M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jehoram Succeeds Jehoshaphat(A)
21 Jehoshaphat died, as had his ancestors, and was buried in the City of David alongside his ancestors. His son Jehoram became king in his place. 2 Jehoshaphat’s sons, Jehoram’s[a] brothers, included Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah,[b] Michael, and Shephatiah. All of these were sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel.
3 Their father gave them many gifts made of silver, and gold, as well as valuable things, along with fortified cities in Judah, but he passed the kingdom to Jehoram because Jehoram was his firstborn. 4 But after Jehoram had assumed the throne and consolidated his rule over his father’s kingdom, he executed all of his brothers, along with some of the rulers of Israel. 5 Jehoram was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned for eight years in Jerusalem. 6 He lived like[c] the kings of Israel, following the example of Ahab’s dynasty, since he had married Ahab’s daughter, and he practiced what the Lord considered to be evil. 7 Nevertheless, the Lord was unwilling to destroy David’s dynasty because of the covenant that he had made with David, especially since he had promised to give him and to his sons the reigning presence of an heir[d] forever.
Edom Revolts(B)
8 Nevertheless, Edom revolted against Judah’s rule and set up their own king to rule them during Jehoram’s reign.[e] 9 So Jehoram invaded Edom[f] with his commanders and his chariots by night and killed the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders. 10 Edom remains in revolt against Judah to this day. Libnah revolted against Jehoram’s rule, too, because he had abandoned the Lord God of his ancestors. 11 In addition to all of this, he built high places in the mountains of Judah, led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into cultic sexual immorality, and made Judah go astray.
Elijah Writes a Letter
12 After this, a letter arrived from Elijah the prophet. It said:
“This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: ‘You haven’t lived like your father Jehoshaphat and like King Asa of Judah. 13 Instead, you have lived like the kings of Israel by causing Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit cultic sexual immorality—just like Ahab’s dynasty did! And you’ve killed your brothers who were better than you—your own father’s dynasty! 14 Look what’s going to happen! The Lord is going to strike your people, your children, your wives, and everything you own with a massive tragedy. 15 And as for you, you will suffer from a serious disease of your bowels. Eventually, day-by-day you will excrete your own bowels because of this disease.”
16 The Lord also provoked the attitude of the Philistines and the Arabs who bordered the Ethiopians against Jehoram, 17 and they attacked Judah, invading it and carried off everything he owned in his royal palace, along with all of his sons and wives except for his youngest son Jehoahaz.[g]
Jehoram’s Illness and Death(C)
18 After all of this happened, the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable illness. 19 In due course, as time passed, two years later[h] his bowels came out because of his sickness and he died in agony. His people lit no memorial bonfire for him as they had done for his ancestors. 20 Jehoram[i] was 32 years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for eight years. He left this earth[j]—to nobody’s regret—and they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
The Vision of the Fifth Trumpet
9 When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star that had fallen to earth[a] from the sky.[b] The star[c] was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.[d] 2 It opened the shaft of the bottomless pit,[e] and smoke came out of the shaft like the smoke from a large furnace. The sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth, and they were given power like that of earthly scorpions. 4 They were told not to harm the grass on the earth, any green plant, or any tree. They could harm[f] only the people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them, but were only allowed[g] to torture them for five months. Their torture was like the pain of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 In those days people will seek death, but never find it. They will long to die, but death will escape them.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were victor’s crowns that looked like gold, and their faces were like human faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like iron, and the noise of their wings was like the roar of chariots with many horses rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stingers like scorpions, and they had the power to hurt people with their tails for five months. 11 They had the angel of the bottomless pit[h] ruling over them as king. In Hebrew he is called Abaddon,[i] and in Greek he is called Apollyon.[j]
12 The first catastrophe is over. After these things, there are still two more catastrophes to come.
The Vision of the Sixth Trumpet
13 When the sixth angel blew his trumpet, I heard a voice from the four[k] horns of the gold altar in front of God. 14 It told the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are held at the great Euphrates River.” 15 So the four angels who were ready for that hour, day, month, and year were released to kill one-third of humanity. 16 The number of cavalry troops was 200,000,000. I heard how many there were.[l]
17 This was how I saw the horses in my vision: The riders wore breastplates that had the color of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths—one-third of humanity was killed. 19 For the power of these horses is in their mouths and their tails. Their tails have heads like snakes, which they use to inflict pain.
20 The rest of the people who survived these plagues did not repent from their evil actions[m] or stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, hear, or walk. 21 They did not repent from their murders, their witchcraft, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
The Vision of the Flying Scroll
5 Then I looked up and saw a flying scroll! 2 And the angel[a] asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered him, “I’m looking at a flying scroll. It’s 20 cubits[b] long and ten cubits[c] wide.”
3 He responded to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the surface of the whole earth, because, according to this side of the scroll,[d] all thieves will be ejected, and according to the other side of the scroll,[e] all liars will be ejected.”
4 “I am bringing this about,” declares the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. “The curse[f] will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who lies in my name. The curse[g] will remain in his house until that house[h] has been completely destroyed, right down to its timber and stones.”
The Vision of the Basket
5 Then the angel who had been talking with me stepped forward and told me, “Please look up and see what’s going out.”
6 So I asked, “What is it?”[i]
He replied, “This is a basket[j] making its appearance.” He also said, “This is what it appears to be in[k] the entire land.”
The Vision of the Woman in the Basket
7 Look, a round lead cover was being lifted, and there was one woman seated inside the basket! 8 And the angel[l] said, “This is evil!” So he shoved her back into the basket and snapped the round, lead cover over the opening.
The Vision of the Two Winged Women
9 Then I looked up to see two women coming forward with the wind filling their wings. (They had wings like those of a stork.) They took up the basket, holding it between the earth and sky.
10 So I asked the angel who was talking to me, “Where are they taking the basket?”
11 He answered me, “To the land of Shinar,[m] so they can build a temple to the woman in the basket.[n] Then when its preparations are complete, the basket[o] will be set there in its place.”
The Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Jesus, however, went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At daybreak he appeared again in the Temple, and all the people came to him. So he sat down and began to teach them. 3 But the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery.[a] After setting her before them,[b] 4 they told him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women to death. What do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have a charge against him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
7 When they persisted in questioning him, he straightened up and told them, “Let the person among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground.[c] 9 When they heard this, they went away one by one,[d] beginning with the oldest,[e] and he was left alone with the woman standing there.[f] 10 Then Jesus stood up and asked her, “Dear lady,[g] where are your accusers?[h] Hasn’t anyone condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,”[i] she replied.
Then Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you, either. Go home, and from now on don’t sin anymore.”[j]
Jesus the Light of the World
12 Later on, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
13 The Pharisees told him, “You’re testifying about yourself. Your testimony isn’t valid.”[k]
14 Jesus answered them, “Even though I’m testifying about myself, my testimony is valid[l] because I know where I’ve come from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. 15 You’re judging by human standards,[m] but I’m not judging anyone. 16 Yet even if I should judge, my judgment would be valid,[n] because it is not I alone who judges, but I and the one who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two people is valid.[o] 18 I’m testifying about myself, and the Father who sent me is testifying about me.”
19 Then they asked him, “Where is this Father of yours?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you had known me, you would’ve known my Father, too.” 20 He spoke these words in the treasury, while he was teaching in the Temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
The One from Above
21 Later on, he told them again, “I’m going away, and you’ll look for me, but you will die in your sin.[p] You cannot come where I’m going.”
22 So the Jewish leaders[q] were asking, “He isn’t going to kill himself, is he? Is that why he said,[r] ‘You cannot come where I’m going’?”
23 He told them, “You are from below, I’m from above. You are of this world, but I’m not of this world. 24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you’ll die in your sins.”
25 Then they asked him, “Who are you?”
Jesus told them, “What have I been telling you all along?[s] 26 I have much to say about you and to condemn you for.[t] But the one who sent me is truthful,[u] and what I’ve heard from him I declare to the world.”
27 They didn’t realize that he was talking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own authority. Instead, I speak only what the Father has taught me. 29 Moreover, the one who sent me is with me. He has never left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.” 30 While he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Freedom and Slavery
31 So Jesus told those Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are really my disciples. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33 They replied to him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves to anybody. So how can you say, ‘You will be set free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, I tell all of you[v] emphatically, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.[w] 35 The slave does not remain in the household forever, but the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”
The Real Children of Abraham
37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are trying to kill me because you’ve not received what I’ve told you. 38 I declare what I’ve seen in my[x] Father’s presence, and you’re doing what you’ve heard from your father.”
39 They replied to him, “Our father is Abraham!”
Jesus told them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did.[y] 40 But now you’re trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham wouldn’t have done that. 41 You are doing your father’s actions.”
They told him, “We’re not illegitimate children. We have one Father, God himself.”
42 Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would’ve loved me, because I came from God and am here. I haven’t come on my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I’ve said? It’s because you can’t listen to my words. 44 You belong to your father the Devil, and you want to carry out the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and has never stood for truth, since there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But it is because I speak the truth that you don’t believe me. 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who belongs to God listens to the words of God. The reason you don’t listen is because you don’t belong to God.”
Jesus is Superior to Abraham
48 The Jewish leaders[z] replied to him, “Surely we’re right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, aren’t we?”
49 Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon. On the contrary, I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 I don’t seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, and he is the Judge. 51 Truly, I tell all of you[aa] emphatically, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jewish leaders[ab] told him, “Now we really know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, but you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 You aren’t greater than our father Abraham, who died, are you? The prophets also died. Who are you making yourself out to be?”
54 Jesus answered, “If I were trying to glorify myself, my glory would mean nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 You don’t know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day, and he saw it and was glad.”
57 Then the Jewish leaders[ac] asked him, “You are not even 50 years old, yet you have seen Abraham?”[ad]
58 Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you[ae] emphatically, before there was an Abraham, I AM!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the Temple.
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