M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The dragon is bound for a thousand years. The dead arise and receive judgment.

20 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. ² And he took the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and he bound him a thousand years, ³ and cast him into the bottomless pit. And he bound him and set a seal on him, that he should deceive the people no more till the thousand years were fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed for a little season.

⁴ And I saw seats, and they that sat upon them; and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast, nor his image, neither had taken his mark upon their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ But the others of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is that first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. For on such the second death shall have no power. For they shall be the priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

⁷ And when the thousand years are expired, Satan will be loosed out of his prison, ⁸ and will go out to deceive the people who are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they went up on the plain of the earth and compassed the tents of the saints about, and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were, and shall be tormented day and night forevermore.

¹¹ And I saw a great white seat, and him that sat on it, from whose face both the earth and heaven fled away; and their place was found no more. ¹² And I saw the dead, both great and small, stand before God. And the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by those things that were written in the books, according to their deeds. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead that were in her, and death and hell delivered up the dead that were in them. And they were judged, every person according to his deeds. ¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire; this is the second death. ¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Christ is crucified. He commits his mother to John’s care, sheds his blood, and is buried.

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. ² And the soldiers wound a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple garment, ³ and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck him on the face.

⁴ Pilate went forth again and said to the people, Look, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no fault in him. ⁵ Then Jesus came forth wearing the crown of thorns and the robe of purple. And Pilate said to them, Behold the man!

⁶ When the high priests and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him! Pilate said to them, You take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. ⁷ The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

⁸ When Pilate heard these words, he was the more afraid, ⁹ and went again into the judgment hall and said to Jesus, Where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ Then Pilate said to him, Will you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you, and have the power to set you free?

¹¹ Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against me unless it were given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you is more in sin.

¹² And from then on Pilate sought means to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If you let him go, you are not Caesar’s friend! For whoever makes himself a king, is against Caesar.

¹³ When Pilate heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down to give sentence in a place called The Pavement, but in the Hebrew tongue, Gabbatha. ¹⁴ It was the day before the Sabbath that falls in the Passover feast, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, Behold your king! ¹⁵ They cried, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The high priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

¹⁶ Then Pilate delivered him to them, to be crucified.

¹⁷ And they took Jesus and led him away. And he bore his cross, and went out to a place called the Place of Dead Men’s Skulls, which is named in Hebrew, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and two others with him, one on either side, and Jesus in the middle. ¹⁹ And Pilate wrote his title and put it on the cross. The writing was, jesus of nazareth, king of the jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this title, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

²¹ Then the high priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write King of the Jews, but that he said, I am King of the Jews. ²² Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

²³ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat. The coat was without seam, woven throughout, ²⁴ and they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots who should have it. This was to fulfil the scripture that says: They parted my garments among them, and for my coat did cast lots. ²⁵ And the soldiers did such things indeed.

Then there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. ²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her for his own.

²⁸ After that, when Jesus perceived that all things were performed, so that the scripture would be fulfilled, he said, I thirst! ²⁹ There was standing nearby a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and wound it about with hyssop, and put it to his mouth. ³⁰ As soon as Jesus had received of the vinegar, he said, It is finished! And he bowed his head and gave up the spirit.

³¹ The Jews then, because it was the day before the Sabbath, in order that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day (for that Sabbath day was a high day), requested Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken down. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other that was crucified with Jesus. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers thrust him in the side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.

³⁵ And he who saw it has borne witness, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he speaks the truth, so that you may believe also. ³⁶ These things were done so that the scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones shall be broken. ³⁷ And again another scripture says: They shall look on him whom they pierced.

³⁸ After that, Joseph of Arimathea (who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) asked Pilate if he could take down the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission.

³⁹ And Nicodemus came also, who at the beginning had gone to Jesus by night, and brought myrrh and aloes mingled together, about a hundred pound weight. ⁴⁰ Then they took the body of Jesus and wound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. ⁴¹ And in the place where Jesus was crucified was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, in which no man had ever been laid. ⁴² There they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Sabbath eve. For the sepulchre was near at hand.