M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
God’s victory
19 After this I heard something like a loud voice coming from a huge crowd in heaven. “Alleluia!” they were saying. “Salvation and glory and power belong to our God! 2 His judgments are true and just! He has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged the blood of his servants for which she was responsible.” 3 Once more they said, “Alleluia! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever.”
4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne. “Amen!” they said. “Alleluia!” 5 And a voice came from the throne: “Give praise to our God, all you his servants, and you who fear him, both small and great.” 6 Then I heard something like the sound of a great crowd, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of strong thunder, saying, “Alleluia! The Lord our God, the Almighty, has become king! 7 Let us celebrate and rejoice and give him the glory, because the marriage of the lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. 8 She has been given shining, pure linen to wear.” (The linen is the righteous deeds of God’s holy people.)
9 “Write this,” he said to me. “God’s blessing on those who are called to the marriage supper of the lamb.” And he added, “These words are the true words of God.” 10 I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Look! Don’t do that! I am a fellow-servant with you, and with your brothers and sisters who hold on to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!” (The testimony of Jesus, you see, is the spirit of prophecy.)
The monster defeated
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. The one who was sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war justly. 12 His eyes are like a flaming fire, and there are many coronets on his head. He has a name written there which nobody knows except himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and he is called by the name “God’s Word.” 14 The armies of heaven follow him on white horses, all wearing shining, pure linen. 15 A sharp two-edged sword is coming out of his mouth, so that with it he can strike down the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron, and he will tread the winepress of the wine of the anger of the wrath of Almighty God. 16 On his robe, and on his thigh, is written a name: King of kings, and Lord of lords.
17 Then I saw a single angel standing in the sun, and shouting in a loud voice, calling to all the birds that fly in mid-heaven: “Come here! Gather round! This is God’s great feast! 18 Come and eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of generals, the flesh of the strong, the flesh of horses and their riders, the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great!” 19 And I saw the monster and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered for war with the one who sits on the horse and with his army. 20 And the monster was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs in its presence, with which it had deceived those who received the monster’s mark and those who worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with sulfur. 21 All the rest were killed by the sword which came out of the mouth of the one who was sitting on the horse. All the birds feasted on their flesh.
The arrest of Jesus
18 With these words, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples went in.
2 Judas, his betrayer, knew the place, because Jesus often used it as a meeting-place with his disciples. 3 So Judas took a band of soldiers, with some servants of the chief priests and the Pharisees, and came there with torches, lights and weapons.
4 Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him. He went out to meet them.
“Who are you looking for?” he asked.
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.
“I’m the one,” he said to them.
Judas, his betrayer, was standing there with them. 6 So when he said, “I’m the one,” they went back a few paces, and fell down on the ground.
7 Jesus repeated his question.
“Who are you looking for?” he asked.
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.
8 “I told you, I’m the one!” said Jesus. “So, if you’re looking for me, let these people go.” 9 (He said this so as to fulfill the word he had spoken, when he said, “I haven’t lost any of the people you gave me.”)
10 Simon Peter had a sword. He drew it and hit the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.
11 “Put your sword back in its sheath!” said Jesus to Peter. “Do you imagine I’m not going to drink the cup my father has given me?”
12 So the band of soldiers, with the officer and the Judaean attendants, arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13 They led him off first to Annas; he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. 14 It was Caiaphas who had given advice to the Judaeans that the best thing would be for one man to die for the people.
Peter denies Jesus
15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was known to the high priest; he went in to the high priest’s courtyard along with Jesus, 16 while Peter stood outside by the gate. So the other disciple, being known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the woman on the gate. Then he brought Peter inside.
17 The woman on the gate spoke to Peter.
“You’re not one of that man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked.
“No, I’m not,” he replied.
18 It was cold. The slaves and the attendants had made a charcoal fire, and they were standing round it, warming themselves. Peter was standing there with them and warming himself.
19 The high priest asked Jesus about his disciples, and about his teaching.
20 “I’ve spoken to the world quite openly,” replied Jesus. “I always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple, where all the Judaeans gather. I didn’t say anything in secret. 21 Why are you asking me? There were people who listened to me. Ask them what I said to them. Don’t you see? They know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said that, one of the attendants standing there gave him a slap on the face.
“Is that how you answer the high priest?” he said.
23 “If I’ve said something wrong,” replied Jesus, “give evidence about what was wrong with it. But if what I said was true, why are you hitting me?”
24 So Annas sent him off, still tied up, to Caiaphas the high priest.
25 Simon Peter, meanwhile, was standing there and warming himself.
“You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” they asked him.
He denied it. “No, I’m not,” he said.
26 Then one of the high priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, spoke up.
“Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” he said.
27 Peter denied it once more. Instantly, the cock crowed.
Pilate and the Judaeans
28 So they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, the governor’s residence. It was early in the morning. They didn’t themselves go inside the Praetorium. They were anxious not to pollute themselves, so that they would still be able to eat the Passover.
29 So Pilate went outside and spoke to them.
“What’s the charge, then?” he asked. “What have you got against this fellow?”
30 “If he wasn’t doing wicked things,” they replied, “we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”
31 “Take him yourselves,” said Pilate to them, “and judge him by your own law.”
“We’re not allowed to put anyone to death,” replied the Judaeans. 32 (This was so that the word of Jesus might come true, when he had indicated what sort of death he was going to die.)
My kingdom is not from this world
33 So Pilate went back in to the Praetorium and spoke to Jesus.
“Are you the King of the Jews?” he asked.
34 “Was it your idea to ask that?” asked Jesus. “Or did other people tell you about me?”
35 “I’m not a Jew, am I?” retorted Pilate. “Your own people, and the chief priests, have handed you over to me! What have you done?”
36 “My kingdom isn’t the sort that grows in this world,” replied Jesus. “If my kingdom were from this world, my supporters would have fought, to stop me being handed over to the Judaeans. So then, my kingdom is not the sort that comes from here.”
37 “So!” said Pilate. “You are a king, are you?”
“You’re the one who’s calling me a king,” replied Jesus. “I was born for this; I’ve come into the world for this: to give evidence about the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
38 “Truth!” said Pilate. “What’s that?”
With those words, he went back out to the Judaeans.
“I find this man not guilty!” he said to them. 39 “But look here: you’ve got this custom that I should let someone free at Passover-time. So what about it? Would you like me to release ‘The King of the Jews’?”
40 “No!” they shouted. “We don’t want him! Give us Barabbas!”
Now Barabbas was a brigand.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.