M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Rehoboam Acts Foolishly
10 Rehoboam went to Shechem because all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2 Jeroboam son of Nebat was in Egypt. He had gone there to run away from King Solomon. Jeroboam heard that Rehoboam was going to be the new king. So he returned from Egypt. 3 The people sent for Jeroboam. Then he and the people went to Rehoboam. They said to Rehoboam, 4 “Your father forced us to work very hard. Now, make it easier for us. Don’t make us work as hard as your father did. Then we will serve you.”
5 Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people left.
6 There were some elders who had helped Solomon make decisions during his lifetime. So King Rehoboam asked them what he should do. He said, “How do you think I should answer these people?”
7 They answered, “Be kind to these people. Please them and give them a kind answer. If you do, they will serve you always.”
8 But Rehoboam did not listen to the advice the elders gave him. He talked with the young men who had grown up with him. They advised him in making decisions. 9 Rehoboam asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people? They said, ‘Don’t make us work as hard as your father did.’”
10 Then the young men who had grown up with him said, “The people said to you, ‘Your father forced us to work very hard. Now make our work easier.’ But you should tell those people, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father forced you to work hard. But I will make you work even harder. My father beat you with whips. But I will beat you with whips that have sharp points.’”
12 King Rehoboam had told the people, “Come back to me in three days.” So three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam. 13 Then King Rehoboam spoke to them in a cruel way. He did not take the advice of the elders. 14 He followed the advice of the young men. He said, “My father forced you to work hard. But I will give you even more work. My father beat you with whips. But I will beat you with whips that have sharp points.” 15 So King Rehoboam did not do what the people wanted. God caused this to happen. He did this so the Lord could keep his promise to Jeroboam son of Nebat. The Lord had made this promise through Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh.
16 The people of Israel saw that King Rehoboam did not listen to them. So they said to the king,
“We have no share in David.
We have no part in the son of Jesse.
People of Israel, let’s go to our own homes!
Let David’s son rule his own people.”
So all the Israelites went home. 17 But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who lived in the towns of Judah.
18 Adoniram was in charge of the people who were forced to work. Rehoboam sent him to the people. But they threw stones at Adoniram until he died. But King Rehoboam was able to run to his chariot and escape to Jerusalem. 19 Since then, Israel has always turned against the family of David.
John Tells About This Book
1 This is the revelation[a] of Jesus Christ. God gave this revelation to Jesus, to show his servants what must soon happen. And Jesus sent his angel to show it to his servant John. 2 John has told everything that he has seen. It is the truth that Jesus Christ told him; it is the message from God. 3 The one who reads the words of God’s message is happy. And the people who hear this message and do what is written in it are happy. The time is near when all of this will happen.
Jesus’ Message to the Churches
4 From John,
To the seven churches in Asia:
Grace and peace to you from the One who is and was and is coming, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ. Jesus is the faithful witness. He is first among those raised from death. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
He is the One who loves us. And he is the One who made us free from our sins with the blood of his death. 6 He made us to be a kingdom of priests who serve God his Father. To Jesus Christ be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
7 Look, Jesus is coming with the clouds! Everyone will see him, even those who stabbed him. And all peoples of the earth will cry loudly because of him. Yes, this will happen! Amen.
8 The Lord God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.[b] I am the One who is and was and is coming. I am the All-Powerful.”
9 I am John, and I am your brother in Christ. We are together in Jesus, and we share in these things: in suffering, in the kingdom, and in patience. I was on the island of Patmos[c] because I had preached God’s message and the truth about Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s day the Spirit took control of me. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet. 11 The voice said, “Write what you see and send that book to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 I turned to see who was talking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. 13 I saw someone among the lampstands who was “like a Son of Man.”[d] He was dressed in a long robe. He had a gold band around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like bronze that glows hot in a furnace. His voice was like the noise of flooding water. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand. A sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth. He looked like the sun shining at its brightest time.
17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He put his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the One who lives. I was dead, but look: I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and where the dead are. 19 So write the things you see, what is now and what will happen later. 20 Here is the hidden meaning of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands that you saw: The seven lampstands are the seven churches. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.
God Asks People to Change
2 Gather together,
you unwanted people.
2 Do it before it’s too late.
Do it before you are blown away like chaff.
Do it before the Lord’s terrible anger reaches you.
Do it before the day of the Lord’s anger comes to you.
3 All you who are not proud, come to the Lord.
You who obey his laws, come to him.
Do what is right. Learn to be humble.
Maybe you will escape
on the day the Lord shows his anger.
Philistia Will Be Punished
4 No one will be left in the city of Gaza.
The city of Ashkelon will be destroyed.
Ashdod will be empty by noon.
And the people of Ekron will be chased away.
5 How terrible it will be for you who live by the Mediterranean Sea,
you Philistines!
This message from the Lord is for you,
people of Canaan, land of the Philistines.
“I will destroy you.
No one will be left.”
6 You live in the land by the Mediterranean Sea.
It will be a place for shepherds and sheep.
7 Your land will belong to the descendants of Judah who are left alive.
There they will let their sheep eat grass.
At night they will sleep
in the houses of Ashkelon.
The Lord their God will come to be with them.
He will give them back their riches.
Moab and Ammon Will Be Punished
8 “I heard the country of Moab insult my people.
The country of Ammon threatened to take their land.”
9 So the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says,
“As surely as I live,
Moab will be destroyed like Sodom.
Ammon will be destroyed like Gomorrah.[a]
Their land will be covered with weeds and salt.
It will be destroyed forever.
Those of my people who are left alive will take whatever they want from them.
Those who are left from my nation will take their land.”
10 This is what Moab and Ammon get for being proud.
This will happen because they insulted and made fun of the people of the Lord of heaven’s armies.
11 Those people will be afraid of the Lord.
He will destroy all the gods of the earth.
Then those people in faraway places
will worship the Lord in their own countries.
Cush and Assyria Will Be Destroyed
12 “You Cushites also
will be killed by my sword.”
13 Then the Lord will turn against the north
and punish Assyria.
He will destroy Nineveh.
It will be dry like a desert.
14 Sheep and goats will lie down there.
Wild animals will live there.
The owls and crows will sit
on the stone pillars that are left standing.
Their calls will be heard through the windows.
Trash will be in the doorways.
The wooden boards of the buildings will be gone.
15 This is the happy and safe city.
It thinks there is no one else as strong as it is.
But that city will be destroyed.
Only animals will stay there.
Those who pass by will make fun
and shake their fists.
Jesus Rises from Death
24 Very early on the first day of the week, the women came to the tomb where Jesus’ body was laid. They brought the spices they had prepared. 2 They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance of the tomb. 3 They went in, but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, two men in shining clothes suddenly stood beside them. 5 The women were very afraid; they bowed their heads to the ground. The men said to the women, “Why are you looking for a living person here? This is a place for the dead. 6 Jesus is not here. He has risen from death! Do you remember what he said in Galilee? 7 He said that the Son of Man must be given to evil men, be killed on a cross, and rise from death on the third day.” 8 Then the women remembered what Jesus had said.
9 The women left the tomb and told all these things to the 11 apostles and the other followers. 10 These women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some other women. The women told the apostles everything that had happened at the tomb. 11 But they did not believe the women. It sounded like nonsense. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. He looked in, but he saw only the cloth that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in. Peter went away to be alone, wondering about what had happened.
On the Road to Emmaus
13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a town named Emmaus. It is about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking about everything that had happened. 15 While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself came near and began walking with them. 16 (They were not allowed to recognize Jesus.) 17 Then he said, “What are these things you are talking about while you walk?”
The two followers stopped. Their faces were very sad. 18 The one named Cleopas answered, “You must be the only one in Jerusalem who does not know what just happened there.”
19 Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about?”
The followers said, “It is about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet from God to all the people. He said and did many powerful things. 20 Our leaders and the leading priests gave him up to be judged and killed. They nailed him to a cross. 21 But we were hoping that he would free the Jews. It is now the third day since this happened. 22 And today some women among us told us some amazing things. Early this morning they went to the tomb, 23 but they did not find his body there. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels. The angels said that Jesus was alive! 24 So some of our group went to the tomb, too. They found it just as the women said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “You are foolish and slow to realize what is true. You should believe everything the prophets said. 26 They said that the Christ must suffer these things before he enters his glory.” 27 Then Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures. He started with Moses, and then he talked about what all the prophets had said about him.
28 They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he did not plan to stop there. 29 But they begged him, “Stay with us. It is late; it is almost night.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 Jesus sat down with them and took some bread. He gave thanks for the food and divided it. Then he gave it to them. 31 And then, they were allowed to recognize Jesus. But when they saw who he was, he disappeared. 32 They said to each other, “When Jesus talked to us on the road, it felt like a fire burning in us. It was exciting when he explained the true meaning of the Scriptures.”
33 So the two followers got up at once and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 apostles and others gathered. 34 They were saying, “The Lord really has risen from death! He showed himself to Simon.”
35 Then the two followers told what had happened on the road. They talked about how they recognized Jesus when he divided the bread.
Jesus Appears to His Followers
36 While the two followers were telling this, Jesus himself stood among those gathered. He said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were fearful and terrified. They thought they were seeing a ghost. 38 But Jesus said, “Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt what you see? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me. You can see that I have a living body; a ghost does not have a body like this.”
40 After Jesus said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 The followers were amazed and very happy. They still could not believe it. Jesus said to them, “Do you have any food here?” 42 They gave him a piece of cooked fish. 43 While the followers watched, Jesus took the fish and ate it.
44 He said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.”
45 Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He said to them, “It is written that the Christ would be killed and rise from death on the third day. 47-48 You saw these things happen—you are witnesses. You must tell people to change their hearts and lives. If they do this, their sins will be forgiven. You must start at Jerusalem and preach these things in my name to all nations. 49 Listen! My Father has promised you something; I will send it to you. But you must stay in Jerusalem until you have received that power from heaven.”
Jesus Goes Back to Heaven
50 Jesus led his followers out of Jerusalem almost to Bethany. He raised his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven. 52 They worshiped him and then went back to the city very happy. 53 They stayed in the Temple all the time, praising God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.