M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

King Jehoshaphat of Judah

17 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king and strengthened his defenses against Israel. ² He assigned troops to the fortified cities in Judah, as well as to other towns in Judah and to those towns in Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

^3-4 When Jehoshaphat's father had first become king of Judah, he was faithful to the Lord and refused to worship the god Baal as the kings of Israel did. Jehoshaphat followed his father's example and obeyed and worshiped the Lord. And so the Lord blessed Jehoshaphat ⁵ and helped him keep firm control of his kingdom. The people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, but even after he became very rich and respected, ⁶ he remained completely faithful to the Lord. He destroyed all the local shrines^[a] in Judah, including the places where the goddess Asherah was worshiped.

⁷ In the third year of Jehoshaphat's rule, he chose five officials and gave them orders to teach the Lord's Law in every city and town in Judah. They were Benhail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah. ⁸ Their assistants were the following nine Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tob-Adonijah. Two priests, Elishama and Jehoram, also went along. ⁹ They carried with them a copy of the Lord's Law wherever they went and taught the people from it.

¹⁰ The nations around Judah were afraid of the Lord's power, so none of them attacked Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Philistines brought him silver and other gifts to keep peace. Some of the Arab people brought him 7,700 rams and the same number of goats.

¹² As Jehoshaphat became more powerful, he built fortresses and cities ¹³ where he stored supplies. He also kept in Jerusalem some experienced soldiers ¹⁴ from the Judah and Benjamin tribes. These soldiers were grouped according to their clans.

Adnah was the commander of the troops from Judah, and he had 300,000 soldiers under his command. ¹⁵ Jehohanan was second in command, with 280,000 soldiers under him. ¹⁶ Amasiah son of Zichri, who had volunteered to serve the Lord, was third in command, with 200,000 soldiers under him.

¹⁷ Eliada was a brave warrior who commanded the troops from Benjamin. He had 200,000 soldiers under his command, all of them armed with bows and shields. ¹⁸ Jehozabad was second in command, with 180,000 soldiers under him. ¹⁹ These were the troops who protected the king in Jerusalem, not counting those he had assigned to the fortified cities throughout the country.

Opening the Seven Seals

6 At the same time I saw the Lamb open the first of the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures shout with a voice like thunder. It said, “Come out!” ^2 (A) Then I saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow and was given a crown. He had already won some victories, and he went out to win more.

³ When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come out!” ^4 (B) Then another horse came out. It was fiery red. And its rider was given the power to take away all peace from the earth, so people would slaughter one another. He was also given a big sword.

^5 (C) When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come out!” Then I saw a black horse, and its rider had a balance scale in one hand. ⁶ I heard what sounded like a voice from somewhere among the four living creatures. It said, “A liter of wheat will cost you a whole day's wages! Three liters of barley will cost you a day's wages too. But don't ruin the olive oil or the wine.”

⁷ When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come out!” ^8 (D) Then I saw a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Death's Kingdom followed close behind. They were given power over one fourth of the earth, and they could kill its people with swords, famines, diseases, and wild animals.

⁹ When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of everyone who had been killed for speaking God's message and telling about their faith. ¹⁰ They shouted, “Master, you are holy and faithful! How long will it be before you judge and punish the people of this earth who killed us?”

^11 (E) Then each of those who had been killed was given a white robe and told to rest for a little while. They had to wait until the complete number of the Lord's other servants and followers would be killed.

^12 (F) When I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, I looked and saw a great earthquake. The sun turned as dark as sackcloth,^[a] and the moon became red as blood. ^13 (G) The stars in the sky fell to earth, just like figs shaken loose by a windstorm. ^14 (H) Then the sky was rolled up like a scroll,^[b] and all mountains and islands were moved from their places.

^15 (I) The kings of the earth, its famous people, and its military leaders hid in caves or behind rocks on the mountains. They hid there together with the rich and the powerful and with all the slaves and free people. ^16 (J) Then they shouted to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us! Hide us from the one who sits on the throne and from the anger of the Lamb. ^17 (K) That terrible day has come! God and the Lamb will show their anger, and who can face it?”

Third Vision: A Measuring Line

2 This time I saw someone holding a measuring line, ² and I asked, “Where are you going?”

“To measure Jerusalem,” was the answer. “To find out how wide and long it is.”

³ The angel who had spoken to me came toward me, when another angel came up to him ⁴ and said, “Hurry! Tell that man with the measuring line that Jerusalem won't have any boundaries. It will be too full of people and animals even to have a wall. ⁵ The Lord himself has promised to be a protective wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem, and he will be its shining glory in the heart of the city.”

A Call to Action

⁶ The Lord says to his people, “Run! Escape from the land in the north, where I scattered you to the four winds. ⁷ Leave Babylonia and hurry back to Zion.”

⁸ Then the glorious Lord All-Powerful ordered me to say to the nations that had raided and robbed Zion:

Zion is as precious to the Lord as are his eyes. Whatever you do to Zion, you do to him. ⁹ And so, he will put you in the power of your slaves, and they will raid and rob you. Then you will know that I am a prophet of the Lord All-Powerful.

¹⁰ City of Zion, sing and celebrate! The Lord has promised to come and live with you. ¹¹ When he does, many nations will turn to him and become his people. At that time you will know that I am a prophet of the Lord All-Powerful. ¹² Then Judah will be his part of the holy land, and Jerusalem will again be his chosen city.

Jesus Heals a Sick Man

5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for another Jewish festival.^{[a] 2} In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.^[b]

^3-4 Many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying close to the pool.^[c]

⁵ Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years. ⁶ When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”

⁷ The man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”

⁸ Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” ⁹ Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.

^10 (A) When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they said to him, “This is the Sabbath! No one is allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath.”

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk.”

¹² They asked him, “Who is this man that told you to pick up your mat and walk?” ¹³ But he did not know who Jesus was, and Jesus had left because of the crowd.

¹⁴ Later, Jesus met the man in the temple and told him, “You are now well. But don't sin anymore or something worse might happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man left and told the leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him. ¹⁶ They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath.

¹⁷ But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and this is why I keep on working.” ^18 (B) Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said God was his Father, which made him equal with God.

The Son's Authority

¹⁹ Jesus told the people:

I tell you for certain the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. ²⁰ The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. The Father will show him even greater things, and you will be amazed. ²¹ Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants to.

²² The Father doesn't judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone. ²³ The Father wants all people to honor the Son as much as they honor him. When anyone refuses to honor the Son, this is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life.

²⁵ I tell you for certain the time will come, and it is already here, when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen to it will live! ²⁶ The Father has the power to give life, and he has given that same power to the Son. ²⁷ And he has given his Son the right to judge everyone, because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ Don't be surprised! The time will come when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man, ^29 (C) and they will come out of their graves. Everyone who has done good things will rise to life, but everyone who has done evil things will rise and be condemned.

³⁰ I cannot do anything on my own. The Father sent me, and he is the one who told me how to judge. I judge with fairness, because I obey him, and I don't just try to please myself.

Witnesses to Jesus

³¹ If I speak for myself, there is no way to prove I am telling the truth. ³² But there is someone else who speaks for me, and I know what he says is true. ^33 (D) You sent messengers to John, and he told them the truth. ³⁴ I don't depend on what people say about me, but I tell you these things so that you may be saved. ^35 (E) John was a lamp that gave a lot of light, and you were glad to enjoy his light for a while.

³⁶ But something more important than John speaks for me. I mean the things that the Father has given me to do! All of these speak for me and prove that the Father sent me.

^37 (F) The Father who sent me also speaks for me, but you have never heard his voice or seen him face to face. ³⁸ You have not believed his message, because you refused to have faith in the one he sent.

^39 (G) You search the Scriptures, because you think you will find eternal life in them. The Scriptures tell about me, ⁴⁰ but you refuse to come to me for eternal life.

⁴¹ I don't care about human praise, ⁴² but I do know that none of you love God. ⁴³ I have come with my Father's authority, and you have not welcomed me. But you will welcome people who come on their own. ⁴⁴ How could you possibly believe? You like to have your friends praise you, and you don't care about praise that the only God can give!

⁴⁵ Don't think that I will be the one to accuse you to the Father. You have put your hope in Moses, yet he is the very one who will accuse you. ⁴⁶ Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. ⁴⁷ But if you don't believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?