M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Josiah Celebrates a Passover
35 Josiah celebrated a Passover to the Lord in Jerusalem. They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 He appointed the priests to their offices. He encouraged them in the service for the House of the Lord.
3 He said this to the Levites, who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord:
Keep the holy ark in the house built by Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel. Do not carry it on your shoulders anymore. Now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel. 4 Prepare yourselves according to your divisions, by your fathers’ house, as instructed by David king of Israel and his son Solomon.
5 Take up your positions in this holy place with a group of Levites assigned to each fathers’ house of your brothers, the people of Israel. Part of a fathers’ house of the Levites is assigned to each group. 6 Slaughter the Passover lamb. Consecrate yourselves. Prepare it for your brother Israelites according to the word of the Lord through Moses.
7 Josiah contributed a total of thirty thousand lambs and young goats as Passover offerings for all the people who were present, and three thousand cattle. These were contributed from the possessions of the king. 8 His officials contributed toward a voluntary offering on behalf of the people, the priests, and the Levites.
Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the chief officers of the House of God, gave the priests twenty-six hundred lambs for Passover offerings and three hundred cattle.
9 Konaniah and his brothers Shemaiah and Nethanel, with Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad, the officials of the Levites, contributed five thousand Passover lambs and five hundred cattle to the Levites.
10 When preparations for the service had been completed, the priests stood in their places, and the Levites stood in their divisions as the king had commanded. 11 They slaughtered the Passover lambs. The priests applied the blood they had received, while the Levites skinned the animals. 12 They set aside the burnt offerings to present them on behalf of the groups of fathers’ houses of the people, to offer them to the Lord as is written in the Book of Moses. They did the same with the cattle. 13 They roasted the Passover lamb with fire according to the regulation. They boiled the holy offerings in pots, kettles, and pans. They distributed them quickly to all the people.
14 Afterward, they made preparations for themselves and for the priests, because the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were busy offering the burnt offerings and the fat portions until it was nighttime. So the Levites prepared for themselves and for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
15 The singers, the descendants of Asaph, were in their places according to the command of David, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, the king’s seer.
The gatekeepers at each gate did not need to leave their assigned posts because their brother Levites prepared the Passover for them.
16 So all the service for the Lord was prepared on that day to celebrate the Passover and to offer burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, according to the command of King Josiah.
17 The people of Israel who were present celebrated the Passover at that time and also the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days.
18 No Passover like it had been celebrated in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet. None of the kings of Israel had celebrated such a Passover as Josiah did with the priests and the Levites, and with all Judah and Israel, whoever was present, and with the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
19 This Passover was celebrated in the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah.
Josiah’s Death
20 After all this, when Josiah had restored the House, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.
21 Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What do we have to do with each other, King of Judah? I am not against you this day, but only against the house[a] against which I am waging war. God has said that I should hurry. Stop opposing God, who is with me, so he will not destroy you.”
22 But Josiah did not turn aside from him. Instead, he disguised himself to fight with him. He did not listen to the words of Neco, which were from the mouth of God, but he went out to battle on the plain near Megiddo.
23 The archers shot King Josiah, so the king said to his attendants, “Take me away, because I am badly wounded.” 24 His attendants took him out of the chariot and carried him to his second chariot and brought him to Jerusalem. He died and was buried in the tombs of his fathers. All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.
25 Jeremiah composed a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers have sung about Josiah in their laments right up until the present day. They made this into a customary practice in Israel. You can find them recorded among the laments.
26 The rest of the acts of Josiah and his faithful deeds, which were performed according to what is written in the Law of the Lord, 27 and his actions from first to last, you can find these written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah.
The New Heaven and the New Earth
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the sea no longer existed. 2 And I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And from the throne[a] I heard a loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former things have passed away.”
5 The one who was seated on the throne said to me, “Look, I am making everything new!” He also said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me:
It is done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
To anyone who is thirsty,
I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
7 The one who overcomes
will inherit these things.
I will be his God,
and he will be my son.
8 But those who are cowardly, unbelieving, detestable,
murderers, adulterers, sorcerers, idolaters, and all the liars
will have their share in the lake burning with fire and sulfur,
which is the second death.
The New Jerusalem
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls that were filled with the seven last plagues came and spoke with me. He said, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 He carried me away in spirit to a great and high mountain, and he showed me the[b] Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It has the glory of God. Its radiance is similar to a very precious stone, like crystal-clear jasper.
12 It has a large, high wall. It has twelve gates. Twelve angels are at the gates, and twelve names are engraved on the gates, the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 13 Three gates are on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. 14 The city’s wall also has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the Lamb’s twelve apostles.
15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod so that he could measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square. Its length and width are equal. He measured the city with the measuring rod: 12,000 stadia.[c] Its length, width, and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall by human measurement, which was what the angel used: 144 cubits.
18 The wall is made of jasper, and the city is pure gold, like pure glass. 19 The foundations of the city’s wall had been adorned with every kind of precious stone.
The first foundation is jasper,
the second sapphire,
the third agate,
the fourth emerald,
20 the fifth onyx,
the sixth ruby,[d]
the seventh diamond,[e]
the eighth beryl,
the ninth topaz,
the tenth turquoise,[f]
the eleventh jacinth,
the twelfth amethyst.
21 The twelve gates are twelve pearls. Each of the gates is made out of one pearl. And the street of the city is pure gold, like transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God has given it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations[g] will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory[h] into it. 25 There is no day when its gates will be shut, for there will be no night in that place. 26 They will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 Nothing that is unclean and no one who does what is detestable or who tells lies will ever enter it, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
An Oracle From the Lord About the Messiah
3 Look! I am sending my messenger![a] He will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord, whom you are seeking, will come to his temple! The Messenger of the Covenant,[b] in whom you delight, will surely come, says the Lord of Armies.
2 But who can endure the day when he comes? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like launderers bleach![c] 3 He will be seated like a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver. They will belong to the Lord and bring him an offering in righteousness.
4 Judah and Jerusalem’s offerings will be pleasing to the Lord as they were in the days of old, in years long ago.
5 I will approach you to judge you. I will be quick to give testimony against those who practice occult arts, those who commit adultery, those who swear false oaths, those who cheat workers out of their wages, those who wrong a widow and a fatherless child, those who turn away a resident alien—all those who do not fear me, says the Lord of Armies.
6 Certainly I, the Lord, do not change. That is why you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end. 7 Since the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.
You say, “In what way should we return?”
8 Will a man rob God? You are robbing me!
You say, “How have we robbed you?”
In regard to the tithe and the special offering.[d] 9 You are being cursed since all of you, the whole nation, are robbing me. 10 Bring the complete tithe to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Just test me in this, says the Lord of Armies. See whether I do not open for you the windows[e] of heaven and pour down blessing on you, until there is more than enough. 11 I will restrain the devouring swarm so that it will not destroy your produce from your soil. Your vine in the field will not be without fruit, says the Lord of Armies. 12 All the nations will call you blessed, because you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of Armies.
13 Your words against me are harsh, says the Lord.
You ask, “How have we spoken against you?” 14 You say, “Serving God is pointless. What have we gained by carefully keeping his requirements and by walking around like mourners before the Lord of Armies? 15 Now we will call the arrogant blessed. Even evildoers are built up. They even test God and get away with it.”
Israel’s Response
16 Then those who fear the Lord spoke with each other. The Lord gave them his attention and listened. A book of remembrance was written in front of him for those who fear the Lord and have regard for his name.
17 They will be mine, says the Lord of Armies, on the day I make them my treasured possession. I will spare them just as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then you will again see the distinction between a righteous person and a wicked person, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
The Resurrection
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she left and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she told them, “and we don’t know where they put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. 5 Bending over, he saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter, who was following him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The cloth that had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths, but was folded up in a separate place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, also entered. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not yet understand the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.)
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, weeping. As she wept, she bent over, looking into the tomb. 12 She saw two angels in white clothes sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.”
14 After she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”
Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you carried him off, tell me where you laid him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and replied in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means, “Teacher”).
17 Jesus told her, “Do not continue to cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father—to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” She also told them the things he said to her.
Behind Locked Doors
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Thomas Finally Believes
24 But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called the Twin,[a] was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.”
28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Gospel Account
30 Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.