M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Reign of Jehoram
21 And Jehoshaphat slept with his ancestors[a] and was buried with his ancestors[b] in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 Now he had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariah, Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of Jehoshaphat, king of Israel. 3 And their father gave to them many gifts of silver, gold, and valuables, with fortified cities in Judah, but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, for he was the firstborn. 4 When Jehoram ascended to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and murdered all his brothers with the sword, and even some of the princes of Israel.
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did evil in the sight of Yahweh. 7 But Yahweh was not willing to destroy the house of David on account of the covenant that he had made[c] with David and since he had promised[d] to give a lamp to him and to his descendants[e] forever.[f]
8 In his days Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah, and they set up a king of their own. 9 Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all the chariots with him, and when night came he struck Edom who was all around him and the commanders of his chariots. 10 So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah until this day. Then Libnah also revolted at that time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his ancestors.[g]
11 Moreover, he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and he enticed the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful, and he led Judah astray. 12 And a letter from Elijah the prophet came to him, saying, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father: ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father or in the ways of Asa, the king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have enticed Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to be unfaithful like the unfaithfulness of the house of Ahab, and have also murdered your brothers of the house of your father who were better than you, 14 behold, Yahweh is inflicting a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will be afflicted with great illness, with sickness in your bowels, until your bowels come out on account of the illness, day by day.’”
16 And Yahweh stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabs who were near[h] the Cushites against Jehoram. 17 And they came up against Judah and invaded it and carried away all the possessions found in the house of the king, and also his sons and his wives, so that no son was left to him except Jehoahaz his youngest son.
18 And after all this Yahweh afflicted him in his bowels with an illness for which there was no cure. 19 And it happened that after many days, at the end of two years,[i] his bowels came out because of his illness, and he died in terrible agony. And his people did not make a fire for him like the fire for his ancestors.[j] 20 He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed[k] with no one’s regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the burial sites of the kings.
Tormenting Locusts from the Abyss
9 And the fifth angel blew the trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key of the shaft of the abyss was given to him. 2 And he opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke went up from the shaft like smoke from a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came to the earth, and power was given to them like the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was told to them that they should not damage the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, except those people who do not have the seal of God on their[a] foreheads. 5 And it was granted to them that they should not kill them, but that they would be tormented five months, and their torment is like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a person. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will never find it, and they will long to die, and death will flee from them.
7 And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were something like crowns similar in appearance to gold, and their faces were like men’s faces, 8 and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions, 9 and they had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horse-drawn chariots[b] running into battle. 10 And they have tails similar in appearance to scorpions, and stings, and their power to injure people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name[c] in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still coming after these things.
A Third of Humanity Killed by Plagues
13 And the sixth angel blew the trumpet, and I heard one voice from the horns[d] of the golden altar that is before God 14 saying to the sixth angel, the one who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates!” 15 And the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were released, in order that they should kill a third of humanity. 16 And the number of the troops of the cavalry was two hundred million[e]; I heard the number of them. 17 And in this way I saw the horses in the vision, and those seated on them, who had fiery red and hyacinth-colored and sulphurous yellow breastplates, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and sulphur. 18 By these three plagues a third of humanity was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur that came out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are similar in appearance to snakes, having heads, and with them they cause injury.[f]
20 And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, in order not to worship[g] the demons and the gold and silver and bronze and stone and wooden idols, which are able neither to see nor to hear nor to walk, 21 and they did not repent of their murders or of their magic spells or of their sexual immorality or of their thefts.
Zechariah’s Sixth Vision
5 I looked up again,[a] and I saw, and look!—a flying scroll! 2 And he asked me, “What are you seeing?” And I said, “I am seeing a flying scroll twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”[b] 3 And he said to me, “This is the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished[c] according to it, and likewise everyone who swears falsely has gone unpunished according to it. 4 ‘I have sent it out,’ declares[d] Yahweh of hosts, ‘and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of the one swearing falsely by my name,[e] and it will spend the night in that[f] house and will destroy it, with its timber and its stone.’”
Zechariah’s Seventh Vision
5 And the angel who was speaking to me went out, and he said to me, “Please look up![g] See what this is going out.” 6 And I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “This is a basket[h] going out. And he said, “This is their iniquity[i] throughout all the earth. 7 And look, the lead cover was lifted and a woman was sitting inside the basket.[j] 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her back down into the basket,[k] and threw the lead cover on top of it.[l] 9 And I looked up[m] and saw, and look!—two women coming forward, and the wind was in their wings, and they had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket[n] between the earth and the sky.[o] 10 And I asked the angel who was talking to me, “Where are they taking the basket?”[p] 11 And he said to me, “To build for it a house[q] in the land of Shinar,[r] and when it is put in place, it will be placed there on its site.”
A Woman Caught in Adultery
8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning he came again to the temple courts.[a] And all the people were coming,[b] and he sat down and[c] began to teach[d] them.
3 Now the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman[e] caught in adultery. And standing her in their midst, 4 they said to him, testing him,[f] “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery! 5 Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 (Now they were saying this to test him, so that they would have an occasion[g] to bring charges against him.) But Jesus, bending down, began to write[h] with his[i] finger on the ground, taking no notice.[j] 7 And when they persisted in asking him, straightening up he said[k] to them, “The one of you without sin, let him throw the first stone at her!” 8 And bending down again, he wrote on the ground. 9 Now when they[l] heard it,[m] being convicted by their conscience,[n] they began to depart,[o] one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus[p] was left alone—and the woman who was in their midst. 10 So Jesus, straightening up and seeing no one except the woman,[q] said to her, “Where are those accusers of yours?[r] Does no one condemn you?” 11 And she said, “No one, Lord.” So Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and[s] sin no more.”]][t]
Jesus, the Light of the World
12 Then 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 So the Pharisees said to him, “You testify concerning yourself! Your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify concerning myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I have come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to externals; I do not judge anyone. 16 But even if I judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 And even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true.[u] 18 I am the one who testifies concerning myself, and the Father who sent me testifies concerning me.”
19 So they were saying to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus replied, “You know neither me nor my Father! If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words by the treasury while[v] teaching in the temple courts,[w] and no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
Jesus Predicts His Death
21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me and will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come!” 22 Then the Jews began to say,[x] “Perhaps he will kill himself, because he is saying, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’” 23 And he said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are from this world; I am not from this world. 24 Thus I said to you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
25 So they began to say to him,[y] “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What[z] I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but the one who sent me is true, and the things which I heard from him, these things I say to the world.” 27 (They did not know that he was speaking to them about the Father.)
28 Then Jesus said,[aa] “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will recognize that I am he, and I do nothing from myself, but just as the Father taught me, I say these things. 29 And the one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 While[ab] he was saying these things, many believed in him.
The Truth Will Set You Free
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They replied to him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have not been enslaved to anyone at any time. How do you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus replied to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And the slave does not remain in the household forever;[ac] the son remains forever.[ad] 36 So if the son sets you free, you will be truly free. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no progress among you. 38 I speak the things that I have seen with the Father; so also you do the things that you have heard from the Father.”
The Priority of Jesus Over Abraham
39 They answered and said to him, “Abraham is our father!” Jesus said to them, “If you are children of Abraham, do the deeds of Abraham! 40 But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who spoke to you the truth which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of your father!”
They said[ae] to him, “We were not born from sexual immorality! We have one father, God!” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you would love me, for I have come forth from God and have come. For I have not come from myself, but that one sent me. 43 Why[af] do you not understand my way of speaking? Because you are not able to listen to my message. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father! That one was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand firm in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he speaks the lie, he speaks from his own nature,[ag] because he is a liar and the father of lies.[ah] 45 But because I am telling the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you convicts me concerning sin? If I am telling the truth, why[ai] do you not believe me? 47 The one who is from God listens to the words of God. Because of this you do not listen—because you are not of God.”
48 The Jews answered and said to him, “Do we not correctly say that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus replied, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me! 50 But I do not seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges! 51 Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never experience death forever.”[aj]
52 The Jews[ak] said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham and the prophets died, and you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death forever.’[al] 53 You are not greater than our father Abraham who died, are you?[am] And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself to be?” 54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 And you have not known him, but I know him. And if I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you! But I know him and I keep his word. 56 Abraham your father rejoiced that he would see my day, and he saw it[an] and was glad.”
57 So the Jews said to him, “You are[ao] not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am!” 59 Then they picked up stones in order to throw them[ap] at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple courts.[aq]
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