M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
King Asa of Judah
14 Abijah died and was buried in Jerusalem. Then his son Asa became king, and Judah had ten years of peace.
2 Asa obeyed the Lord his God and did right. 3 He destroyed the local shrines[a] and the altars to foreign gods. He smashed the stone images of gods and cut down the sacred poles[b] used in worshiping the goddess Asherah. 4 Then he told everyone in Judah to worship the Lord God, just as their ancestors had done, and to obey his laws and teachings. 5 He destroyed every local shrine and incense altar in Judah.
6 The Lord blessed Judah with peace while Asa was king, and so during that time, Asa fortified many of the towns. 7 He said to the people, “Let's build walls and defense towers for these towns, and put in gates that can be locked with bars. This land still belongs to us, because we have obeyed the Lord our God. He has given us peace from all our enemies.” The people did everything Asa had suggested.
8 Asa had a large army of brave soldiers: 300,000 of them were from the tribe of Judah and were armed with shields and spears; 280,000 were from Benjamin and were armed with shields and bows.
Judah Defeats Ethiopia's Army
9 Zerah from Ethiopia[c] led an army of 1,000,000 soldiers and 300 chariots to the town of Mareshah[d] in Judah. 10 Asa met him there, and the two armies prepared for battle in Zephathah Valley.
11 Asa prayed:
Lord God, only you can help a powerless army defeat a stronger one. So we depend on you to help us. We will fight against this powerful army to honor your name, and we know that you won't be defeated. You are the Lord our God.
12 The Lord helped Asa and his army defeat the Ethiopians. The enemy soldiers ran away, 13 but Asa and his troops chased them as far as Gerar. It was a total defeat—the Ethiopians could not even fight back![e]
The soldiers from Judah took everything that had belonged to the Ethiopians. 14 The people who lived in the villages around Gerar learned what had happened and were afraid of the Lord. So Judah's army easily defeated them and carried off everything of value that they wanted from these towns. 15 They also attacked the camps where the shepherds lived and took a lot of sheep, goats, and camels. Then they went back to Jerusalem.
Asa Destroys the Idols in Judah
15 Some time later, God spoke to Azariah son of Oded. 2 At once, Azariah went to Asa and said:
Listen to me, King Asa and you people of Judah and Benjamin. The Lord will be with you and help you, as long as you obey and worship him. But if you disobey him, he will desert you.
3 For a long time, the people of Israel did not worship the true God or listen to priests who could teach them about God. They refused to obey God's Law. 4 But whenever trouble came, Israel turned back to the Lord their God and worshiped him.
5 There was so much confusion in those days that it wasn't safe to go anywhere in Israel. 6 Nations were destroying each other, and cities were wiping out other cities, because God was causing trouble and unrest everywhere.
7 So you must be brave. Don't give up! God will honor you for obeying him.
8 As soon as Asa heard what Azariah the prophet said, he gave orders for all the idols in Judah and Benjamin to be destroyed, including those in the towns he had captured in the territory of Ephraim. He also repaired the Lord's altar that was in front of the temple porch.
9 Asa called together the people from Judah and Benjamin, as well as the people from the territories of Ephraim, West Manasseh, and Simeon who were living in Judah. Many of these people were now loyal to Asa, because they had seen that the Lord was with him.
10 In the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa's rule, they all met in Jerusalem. 11 That same day, they took 700 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats from what they had brought back from Gerar and sacrificed them as offerings to the Lord. 12 They made a solemn promise to faithfully worship the Lord God their ancestors had worshiped, 13 and to put to death anyone who refused to obey him. 14 The crowd solemnly agreed to keep their promise to the Lord, then they celebrated by shouting and blowing trumpets and horns. 15 Everyone was happy because they had made this solemn promise, and in return, the Lord blessed them with peace from all their enemies.
16 Asa's grandmother Maacah had made a disgusting idol of the goddess Asherah, so he cut it down, crushed it, and burned it in Kidron Valley. Then he removed Maacah from her position as queen mother.[f] 17 As long as Asa lived, he was faithful to the Lord, even though he did not destroy the local shrines[g] in Israel. 18 He placed in the temple all the silver and gold objects that he and his father had dedicated to God.
19 There was peace in Judah until the thirty-fifth year of Asa's rule.
Worship in Heaven
4 After this, I looked and saw a door that opened into heaven. Then the voice that had spoken to me at first and that sounded like a trumpet said, “Come up here! I will show you what must happen next.” 2 (A) Right then the Spirit took control of me, and there in heaven I saw a throne and someone sitting on it. 3 The one who was sitting there sparkled like precious stones of jasper[a] and carnelian.[b] A rainbow that looked like an emerald[c] surrounded the throne.
4 Twenty-four other thrones were in a circle around that throne. And on each of these thrones there was an elder dressed in white clothes and wearing a gold crown. 5 (B) Flashes of lightning and roars of thunder came out from the throne in the center of the circle. Seven torches, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning in front of the throne. 6 (C)(D) Also in front of the throne was something that looked like a glass sea, clear as crystal.
Around the throne in the center were four living creatures covered front and back with eyes. 7 The first creature was like a lion, the second one was like a bull, the third one had the face of a human, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 (E) Each of the four living creatures had six wings, and their bodies were covered with eyes. Day and night they never stopped singing,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord,
the all-powerful God,
who was and is
and is coming!”
9 The living creatures kept praising, honoring, and thanking the one who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever. 10 At the same time the 24 elders knelt down before the one sitting on the throne. And as they worshiped the one who lives forever, they placed their crowns in front of the throne and said,
11 (F) “Our Lord and God,
you are worthy
to receive glory,
honor, and power.
You created all things,
and by your decision they are
and were created.”
The Glorious New Temple
2 1-2 On the twenty-first day of the next month,[a] the Lord told Haggai the prophet to speak this message to Governor Zerubbabel, High Priest Joshua, and everyone else:
3 (A) Does anyone remember how glorious this temple used to be? Now it looks like nothing. 4 But cheer up! Because I, the Lord All-Powerful, will be here to help you with the work, 5 (B) just as I promised your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt. Don't worry. My Spirit is[b] right here with you.
6 (C) Soon I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake the nations, and their treasures[c] will be brought here. Then the brightness of my glory will fill this temple. 8 All silver and gold belong to me, 9 and I promise that this new temple will be more glorious than the first one. I will also bless this city[d] with peace.
The Past and the Future
10 On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month,[e] the Lord God All-Powerful told the prophet Haggai 11 to ask the priests for their opinion on the following matters:
12 Suppose meat ready to be sacrificed to God is being carried in the folds of someone's clothing, and the clothing rubs against some bread or stew or wine or olive oil or any other food. Would those foods that were touched then become acceptable for sacrifice?
“Of course not,” the priests answered.
13 (D) Then Haggai said, “Suppose someone has touched a dead body and is considered unacceptable to worship God. If that person touches these foods, would they become unclean?”
“Of course they would,” the priests answered.
14 So the Lord told Haggai to say:
That's how it is with this entire nation. Everything you do and every sacrifice you offer is unacceptable to me. 15 But from now on, things will get better. Before you started laying the foundation for the temple, 16 you recalled what life was like in the past.[f] When you wanted 200 kilograms of wheat, there were only 10, and when you wanted 50 jars of wine, there were only 20. 17 I made all of your hard work useless by sending mildew, mold, and hail—but you still did not return to me, your Lord.
18 Today you have completed the foundation for my temple, so listen to what your future will be like. 19 Although you have not yet harvested any grain, grapes, figs, pomegranates,[g] or olives, I will richly bless you in the days ahead.
God's Promise to Zerubbabel
20 That same day the Lord spoke to Haggai again and said:
21 Tell Governor Zerubbabel of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth 22 and wipe out kings and their kingdoms. I will overturn war chariots, and then cavalry troops will start slaughtering each other. 23 But tell my servant Zerubbabel that I, the Lord All-Powerful, have chosen him, and he will rule in my name.[h]
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader. 2 One night he went to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you to teach us. You could not work these miracles, unless God were with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above[a] before you can see God's kingdom!”
4 Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”
5 Jesus answered:
I tell you for certain that before you can get into God's kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit. 6 Humans give life to their children. Yet only God's Spirit can change you into a child of God. 7 Don't be surprised when I say that you must be born from above. 8 Only God's Spirit gives new life. The Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wants to. You can hear the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going.
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied:
How can you be a teacher of Israel and not know these things? 11 I tell you for certain we know what we are talking about because we have seen it ourselves. But none of you will accept what we say. 12 (A) If you don't believe when I talk to you about things on earth, how can you possibly believe if I talk to you about things in heaven?
13 (B) No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. 14 (C) And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert.[b] 15 Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.
16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! 18 No one who has faith in God's Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn't have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God's only Son.
19 The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. 20 People who do evil hate the light and won't come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. 21 But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.
Jesus and John the Baptist
22 Later, Jesus and his disciples went to Judea, where he stayed with them for a while and was baptizing people.
23-24 (D) John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them.
25 John's followers got into an argument with a Jewish man[c] about a ceremony of washing.[d] 26 They went to John and said, “Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him.”
27 John replied:
No one can do anything unless God in heaven allows it. 28 (E) You surely remember how I told you that I am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him.
29 At a wedding the groom is the one who gets married. The best man is glad just to be there and to hear the groom's voice. That's why I am so glad. 30 Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.
The One Who Comes from Heaven
31 God's Son comes from heaven and is above all others. Everyone who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all others. 32 He speaks about what he has seen and heard, and yet no one believes him. 33 But everyone who does believe him has shown that God is truthful. 34 The Son was sent to speak God's message, and he has been given the full power of God's Spirit.
35 (F) The Father loves the Son and has given him everything. 36 Everyone who has faith in the Son has eternal life. But no one who rejects him will ever share in that life, and God will be angry with them forever.
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