M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hezekiah Rules Judah

29 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old. And he ruled for twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. ² Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He did all that his father David had done.

Hezekiah Makes the House of God Holy Again

³ In the first month of the first year of his rule, he opened the doors of the Lord’s house and made them like new. ⁴ He brought in the religious leaders and the Levites, and gathered them in the open space on the east side. ⁵ Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. Now make yourselves holy. And make holy the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers. Carry what is unclean out from the holy place. ⁶ For our fathers have not been faithful. They have done what is bad in the eyes of the Lord our God. They have left Him and turned their faces away from the house of the Lord. They have turned their backs. ⁷ They have also shut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps. They have not burned special perfume or given burnt gifts in the holy place to the God of Israel. ⁸ So the Lord was angry with Judah and Jerusalem. He has made them an object of fear and wonder and shame, as you see with your own eyes. ⁹ See, our fathers have fallen by the sword. And our sons, our daughters and our wives have been taken away to a strange land because of this. ¹⁰ Now it is in my heart to make an agreement with the Lord God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us. ¹¹ My sons, take care now. For the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to do His work and to burn special perfume.”

¹² Then the Levites set to work. There was Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azariah, from the sons of the Kohathites. From the sons of Merari there was Kish the son of Abdi, and Azariah the son of Jehallelel. From the Gershonites there was Joah the son of Zimmah, and Eden the son of Joah. ¹³ There were Shimri and Jeiel from the sons of Elizaphan. There were Zechariah and Mattaniah from the sons of Asaph. ¹⁴ From the sons of Heman there were Jehiel and Shimei. And from the sons of Jeduthun there were Shemaiah and Uzziel. ¹⁵ They gathered their brothers and made themselves holy, and went in to make the Lord’s house clean, as the king had told them by the words of the Lord. ¹⁶ The religious leaders went in to the inside part of the Lord’s house to make it clean. They brought out to the open space of the Lord’s house everything they found inside which was unclean. Then the Levites took it and carried it out to the river of Kidron. ¹⁷ They began to make it holy on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the month they came to the porch of the Lord. Then they made the Lord’s house holy in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the first month. ¹⁸ Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have made clean the whole house of the Lord, the altar of burnt gifts with all of its objects, and the table of holy bread with all of its objects. ¹⁹ And we have made all the objects holy which King Ahaz had thrown away during his rule when he was not faithful. See, they are before the altar of the Lord.”

Worship in the House of God Again

²⁰ Then King Hezekiah got up early and gathered the city rulers and went up to the house of the Lord. ²¹ They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats, for a sin gift for the nation, the holy place, and Judah. Hezekiah told the religious leaders, the sons of Aaron, to give them on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they killed the bulls, and the religious leaders took the blood and put it on the altar. They killed the rams and put the blood on the altar. And they killed the lambs and put the blood on the altar. ²³ Then they brought the male goats of the sin gift in front of the king and the people. They laid their hands on them. ²⁴ And the religious leaders killed them and gave a sin gift with their blood, to pay for the sins of all Israel. For the king said that the burnt gift and the sin gift should be made for all Israel.

²⁵ Then Hezekiah put the Levites in their places in the house of the Lord with timbrels and different kinds of harps. He did as David, Gad and Nathan, the men who spoke for God, had all said. For through these men the Lord said that this was to be done. ²⁶ The Levites stood with the objects for making music which David had made. And the religious leaders stood with the horns. ²⁷ Then Hezekiah told them to give the burnt gift on the altar. When the burnt gift began, the song to the Lord also began, with the horns and the objects for music made by David, king of Israel. ²⁸ While all the people worshiped, the singers sang and the horns sounded. The music went on until the burnt gift was finished.

²⁹ When the burnt gift was finished, the king and all who were with him bowed down and worshiped. ³⁰ King Hezekiah and the rulers told the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the man of God. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped. ³¹ Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have made yourselves holy to the Lord, come near and bring gifts for the altar and gifts of thanks to the house of the Lord.” And the people brought gifts for the altar and gifts of thanks. All those who were willing brought burnt gifts. ³² The number of the burnt gifts which the people brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs. All these were for a burnt gift to the Lord. ³³ And the holy gifts were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep. ³⁴ But there were not enough religious leaders to skin all the burnt gifts. So their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was finished, and until all the religious leaders had made themselves holy. For the Levites put more care into making themselves holy than the religious leaders. ³⁵ There were also many burnt gifts with the fat of the peace gifts. And there were the drink gifts for the burnt gifts. So the worship was returned to the house of the Lord. ³⁶ Then Hezekiah and all the people were filled with joy because of what God had done for the people, for it was done all at once.

Seven Angels with Seven Troubles

15 Then I saw something else special in heaven that was great and made me wonder. There were seven angels with the seven last kinds of trouble. With these, God’s anger is finished.

² Then I saw something that looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. I saw many standing on the sea of glass. They were those who had won their fight with the wild animal and his false god and with his mark. All of them were holding harps that God had given to them. ³ They were singing the song of Moses, who was a servant owned by God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “The things You do are great and powerful. You are the All-powerful Lord God. You are always right and true in everything You do. You are King of all nations. ⁴ Who will not honor You, Lord, with love and fear? Who will not tell of the greatness of Your name? For You are the only One Who is holy. All nations will come and worship before You. Everyone sees that You do the right things.”

⁵ After this I looked and saw that the Holiest Place of All in the house of God was opened. ⁶ The seven angels who had the seven last kinds of trouble came out of the house of God. They were wearing clothes made of clean white linen. They were wearing belts made of gold around their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living beings gave to each of the seven angels a jar made of gold. These jars were filled with the anger of God Who lives forever. ⁸ The house of God was filled with smoke from the shining-greatness and power of God. No one was able to go into the house of God until the seven angels had completed the seven kinds of trouble.

Strong Men Are Destroyed

11 Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may destroy your cedars! ² Cry in sorrow, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen. The beautiful trees have been destroyed. Cry in sorrow, O oaks of Bashan, for the many trees have fallen. ³ Listen to the cry of the shepherds, for their great land is laid waste. Listen to the sound of the young lions, for the trees along the valley of the Jordan River lay waste.

The Two Shepherds

⁴ The Lord my God said, “Take care of the flock that is to be killed. ⁵ Those who buy them kill them and are not punished. And those who sell them say, ‘Thanks and honor be to the Lord, for I have become rich!’ Their own shepherds have no pity on them. ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the people who live in this land,” says the Lord. “I will give everyone over to the power of his neighbor and his king. They will bring trouble to the land, and I will not save them from their power.”

⁷ So I took care of the flock that was to be killed, and those of the flock who suffered. I took two walking sticks. One I called Favor, and the other I called Agreement. I took care of the flock. ⁸ I destroyed the three shepherds in one month. I was angry with them, and they hated me. ⁹ Then I said, “I will not take care of you. Let those die who are to die. And what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.” ¹⁰ And I took my walking stick Favor and cut it in pieces, to break the agreement I had made with all the people. ¹¹ So it was broken on that day. And those of the flock who suffered and were watching me knew that it was the Word of the Lord. ¹² I said to them, “If you think it is right, give me my pay. But if not, keep it.” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my pay. ¹³ Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the one who makes pots—the great price they thought I was worth.” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the pot maker in the house of the Lord. ¹⁴ Then I cut my second walking stick, Agreement, in pieces, to break the agreement between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the tools of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For I am going to have a shepherd rule over the land who will not care for the dying. He will not look for those who were sent everywhere or heal the hurt, or feed those who are well. But he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their feet. ¹⁷ It is bad for the shepherd who has no worth and who leaves the flock! A sword will destroy his arm and his right eye! His arm will be all dried up, and his right eye will be blind.”

Jesus Comforts His Followers

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled. You have put your trust in God, put your trust in Me also. ² There are many rooms in My Father’s house. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going away to make a place for you. ³ After I go and make a place for you, I will come back and take you with Me. Then you may be where I am. ⁴ You know where I am going and you know how to get there.”

⁵ Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way to get there?” ⁶ Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me. ⁷ If you had known Me, you would know My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him.”

Jesus and His Father Are One

⁸ Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we ask.” ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time and you do not know Me yet? Whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me? What I say to you, I do not say by My own power. The Father Who lives in Me does His work through Me.

¹¹ “Believe Me that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me. Or else believe Me because of the things I do. ¹² For sure, I tell you, whoever puts his trust in Me can do the things I am doing. He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so the shining-greatness of the Father may be seen in the Son. ¹⁴ Yes, if you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Jesus Promises to Give the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love Me, you will do what I say. ¹⁶ Then I will ask My Father and He will give you another Helper. He will be with you forever. ¹⁷ He is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot receive Him. It does not see Him or know Him. You know Him because He lives with you and will be in you.

Jesus Tells of His Death

¹⁸ “I will not leave you without help as children without parents. I will come to you. ¹⁹ In a little while the world will see Me no more. You will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ When that day comes, you will know that I am in My Father. You will know that you are in Me. You will know that I am in you. ²¹ The one who loves Me is the one who has My teaching and obeys it. My Father will love whoever loves Me. I will love him and will show Myself to him.”

²² The other Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Why is it You are going to show Yourself to us followers and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus said, “The one who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love him. We will come to him and live with him. ²⁴ The one who does not love Me does not obey My teaching. The teaching you are now hearing is not My teaching but it is from My Father Who sent Me.

²⁵ “I have told you these things while I am still with you. ²⁶ The Helper is the Holy Spirit. The Father will send Him in My place. He will teach you everything and help you remember everything I have told you.

Jesus Gives His Followers Peace

²⁷ “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give peace to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. ²⁸ You heard Me say that I am going away. But I am coming back to you. If you love Me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father. The Father is greater than I. ²⁹ I have told you this before it happens. Then when it does happen, you will believe.

³⁰ “I will not talk much more with you. The leader of this world is coming. He has no power over Me. ³¹ I am doing what the Father told Me to do so the world may know I love the Father. Come, let us be on our way.