M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

13 Just then, as Yarov‘am was standing by the altar to burn incense, a man of God came out of Y’hudah, directed to Beit-El by a word from Adonai. ² And by the word from Adonai he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar, here is what Adonai says: ‘A son will be born to the house of David; his name will be Yoshiyahu; and on you he will sacrifice the cohanim of the high places who burn incense on you! They will burn human bones on you!’” ³ That same day he also gave a sign: “Here is the sign which Adonai has decreed:

⁴ When the king heard what the man of God said, how he denounced the altar in Beit-El, Yarov‘am took his hand away from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But his hand, the one he had stretched out against him, shriveled up; so that he could not draw it back to himself. ⁵ Also the altar was split apart, and the ashes scattered from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of Adonai. ⁶ The king then responded to the man of God. “Ask now the favor of Adonai your God,” he said, “and pray for me, that my hand will be restored to me.” The man of God prayed to Adonai, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it had been before. ⁷ The king then said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward. ⁸ But the man of God replied to the king, “Even if you give me half your household, I will not accept your hospitality; nor will I eat food or drink water in this place. ⁹ For this is the order I received through the word of Adonai: ‘Don’t eat food or drink water, and don’t return by the road you took when you came.’” ¹⁰ So he went another way and did not return by the road by which he had come to Beit-El.

¹¹ Now there lived an old prophet in Beit-El; and one of his sons came and told him all the things the man of God had done that day in Beit-El; also they told their father what he had said to the king. ¹² Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen what road the man of God from Y’hudah had taken. ¹³ He then said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and, riding on it, ¹⁴ he went after the man of God. He found him sitting under a pistachio tree and said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Y’hudah?” He answered, “I am.” ¹⁵ Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat some food.” ¹⁶ He replied, “I cannot return with you or partake of your hospitality, nor will I eat food or drink water with you in this place; ¹⁷ because it was said to me by the word of Adonai, ‘You are not to eat food or drink water there, and you are not to go back by the way you came.’” ¹⁸ The other said to him, “I too am a prophet, just like you; and an angel spoke to me by the word of Adonai and said, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he can eat food and drink water.’” But he was lying to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him and did eat food and drink water in his house. ²⁰ As they were sitting at the table, the word of Adonai came to the prophet who had brought him back; ²¹ and he cried to the man of God who had come from Y’hudah, “Here is what Adonai says: ‘Since you rebelled against the word of Adonai and didn’t obey the mitzvah Adonai your God gave you, ²² but came back and ate food and drank water in the place where he warned you not to eat food or drink water, your corpse will not arrive at the tomb of your ancestors.” ²³ After he had eaten food and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet he had brought back. ²⁴ But after he had gone, a lion encountered the man of God on the road and killed him. His corpse lay there in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing next to it. ²⁵ In time, people passed by and saw the corpse lying in the road with the lion standing next to it; and they came and told about it in the city where the old prophet lived.

²⁶ When the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard about it, he said, “It is the man of God who rebelled against the word of Adonai; this is why Adonai handed him over to the lion to tear him to pieces and kill him, in keeping with the word Adonai spoke to him.” ²⁷ To his sons he said, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they saddled it. ²⁸ He went and found his corpse lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing next to the corpse; the lion had neither eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey. ²⁹ The prophet picked up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city where he lived, to mourn and bury him. ³⁰ He laid the corpse in his own burial cave, and they mourned him — “Oh! My brother!” ³¹ After burying him he said to his sons, “When I die, put me in the burial cave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones next to his bones. ³² For the thing he cried by the word of Adonai against the altar in Beit-El and against all the temples on the high places near the cities of Shomron will surely happen.”

³³ After this, Yarov‘am did not turn back from his evil way but continued appointing cohanim for the high places from among all the people; he consecrated anyone who wanted to be a cohen of the high places. ³⁴ This brought sin to the house of Yarov‘am that would eventually cut it off and destroy it from the face of the earth.

4 So, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, my dear friends, keep standing firm in union with the Lord.

² I beg Evodia and I beg Syntyche to agree with each other in union with the Lord. ³ I also request you, loyal Syzygus, to help these women; for they have worked hard proclaiming the Good News with me, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers whose names are in the Book of Life.

⁴ Rejoice in union with the Lord always! I will say it again: rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see how reasonable and gentle you are. The Lord is near! ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; on the contrary, make your requests known to God by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. ⁷ Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua. ⁸ In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy. ⁹ Keep doing what you have learned and received from me, what you have heard and seen me doing; then the God who gives shalom will be with you.

¹⁰ In union with the Lord I greatly rejoice that now, after this long time, you have let your concern for me express itself again. Of course, you were concerned for me all along, but you had no opportunity to express it. ¹¹ Not that I am saying this to call attention to any need of mine; since, as far as I am concerned, I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough — in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. ¹³ I can do all things through him who gives me power.

¹⁴ Nevertheless, it was good of you to share in my trouble. ¹⁵ And you Philippians yourselves know that in the early days of my work spreading the Good News, when I left Macedonia, not a single congregation shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving — only you. ¹⁶ Indeed, in Thessalonica when I needed it, you sent me aid twice. ¹⁷ I am not seeking the gift; rather, I am looking for what will increase the credit balance of your account. ¹⁸ I have been more than paid in full: I have been filled, since I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent — they are a fragrant aroma,^[a] an acceptable sacrifice, one that pleases God well. ¹⁹ Moreover, my God will fill every need of yours according to his glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua. ²⁰ And to God our Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

²¹ Greet each of God’s people in the Messiah Yeshua. The brothers with me send their greetings to you. ²² All God’s people send greetings, but especially those in the Emperor’s household.

²³ The grace of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with your spirit.

43 After this, he brought me to the gate facing east. ² There I saw the glory of the God of Isra’el approaching from the east. His voice was like the sound of rushing water, and the earth shone with his glory. ³ The vision seemed like the vision I had seen when I came to destroy the city; also the visions were like the vision I had seen by the K’var River; and I fell on my face. ⁴ Adonai’s glory entered the house through the gate facing east.

⁵ Next, a spirit took me up and brought me into the inner courtyard, and I saw Adonai’s glory fill the house. ⁶ I heard someone speaking to me from the house, and a man was standing by me. ⁷ He said, “Human being, this is the place for my throne, the place for the soles of my feet, where I will live among the people of Isra’el forever. The house of Isra’el, both they and their kings, will never again defile my holy name by their prostitution, by [burying] the corpses of their kings [on] their high places, ⁸ or by placing their threshold next to my threshold and their door-frames next to my door-frames, with only a common wall between me and them. Yes, they defiled my holy name by the disgusting practices they committed; which is why I destroyed them in my anger. ⁹ So now, they should put their prostitution at a distance and the corpses of their kings far away from me; then I will live among them forever.

¹⁰ “You, human being, describe this house to the house of Isra’el, so that they will be ashamed of their crimes. And let them measure accurately. ¹¹ If they become ashamed of all they have done, show them the elevation and plan of the house, its exits and entrances, all its details and decorations, and all its specifications, its design and its Torah. Sketch it for them to see, so that they can observe the entire design with its specifications, and carry them out. ¹² This is Torah for the house: the whole surrounding area on the mountaintop will be especially holy. This is Torah for the house.”

¹³ These are the measurements of the altar in cubits (a cubit here is defined as a normal cubit [eighteen inches] plus a handbreadth [three inches]): the base, one cubit [twenty-one inches] deep and one cubit wide; with the molding surrounding it at its rim about a hand-span [nine inches] in width. The height of the altar is thus: ¹⁴ from the base on the ground to the lower ledge, three-and-a-half feet, with the width twenty-one inches; from the lower ledge to the upper ledge, seven feet, with the width again twenty-one inches. ¹⁵ The hearth measures seven feet [high], with four horns on top of the hearth. ¹⁶ The hearth is a square twenty-one feet on each of its four sides. ¹⁷ The ledge measures a square twenty-four-and-a-half feet on each of its four sides; the molding around it ten-and-a-half inches [across]; and its base twenty-one inches [larger than the rest, all the way] around. Its steps face east.

¹⁸ He said to me, “Human being, Adonai Elohim says, ‘These are the regulations for the altar when the time comes to construct it, offer burnt offerings on it and splash the blood against it: ¹⁹ you are to give to the cohanim, who are L’vi’im descended from Tzadok and who approach to serve me,’ says Adonai Elohim, ‘a young bull as a sin offering. ²⁰ You are to take its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge and on the molding all the way around; this is how you will purify it and make atonement for it. ²¹ You are also to take the bull which is the sin offering and have it burned up at the designated place [on the grounds] of the house, outside the sanctuary. ²² On the second day you are to offer a male goat without defect as a sin offering, and they are to purify the altar as they purified it with the bull. ²³ When you have finished purifying it, you are to offer a young bull without defect and a ram from the flock without defect. ²⁴ You are to present them before Adonai, and the cohanim will throw salt on them and offer them as a burnt offering to Adonai. ²⁵ Every day, for seven days, you are to prepare a goat as a sin offering; they are also to prepare a young bull and a ram from the flock without defect. ²⁶ For seven days, they are to make atonement for the altar and cleanse it; in this way they are to consecrate it. ²⁷ When these days are over, then, on the eighth day and afterwards, the cohanim will present your burnt offerings on the altar and your peace offerings; and I will accept you,’ says Adonai Elohim.”