M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Micaiah Prophesies against King Ahab(A)
18 Jehoshaphat was wealthy and honorable and became Ahab’s in-law. 2 A few years later he went to visit Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for a banquet in honor of Jehoshaphat and the people who were with him. And Ahab persuaded Jehoshaphat to attack Ramoth in Gilead with him.
3 King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “Will you go with me to Ramoth in Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat told the king of Israel, “I will do what you do. My troops will do what your troops do. We will join your troops in battle.” 4 Then Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “But first, find out what the word of Yahweh is in this matter.”
5 So the king of Israel called 400 prophets together. He asked them, “Should we go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or not?”
“Go,” they said. “Elohim will hand over Ramoth to you.”
6 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh whom we could ask?”
7 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “We can ask Yahweh through Micaiah, son of Imla, but I hate him. Nothing he prophesies about me is good; it’s always evil.”
Jehoshaphat answered, “The king must not say that.”
8 The king of Israel called for an officer and said, “Quick! Get Micaiah, son of Imla!”
9 The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were dressed in royal robes and seated on thrones. They were sitting on the threshing floor[a] at the entrance to the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 10 Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, made iron horns and said, “This is what Yahweh says: With these horns you will push the Arameans to their destruction.” 11 All the other prophets made the same prophecy. They said, “Attack Ramoth in Gilead, and you will win. Yahweh will hand it over to you.”
12 The messenger who went to call Micaiah told him, “The prophets have all told the king the same good message. Make your message agree with their message. Say something good.”
13 Micaiah answered, “I solemnly swear, as Yahweh lives, I will tell him whatever my Elohim says to me.”
14 When he came to the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah,[b] should we go to war against Ramoth in Gilead or not?”
Micaiah said, “Attack and you will win. They will be handed over to you.”
15 The king asked him, “How many times must I make you take an oath in Yahweh’s name to tell me nothing but the truth?”
16 So Micaiah said, “I saw Israel’s troops scattered in the hills like sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh said, ‘These sheep have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’”
17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you he wouldn’t prophesy anything good about me?”
18 Micaiah added, “Then hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and the entire army of heaven was standing on his right and his left. 19 Yahweh asked, ‘Who will deceive King Ahab of Israel so that he will attack and be killed at Ramoth in Gilead?’ Some answered one way, while others were saying something else.
20 “Then the Ruach stepped forward, stood in front of Yahweh, and said, ‘I will deceive him.’
“‘How?’ Yahweh asked.
21 “The Ruach answered, ‘I will go out and be a spirit that tells lies through the mouths of all of Ahab’s prophets.’
“Yahweh said, ‘You will succeed in deceiving him. Go and do it.’
22 “So Yahweh has put into the mouths of these prophets of yours a spirit that makes them tell lies. Yahweh has spoken evil about you.”
23 Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, went to Micaiah and struck him on the cheek. “Which way did the Ruach go when he left me to talk to you?” he asked.
24 Micaiah answered, “You will find out on the day you go into an inner room to hide.”
25 The king of Israel then said, “Send Micaiah back to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the prince. 26 Say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this man in prison, and feed him nothing but bread and water until I return home safely.’”
27 Micaiah said, “If you really do come back safely, then Yahweh wasn’t speaking through me. Pay attention to this, everyone!”
28 So the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to Ramoth in Gilead. 29 The king of Israel told Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you should wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
30 The king of Aram had given orders to the chariot commanders. He said, “Don’t fight anyone except the king of Israel.”
31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He must be the king of Israel.” So they surrounded him in order to fight him. But when Jehoshaphat cried out, Yahweh helped him. Elohim drew them away from him, 32 and the chariot commanders realized that Jehoshaphat wasn’t the king of Israel. Then they turned away from him.
33 One man aimed his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between his scale armor and his breastplate. Ahab told the chariot driver, “Turn around, and get me away from these troops. I’m badly wounded.” 34 But the battle got worse that day, and the king propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening. At sundown he died.
144,000 People Are Sealed
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth to keep them from blowing on the land, the sea, or any tree. 2 I saw another angel coming from the east with the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been allowed to harm the land and sea, 3 “Don’t harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
4 I heard how many were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of the people of Israel:
5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
God’s People around His Throne in Heaven
9 After these things I saw a large crowd from every nation, tribe, people, and language. No one was able to count how many people there were. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb. They were wearing white robes, holding palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the lamb!”
11 All the angels stood around the throne with the leaders and the four living creatures. They bowed in front of the throne with their faces touching the ground, worshiped God, 12 and said,
“Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength
be to our God forever and ever! Amen!”
13 One of the leaders asked me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered him, “Sir, you know.”
Then he told me,
“These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering.
They have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the lamb.
15 That is why they are in front of the throne of God.
They serve him day and night in his temple.
The one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
16 They will never be hungry or thirsty again.
Neither the sun nor any burning heat will ever overcome them.
17 The lamb in the center near the throne will be their shepherd.
He will lead them to springs filled with the water of life,
and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
The Lord Will Send His Servant, the Branch
3 Then he showed me Joshua, the chief priest, standing in front of the Messenger of Yahweh. Satan the Accuser was standing at Joshua’s right side to accuse him. 2 Yahweh said to Satan, “I, Yahweh, silence you, Satan! I, Yahweh, who has chosen Jerusalem, silence you! Isn’t this man like a burning log snatched from a fire?”
3 Joshua was wearing filthy clothes and was standing in front of the Messenger. 4 The Messenger said to those who were standing in front of him, “Remove Joshua’s filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken your sin away from you, and I will dress you in fine clothing.”
5 So I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” They put a clean turban on his head and dressed him while the Messenger of Yahweh was standing there.
6 The Messenger of Yahweh advised Joshua, 7 “This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth says: If you live according to my ways and follow my requirements, you will govern my temple and watch over my courtyards. Then I will give you free access to walk among those standing here.
8 “Listen, Chief Priest Joshua and your friends sitting with you. These men are a sign of things to come: I’m going to bring my servant, the Branch.
9 “Look at the stone I have set in front of Joshua. That one stone has seven eyes.[a] I am engraving an inscription on it,” declares Yahweh Tsebaoth. “I will remove this land’s sin in a single day. 10 On that day,” declares Yahweh Tsebaoth, “each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree.”
Jesus Feeds More Than Five Thousand(A)
6 Yeshua later crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or the Sea of Tiberias). 2 A large crowd followed him because they saw the miracles that he performed for the sick. 3 Yeshua went up a mountain and sat with his disciples. 4 The time for the Jewish Passover festival was near.
5 As Yeshua saw a large crowd coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 Yeshua asked this question to test him. He already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered, “We would need about a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece.”
8 One of Yeshua’s disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s brother, told him, 9 “A boy who has five loaves of barley bread and two small fish is here. But they won’t go very far for so many people.”
10 Yeshua said, “Have the people sit down.”
The people had plenty of grass to sit on. (There were about 5,000 men in the crowd.)
11 Yeshua took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same thing with the fish. All the people ate as much as they wanted.
12 When the people were full, Yeshua told his disciples, “Gather the leftover pieces so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 The disciples gathered the leftover pieces of bread and filled twelve baskets.
14 When the people saw the miracle Yeshua performed, they said, “This man is certainly the prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Yeshua realized that the people intended to take him by force and make him king. So he returned to the mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(B)
16 When evening came, his disciples went to the sea. 17 They got into a boat and started to cross the sea to the city of Capernaum. By this time it was dark, and Yeshua had not yet come to them. 18 A strong wind started to blow and stir up the sea.
19 After they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Yeshua walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they became terrified.
20 Yeshua told them, “It’s me. Don’t be afraid!”
21 So they were willing to help Yeshua into the boat. Immediately, the boat reached the shore where they were going.
Jesus Is the Bread of Life
22 On the next day the people were still on the other side of the sea. They noticed that only one boat was there and that Yeshua had not stepped into that boat with his disciples. The disciples had gone away without him. 23 Other boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord gave thanks. 24 When the people saw that neither Yeshua nor his disciples were there, they got into these boats and went to the city of Capernaum to look for Yeshua. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Yeshua replied to them, “I can guarantee this truth: You’re not looking for me because you saw miracles. You are looking for me because you ate as much of those loaves as you wanted. 27 Don’t work for food that spoils. Instead, work for the food that lasts into eternal life. This is the food the Son of Man will give you. After all, the Father has placed his seal of approval on him.”
28 The people asked Yeshua, “What does God want us to do?”
29 Yeshua replied to them, “God wants to do something for you so that you believe in the one whom he has sent.”
30 The people asked him, “What miracle are you going to perform so that we can see it and believe in you? What are you going to do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the desert. Scripture says, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Yeshua said to them, “I can guarantee this truth: Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 God’s bread is the man who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time.”
35 Yeshua told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty. 36 I’ve told you that you have seen me. However, you don’t believe in me. 37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me. 38 I haven’t come from heaven to do what I want to do. I’ve come to do what the one who sent me wants me to do. 39 The one who sent me doesn’t want me to lose any of those he gave me. He wants me to bring them back to life on the last day. 40 My Father wants all those who see the Son and believe in him to have eternal life. He wants me to bring them back to life on the last day.”
41 The Jews began to criticize Yeshua for saying, “I am the bread that came from heaven.” 42 They asked, “Isn’t this man Yeshua, Joseph’s son? Don’t we know his father and mother? How can he say now, ‘I came from heaven’?”
43 Yeshua responded, “Stop criticizing me! 44 People cannot come to me unless the Father who sent me brings them to me. I will bring these people back to life on the last day. 45 The prophets wrote, ‘God will teach everyone.’ Those who do what they have learned from the Father come to me. 46 I’m saying that no one has seen the Father. Only the one who is from God has seen the Father. 47 I can guarantee this truth: Every believer has eternal life.
48 “I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert and died. 50 This is the bread that comes from heaven so that whoever eats it won’t die. 51 I am the living bread that came from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. The bread I will give to bring life to the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews began to quarrel with each other. They said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Yeshua told them, “I can guarantee this truth: If you don’t eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have the source of life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will bring them back to life on the last day. 55 My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The Father who has life sent me, and I live because of the Father. So those who feed on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came from heaven. It is not like the bread your ancestors ate. They eventually died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”
59 Yeshua said this while he was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum. 60 When many of Yeshua’s disciples heard him, they said, “What he says is hard to accept. Who wants to listen to him anymore?”
61 Yeshua was aware that his disciples were criticizing his message. So Yeshua asked them, “Did what I say make you lose faith? 62 What if you see the Son of Man go where he was before? 63 Life is spiritual. Your physical existence doesn’t contribute to that life. The words that I have spoken to you are spiritual. They are life. 64 But some of you don’t believe.” Yeshua knew from the beginning those who wouldn’t believe and the one who would betray him. 65 So he added, “That is why I told you that people cannot come to me unless the Father provides the way.”
66 Yeshua’s speech made many of his disciples go back to the lives they had led before they followed Yeshua. 67 So Yeshua asked the twelve apostles, “Do you want to leave me too?”
68 Simon Peter answered Yeshua, “Lord, to what person could we go? Your words give eternal life. 69 Besides, we believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Yeshua replied, “I chose all twelve of you. Yet, one of you is a devil.” 71 Yeshua meant Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. Judas, who was one of the twelve apostles, would later betray Yeshua.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.