M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

30 Hezekiah sent a message to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He invited them to come to Yahweh’s temple in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of Yahweh Elohim of Israel.

² The king, his officials, and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. ³ They couldn’t celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had performed the ceremonies to make themselves holy and the people hadn’t gathered in Jerusalem. ⁴ The king and the whole assembly considered their plan to be the right thing to do. ⁵ So they decided to send an announcement throughout Israel from Beersheba to Dan. They summoned everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of Yahweh Elohim of Israel. These people had not celebrated it in large numbers as the written instructions said they should.

⁶ Messengers took letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah. The king’s order said, “Israelites, return to Yahweh Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then he will return to the few of you who escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Don’t be like your ancestors and your relatives who were unfaithful to Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors. He made them something that shocks people, as you have seen. ⁸ Don’t be impossible to deal with like your ancestors. Reach out for Yahweh. Come to his holy place that he made holy forever. Serve Yahweh your Elohim, and he will turn his burning anger away from you. ⁹ When you return to Yahweh, your relatives and children will find compassion from those who captured them. They will return to this land. Yahweh your Elohim is merciful and compassionate. He will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰ So the messengers went from city to city in the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun. But the people ridiculed them. ¹¹ However, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² Also, Elohim guided the people of Judah so that they united to carry out the command which the king and the leaders gave from Yahweh’s word.

¹³ Many people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. They formed a large assembly.

¹⁴ Then the people got rid of the idols’ altars in Jerusalem. They got rid of all the altars for incense by dumping them in the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed, so they performed the ceremonies to make themselves holy. Then they brought burnt offerings to Yahweh’s temple. ¹⁶ They stood in their regular places as instructed by Moses’ Teachings. (Moses was a man of Elohim.) The priests sprinkled the blood they received from the Levites. ¹⁷ Many people in the assembly had not made themselves holy. So the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all who weren’t clean^[a] and couldn’t make their lambs holy for Yahweh.

¹⁸ Many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean. So they ate the Passover, but not in the way the written instructions said they should. Hezekiah prayed for them: “May the good Yahweh forgive ¹⁹ those who have their hearts set on dedicating their lives to serving Elohim. May Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors do this for those who are not clean as required for the holy place.” ²⁰ Yahweh listened to Hezekiah and healed the people.

²¹ So the Israelites in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. Each day the Levites and priests praised Yahweh in song. They played Yahweh’s instruments loudly. ²² Hezekiah spoke encouraging words to all the Levites who had the skills to serve Yahweh. They ate the festival meals for seven days, sacrificed fellowship offerings, and confessed their sins to Yahweh Elohim of their ancestors.

²³ Then the whole assembly decided to celebrate the festival for seven more days. So they joyfully celebrated for seven more days. ²⁴ King Hezekiah of Judah provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep as sacrifices for the assembly. The leaders provided 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep for the assembly. So a large number of priests were able to perform the ceremonies to make themselves holy.

²⁵ The whole assembly from Judah, the priests, the Levites, the whole assembly from Israel, the foreigners who came from Israel, and those who lived in Judah rejoiced. ²⁶ The city of Jerusalem was filled with joy. Nothing like this had happened in Jerusalem since the days of King Solomon of Israel.

²⁷ Then the Levitical priests blessed the people. Their voices were heard, and their prayers went to Elohim’s holy place in heaven.

The Seven Angels Pour Out Their Bowls

16 I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Pour the seven bowls of God’s anger over the earth.”

² The first angel poured his bowl over the earth. Horrible, painful sores appeared on the people who had the brand of the beast and worshiped its statue.

³ The second angel poured his bowl over the sea. The sea turned into blood like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.

⁴ The third angel poured his bowl over the rivers and the springs. They turned into blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel of the water say,

⁷ Then I heard the altar answer,

⁸ The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun. The sun was allowed to burn people with fire. ⁹ They were severely burned. They cursed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues. They would not change the way they think and act and give him glory.

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast. Its kingdom turned dark. People gnawed on their tongues in anguish ¹¹ and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and their sores. However, they would not stop what they were doing.

¹² The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great Euphrates River. The water in the river dried up to make a road for the kings from the east. ¹³ Then I saw three evil spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the serpent, the beast, and the false prophet. ¹⁴ They are spirits of demons that do miracles. These spirits go to the kings of the whole world and gather them for the war on the frightening day of God Almighty.

¹⁵ “See, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains alert and doesn’t lose his clothes. He will not have to go naked and let others see his shame.”

¹⁶ The spirits gathered the kings at the place which is called Armageddon in Hebrew.

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air. A loud voice came from the throne in the temple, and said, “It has happened!” ¹⁸ There was lightning, noise, thunder, and a powerful earthquake. There has never been such a powerful earthquake since humans have been on earth. ¹⁹ The important city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. God remembered to give Babylon the Great the cup of wine from his fierce anger. ²⁰ Every island vanished, and the mountains could no longer be seen. ²¹ Large, heavy hailstones fell from the sky on people. The people cursed God because the plague of hail was such a terrible plague.

The Lord Will Save Jerusalem

12 This is the prophetic revelation, the word of Yahweh about Israel. Yahweh—who spread out the heavens, laid the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit in a person—says, ² “I’m going to make Jerusalem like a cup of wine that makes all the surrounding people stagger. They will attack Judah along with Jerusalem. ³ On that day I will make Jerusalem a stone too heavy for all the nations to lift. All who try to lift it will be severely injured. All the nations in the world will gather to fight against Jerusalem.”

⁴ Yahweh declares, “On that day I will strike every horse with panic and every rider with madness. I will watch over the people of Judah, but I will strike all the horses of the nations blind. ⁵ Then the leaders of Judah will think to themselves, ‘The people who live in Jerusalem are strong because of Yahweh Tsebaoth, their Elohim.’

⁶ “On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire on a pile of wood and like a burning torch among freshly cut straw. They will burn up all the surrounding nations to the right and to the left. But the people of Jerusalem will remain safe in Jerusalem.

⁷ “Yahweh will save Judah’s tents first so that the honor of David’s family and the honor of those who live in Jerusalem will not be greater than the honor of Judah. ⁸ On that day Yahweh will defend those who live in Jerusalem so that even those who stumble will be like David, and David’s family will be like Elohim, like the Messenger of Yahweh ahead of them.

⁹ “On that day I will seek to destroy all the nations who attack Jerusalem.

The People of Jerusalem Will Look at the One They Stabbed

¹⁰ “I will pour out the Ruach of blessing and mercy on David’s family and on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look at me, whom they have stabbed. Then they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will cry bitterly for him as one cries for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as intense as the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each family by itself: the family of David by itself, and the wives by themselves; the family of Nathan by itself, and the wives by themselves; ¹³ the family of Levi by itself, and the wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and the wives by themselves. ¹⁴ All the families that are left will mourn, each by itself, and the wives by themselves.”

13 The Lord declares, “On that day a fountain will be opened for David’s family and for those who live in Jerusalem to wash away their sin and stain.

Jesus, the True Vine

15 Then Yeshua said, “I am the true vine, and my Father takes care of the vineyard. ² He removes every one of my branches that doesn’t produce fruit. He also prunes every branch that does produce fruit to make it produce more fruit.

³ “You are already clean^[a] because of what I have told you. ⁴ Live in me, and I will live in you. A branch cannot produce any fruit by itself. It has to stay attached to the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit unless you live in me.

⁵ “I am the vine. You are the branches. Those who live in me while I live in them will produce a lot of fruit. But you can’t produce anything without me. ⁶ Whoever doesn’t live in me is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Branches like this are gathered, thrown into a fire, and burned. ⁷ If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want, and it will be yours. ⁸ You give glory to my Father when you produce a lot of fruit and therefore show that you are my disciples.

⁹ “I have loved you the same way the Father has loved me. So live in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commandments, you will live in my love. I have obeyed my Father’s commandments, and in that way I live in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that you will be as joyful as I am, and your joy will be complete. ¹² Love each other as I have loved you. This is what I’m commanding you to do. ¹³ The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you obey my commandments. ¹⁵ I don’t call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. But I’ve called you friends because I’ve made known to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father. ¹⁶ You didn’t choose me, but I chose you. I have appointed you to go, to produce fruit that will last, and to ask the Father in my name to give you whatever you ask for. ¹⁷ Love each other. This is what I’m commanding you to do.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you had anything in common with the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But you don’t have anything in common with the world. I chose you from the world, and that’s why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant isn’t greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they did what I said, they will also do what you say. ²¹ Indeed, they will do all this to you because you are committed to me, since they don’t know the one who sent me. ²² If I hadn’t come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The person who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ If I hadn’t done among them what no one else has done, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ In this way what is written in their Scriptures has come true: ‘They hate me for no reason.’

²⁶ “The helper whom I will send to you from the Father will come. This helper, the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, will declare the truth about me. ²⁷ You will declare the truth, too, because you have been with me from the beginning.”