M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
19 Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned to his house in Jerusalem safely.
2 Jehu son of Hanani, the seer, went out to meet King Jehoshaphat and said to him, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath from the Lord is upon you. 3 Nevertheless, good things are present in you, because you destroyed the Asherah poles from the land and have set your heart to seek God.”
Jehoshaphat Appoints Judges
4 Jehoshaphat ruled from[a] Jerusalem.
He once again went out among the people, from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their fathers. 5 He appointed judges throughout the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city.
6 He said to the judges, “Watch what you do, because you are not judging for the people, but for the Lord. He is with you as you judge. 7 Now may the dread of the Lord be upon you. Watch what you do, because there is no injustice, partiality, or taking bribes with the Lord our God.”
8 In Jerusalem too Jehoshaphat appointed men from the Levites, the priests, and the leading fathers of Israel to act as judges on behalf of the Lord and to settle disputes, and they presided in[b] Jerusalem.
9 He commanded them:
This is how you are to conduct yourselves in the fear of the Lord, in faithfulness, and with your whole heart. 10 In every case concerning bloodshed, law, commands, statutes, or ordinances that comes to you from your brother Israelites who live in their cities, you will instruct them so that they will not incur guilt before the Lord, and so that wrath does not come upon you and upon your brothers. If you do this, you will not incur guilt.
11 Take note of this. Amariah the head priest is over you in all matters concerning the Lord. Zebadiah son of Ishmael is the governor for the house of Judah in all matters concerning the king. The Levites are officials for you. Act courageously. The Lord will be with those who do what is good.
Jehoshaphat Defeats the Moabites and Ammonites
20 After this the Moabites, the Ammonites, and some of the Meunites[c] with them, all came against Jehoshaphat for battle. 2 Jehoshaphat was told, “A huge horde is coming against you from beyond the sea[d] and from Edom.[e] Look! They are already in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi).
3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, but he focused on seeking the Lord. He proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord. From all the cities of Judah people came to seek the Lord.
Jehoshaphat’s Speech
5 Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the House of the Lord in front of the new courtyard. 6 He said:
Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God in heaven? You are ruling over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might. There is no one who can stand up against you.
7 Was it not you, our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land in front of your people Israel? You gave it to the descendants of your friend Abraham forever. 8 They have lived in it, and in it they have built a holy place for your Name, and they said, 9 “If disaster comes on us—the sword of judgment, plague, and famine, we will stand before this house and before you, for your Name is in this house. We will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear and save.”
10 Now look! Men from Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir have invaded. When Israel came up from the land of Egypt, you did not allow Israel to invade their land. So Israel went around them and did not destroy them. 11 Look how they are rewarding us by coming to drive us out from your possession, which you have given to us as an inheritance. 12 Our God, will you not judge them? For there is no power in us to face this huge horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
13 All Judah was standing before the Lord along with their dependents, their wives, and their children.
14 The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite from the descendants of Asaph. He was standing in the middle of the assembly. 15 He said:
Listen, all Judah, all you residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says to you. Do not be afraid. Do not be terrified because of this huge horde, for the battle is not yours. It is God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Look, they are coming up by the Ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley east of the Wilderness of Jeruel.
17 It is not up to you to fight this battle. Just take up your position. Stand still, Judah and Jerusalem, and see that the victory of the Lord is with you. Do not be afraid. Do not be terrified. Tomorrow go out against them. The Lord will be with you.
18 Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the residents of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord to worship the Lord. 19 Then the Levites from the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
20 They got up early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa. As they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and you residents of Jerusalem. Have faith in the Lord your God, and you will find him to be faithful. Believe his prophets and you will succeed.”
21 After he consulted with the people, he appointed singers to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness,[f] as they went out ahead of the army, singing:
Give thanks to the Lord, for his mercy endures forever.
22 At the time when they began the jubilant songs of praise to the Lord, he set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who were marching against Judah, and they were routed, 23 because the men of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to destroy them and wipe them out. When they were finished with the inhabitants of Seir, they helped destroy each other.
24 When Judah came to a spot overlooking the wilderness and looked out toward that horde, they saw nothing but dead bodies lying on the ground. No one had escaped.
25 Jehoshaphat and his people came to gather the spoils. They found huge amounts of equipment and valuables among the bodies. They collected so much for themselves that they could not carry it. It took them three days to gather the spoils because there was so much.
26 On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they blessed the Lord. That is why that place is named the Valley of Berakah[g] to this day.
27 Then all the men of Judah and Jerusalem joyfully returned to Jerusalem with Jehoshaphat at their head, because the Lord had given them reason to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They came to Jerusalem to the House of the Lord with harps, lyres, and trumpets.
29 The dread of the Lord was upon all the kingdoms of the lands, when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
30 Then Jehoshaphat’s kingdom was quiet. His God gave him rest on every side.
The Summary of Jehoshaphat’s Reign
31 Jehoshaphat ruled as king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.
32 He walked in the ways of his father Asa by doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He did not turn from it.
33 The high places, however, were not removed. The people still did not set their hearts toward the God of their fathers.
34 The rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, from first to last, are recorded in the annals of Jehu son of Hanani, which are included in the Book of the Kings of Israel.
35 After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did wicked things. 36 He joined with him to build ships to go to Tarshish.[h] They built the ships in Ezion Geber. 37 Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat: “Because you joined with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed what you have made.” The ships were wrecked, so they were not able to go to Tarshish.
The Seventh Seal: Seven Angels With Seven Trumpets
8 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, holding a gold censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer together with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar that was in front of the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense went up from the hand of the angel before God, together with the prayers of the saints.
5 The angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. Then there came crashes of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The First Four Trumpets
6 The seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared to sound them. 7 The first sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, and[a] a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the creatures that live in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a huge star, blazing like a lamp, fell from the sky. It fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star was Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood.[b] Many of the people died from these waters because they had been made bitter.
12 Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, as well as a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them became dark. And there was no light for a third of the day and likewise for the night.
13 Then I looked and I heard a single eagle[c] flying in the middle of the sky, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those whose home is on the earth because of the remaining trumpet blasts of the three angels who are about to sound their trumpets.”
The Fifth Vision: A Lampstand and Two Olive Trees
4 Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me up in the same way that a man is awakened from sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “Look! Right there, I see a lampstand, made entirely of gold, with a basin on top of it, with seven lamps on it, and there are seven channels leading to the lamps that are on top of it.[a] 3 There are two olive trees beside it, one to the right of the bowl, and one to its left.”
4 I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 The angel who was speaking with me answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
I answered, “No, my lord.”
6 So he said to me:
This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Armies. 7 What are you, you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a level plain. Then he will bring out the capstone with shouts of “Grace! Grace be with it!”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me:
9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you.
10 For who despises the day of small things? They will rejoice to see the plumb line[b] in the hand of Zerubbabel.
These seven are the eyes of the Lord that range throughout the whole earth.
11 Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees to the right and left of the lampstand?” 12 I asked him a second time, “What are the two olive branches that are beside the two gold conduits that pour out the golden oil?”
13 He said to me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, my lord.”
14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones[c] who stand by the Lord of all the earth.”
Up to Jerusalem
7 After this, Jesus moved around in Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to find a way to kill him.
2 Now the Jewish Festival of Shelters[a] was near. 3 So his brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea so your disciples there can also see the works you are doing. 4 Indeed, no one acts in secret who wants to be known in public. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
6 So Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not arrived yet, but any time is the right time for you. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the festival. I am not going up to this festival yet,[b] because the right time for me has not yet arrived.”
9 After he said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 However, after his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but in a private way.
At the Festival of Shelters[c]
11 At the festival, the Jews kept looking for him. They asked, “Where is he?” 12 And there was widespread whispering about him in the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” Others were saying, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 Yet no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jews.
14 When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How does this man know what is written without being instructed?”
16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but it comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether my teaching is from God or if I speak on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own is seeking his own glory. But he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him—that is the one who is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you does what the law tells you. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 “You have a demon!” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you are all amazed. 22 Consider this: Because Moses has given you circumcision (not that it comes from Moses, but from the fathers), you circumcise a man even on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by outward appearance. Instead make a right judgment.”
25 Some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? 26 Yet, look! He’s speaking openly, and they don’t say a thing to him. Certainly the rulers have not concluded that he is the Christ, have they? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28 Then Jesus called out as he was teaching in the temple courts, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is real. You do not know him. 29 I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
31 But many in the crowd believed in him and asked, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more miraculous signs than this man, will he?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about him, so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent guards to arrest him.
33 Then Jesus said, “I am going to be with you only a little while longer. Then I am going away to the one who sent me. 34 You will be looking for me and will not find me, and where I am going to be, you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? He does not intend to go to the Jews scattered among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will be looking for me and will not find me, and where I am going to be, you cannot come’?”
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and called out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38 As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive. For the Holy[d] Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 After hearing his words, some of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Surely the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ comes from David’s descendants and from the little town of Bethlehem where David lived?” 43 So the people were divided because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 Then the guards came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 The guards answered, “No one ever spoke the way this man does!”
47 So the Pharisees answered them, “You have not been deceived too, have you? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, is cursed!”
50 One of them, Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus earlier, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man before we hear from him and find out what he’s doing?”
52 “You are not from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Search and you will see that a prophet does not come from Galilee.”
53 Then each of them went home.[e]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.