M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
18 After that I saw another angel coming down from the sky. He had much power. The bright light that shone from him lit up the earth.
2 He called in a loud voice and said, `The big city of Babylon has fallen down! It has fallen down! Bad spirits live in it. All bad spirits hide there. And all kinds of dirty birds that people hate hide there.
3 All the nations are broken down because they are full of its wrong ways. The kings of the earth have joined with it. The traders of the earth have become rich because of its wrong ways.'
4 Then I heard another voice from the sky that said, `Come out of it, my people, so that you will have no part in the wrong things it does. Come out of it so that you will not have the big troubles it will have.
5 Its wrong ways are piled as high as the sky and God has remembered the wrong things it has done.
6 Do to it what it did to you. Yes, do two times as much to it as it did to you! From the cup it gave you to drink, give it two times as much to drink as it gave to you.
7 It is proud of itself and has done wrong things. Give it that much trouble and crying. It says in its heart, "I am like a queen. I am not like a woman who has lost her husband. I will never know sorrow."
8 So then, its big troubles will come in one day. Those troubles are death, crying, hunger, and being burned in a fire. The Lord who has punished it is strong.'
9 `And the kings of the earth were joined with it in its wrong ways. They will cry and be sad about it when they see the smoke while it burns.
10 They will stand far away from it because they are afraid of the trouble it is having. They will say, "Trouble! Trouble! You big, strong city Babylon! In one hour your punishment has come!"
11 `And the traders of the earth will cry and be sad about it, because no one buys the things they bring to sell.
12 They have many things to sell: gold, silver, fine stones, and pearls. They have linen clothes and blue cloth, silk cloth and red cloth. They have all kinds of sweet smelling wood. They have all kinds of things made of ivory. They have all kinds of things made of wood that costs much money, of brass, of iron, and of a stone called marble.
13 They have spices and perfume. They have incense and a sweet-smelling oil. They have frankincense and wine and oil. They have fine flour and wheat. They have cows, sheep, horses, and wagons. They have slaves and people to sell.
14 The things that your heart wanted are gone from you. All your fine food and clothes are gone from you. You will never find them again.
15 The traders will sell these things and got much money from the city. They will stand far away from it because they are afraid of the trouble it is having. They will cry and be sad about it.
16 They will say "How terrible for you, you big strong city! You were wearing linen clothes and purple and red clothes. You were shining with gold, fine stones, and pearls.
17 In one hour all your great riches are lost." `And all the captains of the boats and all the seamen, the sailors, and all that do business on the sea stood away from it.
18 They called out loud when they saw the smoke while it burned. They said, "What city is like that big city?"
19 They threw dust on their heads and they called out loud. They cried and were sad. They said, "How terrible for that big city! All the men who had boats on the sea became rich because it was rich. In one hour it is all lost."
20 `Be glad for what has happened to it, all you who are in heaven, God's people, apostles and prophets. God has punished it for what it did to you!'
21 Then a strong angel took up a very heavy stone and threw it into the sea. He said, `So hard will Babylon the big city be thrown down. It will not be seen again.
22 People will not hear music in you again. No harps, no singing, no pipes or horns will ever be heard in you again. No one will make things in you again. The noise of people grinding grain will not be heard in you again.
23 No lamp will shine in you again. No one will hear the voice of people being married. Your traders were the big people of the world. All the countries were fooled by your witch doctors.
24 The blood of prophets and of God's people and of all who have been killed on earth was found in that city.'
17 When Jesus had said these things, he looked up to heaven and said, `Father, the time has come now. Make your Son's name great, so that your Son may make your name great.
2 You have given your Son power over all people. So all those you have given him will live for ever.
3 You are the only true God. If they know you, and Jesus Christ whom you sent, they will live for ever.
4 I made your name great on earth. I have done the work you gave me to do.
5 So now, Father, let my name be great with you. Make my name as great as it was when I was with you before the world was made.
6 `I have shown these men who you really are. They are men whom you gave me from the world. They belonged to you and you gave them to me. They have obeyed you.
7 Now they really know that everything you gave me comes from you.
8 I have told them the things that you told me to tell them. And they have believed my words. They know it is true that I was with you before I came. They have believed that you sent me.
9 It is these men I am asking you for. I am not asking you for the people of the world. But I am asking for those you gave me, because they belong to you.
10 All those I have are yours. And all you have are mine. And they make my name great.
11 `I am not in the world any longer. But they are in the world. And I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me. Then they will be one, just as you and I are one.
12 While I was with them, I took care of them in your name, which you gave me. I have taken care of them. Only one of them is lost. That is the one who was born to be lost. What your book says came true.
13 Now I am coming to you. `I say these things while I am in the world so that they may be very glad, as I am.
14 I have told them what you said. The world has hated them because they do not belong to the world. So also, I do not belong to the world.
15 I do not ask you to take them out of the world. But I ask you to take care of them, so that the evil one of this world will not harm them.
16 They do not belong to the world, even as I do not belong to the world.
17 Make them clean by the true word and keep them for yourself. Your word is true.
18 I have sent them into the world as you sent me into the world.
19 I have made myself clean and kept myself for them, so that they may be clean and be kept for you also by the truth.
20 `I do not ask this for these people only; I ask it also for the people who will believe in me when they hear what these people say.
21 I do this so that the people will all be one. That is the same way with us. You, my Father, belong to me and I belong to you. I ask that they also may be joined to us. Then the world will believe that you have sent me.
22 I have made them great the way you have made me great. That makes us one, as we are one.
23 I belong to them and you belong to me, so that they all may be really one together. Then the world will know that you have sent me and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.
24 `Father, I want the people that you have given me to be with me. Then they will see that you made me great, because you loved me before you made the world.
25 Father, you are the one who is right. The world has not known you. But I have known you. These people know that you have sent me.
26 I have told them who you are. I will tell them again and again. Then they will love each other as much as you have loved me. And I will live in them.'
© 1969, 1971, 1996, 1998 by SOON Educational Publications