M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 16
Asa’s Infidelity. 1 (A)In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, Baasha, king of Israel, attacked Judah and fortified Ramah to block all movement for Asa, king of Judah. 2 Asa then brought out silver and gold from the treasuries of the house of the Lord and the house of the king and sent them to Ben-hadad, king of Aram, who ruled in Damascus. He said: 3 “There is a treaty between you and me, as there was between your father and my father. I am sending you silver and gold. Go, break your treaty with Baasha, king of Israel, that he may withdraw from me.” 4 Ben-hadad agreed with King Asa and sent the leaders of his troops against the cities of Israel. They attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-maim, besides all the store cities of Naphtali. 5 When Baasha heard of it, he left off fortifying Ramah, putting an end to his work. 6 Then King Asa commandeered all Judah and they carried away the stones and beams with which Baasha was fortifying Ramah. With them he fortified Geba and Mizpah.
7 At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa, king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you relied on the king of Aram and did not rely on the Lord, your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped[a] your power. 8 (B)Were not the Ethiopians and Libyans a vast army, with great numbers of chariots and horses? And yet, because you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your power. 9 The eyes of the Lord roam over the whole earth,(C) to encourage those who are devoted to him wholeheartedly. You have acted foolishly in this matter, for from now on you will have wars.” 10 But Asa became angry with the seer and imprisoned him in the stocks, so greatly was he enraged at him over this. Asa also oppressed some of his people at this time.
11 (D)Now the acts of Asa, first and last, are recorded in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa contracted disease in his feet; it became worse, but even with this disease he did not seek the Lord, only physicians. 13 Asa rested with his ancestors; he died in the forty-first year of his reign. 14 They buried him in the tomb he had hewn for himself in the City of David, after laying him on a couch that was filled with spices and various kinds of aromatics compounded into an ointment; and they kindled a huge fire for him.
Chapter 5
The Scroll and the Lamb.[a] 1 I saw a scroll[b] in the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.(A) 2 Then I saw a mighty angel who proclaimed in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to examine it. 4 I shed many tears because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to examine it. 5 One of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David,[c] has triumphed, enabling him to open the scroll with its seven seals.”(B)
6 Then I saw standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb[d] that seemed to have been slain. He had seven horns and seven eyes; these are the [seven] spirits of God sent out into the whole world.(C) 7 He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne. 8 When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones. 9 They sang a new hymn:
“Worthy are you to receive the scroll
and to break open its seals,
for you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God
those from every tribe and tongue, people and nation.
10 You made them a kingdom and priests for our God,
and they will reign on earth.”(D)
11 I looked again and heard the voices of many angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders. They were countless[e] in number,(E) 12 and they cried out in a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and blessing.”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out:
“To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor, glory and might,
forever and ever.”
14 The four living creatures answered, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Chapter 1
Call for Obedience. 1 In the second year of Darius,[a] in the eighth month, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo: 2 The Lord was very angry with your ancestors.[b](A) 3 Say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return to me—oracle of the Lord[c] of hosts—and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 Do not be like your ancestors to whom the earlier prophets[d] proclaimed: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Turn from your evil ways and from your wicked deeds.(B) But they did not listen or pay attention to me(C)—oracle of the Lord.— 5 Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, can they live forever? 6 But my words and my statutes, with which I charged my servants the prophets, did these not overtake your ancestors?(D) Then they repented[e] and admitted: “Just as the Lord of hosts intended to treat us according to our ways and deeds, so the Lord has done.”
First Vision: Horses Patrolling the Earth.(E) 7 In the second year of Darius, on the twenty-fourth day of Shebat, the eleventh month,[f] the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, son of Berechiah, son of Iddo:
8 [g]I looked out in the night,[h] and there was a man mounted on a red horse standing in the shadows among myrtle trees; and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?”[i] Then the angel who spoke with me answered, “I will show you what these are.” 10 Then the man who was standing among the myrtle trees spoke up and said, “These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.”(F) 11 And they answered the angel of the Lord,[j] who was standing among the myrtle trees: “We have been patrolling the earth, and now the whole earth rests quietly.” 12 Then the angel of the Lord replied, “Lord of hosts, how long will you be without mercy for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that have felt your anger these seventy years?”[k](G) 13 To the angel who spoke with me, the Lord replied favorably, with comforting words.
Oracular Response. 14 The angel who spoke with me then said to me, Proclaim: Thus says the Lord of hosts:
I am jealous for Jerusalem
and for Zion[l] intensely jealous.(H)
15 I am consumed with anger
toward the complacent nations;[m]
When I was only a little angry,
they compounded the disaster.(I)
16 Therefore, thus says the Lord:
I return to Jerusalem in mercy;(J)
my house[n] will be rebuilt there(K)—oracle of the Lord of hosts—
and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.
17 Proclaim further: Thus says the Lord of hosts:
My cities will again overflow with prosperity;
the Lord will again comfort Zion,
and will again choose Jerusalem.(L)
Chapter 4
1 [a]Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, just his disciples),[b] 3 he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
The Samaritan Woman. 4 He had to[c] pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,[d] near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.(A) 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. 9 [e]The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”(B) (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) 10 [f]Jesus answered and said to her,(C) “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 [The woman] said to him, “Sir,[g] you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?”(D) 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; 14 but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”(E) 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” 17 The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ 18 For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”(F) 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.(G) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain;[h] but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”(H) 21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews.(I) 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth;[i] and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”(J) 25 [j]The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming,(K) the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he,[k] the one who is speaking with you.”(L)
27 At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman,[l] but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, 29 “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 They went out of the town and came to him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.(M) 35 Do you not say, ‘In four months[m] the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.(N) 36 The reaper is already[n] receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.(O) 37 For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’(P) 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
39 Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman[o] who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” 40 When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more began to believe in him because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”(Q)
Return to Galilee. 43 [p]After the two days, he left there for Galilee. 44 [q](R)For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. 45 When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Second Sign at Cana.[r] 46 (S)Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”(T) 49 The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.(U) 51 While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52 He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” 53 The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. 54 [Now] this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.(V)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.