M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

29 Hezekiah began to reign when he was twenty-five years old, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ² He did that which was right in Yahweh’s eyes, according to all that David his father had done. ³ In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of Yahweh’s house and repaired them. ⁴ He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them together into the wide place on the east, ⁵ and said to them, “Listen to me, you Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Yahweh, the God of your fathers, and carry the filthiness out of the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers were unfaithful, and have done that which was evil in Yahweh our God’s sight, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of Yahweh, and turned their backs. ⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ Therefore Yahweh’s wrath was on Judah and Jerusalem, and he has delivered them to be tossed back and forth, to be an astonishment and a hissing, as you see with your eyes. ⁹ For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. ¹⁰ Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Yahweh, the God of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, don’t be negligent now; for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers and burn incense.”

¹² Then the Levites arose: Mahath, the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, of the sons of the Kohathites; and of the sons of Merari, Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and of the Gershonites, Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah; ¹³ and of the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeuel; and of the sons of Asaph, Zechariah and Mattaniah; ¹⁴ and of the sons of Heman, Jehuel and Shimei; and of the sons of Jeduthun, Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They gathered their brothers, sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by Yahweh’s words, to cleanse Yahweh’s house. ¹⁶ The priests went into the inner part of Yahweh’s house to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in Yahweh’s temple into the court of Yahweh’s house. The Levites took it from there to carry it out to the brook Kidron. ¹⁷ Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month they came to Yahweh’s porch. They sanctified Yahweh’s house in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the first month they finished. ¹⁸ Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace and said, “We have cleansed all Yahweh’s house, including the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, and the table of show bread with all its vessels. ¹⁹ Moreover, we have prepared and sanctified all the vessels which King Ahaz threw away in his reign when he was unfaithful. Behold, they are before Yahweh’s altar.”

²⁰ Then Hezekiah the king arose early, gathered the princes of the city, and went up to Yahweh’s house. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah. He commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on Yahweh’s altar. ²² So they killed the bulls, and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the altar. They killed the rams and sprinkled the blood on the altar. They also killed the lambs and sprinkled the blood on the altar. ²³ They brought near the male goats for the sin offering before the king and the assembly; and they laid their hands on them. ²⁴ Then the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood on the altar, to make atonement for all Israel; for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

²⁵ He set the Levites in Yahweh’s house with cymbals, with stringed instruments, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, of Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from Yahweh by his prophets. ²⁶ The Levites stood with David’s instruments, and the priests with the trumpets. ²⁷ Hezekiah commanded them to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, Yahweh’s song also began, along with the trumpets and instruments of David king of Israel. ²⁸ All the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

²⁹ When they had finished offering, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. ³⁰ Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises to Yahweh with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. They sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshiped.

³¹ Then Hezekiah answered, “Now you have consecrated yourselves to Yahweh. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into Yahweh’s house.” The assembly brought in sacrifices and thank offerings, and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings. ³² The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to Yahweh. ³³ The consecrated things were six hundred head of cattle and three thousand sheep. ³⁴ But the priests were too few, so that they could not skin all the burnt offerings. Therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was ended, and until the priests had sanctified themselves, for the Levites were more upright in heart to sanctify themselves than the priests. ³⁵ Also the burnt offerings were in abundance, with the fat of the peace offerings and with the drink offerings for every burnt offering. So the service of Yahweh’s house was set in order. ³⁶ Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of that which God had prepared for the people; for the thing was done suddenly.

15 I saw another great and marvelous sign in the sky: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them God’s wrath is finished.

² I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image,^[a] and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. ³ They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

⁵ After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. ⁶ The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out, clothed with pure, bright linen, and wearing golden sashes around their chests.

⁷ One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. ⁸ The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. No one was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels would be finished.

⁴ Yahweh my God says: “Feed the flock of slaughter. ⁵ Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I am rich;’ and their own shepherds don’t pity them. ⁶ For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land,” says Yahweh; “but, behold, I will deliver every one of the men into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They will strike the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them.”

⁷ So I fed the flock to be slaughtered, especially the oppressed of the flock. I took for myself two staffs. The one I called “Favor” and the other I called “Union”, and I fed the flock. ⁸ I cut off the three shepherds in one month; for my soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed me. ⁹ Then I said, “I will not feed you. That which dies, let it die; and that which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.” ¹⁰ I took my staff Favor and cut it apart, that I might break my covenant that I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹ It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was Yahweh’s word. ¹² I said to them, “If you think it best, give me my wages; and if not, keep them.” So they weighed for my wages thirty pieces of silver. ¹³ Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter—the handsome price that I was valued at by them!” I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in Yahweh’s house. ¹⁴ Then I cut apart my other staff, Union, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Yahweh said to me, “Take for yourself yet again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces. ¹⁷ Woe to the worthless shepherd who leaves the flock! The sword will strike his arm and his right eye. His arm will be completely withered, and his right eye will be totally blinded!”

14 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. ³ If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also. ⁴ You know where I go, and you know the way.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. ⁷ If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works. ¹¹ Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works’ sake. ¹² Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father. ¹³ Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it. ¹⁵ If you love me, keep my commandments. ¹⁶ I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, ^[a] that he may be with you forever: ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world can’t receive, for it doesn’t see him and doesn’t know him. You know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ One who has my commandments and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”

²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

²³ Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me.

²⁵ “I have said these things to you while still living with you. ²⁶ But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. ²⁸ You heard how I told you, ‘I am going away, and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I said ‘I am going to my Father;’ for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ Now I have told you before it happens so that when it happens, you may believe. ³⁰ I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me. ³¹ But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let’s go from here.