M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Counsel
19 When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth,(A) and went into the Lord’s temple.(B) 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the court secretary,(C) and the leading priests, who were wearing sackcloth,(D) to the prophet Isaiah(E) son of Amoz. 3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth,(F) but there is no strength to deliver them. 4 Perhaps Yahweh your God(G) will hear(H) all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke(I) him for the words that Yahweh your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the surviving remnant.’”(J)
5 So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah, 6 who said to them, “Tell your master this, ‘The Lord says: Don’t be afraid(K) because of the words you have heard, that the king of Assyria’s attendants(L) have blasphemed(M) Me with. 7 I am about to put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor and return to his own land(N) where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”(O)
Sennacherib’s Departing Threat
8 When(P) the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish,(Q) he returned and found him fighting against Libnah.(R) 9 The king had heard this about Tirhakah king of Cush: “Look, he has set out to fight against you.” So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Say this to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Don’t let your God, whom you trust,(S) deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.(T) 11 Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries: they completely destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations(U) that my predecessors destroyed rescue them—nations such as Gozan,(V) Haran,(W) Rezeph, and the Edenites(X) in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?’”(Y)
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah took(Z) the letter(AA) from the hand of the messengers, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple, and spread it out before the Lord.(AB) 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord:
Lord God of Israel who is enthroned above the cherubim,(AC) You are God—You alone—of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth.(AD) 16 Listen closely, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see.(AE) Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God.(AF) 17 Lord, it is true that the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands.(AG) 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but made by human hands—wood and stone.(AH) So they have destroyed them. 19 Now, Lord our God, please save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God—You alone.(AI)
God’s Answer through Isaiah
20 Then(AJ) Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “The Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I have heard your prayer(AK) to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.’(AL) 21 This is the word the Lord has spoken against him:
Virgin Daughter Zion(AM)
despises you and scorns you:
Daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head behind your back.[a](AN)
22 Who is it you mocked and blasphemed?(AO)
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
Against the Holy One of Israel!(AP)
23 You have mocked the Lord[b] through[c] your messengers.(AQ)
You have said:
With my many chariots(AR)
I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars,
its choice cypress trees.
I came to its farthest outpost,
its densest forest.
24 I dug wells,
and I drank foreign waters.
I dried up all the streams of Egypt(AS)
with the soles of my feet.
25 Have you not heard?(AT)
I designed it long ago;
I planned it in days gone by.
I have now brought it to pass,(AU)
and you have crushed fortified cities
into piles of rubble.
26 Their inhabitants have become powerless,
dismayed, and ashamed.
They are plants of the field,
tender grass,
grass on the rooftops,(AV)
blasted by the east wind.[d]
27 But I know your sitting down,[e](AW)
your going out and your coming in,
and your raging against Me.
28 Because your raging against Me
and your arrogance have reached My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose(AX)
and My bit in your mouth;
I will make you go back
the way you came.
29 “This will be the sign(AY) for you: This year you will eat what grows on its own, and in the second year what grows from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 30 The surviving remnant(AZ) of the house of Israel will again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For a remnant will go out from Jerusalem and survivors, from Mount Zion.(BA) The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.(BB)
32 Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow there
or come before it with a shield
or build up an assault ramp against it.(BC)
33 He will go back
on the road that he came
and he will not enter this city.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
34 I will defend this city and rescue it
for My sake and for the sake of My servant David.”(BD)
Defeat and Death of Sennacherib
35 That night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!(BE) 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and left. He returned home and lived in Nineveh.(BF)
37 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech(BG) and Sharezer struck him down with the sword and escaped to the land of Ararat.(BH) Then his son Esar-haddon(BI) became king in his place.
The Nature of the Son
1 Long ago God spoke(A) to the fathers by the prophets(B) at different times and in different ways.(C) 2 In these last days,(D) He has spoken to us by His Son. God has appointed Him heir of all things and made the universe[a](E) through Him. 3 The Son is the radiance[b] of God’s glory and the exact expression[c] of His nature, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins,[d] He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.[e](F) 4 So He became higher in rank than the angels, just as the name He inherited is superior to theirs.(G)
The Son Superior to Angels
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are My Son; today I have become Your Father,[f][g] or again, I will be His Father, and He will be My Son?(H)[h] 6 When He again[i] brings His firstborn into the world,(I) He says, And all God’s angels must worship Him.(J)[j] 7 And about the angels He says:
8 but to[n] the Son:
Your throne, God,
is forever and ever,
and the scepter of Your kingdom
is a scepter of justice.(L)
9 You have loved righteousness
and hated lawlessness;
this is why God, Your God,
has anointed You
with the oil of joy(M)
rather than Your companions.[o][p]
10 And:
In the beginning, Lord,
You established the earth,
and the heavens are the works of Your hands;(N)
11 they will perish, but You remain.
They will all wear out like clothing;(O)
12 You will roll them up like a cloak,[q]
and they will be changed like a robe.
But You are the same,
and Your years will never end.(P)[r]
13 Now to which of the angels has He ever said:
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?(R)
God’s Case against Jacob’s Heirs
12 Ephraim chases[a] the wind(A)
and pursues the east wind.(B)
He continually multiplies lies and violence.
He makes a covenant with Assyria,(C)
and olive oil is carried to Egypt.(D)
2 The Lord also has a dispute with Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob according to his ways;(E)
He will repay him based on his actions.
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,(F)
and as an adult he wrestled with God.(G)
4 Jacob struggled with the Angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought His favor.(H)
He found him[b] at Bethel,(I)
and there He spoke with him.[c](J)
5 Yahweh is the God of Hosts;
Yahweh is His name.(K)
6 But you must return to your God.(L)
Maintain love and justice,(M)
and always put your hope in God.(N)
7 A merchant loves to extort(O)
with dishonest scales in his hands.(P)
8 But Ephraim says:
“How rich I have become;(Q)
I made it all myself.
In all my earnings,
no one can find any crime in me(R)
that I can be punished for!”[d]
Judgment on Apostate Israel
9 I have been Yahweh your God
ever since[e] the land of Egypt.(S)
I will make you live in tents again,(T)
as in the festival days.
10 I spoke through the prophets(U)
and granted many visions;
I gave parables through the prophets.(V)
11 Since Gilead is full of evil,(W)
they will certainly come to nothing.
They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal;(X)
even their altars will be like heaps of rocks(Y)
on the furrows of a field.
Further Indictment of Jacob’s Heirs
Psalm 135
Yahweh Is Great
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of Yahweh.
Give praise, you servants of Yahweh(A)
2 who stand in the house of Yahweh,
in the courts of the house of our God.(B)
3 Praise Yahweh, for Yahweh is good;
sing praise to His name, for it is delightful.(C)
4 For Yahweh has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His treasured possession.(D)
5 For I know that Yahweh is great;
our Lord is greater than all gods.(E)
6 Yahweh does whatever He pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.(F)
7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.(G)
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both man and beast.(H)
9 He sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his officials.(I)
10 He struck down many nations
and slaughtered mighty kings:(J)
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.(K)
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to His people Israel.(L)
13 Yahweh, Your name endures forever,
Your reputation, Yahweh,
through all generations.(M)
14 For Yahweh will vindicate His people
and have compassion on His servants.(N)
15 The idols of the nations are of silver and gold,
made by human hands.(O)
16 They have mouths but cannot speak,(P)
eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears but cannot hear;
indeed, there is no breath in their mouths.(Q)
18 Those who make them are just like them,
as are all who trust in them.(R)
19 House of Israel, praise Yahweh!(S)
House of Aaron, praise Yahweh!(T)
20 House of Levi, praise Yahweh!
You who revere the Lord, praise the Lord!(U)
21 May the Lord be praised from Zion;(V)
He dwells in Jerusalem.(W)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 136
God’s Love Is Eternal
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.(X)
His love is eternal.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love is eternal.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.(Y)
His love is eternal.
4 He alone does great wonders.(Z)
His love is eternal.
5 He made the heavens skillfully.(AA)
His love is eternal.
6 He spread the land on the waters.(AB)
His love is eternal.
7 He made the great lights:(AC)
His love is eternal.
8 the sun to rule by day,
His love is eternal.
9 the moon and stars to rule by night.(AD)
His love is eternal.
10 He struck the firstborn of the Egyptians(AE)
His love is eternal.
11 and brought Israel out from among them
His love is eternal.
12 with a strong hand and outstretched arm.(AF)
His love is eternal.
13 He divided the Red Sea(AG)
His love is eternal.
14 and led Israel through,(AH)
His love is eternal.
15 but hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.(AI)
His love is eternal.
16 He led His people in the wilderness.(AJ)
His love is eternal.
17 He struck down great kings
His love is eternal.
18 and slaughtered famous kings—
His love is eternal.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His love is eternal.
20 and Og king of Bashan—
His love is eternal.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love is eternal.
22 an inheritance to Israel His servant.(AK)
His love is eternal.
23 He remembered us in our humiliation(AL)
His love is eternal.
24 and rescued us from our foes.(AM)
His love is eternal.
25 He gives food to every creature.(AN)
His love is eternal.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven!(AO)
His love is eternal.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.