M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Hoshea Reigns over Israel
17 In the twelfth year of King Ahaz of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel; he reigned nine years.(A) 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, yet not like the kings of Israel who were before him. 3 King Shalmaneser of Assyria came up against him; Hoshea became his vassal and paid him tribute.(B) 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to King So of Egypt and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria confined him and imprisoned him.
Israel Carried Captive to Assyria
5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria; for three years he besieged it. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.(C)
7 This occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods(D) 8 and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel and in the customs that the kings of Israel had introduced.[a](E) 9 The people of Israel did[b] things that were not right against the Lord their God. They built for themselves high places at all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city;(F) 10 they set up for themselves pillars and sacred poles[c] on every high hill and under every green tree;(G) 11 there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the Lord had carried away before them. They did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger; 12 they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this.”(H) 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law that I commanded your ancestors and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”(I) 14 They would not listen but were stubborn, as their ancestors had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God.(J) 15 They despised his statutes and his covenant that he had made with their ancestors and the warnings that he had given them. They went after false idols and became false; they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do as they did.(K) 16 They rejected all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast images of two calves; they made a sacred pole,[d] worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.(L) 17 They made their sons and their daughters pass through fire, used divination and augury, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.(M) 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight; none was left but the tribe of Judah alone.(N)
19 Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God but walked in the customs that Israel had introduced. 20 The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel; he punished them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had banished them from his presence.(O)
21 When he had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king. Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit great sin.(P) 22 The people of Israel continued in all the sins that Jeroboam committed; they did not depart from them 23 until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had foretold through all his servants the prophets. So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day.
Assyria Resettles Samaria
24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and placed them in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel; they took possession of Samaria and settled in its cities.(Q) 25 When they first settled there, they did not worship the Lord; therefore the Lord sent lions among them that killed some of them. 26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land; therefore he has sent lions among them; they are killing them because they do not know the law of the god of the land.” 27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there; let him[e] go and live there and teach them the law of the god of the land.”(R) 28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel; he taught them how they should worship the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived; 30 the people of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the people of Cuth made Nergal, the people of Hamath made Ashima;(S) 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.(T) 32 They also worshiped the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.(U) 33 So they worshiped the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away.(V) 34 To this day they continue to practice their former customs.
They do not worship the Lord, and they do not follow the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.(W) 35 The Lord had made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not worship other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them,(X) 36 but you shall worship the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm; you shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice.(Y) 37 The statutes and the ordinances and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to observe. You shall not worship other gods;(Z) 38 you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not worship other gods,(AA) 39 but you shall worship the Lord your God; he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.” 40 They would not listen, however, but continued to practice their former custom.
41 So these nations worshiped the Lord but also served their carved images; to this day their children and their children’s children continue to do as their ancestors did.(AB)
Maintain Good Deeds
3 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,(A) 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone.(B) 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.(C) 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,(D) 5 he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water[a] of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.(E) 6 This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.(F) 8 The saying is sure.
I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone.(G) 9 But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.(H) 10 After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions,(I) 11 since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned.
Final Messages and Benediction
12 When I send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there.(J) 13 Make every effort to send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way, and see that they lack nothing. 14 And let people learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet urgent needs, so that they may not be unproductive.
15 All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with all of you.[b]
Israel’s Sin and Captivity
10 Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.(A)
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord[a] will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.(B)
3 For now they will say:
“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord,
and a king—what could he do for us?”
4 They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so litigation springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.(C)
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for the calf[b] of Beth-aven.
Its people shall mourn for it,
and its idolatrous priests shall wail[c] over it,
over its glory that has departed from it.(D)
6 The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to the great king.[d]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.[e](E)
7 Samaria’s king shall perish
like a chip on the face of the waters.(F)
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars.
They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”(G)
9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?(H)
10 I will come[f] against the wayward people to punish them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are punished[g] for their double iniquity.(I)
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck,
but I will make Ephraim break the ground;
Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.(J)
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.(K)
13 You have plowed wickedness;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your chariots,[h]
in the multitude of your warriors,(L)
14 therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.(M)
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.(N)
Psalm 129
Prayer for the Downfall of Israel’s Enemies
A Song of Ascents.
1 Often have they attacked me from my youth
—let Israel now say—(A)
2 often have they attacked me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.(B)
3 The plowers plowed on my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.(C)
5 May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward.(D)
6 Let them be like the grass on the housetops
that withers before it grows up,(E)
7 with which reapers do not fill their hands
or binders of sheaves their arms,
8 while those who pass by do not say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”(F)
Psalm 130
Waiting for Divine Redemption
A Song of Ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.(G)
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!(H)
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?(I)
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.(J)
5 I wait for the Lord; my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;(K)
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.(L)
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.(M)
8 It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.(N)
Psalm 131
Song of Quiet Trust
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.(O)
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.[a](P)
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time on and forevermore.(Q)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.