M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

King Rehoboam Acts Foolishly

12 ^(A)Then Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to ^(B)Shechem to make him king. ² Now ^(C)when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, ^[a]he was living in Egypt (for he was yet in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of King Solomon). ³ Then they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, ⁴ “^(D)Your father made our yoke hard; now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” ⁵ Then he said to them, “^(E)Depart ^[b]for three days, then return to me.” So the people departed.

⁶ King Rehoboam ^(F)consulted with the elders who had ^[c]served his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, “How do you counsel me to answer this people?” ⁷ Then they spoke to him, saying, “^(G)If you will be a servant to this people today, and will serve them and ^[d]grant them their petition, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever.” ⁸ But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given him, and consulted with the young men who grew up with him ^[e]and served him. ⁹ So he said to them, “What counsel do you give that we may answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke which your father put on us’?” ¹⁰ The young men who grew up with him spoke to him, saying, “Thus you shall say to this people who spoke to you, saying, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, now you make it lighter for us!’ But you shall speak to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins! ¹¹ Whereas my father loaded you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

¹² Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as the king had ^[f]directed, saying, “^(H)Return to me on the third day.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly, for he forsook the advice of the elders which they had ^[g]given him, ¹⁴ and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “^(I)My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people; ^(J)for it was a turn of events from the Lord, ^(K)that He might establish His word, which the Lord spoke through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam Rules Israel

¹⁶ When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying,

So Israel departed to their tents. ¹⁷ But ^(M)as for the sons of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned over them. ¹⁸ Then King Rehoboam sent ^(N)Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him ^[h]to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. ^19 (O)So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

²⁰ It came about when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, that they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. ^(P)None but the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.

^21 (Q)Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²² But the word of God came to ^(R)Shemaiah the man of God, saying, ²³ “Speak to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the ^(S)rest of the people, saying, ²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, “You must not go up and fight against your ^[i]relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, ^(T)for this thing has come from Me.”’” So they listened to the word of the Lord, and returned and went their way according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam’s Idolatry

²⁵ Then ^(U)Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived ^[j]there. And he went out from there and built ^(V)Penuel. ²⁶ Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. ^27 (W)If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸ So the king ^[k]consulted, and ^(X)made two golden ^(Y)calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; ^(Z)behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” ²⁹ He set ^(AA)one in ^(AB)Bethel, and the other he put in ^(AC)Dan. ³⁰ Now ^(AD)this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. ³¹ And ^(AE)he made houses on high places, and ^(AF)made priests from among ^[l]all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. ³² Jeroboam ^[m]instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, ^(AG)like the feast which is in Judah, and he ^[n]went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel ^(AH)the priests of the high places which he had made. ³³ Then he ^[o]went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had ^[p](AI)devised ^[q]in his own heart; and he ^[r]instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and ^[s]went up to the altar ^(AJ)to burn ^[t]incense.

The Goal of Life

3 Finally, my brethren, ^(A)rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

² Beware of the ^(B)dogs, beware of the ^(C)evil workers, beware of the ^[a]false circumcision; ³ for ^(D)we are the true ^[b]circumcision, who ^(E)worship in the Spirit of God and ^(F)glory in ^(G)Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, ⁴ although ^(H)I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: ^5 (I)circumcised the eighth day, of the ^(J)nation of Israel, of the ^(K)tribe of Benjamin, a ^(L)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, ^(M)a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, ^(N)a persecutor of the church; as to the ^(O)righteousness which is in the Law, found ^(P)blameless.

⁷ But ^(Q)whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss ^[c]in view of the surpassing value of ^[d](R)knowing ^(S)Christ Jesus my Lord, ^[e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, ⁹ and may be found in Him, not having ^(T)a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, ^(U)the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰ that I may ^(V)know Him and ^(W)the power of His resurrection and ^[f](X)the fellowship of His sufferings, being ^(Y)conformed to His death; ^11 [g]in order that I may ^(Z)attain to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already ^(AA)obtained it or have already ^(AB)become perfect, but I press on ^[h]so that I may ^(AC)lay hold of that ^[i]for which also I ^(AD)was laid hold of by ^(AE)Christ Jesus. ¹³ Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: ^(AF)forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I ^(AG)press on toward the goal for the prize of the ^(AH)upward call of God in ^(AI)Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let us therefore, as many as are ^[j](AJ)perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a ^(AK)different attitude, ^(AL)God will reveal that also to you; ¹⁶ however, let us keep ^[k](AM)living by that same standard to which we have attained.

¹⁷ Brethren, ^(AN)join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the ^(AO)pattern you have in us. ¹⁸ For ^(AP)many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even ^(AQ)weeping, that they are enemies of ^(AR)the cross of Christ, ¹⁹ whose end is destruction, whose god is their ^[l](AS)appetite, and whose ^(AT)glory is in their shame, who ^(AU)set their minds on earthly things. ²⁰ For ^(AV)our ^[m]citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly ^(AW)wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; ²¹ who will ^(AX)transform ^[n]the body of our humble state into ^(AY)conformity with ^[o]the ^(AZ)body of His glory, ^(BA)by the exertion of the power that He has even to ^(BB)subject all things to Himself.

Chambers of the Temple

42 Then he ^(A)brought me out into the ^(B)outer court, the way ^(C)toward the north; and he brought me to the ^(D)chamber which was opposite the ^(E)separate area and opposite the ^(F)building toward the north. ² Along the length, which was a ^(G)hundred cubits, was the north door; the width was fifty cubits. ³ Opposite the ^(H)twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and opposite the ^(I)pavement which belonged to the outer court, was ^[a](J)gallery corresponding to ^[b]gallery in three stories. ⁴ Before the ^(K)chambers was an inner walk ten cubits wide, a way of one hundred cubits; and their openings were on the north. ⁵ Now the upper chambers were ^[c]smaller because the ^[d](L)galleries took more space away from them than from the lower and middle ones in the building. ⁶ For they were in ^(M)three stories and had no pillars like the pillars of the courts; therefore the upper chambers were ^[e]set back from the ground upward, more than the lower and middle ones. ⁷ As for the ^(N)outer wall by the side of the chambers, toward the outer court facing the chambers, its length was fifty cubits. ⁸ For the length of the chambers which were in the outer court was fifty cubits; and behold, the length of those facing the temple was a ^(O)hundred cubits. ⁹ Below these chambers was the ^(P)entrance on the east side, as one enters them from the outer court.

¹⁰ In the ^[f]thickness of the ^(Q)wall of the court toward the east, facing the ^(R)separate area and facing the building, there were ^(S)chambers. ¹¹ The ^(T)way in front of them was like the appearance of the chambers which were on the north, according to their length so was their width, and all their exits were both according to their arrangements and openings. ¹² Corresponding to the openings of the chambers which were toward the south was an opening at the head of the way, the way in front of the ^(U)wall toward the east, as one enters them.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the ^(V)separate area, they are the ^(W)holy chambers where the priests who are ^(X)near to the Lord shall eat the ^(Y)most holy things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests enter, then they shall not go out into the outer court from the sanctuary ^[g]without ^(Z)laying there their ^(AA)garments in which they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they shall approach that which is for the people.”

¹⁵ Now when he had finished measuring the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the ^(AB)gate which faced toward the east and measured it all around. ¹⁶ He measured on the east side with the measuring reed five hundred reeds by the ^(AC)measuring reed. ¹⁷ He measured on the north side five hundred reeds by the measuring reed. ¹⁸ On the south side he measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ¹⁹ He turned to the west side and measured five hundred reeds with the measuring reed. ²⁰ He measured it ^[h]on the four sides; it had a ^(AD)wall all around, the ^(AE)length five hundred and the ^(AF)width five hundred, to ^(AG)divide between the holy and the profane.

The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.