M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Hezekiah, King of Judah
29 Hezekiah became king when he was 25 years old. He ruled 29 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abijah. Abijah was Zechariah’s daughter. 2 Hezekiah did what the Lord wanted him to do. He did what was right just as David his ancestor had done.
3 Hezekiah repaired the doors of the Lord’s Temple and made them strong. He opened the Temple again. He did this in the first month of the first year after he became king. 4-5 Hezekiah called the priests and Levites together in one assembly. He had a meeting with them in the courtyard on the east side of the Temple. Hezekiah said to them, “Listen to me, Levites! Make yourselves ready for holy service. Make the Temple of the Lord God ready for holy service. He is the God your ancestors obeyed. Take away the things from the Temple that don’t belong in there. These things make the Temple unclean. 6 Our ancestors were not faithful and did what the Lord says is evil. They stopped following him. They no longer paid any attention to the Lord’s house[a] and turned their backs on him. 7 They shut the doors of the porch of the Temple and let the fire go out in the lamps. They stopped burning incense and offering burnt offerings in the Holy Place to the God of Israel. 8 So the Lord became very angry with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. He punished them so badly that it shocks and scares people to hear about it. But then they just laugh and shout their own insults against Judah. You know this is true. You have seen it happen. 9 That is why our ancestors were killed in battle. Our sons, daughters, and wives were made prisoners. 10 So now I, Hezekiah, have decided to make an agreement with the Lord, the God of Israel. Then he will not be angry with us anymore. 11 So my sons,[b] don’t be lazy or waste any more time. The Lord chose you to serve him in the Temple and to burn incense.”
12-14 This is a list of the Levites who started to work:
From the Kohath family there were Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah.
From the Merari family there were Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel.
From the Gershon family there were Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joab.
From Elizaphan’s descendants there were Shimri and Jeiel.
From Asaph’s descendants there were Zechariah and Mattaniah.
From Heman’s descendants there were Jehiel and Shimei.
From Jeduthun’s descendants there were Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 Then these Levites gathered their brothers together and made themselves ready for holy service in the Temple. They obeyed the king’s command that came from the Lord. They went into the Lord’s Temple to clean it. 16 The priests went into the inside part of the Lord’s Temple to clean it. They took out all the unclean things they found there. They brought the unclean things out to the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. Then the Levites took these things out to the Kidron Valley. 17 On the first day of the first month, the Levites began to make the Temple ready for holy service. By the eighth day, they had finished cleaning all the area up to the porch of the Lord’s Temple. For eight more days they cleaned the Lord’s Temple itself to make it ready for holy use. They finished on the 16th day of the first month.
18 Then they went to King Hezekiah and said to him, “King Hezekiah, we cleaned all the Lord’s Temple and the altar for burning offerings and all the things in the Temple. We cleaned the table for the rows of bread with all the things used for that table. 19 During the time that Ahaz was king, he rebelled against God. He threw away many of the things that were in the Temple. But we repaired all those things and made them ready for their special use. They are now in front of the Lord’s altar.”
20 King Hezekiah gathered the city officials and went up to the Temple of the Lord early the next morning. 21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven young male goats. These animals were for a sin offering for the kingdom of Judah, for the Holy Place to make it clean, and for the people of Judah. King Hezekiah commanded the priests who were descendants of Aaron to offer these animals on the Lord’s altar. 22 So the priests killed the bulls and kept the blood. Then they sprinkled the bulls’ blood on the altar. Then they killed the rams and sprinkled the rams’ blood on the altar. Then they killed the lambs and sprinkled the lambs’ blood on the altar. 23-24 Then the priests brought the male goats in front of the king, and the people gathered together. The goats were the sin offering. The priests put their hands on the goats and killed the goats. They made a sin offering with the goats’ blood on the altar. They did this so that God would forgive the sins of the Israelites. The king said that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all the Israelites.
25 King Hezekiah put the Levites in the Lord’s Temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres as David, Gad, the king’s seer, and the prophet Nathan had commanded. This command came from the Lord through his prophets. 26 So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments of music, and the priests stood ready with their trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, singing to the Lord also began. The trumpets were blown, and the instruments of David king of Israel were played. 28 All the assembly bowed down, the musicians sang, and the trumpet players blew their trumpets until the burnt offering was finished.
29 After the sacrifices were finished, King Hezekiah and all the people with him bowed down and worshiped. 30 King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to give praise to the Lord. They sang songs that David and Asaph the seer had written. They praised God and became happy. They all bowed and worshiped God. 31 Hezekiah said, “Now you people of Judah have given yourselves to the Lord. Come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the Lord’s Temple.” Then the people brought sacrifices and thank offerings. Anyone who wanted to, also brought burnt offerings. 32 This is how many burnt offerings the assembly brought to the Temple: 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs. All these animals were sacrificed as burnt offerings to the Lord. 33 There were also 600 bulls and 3000 sheep and goats that were sacrificed as holy offerings. 34 But there were not enough priests to skin and cut up all the animals for the burnt offerings. So their relatives, the Levites, helped them until the work was finished and until other priests could make themselves ready for holy service. The Levites had been more serious than the priests about making themselves ready to serve. 35 There were many burnt offerings, and the fat of fellowship offerings, and drink offerings. So the service in the Lord’s Temple began again. 36 Hezekiah and the people were very happy about the things God prepared for his people. And they were happy he did it so quickly!
The Angels With the Last Plagues
15 Then I saw another wonder in heaven. It was great and amazing. There were seven angels bringing seven plagues. These are the last plagues, because after these, God’s anger is finished.
2 I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. All those who had won the victory over the beast and his idol and over the number of its name were standing by the sea. These people had harps that God had given them. 3 They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and wonderful are the things you do,
Lord God All-Powerful.
Right and true are your ways,
Ruler of the nations.
4 All people will fear you, O Lord.
All people will praise your name.
Only you are holy.
All people will come and worship before you,
because it is clear that you do what is right.”
5 After this I saw the temple, the holy place of God’s presence,[a] in heaven. It was opened, 6 and the seven angels bringing the seven plagues came out. They were dressed in clean, shining linen cloth. They wore golden bands tied around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living beings gave seven golden bowls to the seven angels. The bowls were filled with the anger of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and the power of God. No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
God Will Punish the Other Nations
11 Lebanon, open your gates so that the fire will come
and burn your cedar trees.[a]
2 The cypress trees will cry because the cedar trees have fallen.
Those powerful trees will be taken away.
Oak trees in Bashan will cry
for the forest that was cut down.
3 Listen to the crying shepherds.
Their powerful leaders were taken away.
Listen to the roaring of the young lions.
Their thick bushes near the Jordan River have all been taken away.
4 The Lord my God says, “Care for the sheep that have been raised to be killed. 5 Buyers kill their sheep and are not punished. Those who sell the sheep say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ The shepherds don’t feel sorry for their sheep. 6 And I don’t feel sorry for the people who live in this country.” This is what the Lord said: “Look, I will let everyone be under the control of their neighbor and king. I will let them destroy the country—I will not stop them!”
7 So I took care of the sheep that had been raised to be killed—those poor sheep. I found two sticks. I called one stick Favor, and I called the other stick Union. Then I began caring for the sheep. 8 I fired the three shepherds all in one month. I got angry at the sheep, and they began to hate me. 9 Then I said, “I quit! I will not take care of you! I will let those who want to die, die. I will let those who want to be destroyed, be destroyed, and those who are left will destroy each other.” 10 Then I took the stick named Favor, and I broke it. I did this to show that God’s agreement with his people was broken. 11 So that day the agreement was finished, and those poor sheep watching me knew that this message was from the Lord.
12 Then I said, “If you want to pay me, pay me. If not, don’t!” So they paid me 30 pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord told me, “So that’s how much they think I’m worth. Throw that large amount of money[b] into the Temple treasury.” So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury at the Lord’s Temple. 14 Then I cut the stick named Union into two pieces. I did this to show that the union between Judah and Israel had been broken.
15 Then the Lord said to me, “Now, get the things a foolish shepherd might use. 16 This will show that I will get a new shepherd for this country. But this young man will not be able to take care of the sheep that are being destroyed. He will not be able to heal the hurt sheep or feed those that are left alive. And the healthy ones will be eaten completely—only their hoofs will be left.”
17 Too bad for you, you worthless shepherd!
You abandoned my sheep.
Punish him!
Strike his arm and right eye with a sword.
His arm will be useless.
His right eye will be blind.
Jesus Comforts His Followers
14 Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father too. But now you know the Father. You have seen him.”
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”
9 Jesus answered, “Philip, I have been with you for a long time. So you should know me. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father too. So why do you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The things I have told you don’t come from me. The Father lives in me, and he is doing his own work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or believe because of the miracles I have done.
12 “I can assure you that whoever believes in me will do the same things I have done. And they will do even greater things than I have done, because I am going to the Father. 13 And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you. Then the Father’s glory will be shown through the Son. 14 If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, you will do what I command. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper[a] to be with you forever. 17 The Helper is the Spirit of truth.[b] The people of the world cannot accept him, because they don’t see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you, and he will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you all alone like orphans. I will come back to you. 19 In a very short time the people in the world will not see me anymore. But you will see me. You will live because I live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in the Father. You will know that you are in me and I am in you. 21 Those who really love me are the ones who not only know my commands but also obey them. My Father will love such people, and I will love them. I will make myself known to them.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “Lord, how will you make yourself known to us, but not to the world?”
23 Jesus answered, “All who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. My Father and I will come to them and live with them. 24 But anyone who does not love me does not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine. It is from my Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you all these things while I am with you. 26 But the Helper will teach you everything and cause you to remember all that I told you. This Helper is the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name.
27 “I leave you peace. It is my own peace I give you. I give you peace in a different way than the world does. So don’t be troubled. Don’t be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am leaving, but I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be happy that I am going back to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. 29 I have told you this now, before it happens. Then when it happens, you will believe.
30 “I will not talk with you much longer. The ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me. 31 But the world must know that I love the Father. So I do exactly what the Father told me to do.
“Come now, let’s go.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International