M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Ahaziah, King of Judah
22 The people of Jerusalem chose Ahaziah to be the new king in Jehoram’s place. Ahaziah was Jehoram’s youngest son. The people who came with the Arabs to attack Jehoram’s camp killed all of Jehoram’s older sons. So Ahaziah began to rule in Judah. 2 He was 22 years old when he began to rule.[a] He ruled one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah. Her father’s name was Omri. 3 Ahaziah also lived the way Ahab’s family lived because his mother encouraged him to do wrong things. 4 Ahaziah did evil in the Lord’s sight. That is what Ahab’s family did. Ahab’s family gave advice to Ahaziah after Ahaziah’s father died. They gave Ahaziah bad advice that led to his death. 5-6 Ahaziah followed the advice of Ahab’s family and joined King Joram to fight against King Hazael from Aram. They fought near the town of Ramoth in Gilead. Joram, who was the son of King Ahab of Israel, was wounded in the battle. He went back to the town of Jezreel to heal from the wounds he suffered at Ramoth. King Ahaziah[b] went there later to visit him.
7 God caused Ahaziah’s death when he went to visit Joram. Ahaziah arrived and went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi. The Lord chose Jehu to destroy Ahab’s family. 8 Jehu was punishing Ahab’s family. He found the leaders of Judah and Ahaziah’s relatives who served Ahaziah. He killed the leaders of Judah and Ahaziah’s relatives. 9 Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah. Jehu’s men caught him when he tried to hide in the town of Samaria. They brought him to Jehu. They killed Ahaziah and buried him. They said, “Ahaziah is the descendant of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat followed the Lord with all his heart.” Ahaziah’s family had no power to hold the kingdom of Judah together.
Queen Athaliah
10 Athaliah was Ahaziah’s mother. When she saw that her son was dead, she killed all the king’s children in Judah. 11 But Jehosheba took Ahaziah’s son Joash and hid him. Jehosheba put Joash and his nurse in the inside bedroom. Jehosheba was King Jehoram’s daughter. She was also Jehoiada’s wife. Jehoiada was a priest, and Jehosheba was Ahaziah’s sister. Athaliah did not kill Joash, because Jehosheba hid him. 12 Joash was hidden with the priests in God’s Temple for six years. During that time Athaliah ruled over the land as queen.
Priest Jehoiada and King Joash
23 After six years, Jehoiada showed his strength and made an agreement with the captains. These captains were Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. 2 They went around in Judah and gathered the Levites from all the towns of Judah. They also gathered the leaders of the families of Israel. Then they went to Jerusalem. 3 All the people meeting together made an agreement with the king in God’s Temple.
Jehoiada said to the people, “The king’s son will rule. That is what the Lord promised about David’s descendants. 4 Now, this is what you must do: One-third of you priests and Levites who go on duty on the Sabbath will guard the doors. 5 And one-third of you will be at the king’s palace, and one-third of you will be at the Foundation Gate. But all the other people will stay in the yards of the Lord’s Temple. 6 Only the priests and Levites who serve in the Lord’s Temple are permitted to enter it. They are the only ones who have been made holy. Don’t let anyone else enter. All the others must do only the work the Lord has given them. 7 The Levites must stay near the king. Every man must have his sword with him. If anyone tries to enter the Temple, kill that person. You must stay with the king everywhere he goes.”
8 The Levites and all the people of Judah obeyed all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Jehoiada the priest did not excuse anyone from the groups of the priests. So each captain and all his men came in on the Sabbath with those who went out on the Sabbath. 9 Jehoiada the priest gave the spears and the large and small shields that belonged to King David to the officers. The weapons were kept in God’s Temple. 10 Then Jehoiada told the men where to stand. Every man had his weapon in his hand. The men stood all the way from the right side of the Temple to the left side of the Temple. They stood near the altar and the Temple, and near the king. 11 They brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him. They gave him a copy of the agreement.[c] Then they made Joash king. Jehoiada and his sons anointed Joash and said, “Long live the king!”
12 Athaliah heard the noise of the people running to the Temple and praising the king. She came into the Lord’s Temple to the people. 13 She looked and saw the king standing by his column at the front entrance. The officers and the men who blew trumpets were near the king. The people of the land were happy and blowing trumpets. The singers were playing on instruments of music. They led the people in singing praises. Then Athaliah tore her clothes[d] and said, “Treason! Treason!”[e]
14 Jehoiada the priest brought out the army captains. He said to them, “Take Athaliah outside among the army. Use your swords to kill anyone who follows her.” Then the priest warned the soldiers, “Don’t kill Athaliah in the Lord’s Temple.” 15 Then those men grabbed Athaliah when she came to the entrance of the Horse Gate at the king’s palace. Then they killed her there.
16 Then Jehoiada made an agreement with all the people and the king. They all agreed that they all would be the Lord’s people. 17 All the people went into the temple of the idol Baal and tore it down. They also broke the altars and idols that were in Baal’s temple. They killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars of Baal.
18 Then Jehoiada chose the priests to be responsible for the Lord’s Temple. The priests were Levites, and David had given them the job of being responsible for the Lord’s Temple. They were to offer the burnt offerings to the Lord the way the Law of Moses commanded. They offered the sacrifices with much joy and singing the way David commanded. 19 Jehoiada put guards at the gates of the Lord’s Temple to prevent any unclean person from entering the Temple.
20 Jehoiada took the army captains, the leaders, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land with him. Then Jehoiada took the king out of the Lord’s Temple. They went through the Upper Gate to the king’s palace and put the king on the throne. 21 All the people of Judah were very happy, and the city of Jerusalem had peace because Athaliah was killed with a sword.
The Angel and the Little Scroll
10 Then I saw another powerful angel coming down from heaven. The angel was dressed in a cloud. He had a rainbow around his head. The angel’s face was like the sun, and his legs were like poles of fire. 2 The angel was holding a small scroll. The scroll was open in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 He shouted loudly like the roaring of a lion. After he shouted, the voices of seven thunders spoke.
4 The seven thunders spoke, and I started to write. But then I heard a voice from heaven that said, “Don’t write what the seven thunders said. Keep those things secret.”
5 Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 The angel made a promise by the power of the one who lives forever and ever. He is the one who made the skies and all that is in them. He made the earth and all that is in it, and he made the sea and all that is in it. The angel said, “There will be no more waiting! 7 In the days when the seventh angel is ready to blow his trumpet, God’s secret plan will be completed—the Good News that God told to his servants, the prophets.”
8 Then I heard the same voice from heaven again. It said to me, “Go and take the open scroll that is in the angel’s hand. This is the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take the scroll and eat it. It will be sour in your stomach, but in your mouth it will be sweet like honey.” 10 So I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it tasted sweet like honey, but after I ate it, it was sour in my stomach. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many races of people, many nations, languages, and rulers.”
The Four Chariots
6 Then I turned around. I looked up and saw four chariots going between two bronze mountains. 2 Red horses were pulling the first chariot. Black horses were pulling the second chariot. 3 White horses were pulling the third chariot, and horses with red spots were pulling the fourth chariot. 4 I asked the angel who was talking with me, “Sir, what does this mean?”
5 The angel said, “These are the four winds.[a] They have just come from the Lord of the whole world. 6 The black horses will go north, the red horses will go east, the white horses will go west, and the horses with red spots will go south.”
7 The red spotted horses were anxious to go look at their part of the earth, so the angel told them, “Go walk through the earth.” So they went walking through their part of the earth.
8 Then he shouted at me and said, “Look, those horses that were going north finished their job in Babylon. They have calmed my spirit; I am not angry now!”
Joshua the Priest Gets a Crown
9 Then I received another message from the Lord. He said, 10 “Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah have come from the captives[b] in Babylon. Get silver and gold from these men and then go to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Use the silver and gold to make a crown. Put it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. 12 Then tell him this is what the Lord All-Powerful says:
‘There is a man called the Branch.
He will grow strong,
and he will build the Lord’s Temple.
13 He will build the Lord’s Temple,
and he will receive the honor.
He will sit on his throne and be the ruler,
and a priest will stand by his throne.
These two men will work together in peace.’
14 The crown will be kept in my Temple,[c] so that when people see it, they will remember Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and the kindness of Zephaniah’s son Josiah.”
15 People living far away will come and build the Lord’s Temple. Then you will know for sure that the Lord All-Powerful sent me to you people. All these things will happen if you do what the Lord your God says.
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9 While Jesus was walking, he saw a man who had been blind since the time he was born. 2 Jesus’ followers asked him, “Teacher, why was this man born blind? Whose sin made it happen? Was it his own sin or that of his parents?”
3 Jesus answered, “It was not any sin of this man or his parents that caused him to be blind. He was born blind so that he could be used to show what great things God can do. 4 While it is daytime, we must continue doing the work of the one who sent me. The night is coming, and no one can work at night. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 After Jesus said this, he spit on the dirt, made some mud and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 Jesus told him, “Go and wash in Siloam pool.” (Siloam means “Sent.”) So the man went to the pool, washed and came back. He was now able to see.
8 His neighbors and some others who had seen him begging said, “Look! Is this the same man who always sits and begs?”
9 Some people said, “Yes! He is the one.” But others said, “No, he can’t be the same man. He only looks like him.”
So the man himself said, “I am that same man.”
10 They asked, “What happened? How did you get your sight?”
11 He answered, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. Then he told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went there and washed. And then I could see.”
12 They asked him, “Where is this man?”
He answered, “I don’t know.”
Some Pharisees Have Questions
13 Then the people brought the man to the Pharisees. 14 The day Jesus had made mud and healed the man’s eyes was a Sabbath day. 15 So the Pharisees asked the man, “How did you get your sight?”
He answered, “He put mud on my eyes. I washed, and now I can see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “That man does not obey the law about the Sabbath day. So he is not from God.”
Others said, “But someone who is a sinner cannot do these miraculous signs.” So they could not agree with each other.
17 They asked the man again, “Since it was your eyes he healed, what do you say about him?”
He answered, “He is a prophet.”
18 The Jewish leaders still did not believe that this really happened to the man—that he was blind and was now healed. But later they sent for his parents. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son? You say he was born blind. So how can he see?”
20 His parents answered, “We know that this man is our son. And we know that he was born blind. 21 But we don’t know why he can see now. We don’t know who healed his eyes. Ask him. He is old enough to answer for himself.” 22 They said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. The leaders had already decided that they would punish anyone who said Jesus was the Messiah. They would stop them from coming to the synagogue. 23 That is why his parents said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”
24 So the Jewish leaders called the man who had been blind. They told him to come in again. They said, “You should honor God by telling the truth. We know that this man is a sinner.”
25 The man answered, “I don’t know if he is a sinner. But I do know this: I was blind, and now I can see.”
26 They asked, “What did he do to you? How did he heal your eyes?”
27 He answered, “I have already told you that. But you would not listen to me. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to be his followers too?”
28 At this they shouted insults at him and said, “You are his follower, not us! We are followers of Moses. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses. But we don’t even know where this man comes from!”
30 The man answered, “This is really strange! You don’t know where he comes from, but he healed my eyes. 31 We all know that God does not listen to sinners, but he will listen to anyone who worships and obeys him. 32 This is the first time we have ever heard of anyone healing the eyes of someone born blind. 33 This man must be from God. If he were not from God, he could not do anything like this.”
34 The Jewish leaders answered, “You were born full of sin! Are you trying to teach us?” And they told the man to get out of the synagogue and to stay out.
Spiritual Blindness
35 When Jesus heard that they had forced the man to leave, he found him and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 The man said, “Tell me who he is, sir, so I can believe in him.”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have already seen him. The Son of Man is the one talking with you now.”
38 The man answered, “Yes, I believe, Lord!” Then he bowed and worshiped Jesus.
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world so that the world could be judged. I came so that people who are blind[a] could see. And I came so that people who think they see would become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees were near Jesus. They heard him say this. They asked, “What? Are you saying that we are blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were really blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But you say that you see, so you are still guilty.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International