M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Changes Made by Hezekiah

31 Now when all this was finished, all the people of Israel who were there went out to the cities of Judah. They broke in pieces the pillars set up for the false gods. They cut down the objects of the false goddess Asherah. And they pulled down the high places and the altars through all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh. They destroyed all of them. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his land.

² Hezekiah divided the religious leaders and the Levites into groups, each by the work he was to do. He chose the religious leaders and Levites for giving the burnt gifts and peace gifts, for serving and giving thanks, and for praising in the gates of the camp of the Lord. ³ He decided what the king should give of his own animals for the burnt gifts, for the morning and evening, for the Days of Rest and the New Moons and the Special Suppers, as it is written in the Law of the Lord. ⁴ And he told the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the share that should go to the religious leaders and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the Law of the Lord. ⁵ As soon as the news spread, the people of Israel gave much of the first-fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the food of the field. They brought in more than a tenth part of everything. ⁶ The people of Israel and Judah, who lived in the cities of Judah, also brought in a tenth part of the cattle and sheep. And they brought a tenth part of the holy things which were set apart for the Lord their God. They laid them one on top of the other. ⁷ They began to lay them on top of each other in the third month, and finished by the seventh month.

⁸ And when Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw all the things, they praised the Lord and His people Israel. ⁹ Then Hezekiah asked the religious leaders and the Levites about all the things which had been brought. ¹⁰ Azariah the head religious leader of the family of Zadok said to him, “Since the gifts began to be brought into the Lord’s house, we have had much more than enough to eat. For the Lord has brought good to His people, and we have all this much left.”

¹¹ Then Hezekiah told them to make rooms ready in the house of the Lord, and they made them ready. ¹² And they were faithful to bring in the gifts and the tenth part and the holy things. Conaniah the Levite was the captain over them, and his brother Shimei was second. ¹³ The leaders under Conaniah and his brother Shimei were Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. They were chosen by King Hezekiah. Azariah was the head captain of the house of God. ¹⁴ Kore, the son of Imnah the Levite, who watched over the east gate, was captain of the free-will gifts to God. He divided the gifts for the Lord and the most holy things. ¹⁵ Under his rule were Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the religious leaders. They were faithful to give shares to their brothers by their groups, large and small alike.

¹⁶ Also they gave to those whose names were written down by families, from three years old and older. They gave to everyone who went into the Lord’s house for each day’s duty, for the work each of their groups was to do. ¹⁷ The names of the religious leaders were written down by their family groups, and the Levites from twenty years old and older, by their duties and their groups. ¹⁸ Also written down were the names of their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, for all the people. For they were faithful to set themselves apart to be holy. ¹⁹ Also the sons of Aaron, the religious leaders who were in the fields around their cities, or in each and every city, were taken care of. There were men chosen by name to give shares to every male among the religious leaders and to everyone whose name was written down among the Levites.

²⁰ Hezekiah did this through all Judah. He did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. ²¹ All the work he began in the house of God, obeying the Laws and looking to his God, he did with all his heart and all went well for him.

The Sinful Woman

17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven jars came to me. He said, “Come! I will show you how the powerful woman who sells the use of her body will be punished. She sits on the many waters of the world. ² The kings of the earth have done sex sins with her. People of the world have been made drunk with the wine of her sex sins.”

³ I was carried away in the Spirit by the angel to a desert. I saw a woman sitting on a red wild animal. It had seven heads and ten horns. All over the red wild animal was written bad names which spoke against God. ⁴ The woman was wearing purple and red clothes. She was wearing gold and pearls and stones worth much money. She had in her hand a gold cup full of sinful things from her sex sins. ⁵ There was a name written on her forehead which had a secret meaning. It said, “The big and powerful Babylon, mother of all women who sell the use of their bodies and mother of everything sinful of the earth.” ⁶ I looked at the woman. She was drunk with the blood of God’s people and those who had been killed for telling about Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered very much.

⁷ The angel asked me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the secret about this woman and the red wild animal that carries her. It is the red wild animal with seven heads and ten horns. ⁸ The red wild animal you saw was alive but is now dead. He will come up from the hole without a bottom and be destroyed. The people of the earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the beginning of the world, will be surprised as they look at the red wild animal. He was alive, but not now, but will yet come.

⁹ “Here is where we need wisdom. The seven heads of the animal are mountains where the woman sits. ¹⁰ They are seven kings also. Five of them are no longer kings. The sixth one is now king. The seventh one will be king, but only for a little while. ¹¹ The red wild animal that died is the eighth king. He belongs to the first seven kings, but he will be destroyed also.

¹² “The ten horns of the red wild animal which you saw are ten kings. They have not become leaders yet. But they will be given the right and the power to lead their nations for one hour with the red wild animal. ¹³ They agree to give the right and the power to the red wild animal. ¹⁴ These kings will fight and make war with the Lamb. But the Lamb will win the war because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. His people are the called and chosen and faithful ones.”

¹⁵ Then the angel said to me, “You saw the waters where the woman who sold the use of her body is sitting. The waters are people and large groups of people and nations and languages. ¹⁶ The ten horns you saw and the red wild animal will hate the woman who sold the use of her body. They will take everything from her and even her clothes. They will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. ¹⁷ God put in their minds a plan that would carry out His desire. They will agree to give their nation to the red wild animal until the words of God have been completed. ¹⁸ The woman you saw is the big and powerful city that has power over the kings of the earth.”

² “On that day,” says the Lord of All, “I will destroy the names of the false gods from the land. They will no longer be remembered. And I will take away from the land those who tell what will happen in the future and the unclean spirit. ³ If anyone still tells what will happen in the future, his father and mother who gave birth to him will tell him, ‘You must not live, because you have lied in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother who gave birth to him will kill him when he speaks false words. ⁴ On that day those who tell what will happen in the future will each be ashamed of his special dream when he speaks. He will not put on clothing made from hair to fool the people. ⁵ But he will say, ‘I am not a man who speaks for God. I am a farmer. A man sold me as a servant when I was young.’ ⁶ If someone asks him, ‘What are these sores on your back?’ he will answer, ‘They are the sores I received in the house of my friends.’

The Shepherd Who Saves

⁷ “Wake up, O sword, against My shepherd and against the man who is close to Me,” says the Lord of All. “Kill the shepherd, and the sheep will go everywhere. And I will turn My hand against the little ones. ⁸ In the whole land,” says the Lord, “two-thirds will die, but one-third will be left alive. ⁹ And I will bring the third part through the fire. I will make them pure like silver is made pure. I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Jesus Tells His Followers It Will Be Very Hard for Them

16 “I have told you these things so you will not be ashamed of Me and leave Me. ² They will put you out of the places of worship. The time will come when anyone who kills you will think he is helping God. ³ They will do these things to you because they do not know the Father or Me.

⁴ “When these things happen, you will remember I told you they would happen. That is why I am telling you about these things now. I did not tell you these things before, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to Him Who sent Me. Yet none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’

The Three Kinds of Work of the Holy Spirit

⁶ “Your hearts are full of sorrow because I am telling you these things. ⁷ I tell you the truth. It is better for you that I go away. If I do not go, the Helper will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. ⁸ When the Helper comes, He will show the world the truth about sin. He will show the world about being right with God. And He will show the world what it is to be guilty. ⁹ He will show the world about sin, because they do not put their trust in Me. ¹⁰ He will show the world about being right with God, because I go to My Father and you will see Me no more. ¹¹ He will show the world what it is to be guilty because the leader of this world (Satan) is guilty.

The Holy Spirit Will Give Honor to the Son

¹² “I still have many things to say to you. You are not strong enough to understand them now. ¹³ The Holy Spirit is coming. He will lead you into all truth. He will not speak His Own words. He will speak what He hears. He will tell you of things to come. ¹⁴ He will honor Me. He will receive what is Mine and will tell it to you. ¹⁵ Everything the Father has is Mine. That is why I said to you, ‘He will receive what is Mine and will tell it to you.’

Jesus Tells of His Death

¹⁶ “In a little while you will not see Me. Then in a little while you will see Me again.” ¹⁷ Some of His followers said to each other, “What is He trying to tell us when He says, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and in a little while you will see Me again,’ and ‘Because I go to My Father’?” ¹⁸ So they said, “What is He trying to tell us by saying, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.”

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him something. He said to them, “Are you asking each other why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and in a little while you will see Me again’? ²⁰ For sure, I tell you, you will cry and have sorrow, but the world will have joy. You will have sorrow, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman gives birth to a child, she has sorrow because her time has come. After the child is born, she forgets her pain. She is full of joy because a child has been born into the world. ²² You are sad now. I will see you again and then your hearts will be full of joy. No one can take your joy from you.

Asking and Receiving

²³ “When the time comes that you see Me again, you will ask Me no question. For sure, I tell you, My Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive. Then your joy will be full.

²⁵ “I have told you these things in picture-stories. The time is coming when I will not use picture-stories. I will talk about My Father in plain words. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in My name. I will not ask the Father for you ²⁷ because the Father loves you. He loves you because you love Me and believe that I came from the Father.

Jesus Tells of His Going

²⁸ “I came from the Father and have come into the world. I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” ²⁹ His followers said to Him, “Now You are talking in plain words. You are not using picture-stories. ³⁰ Now we are sure You know everything. You do not need anyone to tell You anything. Because of this we believe that You came from God.”

³¹ Jesus said to them, “Do you believe now? ³² The time is coming, yes, it is already here when you will be going your own way. Everyone will go to his own house and leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with Me. ³³ I have told you these things so you may have peace in Me. In the world you will have much trouble. But take hope! I have power over the world!”