M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Jehoshaphat King of Judah

17 Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became king of Judah in Asa’s place. Jehoshaphat made Judah strong so they could fight against Israel. ² He put troops in all the strong, walled cities of Judah. And he put troops in Judah and in the towns of Ephraim his father Asa had captured.

³ The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he did good things. He lived as his father Asa did when he first became king. Jehoshaphat did not ask for help from the Baal idols. ⁴ He asked for help from the God his father had followed. He obeyed God’s commands. He did not live as the people of Israel lived. ⁵ The Lord made Jehoshaphat a strong king over Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat. So he had much wealth and honor. ⁶ He wanted very much to obey the Lord. He also removed the places for worshiping false gods and the Asherah idols from Judah.

⁷ Jehoshaphat sent his officers to teach in the towns of Judah. This happened in the third year of his rule. These officers were Ben-Hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel and Micaiah. ⁸ Jehoshaphat sent with them these Levites: Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah and Tob-Adonijah. He also sent the priests Elishama and Jehoram. ⁹ These leaders, Levites and priests taught the people in Judah. They took the Book of the Teachings of the Lord with them. And they went through all the towns of Judah and taught the people.

¹⁰ The nations near Judah were afraid of the Lord. So they did not start a war against Jehoshaphat. ¹¹ Some of the Philistines brought gifts and silver to Jehoshaphat as forced payments. Some Arabs brought him flocks. They brought him 7,700 male sheep and 7,700 goats.

¹² Jehoshaphat became more and more powerful. He built strong, walled cities and storage towns in Judah. ¹³ He kept many supplies in the towns of Judah. And he kept trained soldiers in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ These soldiers were listed by families.

From the families of Judah, these were the commanders of groups of 1,000 men: Adnah was the commander of 300,000 soldiers. ¹⁵ Jehohanan was the commander of 280,000 soldiers. ¹⁶ And Amasiah was the commander of 200,000 soldiers. Amasiah son of Zicri had volunteered to serve the Lord.

¹⁷ These were the commanders from the families of Benjamin: Eliada had 200,000 soldiers who used bows and shields. Eliada was a brave soldier. ¹⁸ And Jehozabad had 180,000 men armed for war.

¹⁹ All these soldiers served King Jehoshaphat. The king also put other men in the strong, walled cities through all of Judah.

6 Then I watched while the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. I heard one of the four living things speak with a voice like thunder. It said, “Come!” ² I looked and there before me was a white horse. The rider on the horse held a bow, and he was given a crown. And he rode out, defeating the enemy. He rode out to win the victory.

³ The Lamb opened the second seal. Then I heard the second living thing say, “Come!” ⁴ Then another horse came out. This was a red horse. Its rider was given power to take away peace from the earth. He was given power to make people kill each other. And he was given a big sword.

⁵ The Lamb opened the third seal. Then I heard the third living thing say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse. Its rider held a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶ Then I heard something that sounded like a voice. It came from where the four living things were. The voice said, “A quart of wheat for a day’s pay. And three quarts of barley for a day’s pay. And do not damage the olive oil and wine!”

⁷ The Lamb opened the fourth seal. Then I heard the voice of the fourth living thing say, “Come!” ⁸ I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named death. Hades^[a] was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth. They were given power to kill people by war, by starving them, by disease, and by the wild animals of the earth.

⁹ The Lamb opened the fifth seal. Then I saw some souls under the altar. They were the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to God’s message and to the truth they had received. ¹⁰ These souls shouted in a loud voice, “Holy and true Lord, how long until you judge the people of the earth and punish them for killing us?” ¹¹ Then each one of these souls was given a white robe. They were told to wait a short time longer. There were still some of their brothers in the service of Christ who must be killed as they were. They were told to wait until all of this killing was finished.

¹² Then I watched while the Lamb opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun became black like rough black cloth. The full moon became red like blood. ¹³ The stars in the sky fell to the earth like figs falling from a fig tree when the wind blows. ¹⁴ The sky disappeared. It was rolled up like a scroll. And every mountain and island was moved from its place.

¹⁵ Then all people hid in caves and behind the rocks on the mountains. There were the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the rich people and the powerful people. Everyone, slave and free, hid himself. ¹⁶ They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us. Hide us from the face of the One who sits on the throne. Hide us from the anger of the Lamb! ¹⁷ The great day for their anger has come. Who can stand against it?”

The Vision of the Measuring Line

2 Then I looked up. And I saw a man holding a line for measuring things. ² I asked him, “Where are you going?”

He said to me, “I am going to measure Jerusalem. I will see how wide and how long it is.”

³ Then the angel who was talking with me left. And another angel came out to meet him. ⁴ The second angel said to him, “Run and tell that young man this: ‘Jerusalem will become a city without walls because there will be so many people and cattle in it. ⁵ I will be a wall of fire around it,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will be the glory within it.’

⁶ “Hurry! Run away from Babylon. I have scattered you in all directions,” says the Lord.

⁷ “Hurry, people of Jerusalem! Escape from Babylon.” ⁸ This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: “Whoever hurts you hurts what is precious to me.”

So the Lord will honor me. And he will send me to speak against those nations who scattered you. ⁹ “I will raise my hand against them. Their slaves will rob them.”

Then you will know that the Lord of heaven’s armies sent me.

¹⁰ “Shout and be glad, Jerusalem. I am coming, and I will live among you,” says the Lord. ¹¹ “At that time people from many nations will come to the Lord. And they will become my people. I will live among you. And you will know that the Lord of heaven’s armies has sent me to you. ¹² Judah will be the Lord’s special part of the holy land. And Jerusalem will be his chosen city again. ¹³ Be silent, everyone. The Lord is coming out of the holy place where he lives.”

Jesus Heals a Man at a Pool

5 Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish feast. ² In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In the Jewish language^[a] it is called Bethzatha.^[b] This pool is near the Sheep Gate. ³ Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed [and they waited for the water to move. ⁴ Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had].^{[c] 5} There was a man lying there who had been sick for 38 years. ⁶ Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”

⁷ The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.”

⁸ Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ And immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and began to walk.

The day all this happened was a Sabbath day. ¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your mat on the Sabbath day.”

¹¹ But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

¹² Then they asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick up your mat and walk?”

¹³ But the man who had been healed did not know who it was. There were many people in that place, and Jesus had left.

¹⁴ Later, Jesus found the man at the Temple. Jesus said to him, “See, you are well now. But stop sinning or something worse may happen to you!”

¹⁵ Then the man left and went back to the Jews. He told them that Jesus was the one who had made him well.

¹⁶ Jesus was doing this on the Sabbath day. So the Jews began to do bad things to him. ¹⁷ But Jesus said to them, “My Father never stops working. And so I work, too.”

¹⁸ This made the Jews try harder to kill him. They said, “First Jesus was breaking the law about the Sabbath day. Then he said that God is his own Father! He is making himself equal with God!”

Jesus Has God’s Authority

¹⁹ But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. The Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what he sees his Father doing. The Son does whatever the Father does. ²⁰ The Father loves the Son, and the Father shows the Son all the things he himself does. But the Father will show the Son greater things than this to do. Then you will all be amazed. ²¹ The Father raises the dead and gives them life. In the same way, the Son gives life to those he wants to. ²² Also, the Father judges no one. But the Father has given the Son power to do all the judging. ²³ God did this so that all people will respect the Son the same way they respect the Father. He who does not respect the Son does not respect the Father. The Father is the One who sent the Son.

²⁴ “I tell you the truth. Whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. He will not be judged guilty. He has already left death and has entered into life. ²⁵ I tell you the truth. The time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who hear will have life. ²⁶ Life comes from the Father himself. So the Father has allowed the Son to give life. ²⁷ And the Father has given the Son the approval to judge because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Don’t be surprised at this. A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. ²⁹ Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever. But those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.

Jesus Is God’s Son

³⁰ “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is right. I don’t try to please myself. I try to please the One who sent me.

³¹ “If I tell people about myself, then they will not accept what I say about myself. ³² But there is another who tells about me. And I know that the things he says about me are true.

³³ “You have sent men to John. And he has told you about the truth. ³⁴ But I don’t need a man to tell about me. I tell you this so that you can be saved. ³⁵ John was like a burning and shining lamp. And you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.

³⁶ “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than that of John. The things I do are my proof. These are the things my Father gave me to do. They show that the Father sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has given proof about me himself. You have never heard his voice. You have never seen what he looks like. ³⁸ His teaching does not live in you because you don’t believe in the One that the Father sent. ³⁹ You carefully study the Scriptures because you think that they give you eternal life. Those are the same Scriptures that tell about me! ⁴⁰ But you refuse to come to me to have that life.

⁴¹ “I don’t want praise from men. ⁴² But I know you—I know that you don’t have God’s love in you. ⁴³ I have come from my Father—I speak for him. But you don’t accept me. But when another person comes, speaking only for himself, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ You like to have praise from each other. But you never try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe? ⁴⁵ Don’t think that I will stand before the Father and say that you are wrong. Moses is the one who says that you are wrong. And he is the one that you hoped would save you. ⁴⁶ If you really believed Moses, you would believe me because Moses wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But you don’t believe what Moses wrote. So how can you believe what I say?”