M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Isaiah Heals Hezekiah
20 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was dying. Then the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the Lord says. Give instructions to your house because you are going to die. You will not recover.”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your eyes.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Isaiah had not yet gone out from the middle courtyard when the word of the Lord came to him:
5 Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, that this is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says. I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears. I will certainly heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the House of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will protect this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
7 Then Isaiah said, “Get a cake of figs.” So they got it and put it on the infected sore, and Hezekiah recovered.
8 Then Hezekiah asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the House of the Lord on the third day from now?”
9 Isaiah said, “This will be a sign for you from the Lord that the Lord will do the thing which he said. Shall the shadow extend forward over ten more steps, or shall it move backwards ten steps?”
10 Hezekiah said, “It’s easy for the shadow to get longer and cover ten more steps. Instead, have it go back ten steps.”
11 Then the prophet Isaiah called out to the Lord, and he caused the shadow, which had gone down on the steps of Ahaz, to go backwards ten steps.
Envoys From Babylon
12 At that time, Merodak Baladan[a] son of Baladan, the king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah because he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 Hezekiah heard the envoys and showed them all his palace treasuries, the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, the armory, and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing which Hezekiah did not show them in his palace or in his whole kingdom.
14 Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said, “What did these men say, and where did they come from?”
Hezekiah said, “From a distant land—they came from Babylon.”
15 Then Isaiah asked, “What did they see in your palace?”
Hezekiah said, “They saw everything in my palace. There is nothing in my treasuries which they did not see.”
16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord. 17 Listen carefully! The days are coming when whatever is in your palace, everything which your fathers have stored up to this day, will be taken to Babylon. Not a thing will be left behind, says the Lord. 18 And some of your sons, your own descendants, whom you fathered, will be taken away and will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
19 Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” He said, “Won’t there be peace and security in my days?”
(2 Chronicles 32:32-33)
20 As for the rest of Hezekiah’s acts and all his mighty deeds, how he made the pool and the channel and brought water into the city, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Judah? 21 Hezekiah rested with his fathers. Then his son Manasseh became king in his place.
Pay Attention to God’s Word
2 Therefore, we need to pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message that was spoken through angels[a] was valid, and every transgression and disobedient act received a just punishment, 3 how will we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? First the message was spoken by the Lord; then it was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it with signs and wonders, various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his will.
God Put Everything Under His Control
5 For God did not place the coming world, about which we are speaking, under the control of angels. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified:
What is man that you remember him,
or the Son of Man[b] that you look after him?
7 You made him lower than the angels for a little while.[c]
You crowned him with glory and honor.[d]
8 You put everything in subjection under his feet.[e]
Indeed, in putting everything in subjection to him, God left nothing that is not in subjection to him. At the present time, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we look to Jesus (the one who was made lower than the angels for a little while, so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone), now crowned with glory and honor, because he suffered death.
A Merciful and Faithful High Priest
10 Certainly it was fitting for God (the one for whom and through whom everything exists), in leading many sons to glory, to bring the author of their salvation to his goal through sufferings. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified all have one Father. For that reason, he is not ashamed to call them brothers.[f] 12 He says:
I will declare your name to my brothers.
Within the congregation I will sing your praise.[g]
13 And again:
I will trust in him.[h]
And again:
Here I am and the children God has given me.[i]
14 Therefore, since the children share flesh and blood,[j] he also shared the same flesh and blood, so that through death he could destroy the one who had the power of death (that is, the Devil) 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. 16 For surely he was not concerned with helping angels but with helping Abraham’s offspring.[k] 17 For this reason, he had to become like his brothers in every way, in order that he would be a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God, so that he could pay[l] for the sins of the people. 18 Indeed, because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Repentance or Disaster?
13 When Ephraim spoke, people would tremble.
He was highly honored in Israel,
but he became guilty through worshipping Baal, so he died.
2 Now they sin more and more.
They make cast images for themselves,
idols skillfully made from their silver,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
It is said about them, “The ones who sacrifice are humans who kiss calves!”[a]
3 Therefore they will be like morning mist,
and like early dew that passes away,
like chaff that is blown away from the threshing floor,
and like smoke from a chimney.
4 But I have been the Lord your God since you left the land of Egypt.
You must not acknowledge any god except me.
There is no Savior except me.
5 I took care of you in the wilderness,
in a land burned by drought.
6 When they had pasture, they were satisfied.
When they were satisfied, their hearts became arrogant.
That is why they have forgotten me.
7 So I will be like a lion to them.
Like a leopard, I will lurk along the path.
8 I will come upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs.
I will tear the cover off their hearts.
Then I will devour them like a lioness.
The wild animals will rip them apart.
9 This is what has destroyed you, Israel:
the fact that you are against me, against your helper.[b]
10 So where is your king, so that he may save you in all your cities,
and your judges, whom you requested, saying, “Give me a king and officials”?
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up.
His sin is stored up.
13 Labor pains will come for him,
but he is not a wise son,
for when the time arrives,
he is not ready to be born.
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave![c]
I will redeem them from death!
Death, where are your plagues?
Grave, where is your destruction?
Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he flourishes as a son among brothers,[d]
an east wind will come.
The breath[e] of the Lord is coming up from the wilderness.
His spring will become dry.
His fountain will be dried up.
His treasury will be plundered of every precious article.
16 Samaria will be found guilty,
because she rebelled against her God.
The people will fall by the sword.
Their little children will be dashed to the ground,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.[f]
Psalm 137
Beside the Rivers of Babylon
Sorrow for Jerusalem
1 Beside the rivers[a] of Babylon,
there we sat, and, yes, we wept as we remembered Zion.
2 There we hung up our lyres on the willows,
3 because there our captors asked us for words of a song,
and our tormentors asked for a happy song:
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion!”
Zeal for Zion
4 How can we sing a song of the Lord on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget how to play music.[b]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my highest joy.
Zeal for God’s Vengeance
7 Remember the day of Jerusalem, O Lord,
against the descendants of Edom[c] who said,
“Tear it down, tear it down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
how blessed is the one who repays you
with the same deeds you did against us.
9 How blessed is the one who seizes your children
and dashes them against the cliff.
Psalm 138
May the Kings Praise You
Heading
By David.
Thanks From a Grateful Heart
1 I will thank you with all my heart.
Before the gods[d] I will make music for you.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple.
I will give thanks to your name
because of your mercy and because of your truth.
Yes, you made your word even greater than your name.[e]
3 By day I called, and you answered me.
You have made my soul strong.
4 All the kings of the earth will thank you, Lord,
when they have heard the message from your mouth.
5 Then they will sing about the ways of the Lord,
because the glory of the Lord is great.
6 Indeed the Lord is exalted, but he sees the lowly,
and he recognizes the proud from a distance.
7 If I walk surrounded by danger, you keep me alive
in spite of the anger of my enemies.
You stretch out your hand.
You save me with your right hand.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose[f] for me.
Lord, your mercy endures forever.
Do not let go of the works[g] of your hands.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.