M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
A Man of God Proclaims Judgment against the False Altar
13 Suddenly a man of God from Judah came to Bethel, by the word of Yahweh, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer incense. 2 Then he proclaimed against the altar by the word of Yahweh and said, “O altar, altar, thus says Yahweh: ‘Look, a son will be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall burn on you.’”
3 He gave a sign on that day, saying, “This is the sign that Yahweh has predetermined: Look, this altar will be torn apart, and the ashes that are on it will be poured out.”
4 It happened at the moment the king heard the word of the man of God that he cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But his hand which he stretched out to him was paralyzed, and he was not able to draw it back to himself. 5 Then the altar was torn apart and the ashes from the altar poured out according to the sign which the man of God had announced by the word of Yahweh. 6 Then the king responded and said to the man of God, “Please entreat the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me that my hand may return to me.” So the man of God entreated the face of Yahweh, and the hand of the king returned to him, as it was in the beginning. 7 Then the king spoke to the man of God, “Come with me to the house and refresh yourself, that I may give you a gift.” 8 Then the man of God said to the king, “Even if you give to me half of your house I will not come with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place, 9 for the word of Yahweh has commanded me, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water, and you shall not return on the way that you came.’” 10 So he went another way, and he did not return by the way on which he had come to Bethel.
The Man of God Disobeys
11 Now a certain older prophet was living in Bethel, and his son came and recounted to him all of the things that the man of God had done that day in Bethel and the words he had spoken to the king, and they told them to their father. 12 Then their father asked them, “Which way did he go?”[a] His sons had seen the way which the man of God who had come from Judah had taken. 13 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it 14 and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under the oak and said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” He said, “I am.” 15 Then he said to him, “Come with me to the house and eat some food.” 16 Then he said, “I am not able to return with you or to go with you. I will not eat food nor will I drink water with you in this place. 17 For a word came to me by the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall not eat food, nor shall you drink water there. You shall not return to go by the way that you came.’”
18 Then he said, “I am also a prophet like you. An angel spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Let him return with you to your house that he may eat food and drink water.’” He lied to him. 19 So he returned with him and ate food in his house and drank water.
20 Now it happened that they were sitting at the table, and the word of Yahweh came to the prophet who brought him back. 21 He proclaimed to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of Yahweh and have not kept the command which Yahweh your God commanded you, 22 but you have returned and have eaten food and drank water in the place which he ordered you not to eat food nor to drink water, then your dead body shall not return to the tomb of your ancestors.’”[b]
The Disobedient Man of God Dies
23 It happened after he ate food and drank water that he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 When he left, a lion found him on the road and killed him, and his dead body was thrown on the road with the donkey standing beside it, and the lion was standing by the dead body. 25 As men were passing by and they saw the dead body thrown in the road and the lion standing beside the dead body, they came and told it in the city where the old prophet was living. 26 When the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the mouth of Yahweh, and Yahweh has given him to the lion. He tore him in pieces and killed him according to the word of Yahweh which he had spoken to him.” 27 Then he spoke to his sons, saying, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it. 28 He went and found his dead body thrown in the road and a donkey with the lion standing beside it, but the lion had not eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey. 29 So the prophet lifted up the corpse of the man of God and put it on the donkey and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to mourn him and to bury him. 30 He put his corpse in his tomb, and they mourned over him, “Alas, my brother!” 31 It happened after he buried him that he said to his sons, “When I die, you shall bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried; you shall lay my bones beside his bones. 32 For surely, the thing which he proclaimed by the word of Yahweh against the altar which is in Bethel will happen, as it will against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria.”
Jeroboam Continues in His Sin
33 After this event, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but he returned and again made priests for the high places of people from all walks of life.[c] He filled his hand with all his desire and became one of the priests of the high places himself. 34 This matter became sin in the house of Jeroboam, to make it disappear and to destroy it from the surface of the earth.
Appeal for Unity
4 So then, my beloved and greatly desired brothers, my joy and crown, thus stand firm in the Lord, dear friends. 2 I appeal to Euodia and I appeal to Syntyche to be in agreement[a] in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask also you, true yokefellow, help them, who struggled along with me in the gospel with both Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.
Be Anxious for Nothing
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be made known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds[b] in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasing, whatever things are commendable, if there is any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these things. 9 And the things which you have learned and received and heard about and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Support for Paul’s Ministry
10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have renewed your concern for me[c], for whom also you were thinking, but you had no opportunity to express it. 11 Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 I know how both to make do with little[d] and I know how to have an abundance[e]. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to have an abundance[f] and to go without. 13 I am able to do all things by the one who strengthens me. 14 Nevertheless you have done well by sharing[g] with me in my affliction. 15 Now you also know, Philippians, that at 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 because even in Thessalonica on more than one occasion[h] you sent for my need. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek for the profit that increases to your account. 18 But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am well supplied[i] because[j] I received from Epaphroditus what you had sent[k], a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. 19 And my God will fulfill your every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever[l]. Amen.
Final Greetings and Benediction
21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, and especially those of Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Return of the Lord’s Glory and Description of Sacrifices and Worship
43 And he brought me to the gate which was facing east.[a] 2 And, look! The glory of the God of Israel, it came from the way of the east, and its sound was like the sound of many waters[b] and the land radiated due to his glory! 3 And[c] the appearance of the vision which I saw was as[d] the vision which I saw at his[e] coming to destroy the city, and these visions were also as[f] the vision which I saw by the Kebar River,[g] and I fell on my face.
4 And then the glory of Yahweh came to the temple by the way of the gate facing east.[h] 5 And the Spirit lifted me and it brought me to the inner courtyard and, look! The glory of Yahweh filled the temple! 6 And I heard someone speaking to me from the house,[i] and a man was standing beside me. 7 And he said to me, “Son of man,[j] this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet where I will dwell[k] in the midst of the Israelites[l] to eternity, and they, the house of Israel, they and their kings, will not again defile my holy name[m] with their fornication and with their offerings for the dead[n] of their kings on their high places. 8 When they placed their threshold[o] with[p] my threshold, their doorframe beside my doorframe and the[q] wall was between me and between them, then they defiled my holy name,[r] with their detestable things that they did, and so I consumed them in my anger. 9 Now let them send their fornication far away and the offerings for the dead[s] of their kings away from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them forever.[t]
10 You, son of man,[u] describe to the house of Israel the temple and let them be ashamed of their iniquities and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they are ashamed of all that they did, then the plan of the temple and its arrangement and its exits and its entrances and all of its plans[v] and all of its statutes. And all of its plans[w] and all of its laws[x] make known to them and write them before their eyes, so that they may remember all of its plans and all of its statutes, so that they do them! 12 This is the law[y] of the temple: On the top of the mountain, all of its territory, all the way around it,[z] will be most holy.[aa] Look, this is the law of the temple.
13 And these are the measurements of the altar in the cubits[ab] (a cubit is a cubit and a handbreadth):[ac] now its gutter[ad] is a cubit[ae] in depth by a cubit[af] in width[ag] and its rim along its edge all around is one span,[ah] and this is also the height of the altar. 14 And from the gutter[ai] at the ground up to the lower ledge is two cubits,[aj] and its width is one cubit,[ak] and from the small ledge up to the large ledge is four cubits,[al] and its width is one cubit. 15 And the altar hearth was four cubits,[am] and from the altar hearth and upwards[an] were the four horns of the altar. 16 And the altar hearth was twelve[ao] cubits in length and twelve[ap] cubits in width[aq]; it was squared on its four sides.[ar] 17 And the ledge was fourteen[as] cubits in length with fourteen[at] cubits its width[au] to all four of its sides, and a rim was all around it of one-half cubit.[av] And the gutter[aw] for it was a cubit[ax] all around, and its steps were facing east.”
18 And he said to me, “Son of man,[ay] thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘These are the statutes of the altar on the day when it is made,[az] to sacrifice a burnt offering on it and to sprinkle blood on it. 19 And you must give to the Levitical priests who are from the offspring of Zadok, the ones coming near me,” declares[ba] the Lord Yahweh, “to serve me, a bull, a calf[bb] as a sin offering.
20 You must take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar,[bc] and the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim all around; thus you must purify it and make atonement for it. 21 And you must take the bull, the sin offering, and you must burn it in the designated place of the temple outside of the holy place. 22 And on the second day you must offer a he-goat without defect as a sin offering, and they must purify the altar like[bd] they purified with the bull. 23 When you are finished[be] from purifying, you must offer a bull, a calf,[bf] without defect, and a ram from the flock without defect. 24 And you must bring them near before[bg] Yahweh, and the priests must throw salt on them, and they must offer them as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 25 For seven days you must provide a goat of sin offering for the day and a bull, a calf,[bh] and a ram from the flock without defect; you must provide them. 26 Seven days they must purify the altar and they must cleanse it and so they will consecrate it.[bi] 27 And they will finish the days, and then[bj] on the eighth day and beyond that the priests will offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, and then I will be pleased with you,” declares[bk] the Lord Yahweh.
A Call to Worship and Obey
95 Come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh;
let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
with songs let us shout joyfully to him.
3 For Yahweh is the[a] great God,
and the great king over all gods,
4 in whose hand are the unexplored places[b] of the earth,
and the heights of the mountains are his,
5 to whom belongs the sea that he made, [c]
and the dry land that his hands formed.
6 Come in, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before Yahweh, our maker.
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture
and the sheep of his hand.
Today[d] if you will hear his voice:[e]
8 “Do not harden your heart as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors[f] tried me.
They put me to the test,
even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation,
and said, ‘They are a people whose heart wanders.
And my ways they do not know.’
11 Therefore I swore in my anger,
‘They shall surely not enter into my rest.’”
Yahweh the King Comes in Judgment
96 Sing to[g] Yahweh a new song;
sing to[h] Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Sing to[i] Yahweh; bless his name.
Announce[j] his salvation from day to day.
3 Tell his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For Yahweh is great and very worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,[k]
but Yahweh made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of the peoples,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship Yahweh in holy array;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “Yahweh is king!
Yes, the world is established so that it will not be moved.
He will judge the peoples fairly.”
11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice.
Let the sea with[l] its fullness roar.
12 Let the field with[m] all that is in it exult.
Then all the trees of the forests will sing for joy
13 before Yahweh, for he is coming;
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his faithfulness.
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