M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joash Repairs the Temple
24 Joash[a] was seven years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah from Beersheba.
2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
3 Jehoiada obtained two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.
4 After this, it was on Joash’s heart to restore the House of the Lord, 5 so he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel for the repairs to the house of your God. Do this annually. Get started immediately.”
The Levites, however, did not act on it quickly, 6 so the king summoned Jehoiada, the head of the project,[b] and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax which Moses, the servant of the Lord, established with the congregation of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?”[c]
7 (Because Athaliah was wicked, her sons had broken into the House of God and used all the dedicated things of the House of the Lord for the Baals.)
8 The king gave a command that a chest was to be made and set outside the gate of the House of the Lord.[d] 9 A proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that the tax imposed upon Israel in the wilderness by Moses, the servant of God, should be brought to the Lord. 10 All the officials and all the people rejoiced. They brought the money and dropped it into the chest until it was full.
11 From time to time the chest was delivered from the custody of the Levites to the king’s administrators. Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of silver in it, the secretary of the king and the administrator of the head priest came and emptied the chest. Then they would take the chest and return it to its place. They did this regularly and collected a large amount of silver.
12 The king and Jehoiada gave the silver to those carrying out the work on the House of the Lord. They hired stonemasons and carpenters to restore the House of the Lord, and also craftsmen who worked with iron and bronze to repair the House of the Lord.
13 The laborers carrying out the project worked hard, and the work of restoration moved forward because of the diligent work of their hands. They restored the House of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.
14 When they finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and to Jehoiada. They used it to make items for the House of the Lord, utensils for use in the service and for the burnt offerings, such as small dishes[e] and gold and silver vessels. So they offered burnt offerings in the House of the Lord continually, throughout all the days of Jehoiada.
Joash Turns Away From the Lord
15 Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and he died. He was one hundred thirty years old at his death.
16 They buried him in the City of David with the kings, because he had done good things for Israel in connection with God and his house.
17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king. Then the king began to listen to them. 18 They abandoned the House of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherahs and the idols. Wrath fell upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their guilt.
19 God sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. The prophets testified against them, but they did not listen.
20 The Spirit of God came upon[f] Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood in front of the people and said to them, “This is what God says. Why do you disobey the commandments of the Lord? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.”
21 But they conspired against him, and by the command of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the House of the Lord.
22 Thus King Joash did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, his mentor,[g] had shown to him. Instead, he killed Jehoiada’s son. As Zechariah was dying, he said, “The Lord will see and avenge.”
The End of Joash
23 At the end of the year, the army of Aram marched out against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem. They slaughtered all the officials from among the people, and they sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus. 24 Although the army of Aram had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered a very great army into their hand because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. So the Arameans carried out judgment against Joash.
25 When they withdrew, leaving behind Joash, who was severely wounded, his own officials conspired against him because of the blood of the sons[h] of Jehoiada the priest. They violently attacked him on his bed, and he died. They buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad son of Shimath, an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman.[i]
27 The accounts about his sons, about the many prophetic warnings against him, and about the restoration of the House of God are recorded in the notes in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah ruled as king in his place.
The Two Witnesses
11 Then a measuring rod like a staff was given to me. He said,[a] “Stand up and measure the incense altar and the temple of God and those who worship in it. 2 Exclude the outer court of the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the heathen. They will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 I will commission my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that are standing before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone wants to harm them, fire is going to come out of their mouths and consume their enemies. If anyone should want to harm them, it is necessary that he be killed in this way.
6 These two have the authority to shut the sky so that no rain falls during the days when they are prophesying. They also have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and the authority to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
The Beast That Kills the Two Witnesses
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will fight against them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city, which spiritually[b] is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.
9 Some from the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. 10 Those who dwell on the earth will also rejoice over them and celebrate by sending gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 After three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them. They stood on their feet, and a great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And I[c] heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up into heaven in a cloud, as their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment there was also a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed by the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave praise to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. See, the third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet: The End of the World
15 Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying:
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and
of his Christ,[d]
and he will reign forever and ever.
16 The twenty-four elders, who were sitting on their thrones before God, also fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying:
We thank you, Lord God Almighty, who is, and who was,[e]
because you have taken your great power and reigned.
18 The nations were angry, and your anger has come.
And the time has come
when the dead are to be judged, and
when you will give the reward to your servants the prophets
and to your saints,
namely, to those who fear your name, the small
and the great, and
when you will destroy those who destroy the earth.
19 And God’s temple in heaven was opened and the Ark of his Covenant was seen in his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
The Reason the Land Became Desolate
7 In the fourth year of King Darius,[a] the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Kislev.[b]
2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem Melek with their men to plead for the favor of the Lord 3 by asking the priests who were at the house of the Lord of Armies and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord of Armies came to me:
5 Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests.
When you fasted and lamented during the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and drink, is it not for yourselves that you eat and drink? 7 Weren’t these the words that the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and when the Negev and the Shephelah[c] were inhabited?
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah:
9 This is what the Lord of Armies says. Execute true justice. Each man is to show kindness and compassion to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless child, the foreigner living among you, or the poor. Make sure that none of you plan evil in your heart against your brother.
11 But they refused to pay attention. They turned a stubborn shoulder and covered their ears so that they would not hear. 12 They made their hearts like the hardest rock[d] so that they would not hear the law and the words that the Lord of Armies sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. As a result, the fierce anger from the Lord of Armies was great.
13 When I called, they would not listen. So when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord of Armies. 14 I scattered them with a windstorm, among all the nations which they did not know. So the land was left desolate behind them. No one traveled back and forth through it. They made the pleasant land desolate.
The Good Shepherd
10 “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the door, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration in speaking to the people, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
7 So Jesus said again, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: I am the door for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
10 “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired man, who is not a shepherd, does not own the sheep. He sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 Because he works for money, he does not care about the sheep.
14 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me 15 (just as the Father knows me and I know the Father). And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I also have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This is the commission I received from my Father.”
19 There was a division among the Jews again because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind! Why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of someone demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
“I and the Father Are One”
22 Then the Festival of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple area in Solomon’s Colonnade.
24 So the Jews gathered around Jesus, asking, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I am doing in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep, as I said to you.[b] 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?”
33 “We are not going to stone you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because although you are a man, you make yourself out to be God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said you are gods’?[c] 35 If he called those people ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart and sent into the world? Do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works so that you will know and understand[d] that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
39 So they tried to arrest him again, but he eluded their grasp. 40 He went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he stayed there.
41 Many came to him and were saying, “John never did a miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.