M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

30 King Hezekiah sent messages to all the people of Israel and Judah. He wrote letters to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh^[a] also. He invited all these people to come to the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem so that they all could celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. ² King Hezekiah agreed with all his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem to have the Passover in the second month. ³ They could not celebrate the Passover Festival at the regular time, because not enough priests had made themselves ready for holy service and the people had not gathered in Jerusalem. ⁴ The agreement satisfied King Hezekiah and all the assembly. ⁵ So they sent the announcement throughout Israel, from the town of Beersheba all the way to the town of Dan. They told the people to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the Lord, the God of Israel. Not many people had been celebrating it as it was described in the law. ⁶ So the messengers took the king’s letters all through Israel and Judah. This is what the letters said:

“Children of Israel, turn back to the Lord, the God who Abraham, Isaac, and Israel obeyed. Then God will come back to you who are still alive and have escaped from the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Don’t be like your fathers or your brothers. The Lord was their God, but they turned against him. So he made people hate them and speak evil about them. You can see with your own eyes that this is true. ⁸ Don’t be stubborn as your ancestors were. But obey the Lord with a willing heart. Come to the Temple that he has made to be holy forever. Serve the Lord your God. Then his fearful anger will turn away from you. ⁹ If you come back and obey the Lord, your relatives and your children will find mercy from the people who captured them. And your relatives and your children will come back to this land. The Lord your God is kind and merciful. He will not turn away from you if you come back to him.”

¹⁰ The messengers went to every town in the area of Ephraim and Manasseh. They went all the way to the area of Zebulun, but the people laughed at the messengers and made fun of them. ¹¹ But, some men from the areas of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. ¹² Also, in Judah God’s power united the people so that they would obey the king and his officials concerning the word of the Lord.

¹³ Many people came together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. It was a very large crowd. ¹⁴ The people took away the altars in Jerusalem that were for false gods and all the incense altars that were for false gods. They threw them into the Kidron Valley. ¹⁵ Then they killed the Passover lamb on the 14th day of the second month. The priests and the Levites felt ashamed. They made themselves ready for holy service. The priests and the Levites brought burnt offerings into the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁶ They took their regular places in the Temple as described in the Law of Moses, the man of God. The Levites gave the blood to the priests. Then the priests sprinkled the blood on the altar. ¹⁷ There were many people in the group who had not made themselves ready for holy service, so they were not permitted to kill the Passover lambs. That is why the Levites were responsible for killing the Passover lambs for everyone who was not clean. The Levites made each lamb holy for the Lord.

^18-19 Many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not prepared themselves in the right way for the Passover Festival. They did not celebrate the Passover the right way, as the Law of Moses says. But Hezekiah prayed for the people. So he said this prayer, “Lord God, you are good. These people sincerely wanted to worship you in the right way, but they did not make themselves clean as the law says. Please forgive these people. You are the Lord, the God our ancestors worshiped. Forgive them, even if some did not make themselves clean as the rules of the Most Holy Place say.” ²⁰ The Lord listened to King Hezekiah’s prayer and forgave the people. ²¹ The people of Israel in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread with great joy for seven days. And the Levites and priests praised the Lord every day with all their strength.^{[b] 22} King Hezekiah encouraged all the Levites who understood very well how to do the service of the Lord. The people celebrated the festival for seven days and offered fellowship offerings. They gave thanks and praise to the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

²³ All the people agreed to stay seven more days. They were joyful as they celebrated the Passover for seven more days. ²⁴ King Hezekiah of Judah gave 1000 bulls and 7000 sheep to the assembly to kill and eat. The leaders gave 1000 bulls and 10,000 sheep to the assembly. Many priests prepared themselves for holy service. ²⁵ All the assembly of Judah, the priests, the Levites, all the assembly who came from Israel, and the travelers who came from Israel and moved to Judah—all these people were very happy. ²⁶ So there was much joy in Jerusalem. There had not been a celebration like this since the time of Solomon son of King David of Israel. ²⁷ The priests and the Levites stood up and asked God to bless the people, and he heard them. Their prayer came up to heaven, the holy place where he lives.

The Bowls Filled With God’s Anger

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple. It said to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s anger on the earth.”

² The first angel left. He poured out his bowl on the land. Then all those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its idol got sores that were ugly and painful.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. Then the sea became blood like a dead man’s blood. And everything living in the sea died.

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water. The rivers and the springs of water became blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel of the waters say to God,

⁷ And I heard the altar say,

⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. The sun was given power to burn the people with fire. ⁹ The people were burned by the great heat. They cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues. But they refused to change their hearts and lives and give glory to God.

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. And darkness covered the beast’s kingdom. People bit their tongues because of the pain. ¹¹ They cursed the God of heaven because of their pain and the sores they had. But they refused to change their hearts and turn away from the evil things they did.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. The water in the river was dried up. This prepared the way for the rulers from the east to come. ¹³ Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs. They came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ These evil spirits are the spirits of demons. They have power to do miracles.^[a] They go out to the rulers of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of God All-Powerful.

¹⁵ “Listen! I will come at a time you don’t expect, like a thief. Great blessings belong to those who stay awake and keep their clothes with them. They will not have to go without clothes and be ashamed for people to see them.”

¹⁶ Then the evil spirits gathered the rulers together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. Then a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne. It said, “It is finished!” ¹⁸ Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, and a big earthquake. This was the worst earthquake that has ever happened since people have been on earth. ¹⁹ The great city split into three parts. The cities of the nations were destroyed. And God did not forget to punish Babylon the Great. He gave that city the cup filled with the wine of his terrible anger. ²⁰ Every island disappeared and there were no more mountains. ²¹ Giant hailstones fell on the people from the sky. These hailstones weighed almost 100 pounds^[b] each. People cursed God because of this plague of the hail. It was terrible.

Visions About the Nations Around Judah

12 This is a message from the Lord about Israel. The Lord is the one who made the earth and the sky, and he put the human spirit in people. And this is what the Lord said: ² “Look, I will make Jerusalem like a cup of poison to the nations around her. The nations will come and attack that city, and all of Judah will be caught in the trap. ³ But I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock—those who try to take it will hurt themselves. They will be cut and scratched. All the nations on earth will come together to fight against Jerusalem. ⁴ But at that time I will scare the horse, and the soldier riding it will panic. I will make all the enemy horses blind, but my eyes will be open—and I will be watching over Judah’s family. ⁵ The leaders of Judah will encourage the people and say, ‘The Lord All-Powerful is your God. He makes us strong.’ ⁶ At that time I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire burning in a forest. They will destroy their enemies like fire burning straw. They will destroy the enemy all around them, and the people in Jerusalem will again be able to sit back and relax.”

⁷ The Lord will save the people of Judah first, so the people in Jerusalem will not be able to brag too much. David’s family and the other people who live in Jerusalem will not be able to brag that they are better than the other people in Judah. ⁸ But the Lord will protect the people in Jerusalem. Even the man who trips and falls will become a great soldier like David. And the men from David’s family will be like gods—like the Lord’s own angel leading the people.

⁹ The Lord says, “At that time I will destroy the nations that came to fight against Jerusalem. ¹⁰ I will fill David’s family and the people living in Jerusalem with a spirit of kindness and mercy. They will look to me, the one they stabbed, and they will be very sad. They will be as sad as someone crying over the death of their only son, as sad as someone crying over the death of their firstborn son. ¹¹ There will be a time of great sadness and crying in Jerusalem. It will be like the time people cry over the death of Hadad Rimmon^[a] in Megiddo Valley. ¹² Each and every family will cry by itself. The men in David’s family will cry by themselves, and their wives will cry by themselves. The men in Nathan’s family will cry by themselves, and their wives will cry by themselves. ¹³ The men in Levi’s family will cry by themselves, and their wives will cry by themselves. The men in Simeon’s family will cry by themselves, and their wives will cry by themselves. ¹⁴ And the same thing will happen in all the other tribes. The men and women will cry by themselves.”

13 But at that time a new spring of water will be opened for David’s family and for the other people living in Jerusalem. That fountain will be to wash away their sins and to make the people pure.

Jesus Is Like a Vine

15 Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch^[a] of mine that does not produce fruit.^[b] He also trims every branch that produces fruit to prepare it to produce even more. ³ You have already been prepared to produce more fruit by the teaching I have given you. ⁴ Stay joined to me and I will stay joined to you. No branch can produce fruit alone. It must stay connected to the vine. It is the same with you. You cannot produce fruit alone. You must stay joined to me.

⁵ “I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I to you, you will produce plenty of fruit. But separated from me you won’t be able to do anything. ⁶ If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be like a branch that has been thrown out and has dried up. All the dead branches like that are gathered up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ Stay joined together with me, and follow my teachings. If you do this, you can ask for anything you want, and it will be given to you. ⁸ Show that you are my followers by producing much fruit. This will bring honor^[c] to my Father.

⁹ “I have loved you as the Father has loved me. Now continue in my love. ¹⁰ I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and he continues to love me. In the same way, if you obey my commands, I will continue to love you. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you can have the true happiness that I have. I want you to be completely happy. ¹² This is what I command you: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ The greatest love people can show is to die for their friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I tell you to do. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because servants don’t know what their master is doing. But now I call you friends, because I have told you everything that my Father told me.

¹⁶ “You did not choose me. I chose you. And I gave you this work: to go and produce fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

Jesus Warns His Followers

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, remember that they hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as it loves its own people. But I have chosen you to be different from those in the world. So you don’t belong to the world, and that is why the world hates you.

²⁰ “Remember the lesson I told you: Servants are not greater than their master. If people treated me badly, they will treat you badly too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too. ²¹ They will do to you whatever they did to me, because you belong to me. They don’t know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to the people of the world, they would not be guilty of sin. But now I have spoken to them. So they have no excuse for their sin.

²³ “Whoever hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ I did things among the people of the world that no one else has ever done. If I had not done those things, they would not be guilty of sin. But they have seen what I did, and still they hate me and my Father. ²⁵ But this happened to make clear the full meaning of what is written in their law: ‘They hated me for no reason.’^[d]

²⁶ “I will send you the Helper^[e] from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth^[f] who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me. ²⁷ And you will tell people about me too, because you have been with me from the beginning.