M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Man of God From Judah
13 A man of God came out of Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord while Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 He cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘A child named Josiah will be born in the house of David, and he will sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and these men’s bones shall be burned upon you.’ ” 3 He gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘The altar will be torn apart, and the ashes that are upon it will be poured out.’ ”
4 When King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God who had cried against the altar in Bethel, he reached out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” And the hand that he put forth against him dried up so that he could not pull it back in again. 5 The altar also was torn, and the ashes poured out from the altar, just as the man of God had said it would as a sign of the Lord.
6 The king answered and said to the man of God, “Seek the face of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand will be healed.” And the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was healed and became as it was before.
7 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.”
8 The man of God said to the king, “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water in this place, 9 for so I was commanded by the word of the Lord, saying: You shall eat no bread, nor drink water nor return by the same way that you came.” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the same way he came to Bethel.
11 Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that he had spoken to the king. 12 Their father said to them, “What way did he go?” For his sons had seen the way the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13 He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled the donkey for him, and he rode on it. 14 He went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak, and he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
And he said, “I am.”
15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”
16 He said, “I may not return with you or go in with you, nor will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, 17 for I was commanded by the word of the Lord: You shall eat no bread and drink no water there nor return by the way you came.”
18 He said to him, “I am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” But he had lied to him. 19 So he went back with him to his house and ate bread and drank water.
20 Then as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who brought him back, 21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: Since you have disobeyed the mouth of the Lord and have not kept the commandment that the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but instead came back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which the Lord told you to eat no bread and drink no water, your carcass will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers!”
23 After he had eaten bread and had drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 As he was going, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown in the road, and both the donkey and lion stood by it. 25 Some men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road with the lion standing by the body, and they came and told the story in the city where the old prophet lived.
26 When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who was disobedient to the word of the Lord, and thus the Lord has delivered him to the lion, which has torn and slain him, according to the word of the Lord that He spoke to him.”
27 He said to his sons, “Saddle my donkey,” and they saddled it. 28 He then went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion were still standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 29 The prophet picked up the body of the man of God and laid it on his donkey and brought it back. The old prophet came to the city to mourn and to bury him. 30 He laid his body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him, saying, “Alas, my brother!”
31 And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I am dead, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For the saying that he cried out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”
33 After this event Jeroboam did not turn from his evil ways, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he consecrated to be priests of the high places. 34 This matter became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
4 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brothers, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my beloved.
Exhortations
2 I exhort Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 I ask you also, true companion, help those women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with my other fellow laborers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let everyone come to know your gentleness. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things. 9 Do those things which you have both learned and received, and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
Acknowledgment of the Philippians’ Gift
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me. Regarding this, you did care, but you lacked opportunity. 11 I do not speak because I have need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. 12 I know both how to face humble circumstances and how to have abundance. Everywhere and in all things I have learned the secret, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things because of Christ who strengthens me.
14 Nevertheless you did well having shared in my affliction. 15 Now you Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. 16 Even in Thessalonica, you sent aid once and again for my necessity, 17 not because I desired a gift, but I desire fruit that accumulates to your account. 18 But I have everything and abound. I have been filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, like a sweet fragrance, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19 But my God shall supply your every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
20 Now to God and our Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Final Greetings
21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household.
23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
God’s Glory Returns to the Temple
43 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. 2 And the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. And His voice was like a noise of many waters. And the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw, when He came to destroy the city. And the visions were like the vision that I saw by the River Kebar. And I fell upon my face. 4 The glory of the Lord came into the temple by the way of the gate facing east. 5 So the Spirit took me up and brought me into the inner court. And the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
6 Then I heard one speaking to me out of the temple. And a man stood by me. 7 He said to me: Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel forever. And My holy name shall the house of Israel defile no more, nor they nor their kings by their harlotry, nor by the corpses of their kings when they die. 8 By setting their threshold by My threshold and their post by My posts and the wall between Me and them, they have even defiled My holy name by their abominations that they have committed. Therefore I have consumed them in My anger. 9 Now let them put away their harlotry and the corpses of their kings far from Me, and I will dwell in their midst forever.
10 As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. And let them measure the pattern. 11 If they are ashamed of all that they have done, show them the design of the temple and its fashion and exits and its entrances and all its forms and all its ordinances and all its laws. And write it in their sight so that they may keep its whole form and all its ordinances and do them.
12 This is the law of the temple: The whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. This is the law of the temple.
The Altar Restored
13 These are the measurements of the altar by cubits[a] (the cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth): The base shall be a cubit, and the width a cubit, and its border by its edge all around shall be a span.[b] And this shall be the height of the altar: 14 From the bottom on the ground even to the lower ledge shall be two cubits, and the width one cubit.[c] And from the lesser ledge even to the greater ledge shall be four cubits, and the width one cubit.[d] 15 So the altar shall be four cubits. And from the altar and upward shall be four horns. 16 The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve wide,[e] square in its four corners. 17 The ledge shall be fourteen cubits[f] long and fourteen wide in the four squares. And the border about it shall be half a cubit.[g] And its bottom shall be a cubit all around. And its stairs shall face east.
18 He said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances of the altar in the day when they shall make it to offer burnt offerings on it and to sprinkle blood on it. 19 You shall give to the priests the Levites that are of the seed of Zadok who approach Me to minister to Me, says the Lord God, a young bull as a sin offering. 20 You shall take of its blood and put it on its four horns, and on the four corners of the ledge and on the rim all around. Thus you shall cleanse and purge it. 21 You shall take the bull also of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place of the temple, outside the sanctuary.
22 On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish as a sin offering. And they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you have made an end of cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish and a ram out of the flock without blemish. 24 You shall offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall cast salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.
25 For seven days you shall prepare every day a goat as a sin offering. They shall also prepare a young bull and a ram out of the flock, without blemish. 26 For seven days they shall purge the altar and purify it. So they shall consecrate it. 27 When they have completed the days, it shall be that on the eighth day and forward, the priests shall present your burnt offerings and your peace offerings upon the altar. And I will accept you, says the Lord God.
Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are also His.
5 The sea is His, for He made it,
and His hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
and we are the people of His pasture
and the sheep of His hand.
Today if you hear His voice,
8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
and as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers tested Me and tried Me,
though they had seen My deeds.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known My ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in My wrath,
“They shall not enter into My rest.”
Psalm 96(A)
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song;
sing unto the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing unto the Lord, bless His name;
declare His salvation from day to day.
3 Proclaim His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are worthless,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give unto the Lord, O families of the people,
give unto the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give unto the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Indeed, the world is established; it shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field be joyful, and all that is in it;
then all the trees of the forests shall rejoice
13 before the Lord, for He comes,
for He comes to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with His faithfulness.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.