender lambs
and fattened calves.
5 You play your harps.
Like David, you compose songs on musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful.
You use the best perfumed lotions.
But you are not sad over the ruin of Israel, Joseph’s descendants.
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 of heaven’s armies says:
“I hate the pride of the people of Israel.
I hate their strong towers.
So I will let the enemy take the city
and everything in it.”
9 At that time there might be ten people left alive in a house. But they will also die. 10 A relative and one who is to prepare bodies for burial may come to get the bodies. One of them will take the bodies out to burn them. He 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 speak the name of the Lord.”
11 The Lord has given the command.
The large house will be broken into pieces.
And the small house will be broken into bits.
12 Horses do not run on rocks.
People do not plow rocks with oxen.
But you have changed fairness into poison.
You have changed what is right into something wrong.
13 You are happy that the town of Lo Debar[a] was taken.
You say, “We have taken Karnaim[b] by our own strength.”
14 The Lord God of heaven’s armies says,
“Israel, I will bring a nation against you.
It will bring trouble for you from Lebo Hamath in the north
to the valley south of the Dead Sea.”
Mary’s Visit
39 Mary got up and went quickly to a town in the mountains of Judea. 40 She went to Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the unborn baby inside Elizabeth jumped. Then 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 God has blessed the baby which you will give birth to. 43 You are the mother of my Lord, and you have come to me! Why has something so good happened to me? 44 When I heard your voice, the baby inside me jumped with joy. 45 You are blessed because you believed what the Lord said to you would really happen.”
Mary Praises God
46 Then Mary said,
“My soul praises the Lord;
47 my heart is happy because God is my Savior.
48 I am not important, but God has shown his care for me, his 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 always give mercy
to those who worship him.
51 God’s arm is strong.
He scatters the people who are proud
and think great things about themselves.
52 God brings down rulers from their thrones,
and he raises up the humble.
53 God fills the hungry with good things,
but he sends the rich away with nothing.
54 God has helped his people Israel who serve him.
He gave them his mercy.
55 God has done what 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.
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, “What would you like to name him?”
63 Zechariah asked for something to write on. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was surprised. 64 Then Zechariah could talk again. He began to praise God. 65 And all their neighbors became alarmed. In all the mountains of Judea people continued talking about all these things. 66 The people who heard about these things wondered about them. They thought, “What will this child be?” They said this because the Lord was with him.
Zechariah Praises God
67 Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He told the people what would happen:
68 “Let us thank the Lord, the God of Israel.
God has come to help his people and has given them freedom.
69 God has given us a powerful Savior
from the family of God’s servant David.
70 God said that he would do this.
He said it through his holy prophets who lived long ago.
71 God will save us from our enemies
and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 God said he would give mercy to our ancestors.
And he remembered his holy promise.
73 God promised Abraham, our father,
74 that he would free us from the power of our enemies,
so that we could serve him without fear.
75 We will be righteous and holy before God as long as we live.
76 “Now you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High God.
You will go first before the Lord
to prepare the people for his coming.
77 You will make his people know that they will be saved.
They will be saved by having their sins forgiven.
78 With the loving mercy of our God,
a new day from heaven will shine upon us.
79 God will help those who live in darkness,
in the fear of death.
He will guide us into the path that goes toward peace.”
80 And so the child grew up and became strong in spirit. John lived away from other people until the time when he came out to preach to Israel.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.