M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 15
Reign of Azariah of Judah. 1 In the twenty-seventh year[a] of Jeroboam, king of Israel, Azariah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah, became king. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecholiah, from Jerusalem.
3 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, just as his father Amaziah had done, 4 though the high places did not disappear, and the people continued to sacrifice and to burn incense on the high places. 5 The Lord afflicted the king, and he was a leper until the day he died. He lived in a house apart, while Jotham, the king’s son, was master of the palace and ruled the people of the land.[b]
6 The rest of the acts of Azariah, and all that he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. 7 Azariah rested with his ancestors, and was buried with them in the City of David, and his son Jotham succeeded him as king.
Reign of Zechariah of Israel. 8 In the thirty-eighth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Zechariah, son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in Samaria for six months.
9 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, as his ancestors had done, and did not desist from the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had caused Israel to commit. 10 Shallum, son of Jabesh, plotted against him and struck him down at Ibleam. He killed him and reigned in his place.
11 As for the rest of the acts of Zechariah, these are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 12 This was the word the Lord had spoken to Jehu: Sons of your line to the fourth generation shall sit upon the throne of Israel; and so it was.(A)
Reign of Shallum of Israel. 13 Shallum, son of Jabesh, became king in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah, king of Judah; he reigned one month in Samaria.
14 Menahem, son of Gadi, came up from Tirzah to Samaria, and struck down Shallum, son of Jabesh, in Samaria. He killed him and reigned in his place.
15 As for the rest of the acts of Shallum, with the conspiracy he carried out, these are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 16 At that time, Menahem attacked Tappuah, all its inhabitants, and its whole district as far as Tirzah, because they did not let him in. He attacked them; he even ripped open all their pregnant women.
Reign of Menahem of Israel. 17 In the thirty-ninth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Menahem, son of Gadi, became king over Israel for ten years in Samaria. 18 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight as long as he lived, not desisting from the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had caused Israel to commit. 19 Pul,[c] king of Assyria, came against the land. But Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver to have his help in holding onto his kingdom. 20 Menahem paid out silver on behalf of Israel, that is, for all the people of substance, by giving the king of Assyria fifty shekels of silver for each one. So the king of Assyria went home and did not stay in the land.
21 The rest of the acts of Menahem, with all that he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 22 Menahem rested with his ancestors, and his son Pekahiah succeeded him as king.
Reign of Pekahiah of Israel. 23 In the fiftieth year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekahiah, son of Menahem, became king over Israel in Samaria for two years.
24 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, not desisting from the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had caused Israel to commit. 25 His adjutant Pekah, son of Remaliah, conspired against him, and struck him down at Samaria within the palace stronghold; he had with him fifty men from Gilead. He killed him and reigned in his place. 26 As for the rest of the acts of Pekahiah, with all that he did, these are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
Reign of Pekah of Israel. 27 [d]In the fifty-second year of Azariah, king of Judah, Pekah, son of Remaliah, became king over Israel in Samaria for twenty years.
28 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, not desisting from the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had caused Israel to commit. 29 In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, came and took Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee—all the land of Naphtali—deporting the inhabitants to Assyria. 30 [e]Hoshea, son of Elah, carried out a conspiracy against Pekah, son of Remaliah; he struck and killed him, and succeeded him as king in the twentieth year of Jotham, son of Uzziah.
31 As for the rest of the acts of Pekah, with all that he did, these are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
Reign of Jotham of Judah. 32 In the second year of Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, became king. 33 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jerusha, daughter of Zadok.
34 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, just as his father Uzziah had done, 35 though the high places did not disappear, and the people continued to sacrifice and to burn incense on the high places. It was he who built the Upper Gate[f] of the Lord’s house.
36 The rest of the acts of Jotham, with what he did, are recorded in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah. 37 It was at that time that the Lord began to unleash Rezin, king of Aram, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, against Judah.(B) 38 Jotham rested with his ancestors; he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David his father, and his son Ahaz succeeded him as king.
I. Address
Chapter 1
Greeting.[a] 1 Paul, a slave of God and apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God’s chosen ones and the recognition of religious truth,(A) 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,(B) 3 who indeed at the proper time revealed his word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted by the command of God our savior,(C) 4 to Titus, my true child in our common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.(D)
II. Pastoral Charge
Titus in Crete. 5 [b]For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you, 6 (E)on condition that a man be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious. 7 For a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, 9 holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.(F) 10 [c]For there are also many rebels, idle talkers and deceivers, especially the Jewish Christians.[d] 11 It is imperative to silence them, as they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what they should not. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, once said, “Cretans have always been liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons.”[e] 13 That testimony is true. Therefore, admonish them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith,(G) 14 instead of paying attention to Jewish myths and regulations of people who have repudiated the truth.(H) 15 To the clean all things are clean, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean; in fact, both their minds and their consciences are tainted.(I) 16 They claim to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. They are vile and disobedient and unqualified for any good deed.
Chapter 8
Corruption of Cult, Domestic and Foreign Politics
1 Put the trumpet to your lips!(A)
One like an eagle[a] is over the house of the Lord!
Because they have violated my covenant,
and rebelled against my law,
2 They cry out to me,
“My God! We know you!”
3 But Israel has rejected what is good;
the enemy[b] shall pursue him.
4 [c]They made kings, but not by my authority;
they established princes, but without my knowledge.
With their silver and gold
they made idols for themselves,
to their own destruction.
5 He has rejected your calf,[d] Samaria!(B)
My wrath is kindled against them;
How long will they be incapable of innocence
in Israel?
6 An artisan made it,
it is no god at all.(C)
The calf of Samaria
will be dashed to pieces.
7 When they sow the wind,
they will reap the whirlwind;(D)
The stalk of grain that forms no head
can yield no flour;
Even if it could,
strangers would swallow it.
8 Israel is swallowed up;
now they are among the nations,
like a useless vessel.
9 For they went up to Assyria—[e]
a wild ass off on its own—
Ephraim bargained for lovers.(E)
10 Even though they bargain with the nations,
I will now gather them[f] together;
They will soon succumb
under the burden of king and princes.
11 [g]When Ephraim made many altars to expiate sin,
they became altars for sinning.
12 Though I write for him my many instructions,
they are considered like a stranger’s.
13 They love sacrifice,
they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord is not pleased with them.(F)
Now he will remember their guilt
and punish their sins;(G)
they shall return to Egypt.[h](H)
14 Israel has forgotten his maker(I)
and has built palaces.
Judah, too, has fortified many cities,
but I will send fire upon his cities,
to devour their strongholds.(J)
Psalm 123[a]
Reliance on the Lord
1 A song of ascents.
To you I raise my eyes,
to you enthroned in heaven.(A)
2 Yes, like the eyes of servants
on the hand of their masters,
Like the eyes of a maid
on the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes are on the Lord our God,
till we are shown favor.
3 Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,
for we have our fill of contempt.(B)
4 Our souls are more than sated
with mockery from the insolent,
with contempt from the arrogant.
Psalm 124[b]
God, the Rescuer of the People
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
Had not the Lord been with us,
let Israel say,(C)
2 Had not the Lord been with us,
when people rose against us,
3 Then they would have swallowed us alive,(D)
for their fury blazed against us.
4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,
the torrent overwhelmed us;(E)
5 then seething water would have drowned us.
6 Blessed is the Lord, who did not leave us
to be torn by their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.
8 [c]Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.(F)
Psalm 125[d]
Israel’s Protector
1 A song of ascents.
Those trusting in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
unshakable, forever enduring.(G)
2 As mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forever.(H)
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
in the land allotted to the just,[e]
Lest the just themselves
turn their hands to evil.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.