M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Hezekiah Celebrates Passover
30 Then Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, to come to the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. 2 Now the king and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to make the Passover feast in the second month— 3 but they were not able to make it at that time, for the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient numbers,[a] and the people had not been assembled in Jerusalem— 4 and the plan seemed right in the eyes of the king and in the eyes of all the assembly. 5 So they let the decree stand, to make a proclamation[b] throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, to come to make a Passover feast to Yahweh the God of Israel. 6 And the runners went with the letter from the hand of the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah according to the command of the king, saying, “O sons of Israel, return to Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your fathers and like your brothers, who acted unfaithfully before Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,[c] so that he made them as a desolation, as you see. 8 Now, do not stiffen your neck as your fathers,[d] but give a hand to Yahweh and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve Yahweh your God that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 9 For when you return to Yahweh, your brothers and your children will find compassion before their captors and return to this land, for Yahweh your God is gracious and compassionate, and he will not turn away his face from you if you return to him.”
10 And it happened that the runners were passing from city to city in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and up to Zebulun, but they were laughing at them and mocking them. 11 Only men from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. 12 The hand of God was also upon Judah, to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and the princes concerning the word of Yahweh.
13 So many people gathered in Jerusalem to hold the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month; it was a very great assembly. 14 And they rose up and removed the altars that were in Jerusalem. And they removed all the incense altars and threw them away in the Wadi[e] Kidron. 15 And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites were disgraced, so they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of Yahweh. 16 Then they stood at their positions according to custom, according to the law of Moses the man of God. The priests were sprinkling the blood from the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly who did not consecrate themselves, so the Levites were over the killing of the Passover sacrifices for all who were not clean, to consecrate them to Yahweh. 18 For a majority of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves. But they ate the Passover sacrifice otherwise than prescribed,[f] but Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Yahweh make atonement unto 19 everyone whose heart is set to seek God, Yahweh the God of his ancestors,[g] though not according to the cleansing for the sanctuary.” 20 And Yahweh listened to Hezekiah, and he healed the people. 21 And the Israelites[h] who were found in Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great joy. And the Levites and the priests were offering praise to Yahweh day by day, with powerful instruments to Yahweh. 22 And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites who were skilled at service[i] to Yahweh. So they ate the feast seven days, offering peace offerings and giving thanks to Yahweh, the God of their ancestors.[j]
23 Then the whole assembly decided to make seven more days of feasting, so they made seven more days with joy, 24 for Hezekiah the king of Judah had provided[k] one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for the assembly, and the princes provided[l] one thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep for the assembly. And many priests consecrated themselves. 25 And the whole assembly of Judah, the priests and the Levites, all the assembly who had come from the land of Israel, and those living in Judah rejoiced. 26 And there was great joy in Jerusalem, for from the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there was nothing such as this in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy dwelling place in the heavens.
The Seven Bowls of the Wrath of God
16 And I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” 2 And the first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and there was an evil and painful sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
3 And the second poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood, like that of a dead person, and every living thing that was in the sea died.
4 And the third poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying,
“You are righteous, the one who is and the one who was, the Holy One,
because you have judged these things,
6 because they have poured out the blood of the saints and prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink;
they are deserving!”
7 And I heard the altar saying,
“Yes, Lord God All-Powerful,
true and righteous are your judgments.”
8 And the fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was granted to it to burn up people with fire. 9 And people were burned up by the great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent to give him glory.
10 And the fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they began chewing their tongues because of the pain. 11 And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and because of their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.
12 And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, in order that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east[a]. 13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs. 14 For they are the spirits of demons performing signs that go out to the kings of the whole inhabited world, to gather them for the battle of the great day of God the All-Powerful. 15 (Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is on the alert and who keeps his clothing, so that he does not walk around naked and they see his shamefulness!) 16 And he gathered them to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.
17 And the seventh poured out his bowl on the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were lightnings and sounds and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, as has not happened from the time humanity has been on the earth—so great in this way was the earthquake. 19 And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his furious wrath.[b] 20 And every island fled, and mountains were not found. 21 And large hailstones, weighing about a hundred pounds,[c] came down from the sky upon people, and the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, because the plague of it was very great.
The Day of Yahweh
12 An oracle. The word of Yahweh concerning Israel. “Thus declares[a] Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, founds the earth, and forms the spirit of humankind in its midst:[b] 2 ‘Look, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup of reeling for all the surrounding nations; it will also be against Judah in the siege against Jerusalem. 3 And then[c] on that day I will make Jerusalem a stone weight[d] for all the peoples. All those lifting it up will grievously hurt themselves, and all the nations of the earth will assemble against it. 4 On that day,’ declares[e] Yahweh, ‘I will strike every horse with confusion, and the one riding it with madness; but over the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open,[f] and I will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the clans of Judah will say to themselves,[g] “The inhabitants of Jerusalem are a strength to us,[h] through Yahweh of hosts, their God.”
6 “‘On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a pan of fire among sticks of wood, and like a torch of fire among stalks[i] of grain, and they will devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, and Jerusalem will be inhabited again in its place, in Jerusalem. 7 And Yahweh will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants[j] of Jerusalem may not be exalted over Judah. 8 On that day Yahweh will put a shield around the inhabitants[k] of Jerusalem, and the one who stumbles among them on that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh, before them.[l] 9 And then[m] on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations coming against Jerusalem.
10 “‘I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants[n] of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as one grieves bitterly over a firstborn. 11 On that day the wailing will be great in Jerusalem, like the wailing for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, each clan by itself;[o] the clan of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the clan of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the clan of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the clan of the Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 and all those clans remaining, each clan by itself,[p] and their wives by themselves.’”
13 “‘On that day a well will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and from impurity.[q]
The Vine and the Branches
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch that does not bear fruit in me, he removes it, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it in order that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as the branch is not able to bear fruit from itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and dries up, and they gather them and throw them[a] into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you bear much fruit, and prove to be my disciples.
9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have spoken these things to you in order that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be made complete. 12 This is my commandment: that you love one another just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, because the slave does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything that I have heard from my Father I have revealed to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and your fruit should remain, in order that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. 17 These things I command you: that you love one another.
The World’s Hatred for the Disciples
18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated[b] you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. But now they do not have a valid excuse for their sin. 23 The one who hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But this happened[c] so that the word that is written in their law would be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without a reason.’
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father—that one will testify about me. 27 And you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software