M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 22
Reign of Josiah.[a] 1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah, and she was the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath.
2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the ways of David, his father. He did not wander off to the right or to the left.
The Book of the Law.[b] 3 During the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple. He said, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah, the high priest. Have him count the money that the doorkeepers have collected from the people in the temple of the Lord. 5 Have him give it to the supervisors of the workmen in the temple of the Lord. Have them pay those who are working to repair the damage in the temple of the Lord: 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons. Also have them buy timber and hewn stone to repair the temple. 7 They do not need to make an accounting of the money that has been given to them because they have acted honestly.”
8 Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan, the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it.
9 Then Shaphan the scribe went to the king and he brought the king a report saying, “Your servants have gathered together the money that has been collected in the temple, and they have handed it over to the supervisors of the workmen in the temple of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 King Josiah gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, Achbor, the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for all of the people and for all of Judah about the words of the book that had been found. The Lord’s anger against us is great for our fathers have not heeded the words of this book. They did not do everything that is written in it concerning us.”
14 Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, the guardian of the wardrobe, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas. She lived in the second district of Jerusalem. They spoke with her. 15 She said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, go tell the man who sent you to me: 16 Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon all of those who live in it, everything that is in the book that the king of Judah has read. 17 They have forsaken me, and they have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all the deeds of their hands. My wrath will blaze out against this place and it will not be quenched.
18 “But as for the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, this is what you will say to him: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: As for the words that you have heard, 19 because your heart was penitent and you have humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and you wept before me, I have also heard you, says the Lord. 20 Therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, so that you will not have to look upon all of the evil that I will bring upon this place with your own eyes.” They brought the report back to the king.
Chapter 4
The Sabbath Rest of God’s People.[a] 1 Therefore, since the promise of entering into his rest endures, we must take care that none of you be judged to have fallen short. 2 For we too have received the good news just as they did, but the message they heard was of no benefit to them because those who listened did not combine it with faith. 3 For we who have faith enter into that rest, just as God has said:
“Therefore, I swore in my anger,
‘They will never enter into my rest.’ ”
Yet God’s work had been finished at the beginning of the world. 4 For somewhere he says in reference to the seventh day, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And in this passage it says, “They will never enter into my rest.”
6 Seeing, therefore, that some will enter into that rest, and since those who first had received the good news failed to enter because of their refusal to believe, 7 God once more set a day—“today”—when long afterward he spoke through David, as already quoted:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.”
8 Now if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken afterward of another day. 9 Therefore, a Sabbath rest still remains for the people of God, 10 since those who enter into God’s rest also cease from their own labors as God did from his. 11 Let us then make every effort to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall by following that example of refusing to believe.
12 The Word of God Is Living.[b] Indeed, the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, it pierces to the point where it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. 13 Nothing in creation is hidden from his sight. Everything is uncovered and exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we must all render an account.
14 A Compassionate High Priest.[c] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our profession of faith. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tested in every respect as we are, but without sinning. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace when we are in need of help.
Mourning and Repentance in Judea
Chapter 1
The Countryside Is Ravaged.[a] 1 This is the word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
2 Hear this, you elders!
Listen to me, all you inhabitants of the land!
Has anything like this ever happened in your days
or in the days of your ancestors?
3 Tell your children about it,
and let them relate it to their children,
and their children to the next generation.
4 What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust left,
the destroying locust has eaten.
5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Lament, all you winedrinkers!
For the juice of the grape
will be snatched from your mouth.
6 For a nation has invaded my land,
powerful and too vast to count,
possessing teeth like those of a lion,
and the fangs of a lioness.
7 It has laid waste my vines
and destroyed my fig trees,
stripping off their bark
and leaving their branches white.
8 Lament like a virgin garbed in sackcloth
grieving for the betrothed of her youth.
9 Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off
from the house of the Lord.
The priests, the ministers of the Lord,
are in mourning.
10 The fields are destroyed;
the earth mourns.
The grain has been ruined;
the wine has dried up;
the oil has failed.
11 Despair, you farmers,
and wail, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley;
the harvest of the fields is lost.
12 The vine has withered;
the fig tree droops.
The pomegranate, the palm, and the apple tree—
all the trees of the field have dried up.
And the joy of the people
has also withered away.
Announce a Holy Fast; Proclaim a Solemn Assembly[b]
13 Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests!
Wail, you ministers of the altar!
Come, pass the entire night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God!
For the house of your God is deprived
of grain offerings and libations.
14 Announce a holy fast;
proclaim a solemn assembly.
Summon the elders
and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord, your God,
and cry out to the Lord.
15 Woe to us on that day!
For the day of the Lord[c] is near,
coming as destruction from the Almighty.
16 Has not the food been cut off
before our very eyes?
Have not joy and gladness disappeared
from the house of our God?
17 The seed has shriveled under the clods;
the storehouses are empty,
and the granaries are deserted
because the grain has dried up.
18 How loudly the cattle groan!
The herds of oxen are bewildered
because they have no pasture;
even the flocks of sheep are wasting away.
19 To you, O Lord, I cry,
for fire has consumed the open pastures
and flames have destroyed every tree in the countryside.
20 Even the beasts of the field
cry out to you.
For the streams of water have dried up,
and fire has devoured the open pastures.
Psalm 140[a]
Prayer for Deliverance from the Snares of the Wicked
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers;
protect me from those who are violent,
3 who plan evil schemes in their hearts[d]
and stir up strife continually.
4 Their tongues[e] are as sharp as those of a serpent,
while the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah
5 Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from those who are violent,
who are determined to cause my downfall.
6 The arrogant[f] have set a hidden trap for me;
they have spread out cords as a net,
laying snares for me along the way. Selah
7 [g]I say to the Lord, “You are my God.
Listen, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.”
8 O Lord, my God, my strong deliverer,
you shield my head on the day of battle.
9 Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O Lord;
do not permit their evil plots to succeed,
or they will become proud. Selah
10 [h]Those who surround me raise up their heads;
let them be overwhelmed by the malice they threaten.
11 May burning coals rain down on them;
may they be flung down into the miry depths,
never again to rise.[i]
12 Do not permit slanderers to find rest in the land;
may evil hunt the violent to their death.
13 [j]I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor
and upholds the cause of the needy.
14 Then the upright will give thanks to your name,
and the righteous will dwell in your presence.
Psalm 141[k]
Prayer for Protection against Evildoers
1 [l]A psalm of David.
O Lord, I call to you; come quickly to my aid;
listen to my plea when I call out to you.
2 May my prayer be like incense[m] before you,
the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
3 [n]Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not permit my heart to be drawn to evil,
or to the pursuit of wicked deeds
in the company of those who do evil;
let me not share in their corruption.
5 [o]If a righteous man strikes me, I regard it as kindness;
if he rebukes me, it is oil on my head.[p]
But never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
for my prayer is always opposed to their evil deeds.
6 [q]When their leaders are flung down in stony places,
they will learn that my prayers were heard.
7 As the soil is shattered when the ground is plowed,
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of the netherworld.
8 [r]But my eyes are turned to you, O Lord God;
in you I seek refuge;
do not take my life away.
9 Keep me safe from the traps they have laid for me,
from the snares of evildoers.
10 Let the wicked tumble into their own nets all together
while I pass by unharmed.[s]
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