M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
New heaven, new earth
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, from God, prepared like a bride dressed up for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne, and this is what it said: “Look! God has come to dwell with humans! He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or weeping or pain anymore, since the first things have passed away.”
5 The one who sat on the throne said, “Look, I am making all things new.” And he said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”
New Jerusalem
6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give water to the thirsty, water from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things. I will be his God and he shall be my son. 8 But as for cowards, faithless people, the unclean, murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars—their destiny will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came over and spoke to me. “Come with me,” he said, “and I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb.” 10 Then he took me in the spirit up a great high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It has the glory of God; it is radiant, like the radiance of a rare and precious jewel, like a jasper stone, crystal-clear. 12 It has a great high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names inscribed on the gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. 13 There are three gates coming in from the east, three gates from the north, three gates from the south and three gates from the west. 14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundation-stones, and on them are written the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb.
15 The one who was talking with me had a golden measuring-rod, so that he could measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city stands foursquare, with the same length and breadth. He measured the city with his rod: it was twelve thousand stadia (that is, fifteen hundred miles), with the length, the breadth and the height being equal. 17 Then he measured its wall, and it was one hundred and forty-four cubits in terms of human measurement (which was what the angel was using). 18 The material of which the wall is built is jasper, and the city itself is pure gold, like pure glass. 19 The foundations of the city wall are decorated 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 carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates are twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The street of the city is pure gold, clear as glass.
God and the lamb are there
22 I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God the Almighty is its temple, together with the lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the lamb. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day, for there will be no night there. 26 They will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 Nothing that has not been made holy will ever come into it, nor will anyone who practices abomination or who tells lies, but only those who are written in the lamb’s book of life.
The empty tomb
20 On the first day of the week, very early, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark.
She saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. 2 So she ran off, and went to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved.
“They’ve taken the master out of the tomb!” she said. “We don’t know where they’ve put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple set off and went to the tomb. 4 Both of them ran together. The other disciple ran faster than Peter, and got to the tomb first. 5 He stooped down and saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came up, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the napkin that had been around his head, not lying with the other cloths, but folded up in a place by itself.
8 Then the other disciple, who had arrived first at the tomb, went into the tomb as well. He saw, and he believed. 9 They did not yet know, you see, that the Bible had said he must rise again from the dead.
10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
Mary Magdalene and the risen Jesus
11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she wept, she stooped down to look into the tomb. 12 There she saw two angels, clothed in white, one at the head and one at the feet of where Jesus’ body had been lying.
13 “Woman,” they said to her, “why are you crying?”
“They’ve taken away my master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him!”
14 As she said this she turned around, and saw Jesus standing there. She didn’t know it was Jesus.
15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
She guessed he must be the gardener.
“Sir,” she said, “if you’ve carried him off somewhere, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.”
16 “Mary!” said Jesus.
She turned and spoke in Aramaic.
“Rabbouni!” she said (which means “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” said Jesus. “I haven’t yet gone up to the father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I’m going up to my father and your father—to my God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples, “I’ve seen the master!” and that he had said these things to her.
Jesus and the disciples
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Judaeans. Jesus came and stood in the middle of them.
“Peace be with you,” he said.
20 With these words, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were overjoyed when they saw the master.
21 “Peace be with you,” Jesus said to them again. “As the father has sent me, so I’m sending you.”
22 With that, he breathed on them.
“Receive the holy spirit,” he said. 23 “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.”
Jesus and Thomas
24 One of the Twelve, Thomas (also known as Didymus), wasn’t with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples spoke to him.
“We’ve seen the master!” they said.
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands,” replied Thomas, “and put my finger into the nail-marks, and put my hand into his side—I’m not going to believe!”
26 A week later the disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut. Jesus came and stood in the middle of them.
“Peace be with you!” he said.
27 Then he addressed Thomas.
“Bring your finger here,” he said, “and inspect my hands. Bring your hand here and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless! Just believe!”
28 “My Lord,” replied Thomas, “and my God!”
29 “Is it because you’ve seen me that you believe?” replied Jesus. “God’s blessing on people who don’t see, and yet believe!”
30 Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which aren’t written in this book. 31 But these ones are written so that you may believe that the Messiah, the son of God, is none other than Jesus; and that, with this faith, you may have life in his name.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.