M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

King Josiah prepares for the Passover festival

35 King Josiah told the people to have the Passover festival in Jerusalem, to give honour to the Lord. They killed the lambs for the Passover meal on the 14th day of the first month of the year. ² Josiah told the priests the jobs that they should do. He told them to be strong as they served the Lord in his temple. ³ The work of the Levites was to teach all the Israelites about God's laws. The Lord had chosen them to do that special work. Josiah said to them, ‘Put the holy Covenant Box in the temple that David's son, King Solomon, built. Do not carry it on your shoulders. Now you must serve the Lord your God and his people, the Israelites. ⁴ Each group of families must be ready to do their work. King David of Israel and his son Solomon decided what work each group must do. ⁵ Each group of Levites must stand in the holy place of the temple. Each group will be ready to help the people of different clans. ⁶ Kill the lambs for the Passover meal. Make yourselves clean to serve the Lord. Prepare the sacrifices for each Israelite family. Then they can eat the Passover meal, as the Lord told Moses they must do.’^[a]

Many people give offerings

⁷ Josiah took 30,000 lambs and goats, and 3,000 bulls from his own animals. He gave them to the people who were there, to kill for their Passover sacrifices.

⁸ His officers were also happy to give their animals to the people, as well as to the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel were officers who took care of the temple. They gave 2,600 lambs and 300 bulls to the priests for Passover sacrifices. ⁹ These Levite officers gave 5,000 lambs and 500 bulls to the Levites for Passover sacrifices: Konaniah and his brothers, Shemaiah and Nethanel; Hashabiah, Jeiel and Jozabad.

The Passover meal

¹⁰ Everything was ready for the Passover to begin. The priests and the Levites stood in their places, group by group, as the king had commanded. ¹¹ Some Levites killed the lambs for the Passover meal. They gave the blood to the priests, and the priests splashed the blood on the altar. At the same time, some Levites were removing the skins from the animals. ¹² They took the animals for the burnt offerings to give to the people. They shared them among each group of families. Then each family could offer a bull to the Lord as a sacrifice, in the way that the book of Moses taught. ¹³ The Levites cooked the lambs for the Passover meal over a fire, as the rules taught. They boiled the meat of the holy offerings in pots and pans.^[b] Then they quickly carried the meat to all the people.

¹⁴ After that, the Levites prepared the Passover meal for themselves and for the priests. The priests had been busy all day, until the evening. They were offering the burnt offerings and the pieces of fat to the Lord. So the Levites prepared the meal for themselves and for the priests, Aaron's descendants.

¹⁵ Asaph's descendants, the musicians, stood in their places. Those were the places that David, Asaph, Heman and the king's prophet, Jeduthun, had chosen. The guards continued to watch the different gates all through the day. So the other Levites prepared the meal for them too.

¹⁶ So they did everything properly to serve the Lord that day. Everyone did what King Josiah had told them to do. They had the Passover meal and they offered the burnt offerings on the Lord's altar. ¹⁷ Some Israelite people were also there in Jerusalem for the Passover festival at that time. They also stayed seven more days for the festival of Flat Bread.

¹⁸ There had not been a Passover festival like that in Israel since the time of the prophet Samuel. No king of Israel had enjoyed a Passover festival as good as the one that King Josiah had. The priests, the Levites and all the people enjoyed the festival. They were the people of Judah, the people of Israel who had come to Jerusalem, as well as the people who lived in Jerusalem. ¹⁹ This Passover festival happened in the 18th year that Josiah ruled Judah as king.

Josiah dies

²⁰ After Josiah had done all those things for the temple, King Necho of Egypt marched out with his army. He came to fight a battle at Carchemish, a city beside the Euphrates river. King Josiah went with his army to fight against King Necho. ²¹ But Necho sent men with a message to Josiah. King Necho said, ‘King of Judah, you should not come to fight against me. We should be friends. I came to fight against this kingdom which is my enemy. God has told me that I must hurry. So do not try to stop me, because God is with me. If you try to fight against God, he will destroy you.’

²² But Josiah would not agree to go away. He changed his clothes so that nobody would recognize him in the battle. God had told King Necho what to say to Josiah. But Josiah would not listen to his words. Instead, he went to fight against Necho in Megiddo valley.

²³ Necho's soldiers hit King Josiah with their arrows. The king said to his servants, ‘Take me away from the battle! The arrows have hurt me very much.’ ²⁴ So they took him out of the chariot that he was riding in. They put him in his other chariot. Then they took him to Jerusalem and he died there. His people buried him beside his ancestors. All the people of Judah and Jerusalem wept because Josiah had died.

²⁵ Jeremiah wrote sad songs about Josiah's death. The male and female singers still sing these songs to remember Josiah, even today. The songs have become something that the people of Israel always like to sing. They are written in a book called ‘The book of sad songs’.

^26-27 All the other things that Josiah did while he was king are written in a book. The book is called ‘The history of the kings of Israel and Judah’. It tells how Josiah faithfully obeyed what is written in the Law of the Lord. It includes all the good things that he did, from the beginning to the end of his time as king.

The new heaven and the new earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had gone away. The sea also was not there any more. ² I saw God's own holy city, called the new Jerusalem. It was coming down out of heaven from God. It was very beautiful, like a bride who is wearing beautiful clothes, ready to meet her husband.

³ I heard a voice that spoke loudly from the throne. It said, ‘Look! God's home is now among people! God will live together with them. They will be his people. God himself will be with them and he will be their God. ⁴ God will take away all the tears from their eyes. Nobody will ever die again. Nobody will be sad again. Nobody will ever cry. Nobody will have pain again. Everything that made people sad has now gone. That old world has completely gone away.’

⁵ God, who was sitting on the throne, said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, because these words are true. Everyone should believe them.’

⁶ He also said to me, ‘Everything is now done! I caused all things to begin and I will cause the end of all things. I am the beginning and the end. If anyone is thirsty, I will give them water to drink. Nobody will have to pay anything for it. That water comes from a spring of water that gives life to people. ⁷ Everyone who wins against Satan will receive all these things from me. I will be their God and they will be my children.

⁸ But I will punish other people. They include:

All these people will go into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. That is the second death for people.’

New city of Jerusalem

⁹ Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls that were full of the seven final troubles came to me. He said, ‘Come with me! I will show you the bride who will become the Lamb's wife.’

¹⁰ Then God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear strange things. The angel carried me away to a great mountain that was very high. He showed me God's own holy city, Jerusalem. The city was coming down out of heaven from God. ¹¹ It had the bright glory of God. It shone like a valuable jewel that is called jasper. It shone like clean glass. ¹² The city had a very big, high wall round it. The wall had 12 gates in it. 12 angels stood at the 12 gates. The names of the 12 tribes of Israel's people were written on the 12 gates. ¹³ There were three gates on each side of the city:

¹⁴ The city's wall has a foundation of 12 strong stones. The names of the Lamb's 12 apostles were written on those 12 stones.^[a]

¹⁵ The angel who talked to me had a long gold stick. He used it to measure things. So he could measure the city and its gates and its walls. ¹⁶ The shape of the city was a square. It was as long as it was wide. The angel measured the city with his stick. It was 12,000 stadia (2,400 kilometres) long. It was as wide and as high as it was long. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall. The size of the wall was 144 cubits (65 metres). That is the way that humans measure things. The angel also measured in the same way.^[b]

¹⁸ The wall was made from the jewel that is called jasper. The city was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass. ¹⁹ The strong stones that were the foundation of the city's wall were very beautiful. They had valuable jewels in them that were different colours. Each great stone had its own special jewel. They were called:

²¹ The 12 gates were 12 pearls. They had used a single pearl to make each gate. The city's biggest street was made from pure gold. The light shone through it, as light shines through clean glass.

²² When I looked, I saw that there was no temple in the city. The Lord God, who has all power and authority, is there himself. The Lamb is also there. So people do not need a special place to worship him there. ²³ Also, the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. God's bright glory gives light to the city. The Lamb is the lamp that gives it light.

²⁴ People from all the world's nations will live in the city's light. The earth's rulers will bring all their valuable things into it. ²⁵ Nobody will ever shut the city's gates at the end of the day. It will always be day and there will be no night there. ²⁶ People from all the world's nations will bring their beautiful and valuable things into the city. ²⁷ But nothing that is bad or unclean will ever go in there. Nobody who does anything that God hates will go into the city. Nobody who tells lies will go in. Only those people with their names written in the Lamb's book of life can go in there.^[d]

The special person comes as a judge

3 ‘Look! I will send someone to speak my message. He will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord that you are waiting for will quickly return to his temple. The one who brings the message about the covenant will certainly come. He is the one that you really want to see.’

That is what the Lord Almighty says.

² ‘But when he comes, he will be like a hot fire that makes metal pure. He will be like strong soap that makes clothes completely clean. Nobody will be able to stand in front of him when he appears. On that day, nobody will remain the same.^{[a] 3} He will work like a man who uses a hot fire to make gold and silver pure. He will make the Levites clean and pure. He will remove their dirt. Then they can offer proper sacrifices to the Lord. ⁴ The Lord will accept the gifts that the people of Judah and Jerusalem offer to him. He will be happy with them as he was in earlier times.

⁵ At that time, I will come among you as your judge. I will speak clearly against those who have done wrong things. I will punish the magicians, the adulterers and those who tell lies against other people. I will punish those people who are cruel to their workers, or they deceive widows or children who have no family. And I will punish those who do not help foreigners who live among them. People who do those things show that they do not respect me.’

That is what the Lord Almighty says.

The Israelites are robbing God

⁶ ‘I am the Lord and I do not change. Because of my promises to my people, I have not destroyed you, descendants of Jacob. ⁷ I have told you my commands. But you do not listen to me any longer. You have not obeyed me, even since the time of your ancestors. Now, return to me! Then I will return to bless you.’

That is what the Lord Almighty says.

‘But you ask, “How do we return to you?”

⁸ I say to you, “A man should not rob God. But you are robbing me.”

But you ask, “How do we rob you?”

I say, “You do not give to me the tithes and the offerings that you should give.” ⁹ Yes, all of you are robbing me. The whole nation of Israel is guilty. So you will receive the punishment of a curse.

¹⁰ Now you must bring the whole tithe that belongs to me.^[b] Store it in my temple, so that there will be food in my house.^[c] Obey me and then see what I will do.’

That is what the Lord Almighty says.

‘You will see how much I will bless you! You will not have enough room to store all the good things that I will give to you. I will pour blessings out of the sky like rain. ¹¹ I will stop insects from eating your crops. The grapes will not fall from your vines before they are ready to eat. ¹² You will be happy to live in your land. The people of all the other nations will see that God has blessed you.’

That is what the Lord Almighty says.

¹³ The Lord says, ‘You have spoken bad words against me.

But you ask, “What have we said against you?”

¹⁴ You have said, “We serve God, but that has not helped us at all. We are careful to do what he tells us to do. When we do wrong things, we have sad faces to show the Lord Almighty that we are sorry. ¹⁵ But it is proud people that God blesses! Yes, it is the people who do evil things who become rich! God does not even punish people who like to test him. That is what we think.” ’

The great day of the Lord

¹⁶ Then the people who respected the Lord talked to each other. The Lord listened to what they said. While the Lord watched, someone wrote names on a scroll. Those were the names of the people who worshipped the Lord and respected the Lord's name. They wrote down their names so that people would remember them.

¹⁷ The Lord Almighty says, ‘These people will belong to me. One day I will come to judge everyone. At that time I will bring together all my own special people. I will not punish them. I will take care of them, like a father takes care of his son who serves him. ¹⁸ Because of that, you will see again that I am kind to good people, but I punish wicked people. I show the difference between people who serve me well and those who do not.’

The hole in the rock is empty

20 Early on the first day of the week, Mary from Magdala went to the hole in the rock. It was still dark. She saw that someone had removed the big stone from the front of the hole. ² So she ran to where Simon Peter was. He was with the other disciple, the one that Jesus loved. She said to them, ‘Somebody has taken the Lord's body out of the hole. We do not know where they have put him!’

³ So Peter and the other disciple started to go to the place where Jesus' body had been. ⁴ Both of them were running. But the other disciple ran faster than Peter ran. So he reached the hole first. ⁵ He bent himself down and he looked inside the hole. He saw the pieces of linen cloth that were lying there. But he did not go in. ⁶ Simon Peter had run behind the other disciple. When he arrived, he went into the hole. He saw the pieces of cloth that were lying there. ⁷ Also, he saw the piece of cloth that had been around Jesus' head. This was not in the same place as the long pieces of linen cloth. Someone had put it carefully in a separate place. ⁸ The other disciple had reached the place first, and now he also went inside. He saw and he believed. ⁹ They still did not understand what the Bible already said. It said that Jesus had to become alive again after he had died.^[a]

Jesus appears to Mary from Magdala

¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying. ¹¹ But Mary stood outside the hole in the rock. She was crying. While she cried, she bent herself down to look inside the hole. ¹² She saw two angels there. They were wearing white clothes. They were sitting where Jesus' dead body had been. One angel was sitting where Jesus' head had been. The other angel was sitting where his feet had been.

¹³ They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ She replied, ‘They have taken away my Lord. I do not know where they have put him.’ ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned round. She saw a man who was standing there. It was Jesus, but she did not recognize him. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?’ Mary thought that he was the gardener. So she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away somewhere, please tell me. Tell me where you have put him. Then I will go and I will take him away.’

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned towards him and she said in the Jewish language, ‘Rabboni!’ (This means ‘Teacher’.) ¹⁷ Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me because I have not gone up to the Father yet. But go to my brothers, the disciples. Tell them, “Now I will go up to my Father. He is also your Father. He is my God, and he is your God.” ’ ¹⁸ Mary from Magdala took this message to the disciples. She went to them and she said, ‘I have seen the Lord!’ Then she told them the things that Jesus had said to her.

Jesus appears to his disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting together. They had locked the doors of the room because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰ After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were very, very happy when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, in the same way I am now sending you.’ ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them. He said, ‘Receive God's Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive a person's sins, God will forgive them too. If you do not forgive them, God will not forgive them.’

Jesus shows himself to Thomas

²⁴ One of the 12 disciples was called Thomas. (He was also called ‘the Twin’.) He was not with the other disciples when Jesus came to them. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But Thomas said to them, ‘I will never believe that he is alive again unless I myself see him. I want to see the marks of the nails in his hands. I want to touch where the nails were with my finger. I want to put my hand into his side where the spear went in. If I cannot do that, I will not believe.’

²⁶ Eight days after that, the disciples were in the house again. This time Thomas was with them. They had locked the door. But Jesus came and he stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger in here. Look at my hands. Put your hand here, in my side. Do not refuse to believe what is true. Now, believe.’ ²⁸ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord, and my God!’ ²⁹ Jesus said to him, ‘You believe because you have seen me. Other people have not seen me, but they do believe in me. God is really happy with those people.’

The purpose of this book

³⁰ Jesus did many other miracles while the disciples were with him. I have not written about all of them in this book. ³¹ But I have written about these things, so that you will be able to believe the truth. You will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Because you believe in him, you will have life with God.