M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Uzziah, King of Judah

26 Then the people of Judah chose Uzziah to be the new king in place of Amaziah. Amaziah was Uzziah’s father. Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. ² Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath and gave it back to Judah. He did this after Amaziah died and was buried with his ancestors.

³ Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. He ruled 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah. Jecoliah was from Jerusalem. ⁴ Uzziah did what the Lord wanted him to do. He obeyed God the same as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Uzziah followed God in the time of Zechariah’s life. Zechariah taught Uzziah how to respect and obey God. When Uzziah was obeying the Lord, God gave him success.

⁶ Uzziah fought a war against the Philistines. He tore down the walls around the towns of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Uzziah built towns near the town of Ashdod and in other places among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped Uzziah fight the Philistines, the Arabs living in the town of Gur Baal, and the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah. His name became famous all the way to the border of Egypt. He was famous because he was very powerful.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the place where the wall turned. He made them strong. ¹⁰ He built towers in the desert. He also dug many wells. He had many cattle in the hill country and in the flat lands. He had farmers in the mountains and in the lands where growth was good. He also had men who took care of vineyards. He loved farming.

¹¹ Uzziah had an army of trained soldiers. They were put in groups by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer. Hananiah was their leader. Jeiel and Maaseiah counted the soldiers and put them into groups. Hananiah was one of the king’s officers. ¹² There were 2600 leaders over the soldiers. ¹³ These family leaders were in charge of an army of 307,500 men who fought with great power. These soldiers helped the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah gave the army shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and stones for the slings. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem, Uzziah made machines that were invented by clever men. These machines were put on the towers and corner walls. They shot arrows and large rocks. Uzziah became famous. People knew his name in far away places. He had much help and became a powerful king.

¹⁶ But when Uzziah became strong, his pride caused him to be destroyed. He was not faithful to the Lord his God. He went into the Lord’s Temple to burn incense on the altar for burning incense. ¹⁷ Azariah the priest and 80 brave priests who served the Lord followed Uzziah into the Temple. ¹⁸ They told Uzziah he was wrong. They said to him, “Uzziah, it is not your job to burn incense to the Lord. It is not right. That is for the priests, Aaron’s descendants, to do. They are the only ones who have been prepared for the holy work of burning incense. You have not been faithful, so you must go out of the Most Holy Place. The Lord God will not honor you for this.”

¹⁹ But Uzziah was angry. He had a bowl in his hand for burning incense. While Uzziah was very angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead. This happened in front of the priests in the Lord’s Temple by the altar for burning incense. ²⁰ Azariah the leading priest and all the priests looked at Uzziah. They could see the leprosy on his forehead. The priests quickly forced him out from the Temple. Uzziah himself hurried out because the Lord had punished him. ²¹ So Uzziah the king was a leper. He could not enter the Lord’s Temple. His son Jotham controlled the king’s palace and became governor for the people.

²² Everything else Uzziah did, from beginning to end, is written by the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ²³ Uzziah died and was buried near his ancestors in the field near the king’s burial places. This was because the people said, “Uzziah has leprosy.” And Uzziah’s son Jotham became the new king in his place.

The Beast From the Sea

13 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. There was a crown on each of its horns. It had an evil name written on each head. ² This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet. It had a mouth like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast all of its power and its throne and great authority.

³ One of the heads of the beast looked as if it had been wounded and killed, but the death wound was healed. All the people in the world were amazed, and they all followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because it had given its power to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is as powerful as the beast? Who can make war against it?”

⁵ The beast was allowed to boast and speak insults against God. It was allowed to use its power for 42 months. ⁶ The beast opened its mouth to insult God—to insult his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. It was given power over every tribe, race of people, language, and nation. ⁸ Everyone living on earth would worship the beast. These are all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the one who was killed.

⁹ Anyone who hears these things should listen to this:

This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.

The Beast From the Earth

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he talked like a dragon. ¹² This beast stood before the first beast and used the same power the first beast had. He used this power to make everyone living on the earth worship the first beast. The first beast was the one that had the death wound that was healed. ¹³ The second beast did great miracles.^[a] He even made fire come down from heaven to earth while people were watching.

¹⁴ This second beast fooled the people living on earth by using the miracles that he had been given the power to do for the first beast. He ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast, the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first beast. Then the idol could speak and order all those who did not worship it to be killed. ¹⁶ The second beast also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark put on their right hand or on their forehead. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell without this mark. (This mark is the name of the beast or the number of its name.)

¹⁸ Anyone who has understanding can find the meaning of the beast’s number. This requires wisdom. This number is the number of a man. It is 666.

Judgment Against Other Nations

9 This is the Lord’s message against the land of Hadrach and against the city of Damascus. The tribes of Israel are not the only people who know about the Lord. Everyone looks to him for help.^{[a] 2} This message is also against the city of Hamath near Damascus. And this message is against Tyre and Sidon, even though those people have been so wise and skillful. ³ Tyre is built like a fort. The people there have collected so much silver that it is like dust, and gold is as common as clay. ⁴ But the Lord will take it all. He will destroy her powerful navy and that city will be destroyed by fire!

⁵ The people in Ashkelon will see this and they will be afraid. The people of Gaza will shake with fear, and the people of Ekron will lose all hope when they see this happen. There will be no king left in Gaza. No one will live in Ashkelon anymore. ⁶ The people in Ashdod will not even know who their real fathers are. The Lord says, “I will completely destroy the proud Philistines. ⁷ They will no longer eat meat with the blood still in it or any other forbidden food. Any Philistine left alive will become a part of my people; they will be just one more tribe in Judah. The people of Ekron will become a part of my people, as the Jebusites did. ⁸ I will protect my country. I will not let enemy armies pass through it. I will not let them hurt my people anymore. With my own eyes I have seen how much my people have suffered.”

The Future King

The Lord Will Save His People

Jesus in Bethany With His Friends^(A)

12 Six days before the Passover festival, Jesus went to Bethany. That is where Lazarus lived, the man Jesus raised from death. ² There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food, and Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. ³ Mary brought in a pint^[a] of expensive perfume made of pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet. Then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers, was there—the one who would later hand Jesus over to his enemies. Judas said, ⁵ “That perfume was worth a full year’s pay.^[b] It should have been sold, and the money should have been given to the poor people.” ⁶ But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the moneybag for the group of followers. And he often stole money from the bag.

⁷ Jesus answered, “Don’t stop her. It was right for her to save this perfume for today—the day for me to be prepared for burial. ⁸ You will always have those who are poor with you.^[c] But you will not always have me.”

The Plot Against Lazarus

⁹ Many of the Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany, so they went there to see him. They also went there to see Lazarus, the one Jesus raised from death. ¹⁰ So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus too. ¹¹ Because of him, many Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus. That is why they wanted to kill Lazarus too.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King^(B)

¹² The next day the people in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. These were the crowds of people who had come to the Passover festival. ¹³ They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, as the Scriptures say,

¹⁶ The followers of Jesus did not understand at that time what was happening. But after he was raised to glory, they understood that this was written about him. Then they remembered that they had done these things for him.

¹⁷ There were many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from death and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. ¹⁸ That’s why so many people went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign he did. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, “Look! Our plan is not working. The people are all following him!”

Jesus Talks About Life and Death

²⁰ There were some Greeks there too. These were some of the people who went to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover festival. ²¹ They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

²³ Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. ²⁴ It is a fact that a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die before it can grow and produce much more wheat. If it never dies, it will never be more than a single seed. ²⁵ Whoever loves the life they have now will lose it. But whoever is willing to give up their life in this world will keep it. They will have eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me. My servants must be with me everywhere I am. My Father will give honor to anyone who serves me.

Jesus Talks About His Death

²⁷ “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father save me from this time of suffering’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. ²⁸ Father, do what will bring you glory!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have already brought glory to myself. I will do it again.”

²⁹ The people standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.

But others said, “An angel spoke to him!”

³⁰ Jesus said, “That voice was for you and not for me. ³¹ Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. ³² I will be lifted up^[f] from the earth. When that happens, I will draw all people to myself.” ³³ Jesus said this to show how he would die.

³⁴ The people said, “But our law says that the Messiah will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “The light^[g] will be with you for only a short time more. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. People who walk in the darkness don’t know where they are going. ³⁶ So put your trust in the light while you still have it. Then you will be children of light.” When Jesus finished saying these things, he went away to a place where the people could not find him.

Some Jews Refuse to Believe in Jesus

³⁷ The people saw all these miraculous signs Jesus did, but they still did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to give full meaning to what Isaiah the prophet said:

³⁹ This is why the people could not believe. Because Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ divine greatness. So he spoke about him.

⁴² But many people believed in Jesus. Even many of the Jewish leaders believed in him, but they were afraid of the Pharisees, so they did not say openly that they believed. They were afraid they would be ordered to stay out of the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved praise from people more than praise from God.

Jesus’ Teaching Will Judge People

⁴⁴ Then Jesus said loudly, “Everyone who believes in me is really believing in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ Everyone who sees me is really seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I came into this world as a light. I came so that everyone who believes in me will not stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “I did not come into the world to judge people. I came to save the people in the world. So I am not the one who judges those who hear my teaching and do not obey. ⁴⁸ But there is a judge for all those who refuse to believe in me and do not accept what I say. The message I have spoken will judge them on the last day. ⁴⁹ That is because what I taught was not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach. ⁵⁰ And I know that whatever he says to do will bring eternal life. So the things I say are exactly what the Father told me to say.”