M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Uzziah Strengthens Judah’s Defenses

26 Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. ³ Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what was right in the eyes of Adonai just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the visions of God. As long as he sought Adonai, God made him prosper.

⁶ He went out and fought the Philistines and breached the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod. He built cities in Ashdod and among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs who dwelt in Gur-Baal, and against the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread abroad even to the border of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong.

⁹ Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰ He also built towers in the wilderness and dug out many cisterns because he had much livestock, and he had farmers in the foothills and in the plain and vinedressers in the mountains and in the fertile fields—for he loved the soil.

¹¹ Uzziah also had a well-trained army ready to go out to battle by divisions, according to the numbers mustered by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under Hananiah, one of the king’s chieftains. ¹² The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600, ¹³ and under their command was an army of 307,500 trained for war with mighty power to support the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men to be used on the towers and on the corners to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. So his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong.

Uzziah Usurps the Kohanim

¹⁶ But when he became strong, his heart grew so haughty that he acted corruptly. For he trespassed against Adonai his God by entering into the Temple of Adonai to burn incense upon the altar of incense. ¹⁷ Then Azariah the kohen with 80 valiant kohanim of Adonai followed him in. ¹⁸ They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Adonai, but for the kohanim, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the Sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully. You will have no honor from Adonai Elohim.”

¹⁹ Then Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the kohanim tza’arat broke out on his forehead right in front of the kohanim in the House of Adonai, beside the incense altar. ²⁰ When Azariah the chief kohen and all the other kohanim stared at him, behold, his forehead had tza’arat! So they rushed him out of there. Indeed, he himself hurried to get out because Adonai had smitten him.

²¹ King Uzziah had tza’arat until the day of his death. He lived in a separate house with tza’arat, for he was cut off from the House of Adonai. Jotham his son was in charge of the king’s house and governed the people of the land.

²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from beginning to end, were recorded by the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz. ²³ So Uzziah slept with his fathers and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial that belonged to the kings, for they said: “He had tza’arat.” Then Jotham his son became king in his place.

Two Beasts

13 Then I saw a beast rising out of the sea,^[a] that had ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten royal crowns, and upon his heads were slanderous names. ² Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, his feet like a bear’s, and his mouth like a lion’s. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of his heads seemed to have been slain, but the fatal wound was healed. The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast. ⁴ And they worshiped the dragon, because he had given authority to the beast. They also worshiped the beast, chanting, “Who is like the beast, and who can make war against him?”^[b]

⁵ The beast was given a mouth uttering great boasts and blasphemies. It was given authority to act for forty-two months. ⁶ Then he opened his mouth with blasphemies against God, to slander His name and His tabernacle—that is, those dwelling in heaven. ⁷ He was also permitted to make war against the kedoshim and overcome them, and he was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. ⁸ All who dwell on the earth shall worship him—everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life of the Lamb who was slain.

Here is the perseverance and faith of the kedoshim.

¹¹ Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. He had two horns^[d] like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. ¹² He exercises all the authority of the first beast before him, and he makes the earth and all those who dwell in it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. ¹³ He performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven in the sight of men. ^{[e] 14} And he deceives those who dwell on the earth through the signs he is permitted to perform, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image in honor of the beast who has the sword wound yet lived. ¹⁵ The second beast was permitted to give life to the image of the first beast, so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause all who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. ¹⁶ He also causes all—the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the slave—to receive a mark on their right hand or upon their forehead. ¹⁷ And so no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark—either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

¹⁸ Here is wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number of a man, and his number is 666.^[f]

Judgment on Israel’s Enemies

Zion’s Coming King

Miriam Anoints the Messiah

12 Six days before Passover, Yeshua came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Yeshua had raised from the dead. ² So they prepared a dinner there for Yeshua. Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. ³ Then Miriam took a pound^[a] of very expensive oil of pure nard and anointed Yeshua’s feet, and she wiped His feet dry with her hair. Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

⁴ But Judah from Kriot, one of His disciples, the one who was about to betray Him, said, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and the money given to the poor?” ⁶ Now he said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. Since he had the moneybox, he used to steal from what was put in it.

⁷ Therefore Yeshua said, “Leave her alone! She set it aside for the day of My burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.”

⁹ Now a large crowd of Judeans knew He was there and came, not only for Yeshua but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the ruling kohanim made plans to kill Lazarus also, ¹¹ because on account of him many of the Jewish people were going and putting their trust in Yeshua.

Israel’s King Has Come

¹² The next day, the huge crowd that had come up for the feast heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took palm branches and went out to meet Him, shouting,

¹⁴ Finding a young donkey, Yeshua sat on it, as it is written,

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first. But when Yeshua was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that the crowd had done these things for Him.

¹⁷ So the crowd, which had been with Yeshua when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, kept on telling everyone about it. ¹⁸ It was also for this reason that the crowd came out to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, “You see that you can’t do anything. Look, the whole world has taken off after Him!”

Fallen Seed Produces a Harvest

²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. ²¹ These came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in the Galilee. “Sir,” they said, “we want to see Yeshua.” ²² Philip comes and tells Andrew; Andrew and Philip come and tell Yeshua.

²³ Yeshua answers them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified! ²⁴ Amen, amen I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. ²⁵ He who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it forever. ²⁶ If any man serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there also will My servant be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But it was for this reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name!”

Then a voice came out of heaven, “I have glorified it, and again I will glorify it!”

²⁹ Therefore the crowd that was standing there and heard it was saying that it had thundered. Others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

³⁰ Yeshua responded, “This voice hasn’t come for My sake, but for yours. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world! Now the prince of this world will be driven out! ³² And as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself.” ³³ He said this to show the kind of death He was about to die.

³⁴ The crowd answered Him, “We’ve heard from Scripture^[e] that the Messiah remains forever. How can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

Choose Either the Light or the Darkness

³⁵ Therefore Yeshua said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.” Yeshua spoke these things, then left and hid Himself from them.

³⁷ But even though He had performed so many signs before them, they weren’t trusting in Him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said,

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

⁴² Nevertheless many, even among the leaders, put their trust in Him. But because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing Yeshua,^[h] so they would not be thrown out of the synagogue; ^{[i] 43} for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.

⁴⁴ Yeshua cried out, “Whoever puts trust in Me believes not in Me but in the One who sent Me! ⁴⁵ And whoever beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me. ⁴⁶ As light I have come into the world, so that everyone who trusts in Me should not remain in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears My words but doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I came to save the world, not to judge the world. ⁴⁸ The one who rejects Me and doesn’t receive My words has a judge; the word I spoke will judge him on the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His commandment is life everlasting. Therefore what I say, I say just as the Father has told Me.”