M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jehoram becomes king of Judah
21 Jehoshaphat died and they buried him beside his ancestors in the City of David. Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram became king after him. 2 Jehoram had brothers who were also sons of Jehoshaphat. They were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these men were sons of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.[a] 3 Their father had given them many gifts of silver, gold and other valuable things. He gave them authority over the strong cities of Judah. But Jehoshaphat chose Jehoram be the next king because he was his oldest son.
4 Jehoram made himself a strong king to rule over his father's kingdom. Then he killed all his brothers, as well as some of the Israelite leaders. 5 He was 32 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years.
6 He lived in the same bad way that the kings of Israel did. He did what the family of Ahab had done. He married a daughter of King Ahab and he became as wicked as King Ahab's family was. He did things that the Lord said were evil. 7 But the Lord did not want to destroy all David's descendants, because of his promise to David. He had promised that King David would always have descendants who would rule the nation.
Edom fights against Judah
8 While Jehoram was king, Edom's people turned against Judah. They would no longer accept the king of Judah's authority over them. They decided to have their own king. 9 So King Jehoram travelled to Zair with his army officers and all his chariots.[b] The Edomite army came and they were all around him. But that night, Jehoram and his officers attacked the Edomites and they escaped. 10 Even today, Edom's people do not obey the rulers of Judah. The people of Libnah city also turned against Judah at the same time. That happened because Jehoram had turned away from the Lord, the God of his ancestors.
11 He also built altars on the hills of Judah. He caused the people of Judah and Jerusalem to turn away from the Lord and worship false gods.[c]
Elijah gives a message to King Jehoram
12 The prophet Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram. This is what it said:
‘The Lord, the God of your ancestor David says, “You have not lived in a good way as your father Jehoshaphat did and as King Asa of Judah did. 13 Instead, you have lived in the way that the kings of Israel live. You have caused the people of Judah and Jerusalem to turn away from the Lord and worship false gods. That is the same as King Ahab's family has done in Israel. You have also killed your own brothers, your father's sons. They were better men than you are. 14 So now the Lord will send terrible trouble on your people, including your children, your wives and everything that belongs to you. 15 You will have a bad disease. You will have terrible pain in your stomach that becomes worse and worse. Finally, your inside parts will come out of your body.” ’
16 There were some Philistines and Arabs who lived near people from Ethiopia. The Lord caused them to be angry with Jehoram. 17 They attacked Judah and they took power over the land. They took away all the valuable things in the king's palace. They took his sons and his wives as their prisoners. The only son of Jehoram that remained was his youngest son, Ahaziah.[d]
Jehoram dies
18 After all this happened, the Lord caused Jehoram to have a bad disease in his stomach. He could not become well again. 19 He was very ill for two years, and then his inside parts came out because of the illness. So he had a lot of pain until he died. His people did not make a big fire to give him honour, as they had done for his ancestors.
20 Jehoram was 32 years old when he started to rule. He ruled in Jerusalem for eight years. When he died, nobody was sad. They buried him in the City of David, but not in the place where they had buried the other kings.
The fifth trumpet
9 The fifth angel made a sound with his trumpet. Then I saw a star that had fallen down from the sky to the earth. Someone gave a key to that star. The key could open the entrance to the deep hole.[a] 2 When the star opened the entrance, smoke came up out of the hole. It was like the smoke from a very big hot fire. The smoke caused the sun and the sky to become dark.
3 Then locusts came out of the smoke and they came down on the earth. They received power to cause great pain, like the power of scorpions. 4 They knew that they must not do anything bad to the grass on the earth. They must not attack any plant or any tree. They could only attack people who did not have God's seal on the front of their heads. 5 The locusts did not have authority to kill those people. But they could cause them very bad pain for five months. Their pain was like the great pain from a scorpion when it hurts someone. 6 During that time of great pain, people will want to kill themselves. They will want to die, but they will not find any way to die.
7 The locusts were like horses that were ready to fight in a war. They wore something on their heads that seemed to be gold crowns. Their faces looked like human faces. 8 Their hair was like women's hair. Their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 They had shields over the front of their bodies, like shields made from iron. Their wings made a very loud noise. The sound was like many horses that are pulling chariots into a battle. 10 They had poison in their tails, like scorpions. They had power to attack people with their tails and to cause them pain for five months. 11 The king that ruled them was the angel of the deep hole. His name is ‘Abaddon’ in the Hebrew language. In the Greek language his name is ‘Apollyon’.[b]
12 The first great trouble has now finished. But after all these things, there are two more great troubles still to come.
The sixth trumpet
13 Then the sixth angel made a sound with his trumpet. I heard a voice that spoke to him from the four corners of the gold altar. This altar is near to God himself. 14 The voice said to the sixth angel, ‘There are four angels at the great Euphrates river. Someone has tied them so that they cannot move. You must go and undo them!’ 15 So the four angels now became free. God had kept them ready for that special time, for that hour, in that day, in that month, in that year. They were now ready to kill a third of people everywhere. 16 I heard how many soldiers there were in their great army. There were 200 million soldiers who rode on horses.
17 In my vision, I saw the soldiers and their horses. The soldiers had shields over the front of their bodies. The shields had many colours. They were bright red like fire, bright blue, and yellow like sulphur. The horses' heads looked like lions' heads. Fire, smoke and sulphur came out of their mouths. 18 The fire, the smoke and the sulphur killed people. These three dangerous things killed a third of people everywhere. 19 The horses had great power in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like snakes, with heads that could hurt people very much.
20 But all the people that the fire, the smoke and the sulphur did not kill continued to do bad things. They did not change how they lived. They worshipped things that they had made for themselves. They worshipped demons and idols that they made from gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. Those idols cannot see anything or hear anything. They cannot walk anywhere. But the people continued to worship them. 21 They were not sorry that they murdered other people. They were not sorry that they used magic to hurt people. They continued to have sex with people in wrong ways. They continued to rob other people. They did not want to change the way that they lived.[c]
Words for everyone to read
5 Again, I looked and I saw a large paper. It was moving through the air. There were many words on the paper.
2 The angel said to me, ‘What do you see?’ And I answered, ‘I see a paper that is flying through the air. It is 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.’
3 Then the angel said to me, ‘The words on the paper tell about bad events for the whole earth. This will be in future years. On one side of the paper, it says that a man must not rob anyone. If he does, people will send him away from his own country. On the other side of the paper, it says that a man must not speak false words. If he does, people will send him away from his own country. 4 The Lord Almighty says, “I will cause bad things to happen in the house of the man that robs anyone. I will cause bad things to happen in the house of the man that speaks false words. It is as if the words on the paper will destroy the houses of those bad people.” ’
The woman in the basket
5 Then the angel that talked to me came near to me. He said, ‘Look. And see the thing that has just appeared.’
6 I said, ‘What is it?’
He said, ‘It is a basket that people measure with.’ Then he said, ‘It is the sin of all the people in this country.’
7 He lifted the heavy metal lid and there was a woman. She was sitting in the basket!
8 The angel said, ‘This is sin.’ He pushed her into the basket again and he put the heavy metal lid on top of the basket.
9 Then I looked up and I saw two women. They flew towards me with strong wings. The wind carried them as the wind carries large birds. They lifted the basket between the earth and the sky.
10 Then I said to the angel that talked with me, ‘Where will these women take the basket?’
11 The angel said to me, ‘They will take the basket to the country called Babylon. They will build a house for it there. When the house is ready, they will put the basket inside the house. They will put it where people can see it.’
8 [a][But Jesus went to the hill which is called the Mount of Olives.
The Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus
2 Early the next morning, Jesus returned to the temple in Jerusalem. All the people came to him. He sat down and he began to teach them. 3 The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law brought a woman to him. They had found her with another man. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. They made her stand in front of all the people there. 4 They said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we found this woman. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. 5 In God's Law Moses says that we should throw stones at this kind of woman, to kill her. What do you say about this?’ 6 They asked this question for a reason. They wanted Jesus to say something wrong, so that they could punish him. But Jesus bent himself down. He started to write on the ground with his finger.
7 The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law continued to ask Jesus questions. So he stood up and he said to them, ‘Any person among you who is not guilty of any sin may throw the first stone to kill her.’ 8 Then he bent himself down again and he wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard what Jesus said, the people began to go away. They went one by one. The older people went first. After some time, only Jesus remained with the woman. She was still standing there. 10 Jesus stood up. He said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Is there nobody still here who wants to punish you?’ 11 She said, ‘There is nobody, sir.’ So Jesus said, ‘I also do not want to punish you. Go away now and change the way you live. Do not do wrong things again.’]
Jesus is the light of the world
12 Jesus spoke to the people again. He said, ‘I am the light of the world.[b] Those people who become my disciples will never walk in the dark. No, they will have the light that gives life.’
13 The Pharisees began to argue with him. They said, ‘You are saying things about yourself. But there is nobody else to agree that these things are true.’
14 Jesus answered, ‘What I say is true. Even if I do speak about myself, my words are true. I know where I have come from. I also know where I will go. As for you, you do not know where I came from. You do not know where I will go. 15 You judge in the way that people think. I do not judge anyone. 16 But if I did judge anyone, I would decide correctly what is right. That is because I am not alone. The Father has sent me, and he is with me. 17 Your own Law says, “There must be two people to agree that something is true.”[c] 18 I speak what is true about myself. The Father, who sent me, also speaks what is true about me.’
19 Then they asked him, ‘So where is your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know either me or my Father. If you really knew me, you would also know my Father.’ 20 Jesus said all these words while he taught in the yard of the temple. He was near the place where they kept the gifts of money. But nobody took hold of him, because it was not the right time for that yet.
Jesus says that he comes from above
21 Jesus said to them again, ‘I will go away and you will look for me. But even when you die, God will still not have forgiven your sins. You cannot go where I will go.’ 22 So the Jewish leaders said to each other, ‘Perhaps he means that he will kill himself. He says, “You cannot go where I will go.” Perhaps that is why he says this.’ 23 Jesus answered, ‘You belong to the things down here in the world. But I have come from above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. 24 I told you that when you die, God will not have forgiven you. You must believe that “I am who I am.”[d] If not, you will die and God will certainly not have forgiven you.’
25 Then the Jewish leaders asked Jesus, ‘So, who are you?’ He answered, ‘I have told you who I am from the beginning. 26 I have many things I could say about you. I could show that you have done many wrong things. But the one who sent me speaks to me. I tell people only what I have heard him say to me. What he says is true.’ 27 They did not understand that he was speaking to them about his Father.[e] 28 So Jesus said to them, ‘You will lift up the Son of Man on a cross. Then you will know that “I am who I am”. And you will know that I do nothing by myself. I say only what the Father has taught me to say. 29 He who sent me is with me. I always do the things that make him happy. So he has never gone away and left me alone.’ 30 Many people who heard Jesus say these things believed in him.[f]
The truth about God will make you free
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who now believed him, ‘Continue to obey the words that I have spoken to you. If you do that, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know what is true. And that will make you free.’ 33 They answered him, ‘We are descendants of Abraham. We have never been anyone's slaves. But you say that we will become free. What do you mean?’
34 Jesus answered them, ‘I tell you this: Everyone who does wrong things is a slave to sin. 35 A slave does not belong to a family for ever. But a son does belong to a family for ever. 36 So, if the Son makes you free, you will really be free. 37 I know that you belong to Abraham's family. But you are looking for a way to kill me. That is because you have no place in yourselves for my words. 38 I speak about the things that my Father has shown me. You do the things that you have heard from your father.’
39 They answered, ‘Abraham is our father!’ Jesus replied, ‘If you really belonged to Abraham's family, you would do the same kind of things that Abraham did. 40 I have told you the true message that I have heard from God. But you want to kill me. Abraham did not do anything like that! 41 You do the same things that your own father does.’
They said to Jesus, ‘God himself is our only Father, and we are his proper sons!’
42 Jesus said to them, ‘If God was your Father, you would love me. I came from God and now I am here with you. I did not come on my own behalf, but God sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot really accept my message. 44 You belong to your father, the Devil, and you want to do the things that he wants. From the beginning, he has been someone who murders people. He refuses to accept the truth, because there is nothing true in him. When he tells lies, he is showing what he is really like. He always tells lies. He is the father of all lies. 45 As for me, I tell you what is true. And that is why you do not believe me. 46 None of you can show that I have done anything wrong. You should believe me, because I am telling you God's true message. 47 Someone who belongs to God accepts God's message. But you do not belong to God. That is why you do not accept his message.’
48 The Jews answered him, ‘What we say about you is right! You are from Samaria and you have a demon in you!’[g] 49 Jesus replied, ‘There is no demon in me. I want people to know how great my Father is. But you want people to think bad things about me. 50 I myself do not want people to praise me. But there is someone who wants people to praise me. He is the one who decides if I am right. 51 I tell you this: Anyone who obeys my words will never die.’ 52 The Jews said, ‘Now we know that a demon lives in you! Abraham and all the prophets died. But you say, “Anyone who obeys my words will never know death!” 53 You cannot be greater than our father Abraham, and he died! You cannot be greater than the prophets, and they all died! Who do you think that you are?’
54 Jesus replied, ‘If I myself wanted people to praise me, that would be worth nothing. But it is my Father who wants that. And you say that he is your God. 55 You have never known him, but I know him. I might say, “I do not know him.” But then I would be telling a lie. So I would be like you. But I do know him, and I obey his words. 56 Your ancestor Abraham knew that I would come at some time. He was happy to know that he would see that time. He did see that time, and he was very happy.’
57 The Jews said, ‘You are not 50 years old yet. But you say that you have seen Abraham!’ 58 Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: Before Abraham was even born, “I am”.’[h] 59 Then they picked up stones. They wanted to throw them at him and kill him. But Jesus hid himself from them. He went away from the temple.
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