M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hezekiah Prepares To Celebrate Passover

30 ^1-4 (A) Passover wasn't celebrated in the first month,^[a] which was the usual time, because many of the priests were still unclean and unacceptable to serve, and because not everyone in Judah had come to Jerusalem for the festival. So Hezekiah, his officials, and the people agreed to celebrate Passover in the second month.^[b]

Hezekiah sent a message to everyone in Israel and Judah, including those in the territories of Ephraim and West Manasseh, inviting them to the temple in Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover in honor of the Lord God of Israel. ⁵ Everyone from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north was invited. This was the largest crowd of people that had ever celebrated Passover, according to the official records.

⁶ Hezekiah's messengers went everywhere in Israel and Judah with the following letter:

People of Israel, now that you have survived the invasion of the Assyrian kings,^[c] it's time for you to turn back to the Lord God our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped. If you do this, he will stop being angry. ⁷ Don't follow the example of your ancestors and your Israelite relatives in the north. They were unfaithful to the Lord, and he punished them horribly. ⁸ Don't be stubborn like your ancestors. Decide now to obey the Lord our God! Come to Jerusalem and worship him in the temple that will belong to him forever. Then he will stop being angry, ⁹ and the enemies that have captured your families will show pity and send them back home. The Lord God is kind and merciful, and if you turn back to him, he will no longer turn his back on you.

¹⁰ The messengers went to every town in Ephraim and West Manasseh as far north as the territory of Zebulun, but people laughed and insulted them. ¹¹ Only a few people from the tribes of Asher, West Manasseh, and Zebulun were humble and went to Jerusalem. ¹² God also made everyone in Judah eager to do what Hezekiah and his officials had commanded.

Passover Is Celebrated

¹³ In the second month,^[d] a large crowd of people gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread.^{[e] 14} They took all the foreign altars and incense altars in Jerusalem and threw them into Kidron Valley.

^15-17 Then, on the fourteenth day of that same month, the Levites began killing the lambs for Passover, because many of the worshipers were unclean and were not allowed to kill their own lambs. Meanwhile, some of the priests and Levites felt ashamed because they had not gone through the ceremony to make themselves clean. They immediately went through that ceremony and went to the temple, where they offered sacrifices to please the Lord.^[f] Then the priests and Levites took their positions, according to the Law of Moses, the servant of God.

As the Levites killed the lambs, they handed some of the blood to the priests, who splattered it on the altar.

^18-19 Most of the people that came from Ephraim, West Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun had not made themselves clean, but they ignored God's Law and ate the Passover lambs anyway. Hezekiah found out what they had done and prayed, “Lord God, these people are unclean according to the laws of holiness. But they are worshiping you, just as their ancestors did. So, please be kind and forgive them.” ²⁰ The Lord answered Hezekiah's prayer and did not punish them.

²¹ The worshipers in Jerusalem were very happy and celebrated the Festival for seven days. The Levites and priests sang praises to the Lord every day and played their instruments. ²² Hezekiah thanked the Levites for doing such a good job, leading the celebration.

The worshipers celebrated for seven days by offering sacrifices, by eating the sacred meals, and by praising the Lord God of their ancestors. ²³ Everyone was so excited that they agreed to celebrate seven more days.

²⁴ So Hezekiah gave the people 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep to be offered as sacrifices and to be used as food for the sacred meals. His officials gave 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep, and many more priests agreed to go through the ceremony to make themselves clean. ²⁵ Everyone was very happy, including those from Judah and Israel, the priests and Levites, and the foreigners living in Judah and Israel. ²⁶ It was the biggest celebration in Jerusalem since the days of King Solomon, the son of David. ²⁷ The priests and Levites asked God to bless the people, and from his home in heaven, he did.

The Bowls of God's Anger

16 From the temple I heard a voice shout to the seven angels, “Go and empty the seven bowls of God's anger on the earth.”

^2 (A) The first angel emptied his bowl on the earth. At once ugly and painful sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and worshiped the idol.

³ The second angel emptied his bowl on the sea. At once the sea turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.

^4 (B) The third angel emptied his bowl into the rivers and streams. At once they turned to blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel, who has power over water, say,

⁸ The fourth angel emptied his bowl on the sun, and it began to scorch people like fire. ⁹ Everyone was scorched by its great heat, and all of them cursed the name of God who had power over these terrible troubles. But no one turned to God and praised him.

^10 (C) The fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast. At once darkness covered its kingdom, and its people began biting their tongues in pain. ¹¹ And because of their painful sores, they cursed the God who rules in heaven. But still they did not stop doing evil things.

^12 (D) The sixth angel emptied his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it completely dried up to make a road for the kings from the east. ¹³ An evil spirit that looked like a frog came out of the mouth of the dragon. One also came out of the mouth of the beast, and another out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ These evil spirits had the power to work miracles. They went to every king on earth, to bring them together for a war against God All-Powerful. But that will be the day of God's great victory.

^15 (E) Remember Christ says, “When I come, it will surprise you like a thief! But God will bless you, if you are awake and ready. Then you won't have to walk around naked and be ashamed.”

^16 (F) Those armies came together in a place that in Hebrew is called Armagedon.^[b]

¹⁷ As soon as the seventh angel emptied his bowl in the air, a loud voice from the throne in the temple shouted, “It's done!” ^18 (G) There were flashes of lightning, roars of thunder, and the worst earthquake in all history. ^19 (H) The great city of Babylon split into three parts, and the cities of other nations fell. So God made Babylon drink from the wine cup filled with his anger. ^20 (I) Every island ran away, and the mountains disappeared. ^21 (J) Hailstones, weighing about 50 kilograms each, fell from the sky on people. Finally, the people cursed God, because the hail was so terrible.

Victory for Jerusalem

12 This is a message from the Lord about Israel:

I am the Lord! I stretched out the heavens; I put the earth on its foundations and gave breath to humans. ² I have decided that Jerusalem will become a bowl of wine that makes the neighboring nations drunk. And when Jerusalem is attacked, Judah will also be attacked.^{[a] 3} But I will turn Jerusalem into a heavy stone that crushes anyone who tries to lift it.

When all nations on earth surround Jerusalem, ⁴ I will blind every horse and make them panic, and every rider will be confused. But at the same time, I will watch over Judah. ⁵ Then every clan in Judah will realize that I, the Lord All-Powerful, am their God, and that I am the source of their strength.

⁶ At that time I will let the clans of Judah be like a ball of fire in a wood pile or a fiery torch in a hay stack. Then Judah will send the surrounding nations up in smoke. And once again the city of Jerusalem will be filled with people.

⁷ But I will first give victory to Judah, so the kingdom of David and the city of Jerusalem in all of their glory won't be thought of more highly than Judah itself. ⁸ I, the Lord God, will protect Jerusalem. Even the weakest person there will be as strong as David, and David's kingdom will rule as though my very own angel were its leader. ⁹ I am determined to wipe out every nation that attacks Jerusalem.

Mourning for the One Pierced with a Spear

^10 (A) I, the Lord, will make the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem feel deep sorrow and pray when they see the one they pierced with a spear. They will mourn and weep for him, as parents weep over the death of their only child or their first-born. ¹¹ On that day the people of Jerusalem will mourn as much as everyone did for Hadad Rimmon^[b] on the flatlands near Megiddo. ¹² Everyone of each family in the land will mourn, and the men will mourn separately from the women. This includes those from the family of David, and the families of Nathan, ¹³ Levi, Shimei,^{[c] 14} and all other families as well.

Getting Rid of Idols and False Prophets

13 In the future there will be a fountain, where David's descendants and the people of Jerusalem can wash away their sin and guilt.

Jesus Is the True Vine

15 Jesus said to his disciples:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts away every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit. But he trims clean every branch that does produce fruit, so that it will produce even more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of what I have said to you.

⁴ Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. ⁵ I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. ⁶ If you don't stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire.

⁷ Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your prayer will be answered. ⁸ When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honored. ⁹ I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you. ¹⁰ If you obey me, I will keep loving you, just as my Father keeps loving me, because I have obeyed him.

¹¹ I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am. ^12 (A) Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. ¹³ The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them. ¹⁴ And you are my friends, if you obey me. ¹⁵ Servants don't know what their master is doing, and so I don't speak to you as my servants. I speak to you as my friends, and I have told you everything my Father has told me.

¹⁶ You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name.^{[a] 17} So I command you to love each other.

The World's Hatred

¹⁸ If the people of this world^[b] hate you, just remember that they hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, its people would love you. But you don't belong to the world. I have chosen you to leave the world behind, and this is why its people hate you. ^20 (B) Remember how I told you that servants are not greater than their master. So if people mistreat me, they will mistreat you. If they do what I say, they will do what you say.

²¹ People will do to you exactly what they did to me. They will do it because you belong to me, and they don't know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.

²³ Everyone who hates me also hates my Father. ²⁴ I have done things no one else has ever done. If they had not seen me do these things, they would not be guilty. But they did see me do these things, and they still hate me and my Father too. ^25 (C) This is why the Scriptures are true when they say, “People hated me for no reason.”

²⁶ I will send you the Spirit who comes from the Father and shows what is true. The Spirit will help^[c] you and will tell you about me. ²⁷ Then you will also tell others about me, because you have been with me from the beginning.