M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Collection for the Priests
31 When the Passover celebration was finished, all the Israelites in Jerusalem went out to the towns of Judah. There they smashed the stone pillars used to worship gods. They cut down the Asherah idols and destroyed the altars and places for worshiping gods in all of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and homes.
2 King Hezekiah appointed groups of priests and Levites for their special duties. They were to offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, to worship, and to give thanks and praise at the gates of the Lord’s house. 3 Hezekiah gave some of his own animals for the burnt offerings, which were given every morning and evening, on Sabbath days, during New Moons, and at other feasts commanded in the Lord’s Teachings.
4 Hezekiah commanded the people living in Jerusalem to give the priests and Levites the portion that belonged to them. Then the priests and Levites could give all their time to the Lord’s Teachings. 5 As soon as the king’s command went out to the Israelites, they gave freely of the first portion of their grain, new wine, oil, honey, and everything they grew in their fields. They brought a large amount, one-tenth of everything. 6 The people of Israel and Judah who lived in Judah also brought one-tenth of their cattle and sheep and one-tenth of the holy things that were given to the Lord their God, and they put all of them in piles. 7 The people began the piles in the third month and finished in the seventh month. 8 When Hezekiah and his officers came and saw the piles, they praised the Lord and his people, the people of Israel. 9 Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites about the piles. 10 Azariah, the leading priest from Zadok’s family, answered Hezekiah, “Since the people began to bring their offerings to the Temple of the Lord, we have had plenty to eat and plenty left over, because the Lord has blessed his people. So we have all this left over.”
11 Then Hezekiah commanded the priests to prepare the storerooms in the Temple of the Lord. So this was done. 12 Then the priests brought in the offerings and the things given to the Lord and one-tenth of everything the people had given. Conaniah the Levite was in charge of these things, and his brother Shimei was second to him. 13 Conaniah and his brother Shimei were over these supervisors: Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismakiah, Mahath, and Benaiah. King Hezekiah and Azariah the officer in charge of the Temple of God had chosen them.
14 Kore son of Imnah the Levite was in charge of the special gifts the people wanted to give to God. He was responsible for giving out the contributions made to the Lord and the holy gifts. Kore was the guard at the East Gate. 15 Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah helped Kore in the towns where the priests lived. They gave from what was collected to the other groups of priests, both young and old.
16 From what was collected, these men also gave to the males three years old and older who had their names in the Levite family histories. They were to enter the Temple of the Lord for their daily service, each group having its own responsibilities. 17 The priests were given their part of the collection, by families, as listed in the family histories. The Levites twenty years old and older were given their part of the collection, based on their responsibilities and their groups. 18 The Levites’ babies, wives, sons, and daughters also got part of the collection. This was done for all the Levites who were listed in the family histories, because they always kept themselves ready to serve the Lord.
19 Some of Aaron’s descendants, the priests, lived on the farmlands near the towns or in the towns. Men were chosen by name to give part of the collection to these priests. All the males and those named in the family histories of the Levites received part of the collection.
20 This is what King Hezekiah did in Judah. He did what was good and right and obedient before the Lord his God. 21 Hezekiah tried to obey God in his service of the Temple of God, and he tried to obey God’s teachings and commands. He gave himself fully to his work for God. So he had success.
The Woman on the Animal
17 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke to me. He said, “Come, and I will show you the punishment that will be given to the great prostitute, the one sitting over many waters. 2 The kings of the earth sinned sexually with her, and the people of the earth became drunk from the wine of her sexual sin.”
3 Then the angel carried me away by the Spirit to the desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a red beast. It was covered with names against God written on it, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and red and was shining with the gold, precious jewels, and pearls she was wearing. She had a golden cup in her hand, a cup filled with evil things and the uncleanness of her sexual sin. 5 On her forehead a title was written that was secret. This is what was written:
the great babylon
mother of prostitutes
and of the evil things of the earth
6 Then I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people and with the blood of those who were killed because of their faith in Jesus.
When I saw the woman, I was very amazed. 7 Then the angel said to me, “Why are you amazed? I will tell you the secret of this woman and the beast she rides—the one with seven heads and ten horns. 8 The beast you saw was once alive but is not alive now. But soon it will come up out of the bottomless pit and go away to be destroyed. There are people who live on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life since the beginning of the world. They will be amazed when they see the beast, because he was once alive, is not alive now, but will come again.
9 “You need a wise mind to understand this. The seven heads on the beast are seven mountains where the woman sits. 10 And they are seven kings. Five of the kings have already been destroyed, one of the kings lives now, and another has not yet come. When he comes, he must stay a short time. 11 The beast that was once alive, but is not alive now, is also an eighth king. He belongs to the first seven kings, and he will go away to be destroyed.
12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet begun to rule, but they will receive power to rule with the beast for one hour. 13 All ten of these kings have the same purpose, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. He will defeat them with his called, chosen, and faithful followers.”
15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, races, nations, and languages. 16 The ten horns and the beast you saw will hate the prostitute. They will take everything she has and leave her naked. They will eat her body and burn her with fire. 17 God made the ten horns want to carry out his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until what God has said comes about. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
2 The Lord All-Powerful says, “At that time I will get rid of the names of the idols from the land; no one will remember them anymore. I will also remove the prophets and unclean spirits from the land. 3 If a person continues to prophesy, his own father and mother, the ones who gave birth to him, will tell him, ‘You have told lies using the Lord’s name, so you must die.’ When he prophesies, his own father and mother who gave birth to him will stab him.
4 “At that time the prophets will be ashamed of their visions and prophecies. They won’t wear the prophet’s clothes made of hair to trick people. 5 Each of them will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer and have been a farmer since I was young.’ 6 But someone will ask, ‘What are the deep cuts on your body?’ And each will answer, ‘I was hurt at my friend’s house.’
The Shepherd Is Killed
7 “Sword, hit the shepherd.
Attack the man who is my friend,”
says the Lord All-Powerful.
“Kill the shepherd,
and the sheep will scatter,
and I will punish the little ones.”
8 The Lord says, “Two-thirds of the people
through all the land will die. They will be gone,
and one-third will be left.
9 The third that is left I will test with fire,
purifying them like silver,
testing them like gold.
Then they will call on me,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘You are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
16 “I have told you these things to keep you from giving up. 2 People will put you out of their synagogues. Yes, the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are offering service to God. 3 They will do this because they have not known the Father and they have not known me. 4 I have told you these things now so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
“I did not tell you these things at the beginning, because I was with you then. 5 Now I am going back to the One who sent me. But none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Your hearts are filled with sadness because I have told you these things. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away. When I go away, I will send the Helper[a] to you. If I do not go away, the Helper will not come. 8 When the Helper comes, he will prove to the people of the world the truth about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment. 9 He will prove to them that sin is not believing in me. 10 He will prove to them that being right with God comes from my going to the Father and not being seen anymore. 11 And the Helper will prove to them that judgment happened when the ruler of this world was judged.
12 “I have many more things to say to you, but they are too much for you now. 13 But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all truth. He will not speak his own words, but he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is to come. 14 The Spirit of truth will bring glory to me, because he will take what I have to say and tell it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take what I have to say and tell it to you.
Sadness Will Become Happiness
16 “After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again.”
17 Some of the followers said to each other, “What does Jesus mean when he says, ‘After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again’? And what does he mean when he says, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They also asked, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19 Jesus saw that the followers wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking each other what I meant when I said, ‘After a little while you will not see me, and then after a little while you will see me again’? 20 I tell you the truth, you will cry and be sad, but the world will be happy. You will be sad, but your sadness will become joy. 21 When a woman gives birth to a baby, she has pain, because her time has come. But when her baby is born, she forgets the pain, because she is so happy that a child has been born into the world. 22 It is the same with you. Now you are sad, but I will see you again and you will be happy, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will not ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.
Victory over the World
25 “I have told you these things indirectly in stories. But the time will come when I will not use stories like that to tell you things; I will speak to you in plain words about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask the Father for things in my name. I mean, I will not need to ask the Father for you. 27 The Father himself loves you. He loves you because you loved me and believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
29 Then the followers of Jesus said, “You are speaking clearly to us now and are not using stories that are hard to understand. 30 We can see now that you know all things. You can answer a person’s question even before it is asked. This makes us believe you came from God.”
31 Jesus answered, “So now you believe? 32 Listen to me; a time is coming when you will be scattered, each to your own home. That time is now here. You will leave me alone, but I am never really alone, because the Father is with me.
33 “I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble, but be brave! I have defeated the world.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.