M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abijah King of Judah

13 Abijah became the king of Judah. This was during the eighteenth year Jeroboam was king of Israel. ² Abijah was king in Jerusalem for three years. Abijah’s mother was Maacah daughter of Uriel. Uriel was from the town of Gibeah.

And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam. ³ Abijah led an army of 400,000 capable soldiers into battle. And Jeroboam prepared to fight him with 800,000 capable soldiers.

⁴ Abijah stood on Mount Zemaraim in the mountains of Ephraim. He said, “Jeroboam and all Israel, listen to me! ⁵ You should know this: The Lord, the God of Israel, gave David and his sons the right to be king over Israel forever. God gave this right to David with an agreement which will last forever. ⁶ But Jeroboam turned against his master. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s officers. Solomon was David’s son. ⁷ Then worthless, evil men became friends with Jeroboam. They were against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son. Rehoboam was young and didn’t know what to do. So he could not stop them.

⁸ “Now you people are making plans against the Lord’s kingdom. The Lord’s kingdom belongs to David’s sons! There are many of you. And you have the gold calves Jeroboam made for you as gods. ⁹ You have thrown out the Lord’s priests and the Levites. The priests are Aaron’s sons. You have chosen your own priests as people in other countries do. Anyone who comes to make himself ready to serve the Lord with a young bull and seven male sheep can become a priest. He may become a priest of idols that are not gods.

¹⁰ “But as for us, the Lord is our God. We have not left him. The priests who serve the Lord are Aaron’s sons. And the Levites help the priests serve the Lord. ¹¹ They offer burnt offerings and sweet-smelling incense to the Lord every morning and evening. They also put the bread on the special table in the Temple. And they light the lamps on the gold lampstand every evening. We obey the command of the Lord our God. But you have left the Lord. ¹² God himself is with us. He is our ruler, and his priests are with us. The priests blow the trumpet to call us to war against you. Men of Israel, don’t fight against the Lord because you won’t succeed. He is the God of your ancestors.”

¹³ But Jeroboam had sent some troops to sneak behind Abijah’s army. So while Jeroboam was in front of Abijah’s army, Jeroboam’s soldiers were behind them. ¹⁴ The soldiers in Abijah’s army looked around. Then they saw Jeroboam’s army attacking both in front and back. They cried out to the Lord. And the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵ Then the men of Judah gave a battle cry. When they shouted, God defeated Jeroboam and the army of Israel. They ran away from Abijah and the army of Judah. ¹⁶ The men of Israel ran away from the men of Judah. God let the army from Judah defeat them. ¹⁷ Abijah’s army killed many of Israel’s men. Of Israel’s best men 500,000 were killed. ¹⁸ So at that time the people of Israel were defeated. And the people of Judah won. They won because they depended on the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

¹⁹ Abijah’s army chased Jeroboam’s army. Abijah’s army captured from Jeroboam the towns of Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron. They also captured the small villages near these towns. ²⁰ Jeroboam never became strong again while Abijah was alive. The Lord struck Jeroboam, and he died.

²¹ But Abijah became strong. He married 14 women. And he was the father of 22 sons and 16 daughters. ²² All the other things Abijah did as king are written down. What he said and did are recorded in what the prophet Iddo has written.

To the Church in Sardis

3 “Write this to the angel of the church in Sardis:

“The One who has the seven spirits and the seven stars says this to you. I know what you do. People say that you are alive, but really you are dead. ² Wake up! Make yourselves stronger while you still have something left and before it dies completely. I have found that what you are doing is not good enough for my God. ³ So do not forget what you have received and heard. Obey it. Change your hearts and lives! You must wake up, or I will come to you and surprise you like a thief. And you will not know when I will come. ⁴ But you have a few there in Sardis who have kept themselves clean. They will walk with me. They will wear white clothes, because they are worthy. ⁵ He who wins the victory will be dressed in white clothes like them. I will not take away his name from the book of life. I will say that he belongs to me before my Father and before his angels. ⁶ Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷ “Write this to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:

“The One who is holy and true says this to you. He holds the key of David. When he opens something, it cannot be closed. And when he closes something, it cannot be opened. ⁸ I know what you do. I have put an open door before you, and no one can close it. I know that you have a little strength. But you have followed my teaching. And you were not afraid to speak my name. ⁹ Listen! There is a synagogue that belongs to Satan. Those in this synagogue say they are Jews, but they are liars. They are not true Jews. I will make them come before you and bow at your feet. They will know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ You have followed my teaching about not giving up. So I will keep you from the time of trouble that will come to the whole world. This trouble will test those who live on earth.

¹¹ “I am coming soon. Continue the way you are now. Then no one will take away your crown. ¹² I will make the one who wins the victory a pillar in the temple of my God. He will never have to leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God. This city is the new Jerusalem.^[a] It comes down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on him my new name. ¹³ Every person who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ “Write this to the angel of the church in Laodicea:

“The Amen^[b] is the One who is the faithful and true witness. He is the ruler of all that God has made. He says this to you: ¹⁵ I know what you do. You are not hot or cold. I wish that you were hot or cold! ¹⁶ But you are only warm—not hot, not cold. So I am ready to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say you are rich. You think you have become wealthy and do not need anything. But you do not know that you are really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ I advise you to buy gold from me—gold made pure in fire. Then you can be truly rich. Buy from me clothes that are white. Then you can cover your shameful nakedness. Buy from me medicine to put on your eyes. Then you can truly see.

¹⁹ “I correct and punish those whom I love. So be eager to do right. Change your hearts and lives. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him. And he will eat with me.

²¹ “He who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne. It was the same with me. I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Everyone who has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

It Is Time to Build the Temple

1 The prophet Haggai spoke the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel and to Joshua. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel was governor of Judah. Joshua son of Jehozadak was high priest. This message came in the second year that Darius was king of Persia. It came on the first day of the sixth month of that year. This was the message:

² “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘The people say the right time has not come to rebuild the Temple of the Lord.’”

³ Then Haggai the prophet spoke the word of the Lord: ⁴ “The Temple is still in ruins. Is it right for you to be living in fancy houses?”

⁵ This is why the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Think about what you have done. ⁶ You have planted much, but you harvest little. You eat, but you do not become full. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but you are not warm enough. You earn money, but then you lose it all. It is as if you put it into a purse full of holes.”

⁷ This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Think about what you have done. ⁸ Go up to the mountains. Bring back wood and build the Temple. Then I will be pleased with it and be honored,” says the Lord. ⁹ The Lord of heaven’s armies says: “You look for much, but you find little. When you bring it home, I destroy it. Why? Because you are busy working on your own houses. But my house is still in ruins! ¹⁰ Because of what you have done, the sky holds back its rain. And the ground holds back its crops. ¹¹ I have called for a dry time in the land. There will be no rain in the mountains for the grain, new wine and olive oil. It will be a dry time for the plants which the earth produces. It will be a dry time for men and farm animals. The dry time will make your hard work useless.”

¹² Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. And Joshua, the high priest, was the son of Jehozadak. Zerubbabel and Joshua obeyed the Lord their God. And they obeyed the message from Haggai the prophet. All the rest of the people who were left alive also obeyed. This was because they realized that the Lord their God had sent Haggai. And they feared the Lord.

¹³ The Lord sent a message to Haggai, the Lord’s messenger. Haggai gave this message to the people. He said: “The Lord says, ‘I am with you.’” ¹⁴ The Lord made Zerubbabel and Joshua excited about building the Temple. Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel was the governor of Judah. Joshua son of Jehozadak was the high priest. The Lord made all the rest of the people who were left alive excited, too. They came and worked on the Temple of their God, the Lord of heaven’s armies. ¹⁵ They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. This was in the second year that Darius was king of Persia.

The Wedding at Cana

2 Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. ² Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding. ³ When all the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Dear woman, why come to me? My time has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you to do.”

⁶ In that place there were six stone water jars. The Jews used jars like these in their washing ceremony.^[a] Each jar held about 20 or 30 gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled the jars to the top.

⁸ Then he said to them, “Now take some out and give it to the master of the feast.”

So the servants took the water to the master. ⁹ When he tasted it, the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine came from. But the servants who brought the water knew. The master of the wedding called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “People always serve the best wine first. Later, after the guests have been drinking a lot, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine till now.”

¹¹ So in Cana of Galilee, Jesus did his first miracle. There he showed his glory, and his followers believed in him.

Jesus in the Temple

¹² Then Jesus went to the town of Capernaum with his mother, brothers and his followers. They all stayed in Capernaum for a few days. ¹³ But it was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast. So Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the Temple he found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves. He saw others sitting at tables, exchanging money. ¹⁵ Jesus made a whip out of cords. Then he forced all these men, with the sheep and cattle, to leave the Temple. He turned over the tables and scattered the money of the men who were exchanging it. ¹⁶ Then he said to those who were selling pigeons, “Take these things out of here! Don’t make my Father’s house a place for buying and selling!”

¹⁷ When this happened the followers remembered what was written in the Scriptures: “My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.”^[b]

¹⁸ The Jews said to Jesus, “Show us a miracle for a sign. Prove that you have the right to do these things.”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will build it again in three days.”

²⁰ The Jews answered, “Men worked 46 years to build this Temple! Do you really believe you can build it again in three days?”

²¹ (But the temple Jesus meant was his own body. ²² After Jesus was raised from death, his followers remembered that Jesus had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus said.)

²³ Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Many people believed in him because they saw the miracles he did. ²⁴ But Jesus did not believe in them because he knew them all. ²⁵ He did not need anyone to tell him about people. Jesus knew what was in a person’s mind.