M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

King Ahaz of Judah^(A)

16 In the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah son of Remaliah as king of Israel, Ahaz son of Jotham became king of Judah ² at the age of twenty, and he ruled in Jerusalem for sixteen years. He did not follow the good example of his ancestor King David; instead, he did what was not pleasing to the Lord his God ^3 (B)and followed the example of the kings of Israel. He even sacrificed his own son as a burnt offering to idols, imitating the disgusting practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land as the Israelites advanced. ⁴ At the pagan places of worship, on the hills, and under every shady tree, Ahaz offered sacrifices and burned incense.

^5 (C)King Rezin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel attacked Jerusalem and besieged it, but could not defeat Ahaz. (⁶ At the same time the king of Edom^[a] regained control of the city of Elath and drove out the Judeans who lived there. The Edomites settled in Elath and still live there.) ⁷ Ahaz sent men to Tiglath Pileser, the emperor of Assyria, with this message: “I am your devoted servant. Come and rescue me from the kings of Syria and of Israel, who are attacking me.” ⁸ Ahaz took the silver and gold from the Temple and the palace treasury, and sent it as a present to the emperor. ⁹ Tiglath Pileser, in answer to Ahaz' plea, marched out with his army against Damascus, captured it, killed King Rezin, and took the people to Kir as prisoners.

¹⁰ When King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Emperor Tiglath Pileser, he saw the altar there and sent back to Uriah the priest an exact model of it, down to the smallest details. ¹¹ So Uriah built an altar just like it and finished it before Ahaz returned. ¹² On his return from Damascus, Ahaz saw that the altar was finished, ¹³ so he burned animal sacrifices and grain offerings on it and poured a wine offering and the blood of a fellowship offering on it. ^14 (D)The bronze altar dedicated to the Lord was between the new altar and the Temple, so Ahaz moved it to the north side of his new altar. ¹⁵ Then he ordered Uriah: “Use this large altar of mine for the morning burnt offerings and the evening grain offerings, for the burnt offerings and grain offerings of the king and the people, and for the people's wine offerings. Pour on it the blood of all the animals that are sacrificed. But keep the bronze altar for me to use for divination.” ¹⁶ Uriah did as the king commanded.

^17 (E)King Ahaz took apart the bronze carts used in the Temple and removed the basins that were on them. He also took the bronze tank from the backs of the twelve bronze bulls and placed it on a stone foundation. ¹⁸ And in order to please the Assyrian emperor, Ahaz also removed from the Temple the platform for the royal throne and closed up the king's private entrance to the Temple.^[b]

¹⁹ Everything else that King Ahaz did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah.

^20 (F)Ahaz died and was buried in the royal tombs in David's City, and his son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.

Sound Doctrine

2 But you must teach what agrees with sound doctrine. ² Instruct the older men to be sober, sensible, and self-controlled; to be sound in their faith, love, and endurance. ³ In the same way instruct the older women to behave as women should who live a holy life. They must not be slanderers or slaves to wine. They must teach what is good, ⁴ in order to train the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, and to be good housewives who submit themselves to their husbands, so that no one will speak evil of the message that comes from God.

⁶ In the same way urge the young men to be self-controlled. ⁷ In all things you yourself must be an example of good behavior. Be sincere and serious in your teaching. ⁸ Use sound words that cannot be criticized, so that your enemies may be put to shame by not having anything bad to say about us.

⁹ Slaves are to submit themselves to their masters and please them in all things. They must not talk back to them ¹⁰ or steal from them. Instead, they must show that they are always good and faithful, so as to bring credit to the teaching about God our Savior in all they do.

¹¹ For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of all people. ¹² That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this world, ¹³ as we wait for the blessed Day we hope for, when the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ^[a] will appear. ^14 (A)He gave himself for us, to rescue us from all wickedness and to make us a pure people who belong to him alone and are eager to do good.

¹⁵ Teach these things and use your full authority as you encourage and rebuke your hearers. Let none of them look down on you.

Hosea Announces Punishment for Israel

9 People of Israel, stop celebrating your festivals like pagans. You have turned away from your God and have been unfaithful to him. All over the land you have sold yourselves like prostitutes to the god Baal and have loved the grain you thought he paid you with! ² But soon you will not have enough grain and olive oil, and there will be no wine. ³ The people of Israel will not remain in the Lord's land, but will have to go back to Egypt and will have to eat forbidden food^[a] in Assyria. ⁴ In those foreign lands they will not be able to make wine offerings to the Lord or bring their sacrifices to him. Their food will defile everyone who eats it, like food eaten at funerals. It will be used only to satisfy their hunger; none of it will be taken as an offering to the Lord's Temple. ⁵ And when the time comes for the appointed festivals in honor of the Lord, what will they do then? ⁶ When the disaster comes and the people are scattered, the Egyptians will gather them up—gather them for burial there at Memphis! Their treasures of silver and the places where their homes once stood will be overgrown with weeds and thorn bushes.

^7 (A)The time for punishment has come, the time when people will get what they deserve. When that happens, Israel will know it! “This prophet,” you say, “is a fool. This inspired man is insane.” You people hate me so much because your sin is so great. ⁸ God has sent me as a prophet to warn his people Israel. Yet wherever I go, you try to trap me like a bird. Even in God's Temple the people are the prophet's enemies. ^9 (B)They are hopelessly evil in what they do, just as they were at Gibeah.^[b] God will remember their sin and punish them for it.

Israel's Sin and Its Consequences

^10 (C)The Lord says, “When I first found Israel, it was like finding grapes growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season. But when they came to Mount Peor, they began to worship Baal and soon became as disgusting as the gods they loved. ¹¹ Israel's greatness will fly away like a bird, and there will be no more children born to them, no more women pregnant, no more children conceived. ¹² But even if they did bring up children, I would take them away and not leave one alive. When I abandon these people, terrible things will happen to them.”

¹³ Lord, I can see their children being hunted down^[c] and killed. ¹⁴ What shall I ask you to do to these people? Make their women barren! Make them unable to nurse their babies!

The Lord's Judgment on Israel

¹⁵ The Lord says, “All their evildoing began in Gilgal. It was there that I began to hate them. And because of the evil they have done, I will drive them out of my land. I will not love them any more; all their leaders have rebelled against me. ¹⁶ The people of Israel are like a plant whose roots have dried up and which bears no fruit. They will have no children, but even if they did, I would kill the children so dear to them.”

The Prophet Speaks about Israel

¹⁷ The God I serve will reject his people, because they have not listened to him. They will become wanderers among the nations.

A Prayer for Deliverance

In Praise of God's Goodness^[c]

The Reward of Obedience to the Lord