M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Jehoshaphat’s Reign

17 Jehosh′aphat his son reigned in his stead, and strengthened himself against Israel. ² He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of E′phraim which Asa his father had taken. ³ The Lord was with Jehosh′aphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father;^[a] he did not seek the Ba′als, ⁴ but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the ways of Israel. ⁵ Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand; and all Judah brought tribute to Jehosh′aphat; and he had great riches and honor. ⁶ His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord; and furthermore he took the high places and the Ashe′rim out of Judah.

⁷ In the third year of his reign he sent his princes, Ben-hail, Obadi′ah, Zechari′ah, Nethan′el, and Micai′ah, to teach in the cities of Judah; ⁸ and with them the Levites, Shemai′ah, Nethani′ah, Zebadi′ah, As′ahel, Shemi′ramoth, Jehon′athan, Adoni′jah, Tobi′jah, and Tobadoni′jah; and with these Levites, the priests Elish′ama and Jehor′am. ⁹ And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law of the Lord with them; they went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

¹⁰ And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, and they made no war against Jehosh′aphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines brought Jehosh′aphat presents, and silver for tribute; and the Arabs also brought him seven thousand seven hundred rams and seven thousand seven hundred he-goats. ¹² And Jehosh′aphat grew steadily greater. He built in Judah fortresses and store-cities, ¹³ and he had great stores in the cities of Judah. He had soldiers, mighty men of valor, in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ This was the muster of them by fathers’ houses: Of Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, with three hundred thousand mighty men of valor, ¹⁵ and next to him Jeho-ha′nan the commander, with two hundred and eighty thousand, ¹⁶ and next to him Amasi′ah the son of Zichri, a volunteer for the service of the Lord, with two hundred thousand mighty men of valor. ¹⁷ Of Benjamin: Eli′ada, a mighty man of valor, with two hundred thousand men armed with bow and shield, ¹⁸ and next to him Jeho′zabad with a hundred and eighty thousand armed for war. ¹⁹ These were in the service of the king, besides those whom the king had placed in the fortified cities throughout all Judah.

The Seven Seals

6 ^[a]Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say, as with a voice of thunder, “Come!” ² And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

³ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” ⁴ And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given a great sword.

⁵ When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a balance^[b] in his hand; ⁶ and I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius,^[c] and three quarts of barley for a denarius;^[d] but do not harm oil and wine!”

⁷ When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

⁹ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne; ¹⁰ they cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?” ¹¹ Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹² When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, ¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale; ¹⁴ the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. ¹⁵ Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the generals and the rich and the strong, and every one, slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶ calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; ¹⁷ for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand before it?”

Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line

2 ^[a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! ² Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and what is its length.” ³ And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him, ⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in it. ⁵ For I will be to her a wall of fire round about, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within her.’”

Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles

⁶ Ho! ho! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, says the Lord. ⁷ Ho! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. ⁸ For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: ⁹ “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. ¹⁰ Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. ¹¹ And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ¹² And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

¹³ Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Beth-za′tha,^[a] which has five porticoes. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed.^{[b] 5} One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” ⁹ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked.

Now that day was the sabbath. ¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet.” ¹¹ But he answered them, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your pallet, and walk.’” ¹² They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your pallet, and walk’?” ¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ¹⁴ Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. ¹⁶ And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did this on the sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” ¹⁸ This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath^[c] but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing; and greater works than these will he show him, that you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. ²² The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, ²⁷ and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

³⁰ “I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³¹ If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true; ³² there is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the testimony which he bears to me is true. ³³ You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen; ³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent. ³⁹ You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from men. ⁴² But I know that you have not the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. ⁴⁶ If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”