M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Josiah King of Judah
34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he ruled as king in Jerusalem for thirty-one years.
2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Josiah Cleanses the Land
3 In the eighth year of his reign, when he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David. In the twelfth year he began to purify Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images. 4 In his presence they tore down the altars of the Baals. He chopped down the sun pillars, which stood above them. He broke the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images into pieces and ground them to dust, which he scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of their priests on their altars. In this way he purified Judah and Jerusalem. 6 In the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and as far as Naphtali, as well as in the ruins around them, 7 he tore down the altars, the Asherah poles, and the images. He ground them into powder. He cut to pieces all the sun pillars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah Repairs the Temple
8 In the eighteenth year of his rule, in order to purify the land and the House, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, Ma’aseiah the administrator of the city, and Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the House of the Lord his God. 9 They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the silver that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the keepers of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh and Ephraim, from all of the remnant of Israel, and from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the residents of Jerusalem. 10 They gave it to those doing the work, to the ones who were organized to work in the House of the Lord. Those who were doing the work in the House of the Lord used it to repair and restore the building. 11 They gave it to the carpenters and the builders to buy quarried stones and timbers for joists and beams for the buildings which the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin.
12 The men were doing the work faithfully. The supervisors appointed to oversee the work were Jahath and Obadiah, who were Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, who were Levites descended from Kohath. These Levites were all skillful with musical instruments. 13 They were in charge of the people transporting material and were overseers for all those doing the different kinds of work. Some of the Levites also served as scribes, officials, and gatekeepers.
Hilkiah Finds the Book of the Law
14 When they brought out the silver that had been brought into the House of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been received from the hand of Moses. 15 Hilkiah responded by telling Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the House of the Lord.” Hilkiah then gave the scroll to Shaphan.
16 Shaphan brought the scroll to the king. He also brought this report to the king: “Your servants are doing everything they were assigned to do. 17 They have emptied the silver found in the House of the Lord from the chest and have delivered it to the overseers and to the workmen.”
18 Shaphan the secretary then told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothing.
20 The king gave this command to Hilkiah and to Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah servant of the king:[a] 21 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for those who remain in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book which has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is being poured out on us because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord by doing everything that is written in this book.”
22 Hilkiah and the men the king sent with him went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah,[b] the keeper of the vestments.[c] She was living in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke to her concerning this matter.
23 She told them:
This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. Tell the man who sent you to me that 24 this is what the Lord says:
Look! I am bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants—all the curses written in the book which they read before the king of Judah— 25 because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all the work of their hands. My anger will be poured out on this place. It will not be quenched.
26 To the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, you will also say this:
The Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken the words which you have heard. 27 But because your heart was receptive, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and because you have humbled yourself before me, have ripped your clothing, and have wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.
28 Listen to my response! I will gather you to your fathers. You will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.
They brought back this message to the king.
The Book of the Covenant Is Read and Followed
29 The king then summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 The king went up to the House of the Lord with all the men of Judah, with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people from the least to the greatest. In their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the House of the Lord.
31 The king stood in his place by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk in the way of the Lord, to keep his commandments, his testimonies, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, and to uphold the words of the covenant that were written in this book.
32 Then he made all those who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin stand up and do the same. The inhabitants of Jerusalem acted according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
Josiah Cleanses the Land
33 Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands that belonged to the people of Israel. He influenced everyone in Israel to serve the Lord their God. Throughout all his days, they did not turn away from the Lord, the God of their fathers.
Christ and Satan
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, bound him for a thousand years, 3 threw him into the abyss, locked it, and set a seal on it, so that he could no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years come to an end. After this he must be released for a short time.
They Lived and Reigned With Christ
4 Then I saw thrones, and those who were sitting on them were given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast and his image, and they did not receive his mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years came to an end.) This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them. Instead they will be priests of God and of Christ. And they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Satan Defeated
7 When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be released from his prison. 8 He will go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. They are as numerous as the sand of the sea.
9 They came up over the broad expanse of the earth, and they surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of[a] heaven and devoured them. 10 And the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are. There they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.
The Final Judgment
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 12 I also saw the dead, great and small, standing in front of the throne, and books were opened. Another book was also opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged by the things written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and the Grave[b] gave up the dead that were in them, and they were judged, each one according to what he had done.
14 Death and the Grave[c] were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death. 15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.
A Warning to the Priests From the Lord
2 Now, you priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If you do not listen, if you do not set your heart on giving glory to my name, says the Lord of Armies, then I will send the curse[a] against you. I will curse your blessings. In fact, I have already cursed your offerings because you are not putting your heart into it. 3 Yes, I will rebuke your offspring.[b] I will smear animal bowels and their contents on your faces, the bowels produced by your festivals, and you will be hauled off with them.[c]
4 You will know that I sent you this commandment, so that my covenant with Levi may continue, says the Lord of Armies. 5 My covenant with him was life and peace, which I gave to him. It was a covenant of reverence,[d] and he revered me. He respected my name. 6 The true law was in his mouth, and no injustice was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness. He turned many away from guilt. 7 The lips of a priest should be guardians of knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth because he is a messenger of the Lord of Armies.
8 But you priests have turned from the way. You have made many people stumble in regard to the law.[e] You have ruined the covenant with Levi, says the Lord of Armies. 9 So I have made you despised and humiliated in the view of all the people, because you are not keeping my ways but are showing favoritism in carrying out the law.
Instruction From the Prophet:
The Covenant Is Broken by Divorce
10 Don’t we all have one Father? Hasn’t one God created us? Why then do we violate our vows to each other, polluting the covenant of our fathers? 11 Judah has acted unfaithfully. A detestable thing was done in Israel and in Jerusalem when Judah polluted the holy place[f] of the Lord, which the Lord loves. Judah is married to the daughter of a foreign god. 12 May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob any man who does this, both the one who is awake and the one who answers,[g] even if he brings an offering to the Lord of Armies!
13 This is the second thing you do: You cover the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and crying, because there is no longer any favorable response to your offering, and God is not pleased with anything from your hand. 14 So you ask, “Why is this happening?” This is why—because the Lord is a witness in the case between you and the wife you married when you were young, because you have betrayed her—though she was your partner, the wife with whom you made a covenant! 15 No one has done this who has a remnant of the Spirit.[h] And why one? He is seeking offspring from God.[i] So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not act unfaithfully against the wife you married when you were young. 16 He hates divorce! That is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. He hates it when a person wears violence as a garment. That is what the Lord of Armies says. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be unfaithful.
17 You have made the Lord weary with your words. You say, “How have we made him weary?” Whenever you say that anyone who does evil is good in the Lord’s eyes or that the Lord takes pleasure in evildoers. Or whenever you say, “Where is the God of justice?”
“Behold the Man!”
19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on his head. Then they threw a purple robe around him. 3 They kept coming to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they kept hitting him in the face.
4 Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
5 So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
6 When the chief priests and guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Pilate told them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He went back inside the palace again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”
But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 So Pilate asked him, “Are you not talking to me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to release you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over me at all if it had not been given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate tried to release Jesus. But the Jews shouted, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar!”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s seat at a place called the Stone Pavement, or Gabbatha in Aramaic. 14 It was about the sixth hour[a] on the Preparation Day for the Passover. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15 They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?”
“We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.
16 So then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.
“They Crucified Him”
So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to what is called the Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him with two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate also had a notice written and fastened on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews.”
20 Many of the Jews read this notice, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.
21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that ‘this man said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took his tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s cast lots to see who gets it.” This was so that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
They divided my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.[b]
So the soldiers did these things.
Jesus’ Compassion for His Mother
25 Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing near the cross.
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother!” And from that time this disciple took her into his own home.
Jesus Gives Up His Life
28 After this, knowing that everything had now been finished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I thirst.”
29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there. So they put a sponge soaked in sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished!” Then, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
The Piercing of Jesus’ Side
31 Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses over the Sabbath (because that Sabbath was a particularly important day). They asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and the bodies taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who was crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other man.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. Immediately blood and water came out. 35 The one who saw it has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. 36 Indeed, these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, “Not one of his bones will be broken.”[c] 37 Again another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they pierced.”[d]
Jesus’ Burial
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him remove Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave him permission, he came and took Jesus’ body away. 39 Nicodemus, who earlier had come to Jesus at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-two pounds.[e]
40 They took Jesus’ body and bound it with linen strips along with the spices, in accord with Jewish burial customs.
41 There was a garden at the place where Jesus was crucified. And in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. 42 So they laid Jesus there, because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and the tomb was near.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.