M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hezekiah Organizes the Priesthood

31 And when all this was finished, all Israel who were found in the cities of Judah went out and shattered the stone pillars, cut down the Asherahs, and destroyed the high places and the altars from all Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh to the very last one.^[a] Then all the Israelites returned, each to his own property and to their cities.

² And Hezekiah appointed working groups of the priests and the Levites, each according to their divisions, according to the service for priests and Levites,^[b] for burnt offerings, for peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camps of Yahweh. ³ And the gift of the king was out of his own possessions for the burnt offerings—the burnt offerings for the morning and the evening and for Sabbaths, new moon festivals, and appointed feasts, as is written in the law of Yahweh. ⁴ Then he said to the people, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to give a gift for the priests and the Levites, so that they might be strong in the law of Yahweh. ⁵ And the word spread. The Israelites gave abundantly from the firstfruits of grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all kinds of grains from the field. And they brought tithes of everything in abundance. ⁶ Then the people of Israel and Judah who were living in the cities of Judah, they also brought a tithe of cattle and sheep and a tithe of consecrated objects to Yahweh their God. And they gave heaps upon heaps. ⁷ In the third month the heaps began to pile up, and in the seventh month they ceased. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed Yahweh and his people Israel. ⁹ And Hezekiah questioned^[c] the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. ¹⁰ And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, saying, “Since the offerings began to be brought to the house of Yahweh, we have eaten and been satisfied, and have much to spare, for Yahweh has blessed his people. Now see this abundant remainder!”

¹¹ And Hezekiah commanded to prepare chambers in the house of Yahweh, and they were prepared. ¹² Then they brought the offerings and tithes and holy objects faithfully. And over them as leader was Conaniah the Levite. And Shimei his brother was second in rank. ¹³ And Jehiel, Azaziah, Nathan, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah were chief officers under the hand of Conaniah and Shimei, his brother, by appointment of King Hezekiah. And Azaraiah was leader of the house of God. ¹⁴ Now Kore the son of Imlah, the Levite, the gatekeeper of the east gate was over the freewill offerings of God, to give offerings to Yahweh and the most holy things. ¹⁵ And at his hand were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah in the cities of the priests and entrusted^[d] to give to their brothers by working groups, according to the eldest to the youngest, ¹⁶ besides their enrollment by genealogy, to males from three years old and upward, to all who came into the house of Yahweh, as each day required^[e] for their service in their posts according to their working groups. ¹⁷ And the enrollment of the priests was according to the house of their fathers, and the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, according to their posts by their working groups. ¹⁸ And they were enrolled with all their little ones, their wives, their sons, and their daughters for the whole assembly because of their faithfulness. And they sanctified themselves in holiness. ¹⁹ And for the descendants^[f] of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of the pasturelands of their cities, in each and every one of their cities^[g] were men who were designated by name to give shares to every male among the priests and to everyone enrolled among the Levites.

²⁰ And Hezekiah did according to this throughout all Judah. And he did what is good and what is right and what is faithful before Yahweh his God. ²¹ And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God or with respect to the law and the commandment to seek his God, he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

The Judgment of the Great Prostitute Babylon

17 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, ² with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” ³ And he carried me away into the wilderness in the Spirit,^[a] and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ And the woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of detestable things and the unclean things of her sexual immorality. ⁵ And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery: “Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth.” ⁶ And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus.

And I was greatly astonished when I saw her^[b]. ⁷ And the angel said to me, “Why are you astonished? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that has the seven heads and the ten horns that carries her. ⁸ The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is going to come up from the abyss, and he is going to destruction. And those who live on the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will be astonished when they^[c] see the beast that was, and is not, and will be present. ⁹ Here is the mind that has wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits^[d] and they are seven kings. ¹⁰ Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and whenever he comes it is necessary for him to remain a short time. ¹¹ And the beast that was, and is not, is also himself an eighth, and is of the seven, and he is going to destruction. ¹² And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. ¹³ These have one opinion, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

¹⁵ And he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and crowds and nations and languages. ¹⁶ And the ten horns that you saw and the beast, these will hate the prostitute and will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. ¹⁷ For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make a unanimous decision^[e] and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. ¹⁸ And the woman that you saw is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.

² And then,^[a] on that day,’ declares^[b] Yahweh of hosts, ‘I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and also the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness I will banish from the land. ³ And then,^[c] if anyone prophesies again, his father and his mother who bore him will say to him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of Yahweh!” And his father and his mother who bore him will pierce him through when he prophesies. ⁴ And then^[d] on that day, each of the prophets will be ashamed because of his vision when he was prophesying, and they will not put on a cloak of hair in order to deceive, ⁵ but he will say, “I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the soil, for a man has acquired me since my youth.”^{[e] 6} And someone^[f] shall say to him, “What are these wounds between your arms?”^[g] and he will say, “Those I have received^[h] in the house of the ones who love me.”’”

The Sword Shall Strike the Shepherd

Persecution of Disciples Predicted

16 “I have said these things to you so that you will not fall away. ² They will expel you from the synagogue,^[a] but an hour is coming that everyone who kills you will think they are offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things because they do not know the Father or me. ⁴ But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you about them.

Jesus’ Departure and the Coming of the Holy Spirit

“And I have not said these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and none of you is asking me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. ⁷ But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he^[b] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and concerning righteousness and concerning judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me, ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I am going away to the Father and you will see me no more, ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

¹² I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them^[c] now. ¹³ But when he—the Spirit of truth—comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak from himself, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will proclaim to you the things to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and will proclaim it^[d] to you. ¹⁵ Everything that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he takes from what is mine and will proclaim it^[e] to you.

Jesus Predicts His Return to the Disciples

¹⁶ “A little while and you will see me no more, and again a little while and you will see me. ¹⁷ So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they kept on saying, “What is this that he is saying, ‘A little while’? We do not understand what he is speaking about!”

¹⁹ Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, “Are you deliberating with one another about this—that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy. ²¹ A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when her^[f] child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²² So you also are experiencing sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you. ²³ And on that day you will ask me nothing. Truly, truly I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Jesus’ Victory Over the World

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figurative sayings. An hour is coming when I will speak to you in figurative sayings no longer, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I have gone out from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Behold, now you are speaking plainly^[g] and are telling us^[h] no figurative saying! ³⁰ Now we know that you know everything and do not need for^[i] anyone to ask you questions.^[j] By this we believe that you have come from God.”

³¹ Jesus replied to them, “Now do you believe? ³² Behold, an hour is coming—and has come—that you will be scattered each one to his own home,^[k] and you will leave me alone. And I am not alone, because the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.”