M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joash Follows Jehoiada’s Example(A)
24 Joash was seven years old when he began his reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah. She was from Beer-sheba. 2 Joash practiced what the Lord considered to be right during the lifetime[a] of Jehoiada the priest, 3 who found two wives for him, so he fathered sons and daughters.
4 Later on, Joash decided to rebuild the Lord’s Temple, 5 so he assembled the priests and descendants of Levi and ordered them, “Go throughout the cities of Judah and take up a collection[b] from all of Israel for the annual upkeep[c] of the Temple of your God. And make sure that you act quickly.” But the descendants of Levi did not act quickly, 6 so the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and asked him, “Why haven’t you required the descendants of Levi to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the Lord’s servant, and the assembly of Israel for the Tent of Testimony?”
7 Because that wicked woman Athaliah’s family members had broken into the Temple of God and used the consecrated implements of the Lord’s Temple for service to the Baals, 8 the king issued an order and a chest was made and set outside the entrance gate to the Lord’s Temple. 9 A public notice was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in the tax that Moses the servant of the Lord had levied on Israel when they were in the wilderness. 10 So all the princes and all the people gladly brought their tax and placed it into the chest until they had completed paying the tax.[d] 11 Whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officials by the descendants of Levi, the royal secretary and the chief priest’s designated officer would come, empty the chest, and take it back to its place. They did this day after day until they had collected a large amount of cash.[e]
12 Both the king and Jehoiada paid the money to those who were working to maintain the service of the Lord’s Temple, and they, in turn, hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s Temple. Iron and bronze workers also were brought in to repair the Lord’s Temple. 13 As a result, the workmen did their labor, and the repair work progressed steadily under their supervision,[f] and they restored God’s Temple back to what it should be, and strengthened it, too. 14 When they had completed the work, they brought what was left of the money to the king and to Jehoiada, and it was used to cast utensils for the Lord’s Temple that were to be utilized for daily service and for burnt offerings, for incense vessels, and for both gold and silver vessels. Burnt offerings were offered on a regular basis in the Lord’s Temple throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime.
Joash Apostatizes and Kills Jehoiada’s Son
15 Eventually, Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130 years, after having lived a full life. 16 He was buried in the City of David among the graves of[g] the kings, because he had accomplished many good things in Israel on behalf of God and his Temple. 17 But after Jehoiada had died, officials from Judah came, bowed down to the king, and the king listened to what they had to say. 18 They abandoned the Lord’s Temple and the God of their fathers, and they served Asherim[h] and idols. As a result this guilt of theirs resulted in wrath coming upon Judah and Jerusalem. 19 Nevertheless, God[i] sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord.
20 Then Jehoiada the priest’s son Zechariah was clothed by the Spirit of God, and he stood above the people and told them, “This is what God has to say: ‘Why are you breaking the Lord’s commandments. You’ll never be successful! Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has abandoned you.’”
21 But the people[j] conspired against him, and at the direct orders of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. 22 This is how King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him: he killed his son. As he lay dying, Zechariah cried out, “May the Lord watch this and avenge.”
The Death of Joash(B)
23 At the end of that year, the Aramean army attacked Joash. They invaded Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed every senior official among the people, and sent all of their possessions to the king of Damascus. 24 The Aramean army attacked with only a small force, but the Lord delivered a much larger army into their control because Judah[k] had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. And so the Aramean army carried out God’s[l] judgment on Joash. 25 After the Arameans left him very sick, Joash’s[m] own servants conspired against him because Joash[n] had murdered Jehoiada the priest’s son, and they killed him on his sick bed. 26 The conspirators included Shimeath the Ammonite’s son Zabad and Shimrith the Moabite’s son Jehozabad. 27 Records concerning his sons, the various prophetic statements rebuking him, and records of the reconstruction work on God’s Temple are written in the Midrash[o] of the Book of the Kings. Joash’s[p] son Amaziah reigned in his place.
The Vision of the Two Witnesses
11 Then I was given a stick like a measuring rod. I was told, “Stand up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count[a] those who worship there. 2 But don’t measure the courtyard outside the Temple. Leave that out, because it is given to the nations, and they will trample the Holy City[b] for 42 months. 3 I will give my two witnesses who wear sackcloth the authority to prophesy for 1,260 days.”
4 These witnesses[c] are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing in the presence of the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone should want to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouths and burns up their enemies. If anyone wants to hurt them, he must be killed in this manner. 6 These witnesses[d] have authority to close the heavens in order to keep rain from falling while they are[e] prophesying. They also have authority to turn bodies of water into blood and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit[f] will wage war against them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some members of the people, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be placed in a tomb. 10 Those living on earth will gloat over them, celebrate, and send gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those living on earth.
The Resurrection of the Witnesses
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Those who watched them were terrified. 12 Then the witnesses[g] heard a loud voice from heaven calling to them, “Come up here!” So they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 At that moment a powerful earthquake struck. One-tenth of the city collapsed, 7,000 people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second catastrophe is over. The third catastrophe is coming very soon.
The Vision of the Seventh Angel Blowing His Trumpet
15 When the seventh angel blew his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The world’s kingdom has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,[h]
and he will rule forever and ever.”
16 Then the twenty-four elders who were sitting on their thrones in God’s presence fell on their faces and worshipped God. 17 They said,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to rule.
18 The nations were angry,
but the time for[i] your wrath has come.
It is time for the dead to be judged—
to reward your servants, the prophets, the saints, and all who fear your name,
both unimportant and important,
and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen inside his Temple. There were flashes of lightning, noises, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
A Rebuke about Selfish Fasts
7 During the fourth year of the reign of[a] King Darius, a message from the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month Kislev.[b] 2 The people of[c] Bethel were sending[d] Sharezer, Regem-melech, and their men to pray in the Lord’s presence 3 and to speak to the priests assigned[e] to the Temple of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies along with the prophets, asking, “Am I to go about mourning, denying myself throughout the fifth month,[f] as I have these many years?”
4 Then this message from the Lord of the Heavenly Armies came to me: 5 “Talk to everyone in the land, as well as to the priests. Ask them, ‘When you were fasting and mourning during the fifth and seventh months[g] for the past seventy years, were you really fasting for me? 6 And when you eat and drink, you’re eating and drinking for your own benefit, aren’t you? 7 Isn’t this what the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets, when a prosperous Jerusalem was inhabited, as were its surrounding cities, the Negev,[h] and the Shephelah?’”[i]
The Consequence of Turning from God
8 This message from the Lord came to Zechariah again: 9 “This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘Administer true justice, and show gracious love and mercy toward each other.[j] 10 You are not to wrong the widow, orphans, the foreigner, or the poor, and you are not to plan evil against each other.[k] 11 But they refused to pay attention, turned their backs, and stopped listening. 12 They made their hearts hard like a diamond, to keep from obeying the Law and the messages that the Lord of the Heavenly Armies sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. 13 Therefore, just as when I[l] cried out and they would not listen, so also they will cry out, and I will not listen,’ says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 14 ‘I will scatter them to all of the nations, which they have not known.’”
Now the earth was left desolate after them. As a result, no one came or went because they had turned a pleasant land into a desert.
The Illustration of the Sheepfold
10 “Truly, I tell all of you[a] emphatically, the person who doesn’t enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 It’s to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it’s his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. 5 They’ll never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration with them, but they didn’t understand what he was saying to them.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
7 So again Jesus said, “Truly, I tell all of you[b] emphatically, I’m the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[c] are thieves and bandits, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. 9 I’m the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He’ll come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I’ve come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
11 “I’m the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down[d] his life for the sheep. 12 The hired worker, who isn’t the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, deserts the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf snatches them and scatters them, 13 because he’s a hired worker, and the sheep don’t matter to him.
14 I’m the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down[e] my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that don’t belong to this fold. I must lead these also, and they’ll listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it back again. 18 No one is taking it from me; I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is what my Father has commanded me.”
19 Once again there was a division among the Jews[f] because of what Jesus had been saying. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why bother listening to him?”
21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of a man who is demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?”
Jesus is Rejected by the Jews
22 Now[g] Hanukkah[h] was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking around in the Temple inside the open porch of Solomon. 24 So the Jewish leaders[i] surrounded him and quizzed him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you’re the Messiah,[j] tell us so plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I have told you, but you don’t believe it. The actions that I do in my Father’s name testify on my behalf, 26 but you don’t believe, because you don’t belong to my sheep.[k] 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, they’ll never be lost, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me[l] is more important than anything,[m] and no one can snatch it from the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
31 Again the Jewish leaders[n] picked up stones to stone him to death.
32 Jesus replied to them, “I’ve shown you many good actions from my[o] Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?”
33 The Jewish leaders[p] answered him, “We are not going to stone you for a good action, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, are making yourself God!”
34 Jesus replied to them, “Is it not written in your[q] Law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’?[r] 35 If he called those to whom a message from God came ‘gods’ (and the Scripture cannot be disregarded), 36 how can you say to the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You’re blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’? 37 If I’m not doing my Father’s actions, don’t believe me. 38 But if I’m doing them, even though you don’t believe me, believe the actions, so that you may know and understand[s] that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
39 Again they tried to seize him, but he slipped away from them.[t] 40 Then he went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and he remained there. 41 Many people came to him and kept saying, “John never performed a sign, but everything that John said about this man is true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus[u] there.
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