M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Uzziah King of Judah

26 Then all the people of Judah chose Uzziah^[a] to be king. He became king in place of Amaziah, his father. Uzziah was 16 years old. ² He rebuilt the town of Elath and made it part of Judah again. He did this after Amaziah died.

³ Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. And he ruled 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah, and she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what the Lord said was right. He obeyed God just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ Uzziah obeyed God while Zechariah was alive. Zechariah taught Uzziah how to respect and obey God. As long as Uzziah obeyed the Lord, God gave him success.

⁶ Uzziah fought a war against the Philistine people. He tore down the walls around their towns of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He built new towns near Ashdod and in other places among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped Uzziah fight the Philistines, the Arabs living in Gur Baal and the Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites made payments Uzziah demanded. Uzziah was very powerful. So his name became famous all the way to the border of Egypt.

⁹ Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem and made them strong. He built them at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate and where the wall turned. ¹⁰ He also built towers in the desert and dug many wells. He had many cattle on the western mountain slopes and in the plains. He had people who worked his fields and vineyards. They worked in the hills and in the fertile lands. Uzziah loved the land.

¹¹ He had an army of trained soldiers. They were counted and put in groups by Jeiel the royal assistant and Maaseiah the officer. Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders, was their leader. ¹² There were 2,600 leaders over the soldiers. ¹³ They were in charge of an army of 307,500 men. The army fought with great power. And they helped the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ Uzziah gave his army shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows and stones for their slings. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem Uzziah made devices that were invented by clever men. These devices were put on the towers and corners of the city walls. They were used to shoot arrows and large rocks. So Uzziah became famous in faraway places. He had much help until he became powerful.

¹⁶ But when Uzziah became strong, his pride caused him to be destroyed. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God. He went into the Temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar for incense. ¹⁷ Azariah and 80 other brave priests who served the Lord followed Uzziah into the Temple. ¹⁸ They told Uzziah he was wrong. They said to him, “You don’t have the right to burn incense to the Lord. Only the priests, Aaron’s descendants, should burn the incense. They have been made holy for the Lord to do this special duty. Leave this holy place. You have been unfaithful to God. The Lord God will not honor you for this.”

¹⁹ Uzziah was standing beside the altar for incense in the Temple of the Lord. He had in his hand a pan for burning incense. He was very angry with the priests. As he was standing in front of the priests, a harmful skin disease broke out on his forehead. ²⁰ Azariah the leading priest and all the other priests looked at him. They could see the harmful skin disease on his forehead. So they hurried him out of the Temple. Uzziah rushed out, because the Lord had punished him. ²¹ So King Uzziah had the skin disease until the day he died. He had to live in a separate house. He could not enter the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was in charge of the palace. He governed the people of the land.

²² The other things Uzziah did as king were written down by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah son of Amoz wrote about Uzziah’s rule from beginning to end. ²³ Uzziah died and was buried near his ancestors in a graveyard that belonged to the kings. This was because people said, “He had a harmful skin disease.” And his son Jotham became king in his place.

The Two Beasts

13 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads. There was a crown on each horn. A name against God was written on each head. ² This beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear’s feet. He had a mouth like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast all of his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast looked as if it had been wounded and killed. But this death wound was healed. The whole world was amazed and followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given his power to the beast. And they also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is as powerful as the beast? Who can make war against him?”

⁵ The beast was allowed to say proud words and words against God. He was allowed to use his power for 42 months. ⁶ He used his mouth to speak against God. He spoke against God’s name, against the place where God lives, and against all those who live in heaven. ⁷ He was given power to make war against God’s holy people and to defeat them. He was given power over every tribe, people, language, and nation. ⁸ All who live on earth will worship the beast. These are all the people since the beginning of the world whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. The Lamb is the One who was killed.

⁹ If anyone has ears, he should listen:

This means that God’s holy people must have patience and faith.

¹¹ Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he talked like a dragon. ¹² This beast stands before the first beast and uses the same power that the first beast has. He uses this power to make everyone living on earth worship the first beast. The first beast was the one that had the death wound that was healed. ¹³ The second one does great miracles. He even makes fire come down from heaven to earth while people are watching. ¹⁴ This second beast fools those who live on earth. He fools them by the miracles he has been given the power to do. He does these miracles to serve the first beast. The second beast ordered people to make an idol to honor the first beast. This was the one that was wounded by the sword but did not die. ¹⁵ The second beast was given power to give life to the idol of the first one. Then the idol could speak and order all who did not worship it to be killed. ¹⁶ The second animal also forced all people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on their right hand or on their forehead. ¹⁷ No one could buy or sell without this mark. This mark is the name of the beast or the number of his name. ¹⁸ Whoever has understanding can find the meaning of the number. This requires wisdom. This number is the number of a man. His number is 666.^[a]

Punishment on Israel’s Enemies

9 This message is the word of the Lord.

The King Is Coming

Jesus with Friends in Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from death.) ² There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. ³ Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.

⁴ Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers, was there. (He was the one who would later turn against Jesus.) Judas said, ⁵ “This perfume was worth an entire year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” ⁶ But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole money from it.

⁷ Jesus answered, “Let her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today—the day for me to be prepared for burial. ⁸ The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me.”

The Plot Against Lazarus

⁹ A large crowd of Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but also Lazarus. Lazarus was the one Jesus raised from death. ¹⁰ So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too. ¹¹ Because of Lazarus many Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

¹² The next day a great crowd in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming there. These were the people who had come to the Passover Feast. ¹³ They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Jesus. They shouted,

¹⁴ Jesus found a colt and sat on it. This was as the Scripture says,

¹⁶ The followers of Jesus did not understand this at first. But after Jesus was raised to glory, they remembered that this had been written about him. And they remembered that they had done these things to him.

People Tell About Jesus

¹⁷ There had been many people with Jesus when he raised Lazarus from death and told him to come out of the tomb. Now they were telling others about what Jesus did. ¹⁸ Many people went out to meet Jesus, because they had heard about this miracle. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to each other, “You can see that nothing is going right for us. Look! The whole world is following him.”

Jesus Talks About His Death

²⁰ There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. ²¹ They went to Philip. (Philip was from Bethsaida, in Galilee.) They said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip told Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

²³ Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. ²⁴ I tell you the truth. A grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die. Then it makes many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. ²⁵ The person who loves his life will give up true life. But the person who hates his life in this world will keep true life forever. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.

²⁷ “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father, save me from this time’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. ²⁸ Father, bring glory to your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have brought glory to it, and I will do it again.”

²⁹ The crowd standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.

But others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

³⁰ Jesus said, “That voice was for you, not for me. ³¹ Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown down. ³² I will be lifted up from the earth. And when this happens, I will draw all people toward me.” ³³ Jesus said this to show how he would die.

³⁴ The crowd said, “We have heard from the law that the Christ will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵ Then Jesus said, “The light will be with you for a little longer. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ So believe in the light while you still have it. Then you will become sons of light.” When Jesus had said this, he left and hid himself from them.

Some Don’t Believe in Jesus

³⁷ Though Jesus had done many miracles before the people, they still did not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to make clear the full meaning of what Isaiah the prophet said:

³⁹ This is why the people could not believe: Isaiah also said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

⁴² But many people believed in Jesus, even many of the leaders. But because of the Pharisees, they did not say that they believed in him. They were afraid that they would be put out of the synagogue. ⁴³ They loved praise from men more than praise from God.

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “He who believes in me is really believing in the One who sent me. ⁴⁵ He who sees me sees the One who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come as light into the world. I came so that whoever believes in me would not stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words and does not obey them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who refuses to believe in me and does not accept my words. The word I have taught will be his judge on the last day. ⁴⁹ The things I taught were not from myself. The Father who sent me told me what to say and what to teach. ⁵⁰ And I know that eternal life comes from what the Father commands. So whatever I say is what the Father told me to say.”