M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joash Repairs the Temple(A)
24 Now Joash[a] was seven years old when he started his reign, and he was king in Jerusalem for forty years. The name of his mother was Zibiah of Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was correct in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada gave Joash two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
4 And it happened after this that it was in the heart of Joash to restore the house of the Lord. 5 So he assembled the priests and Levites to speak with them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to fortify the house of your God, what is necessary each year. Now hurry with this matter.” But the Levites delayed.
6 So the king called Jehoiada, who was head over this, and said to him, “Why have you not required from the Levites that they bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, for the congregation of Israel for the tent of the testimony?”
7 For the sons of Athaliah, the wicked woman, had broken into the house of God and even used all the holy items of the house of the Lord for Baal worship.
8 Then the king spoke, and they made a chest, and put it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. 9 And they gave a report in Judah and Jerusalem to bring in to the Lord a tax levied by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. 10 So all the officials and people rejoiced, and they brought in the money and cast it into the chest until it was full. 11 And it happened that at the time the Levites brought the chest to the guards of the king that there was a large amount of money. So the king’s scribe and head priest’s commissioner would bring it and empty the chest and then take it and return it to its place. They continued to do this every day and collected a great amount of money. 12 So the king and Jehoiada gave it to those doing a work of labor on the house of the Lord. And they hired masons and craftsmen to repair the house of the Lord, and even metal workers in iron and bronze to fortify the house of the Lord.
13 So the workmen worked, and the work was completed by them. They restored the house of God to its specifications and strengthened it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, who made vessels for the house of the Lord, vessels for serving and for making burnt offerings, spoons and vessels of gold and silver. They continually offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada.
15 Then Jehoiada became old and full of days and died. He was one hundred and thirty years old when he died. 16 So they buried him in the City of David with the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and His house.
The Wickedness of Joash
17 After the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king. At that time the king listened to them. 18 Then they abandoned the house of the Lord and God of their fathers, and they served the Asherah poles and idols. And divine wrath was on Judah and Jerusalem because of this guilt. 19 And God sent prophets to return them to the Lord. These warned the people, but they would not listen.
20 Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people saying, “Thus says God: Why are you transgressing the commandments of the Lord so that you all will not be successful? Because you all have abandoned the Lord, He has abandoned you.”
21 But they plotted against him, and at the command of the king they all stoned him in the court of the house of the Lord. 22 And Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada the father of Zechariah had shown him, but killed his son. As he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”
The Death of Joash
23 And it happened that at the turn of the year the army of Aram came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the officials of the people, and they sent all their plunder to the king of Damascus. 24 Though the Aramean army came with a few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great Judean army because they abandoned the Lord God of their fathers. So they enacted judgment on Joash. 25 When they left him (for they abandoned him with severe wounds) his own servants plotted against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest. So they killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the City of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.
26 And those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite. 27 Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of the rebuilding of the house of God are written in the annals of the kings. And Amaziah his son ruled in his place.
The Two Witnesses
11 I was given a reed like a measuring rod. The angel stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 But exclude the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.[a] 5 If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 They have power to shut heaven, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will wage war against them and overcome them and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. 9 Those from every people and tribe and tongue and nation will see their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves. 10 Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 After the three and a half days, the breath[b] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.
13 At that same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand men were killed in the earthquake, and the remnant were frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. Listen, the third woe is coming quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 The seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying:
“The kingdoms of the world have become
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ,
and He shall reign forever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who sat before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying:
“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty,
who is and was and who is to come,
because You have taken Your great power
and begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
and Your wrath has come,
and the time has come for the dead to be judged,
and to reward Your servants the prophets
and the saints and those who fear Your name,
small and great,
and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there came lightning, noises, thundering, an earthquake, and great hail.
A Call for Justice and Mercy
7 And in the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. 2 Those in Bethel sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek and their men to entreat the graces of the Lord, 3 saying to the priests and prophets of the house of the Lord of Hosts, “Should I weep and dedicate myself during the fifth month as I have done in these many years?”
4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 5 Say to all the people in the land and to the priests: When you fasted and lamented during the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for Me? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Were these not the very words that the former prophets proclaimed when Jerusalem dwelled with ease along with her surrounding cities, and when the Negev and the Lowland were inhabited?
Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: 9 Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Execute true justice, show mercy and compassion, every man to his brother. 10 Do not oppress the widow, orphan, sojourner, or poor. And let none of you contemplate evil deeds in your hearts against his brother.
11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears so that they should not hear. 12 They made their hearts hard like a diamond so as not to hear the instruction and words that the Lord of Hosts sent by His Spirit through the former prophets, and there was great anger from the Lord of Hosts.
13 Therefore it happened that as I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear, says the Lord of Hosts. 14 So I scattered them about among all the nations whom they did not know, so the land was left desolate behind them with no one coming or going. And they made a desirable land desolate.
The Parable of the Shepherd
10 “Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. 4 When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them. And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him. For they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what He was telling them.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 But he who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and am known by My own. 15 Even as the Father knows Me, so I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must also bring them, and they will hear My voice. There will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I received this command from My Father.”
19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Jesus Rejected by the Jews
22 The Feast of the Dedication[a] was at Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s Porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him, saying, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you did not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them from My Father’s hand. 30 My Father and I are one.”
31 Again the Jews took up stones to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
33 The Jews answered Him, “We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, claim to be God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”[b]’? 35 If He called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, 36 do you say of Him, whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. 38 But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Again they tried to seize Him, but He escaped from their hands.
40 Then He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and He remained there. 41 Many came to Him and said, “John did no sign. But everything that John said about this Man was true.” 42 And many believed in Him there.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.