M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 22

Ahaziah. ¹ The people of Jerusalem then chose Jehoram’s youngest son Ahaziah^[a] as his successor, since the troops who had come into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. Thus Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, reigned as King of Judah.

² Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. ³ He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to pursue evil practices. ^4 [b]To his own destruction he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisors.

⁵ Ahaziah even followed their advice when he made an alliance with Jehoram, the son of King Ahab of Israel, to make war against King Hazael of Aram, at Ramoth-gilead. In that conflict Jehoram was wounded by the Arameans. ⁶ As a result, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to visit Jehoram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel.

⁷ However, it was ordained by God that the visit of Ahaziah to Jehoram should be the occasion of his downfall. For when he arrived there, he went forth with Jehoram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. ⁸ While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he also encountered the officials of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, and he killed them.

⁹ Then Jehu went forth in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. They brought Ahaziah to Jehu, who put him to death. However, they buried him, for they said: “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat who sought the Lord with all his heart.” As a result, there was no one remaining from the house of Ahaziah who was strong enough to rule.

¹⁰ When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, was told that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy all the royal offspring of the house of Judah. ¹¹ However, Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, secretly took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and she put him with his nurse in a bedroom.

In this way, Jehosheba, who was the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of Jehoiada the priest, as well as a sister of Ahaziah, hid Joash from Athaliah so that she was unable to kill him. ¹² Joash remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Chapter 23

Athaliah Opposed. ¹ In the seventh year Jehoiada bolstered his courage and entered into a covenant with regimental commanders: Azariah, son of Jehoram; Ishmael, son of Jehohanan; Azariah, son of Obed; Maaseiah, son of Adaiah; and Elishaphat, son of Zichri. ² They went throughout Judah, gathering the Levites from all the cities of Judah as well as the heads of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

³ Then the whole assembly made a covenant with the king in the temple of God. Jehoiada said to them: “Here is the king’s son! He will reign as king, as the Lord promised concerning the sons of David. ⁴ This is what you must do: one-third of you, priests and Levites, who come on duty on the Sabbath, are to guard the gates. ⁵ Another third are to be assigned to the king’s palace, and the final third are to be stationed at the Foundation Gate, while all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶ Allow no one to enter the house of the Lord except the priests and the Levites who are on duty. They may enter because they are holy, but all the other people must continue to observe the instructions of the Lord. ⁷ The Levites shall station themselves by surrounding the king on all sides, each one with his weapon drawn, and anyone who tries to enter the temple is to be put to death. They must remain with the king wherever he goes.”

⁸ The Levites and all Judah did everything that the priest Jehoiada had commanded. Each one brought his own men, both those who came on duty on the Sabbath and those who were scheduled to go off duty, since Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed any of the divisions. ⁹ Then the priest handed over to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that belonged to King David and that were stored in the house of God.

¹⁰ After that, Jehoiada the priest stationed all the people, each one with a weapon in his hand, from the south side to the north side of the temple and around the altar, while forming a circle around the king. ¹¹ Then they brought forth the king’s son, placed the crown on his head, presented him with the covenant, and proclaimed him king. When Jehoiada and his sons had anointed him, they shouted: “Long live the king!”

¹² When Athaliah heard the shouts of the people as they ran forth to proclaim him as king, she went into the house of the Lord where the people had assembled. ¹³ As she looked on, she beheld the king standing by his pillar^[c] at the entrance, with the officers and the trumpeters at the king’s side, and with the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, while the singers with their musical instruments were leading the celebrations. Thereupon Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out: “Treason! Treason!”

¹⁴ Immediately Jehoiada the priest gave the following orders to the captains who were in command of the troops: “Take her outside between the ranks. If anyone tries to follow her, put him to death by the sword!” Then the priest made it clear: “Do not put her to death in the temple of the Lord.” ¹⁵ After that they seized her and brought her to the entrance of the Horse Gate of the palace, and there they put her to death.

¹⁶ After that, Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the temple of Baal and demolished it. They smashed its altars and its images, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. ¹⁸ Jehoiada entrusted the supervision of the temple of the Lord to the Levitical priests whom David had designated to present burnt offerings to the Lord, as prescribed in the law of Moses, with singing and rejoicing as David had ordained. ¹⁹ He also stationed guards at the gates of the Lord’s temple to ensure that no one should enter who was in any way unclean.

²⁰ Then Jehoiada took with him the captains of units of a hundred, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land and escorted the king down from the house of the Lord. Entering the palace through the Upper Gate, they seated the king on the royal throne. ²¹ All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet and serene after Athaliah had been put to death by the sword.

Chapter 10

A Small Scroll: Sweet and Bitter.^{[a] 1} Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face was like the sun, his legs were like pillars of fire, ² and his hand held a small scroll that had been opened.

Placing his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ the angel gave forth a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders spoke. ⁴ After the seven thunders had spoken, I was preparing to write when I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have spoken, but do not write it down.”

⁵ Then the angel whom I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by him who lives forever and ever and who created heaven and earth and the sea and everything that is in them: “There will be no further delay. ⁷ When the time comes for the seventh angel to sound his trumpet, the mysterious purpose of God^[b] will be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the Prophets.”

⁸ Then I again heard the voice that had spoken to me from heaven, and it said, “Go and take that open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” ⁹ Therefore, I went to the angel and asked him to give me the small scroll. He replied, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will taste as sweet as honey.”

¹⁰ I took the small scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. In my mouth it did taste as sweet as honey, but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy once again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

Chapter 6

Vision of the Four Chariots. ¹ Again I raised my eyes and beheld four chariots coming out between two mountains—and the mountains were mountains of bronze. ² The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot had black horses, ³ the third chariot had white horses, and the fourth chariot had spotted horses.

⁴ I asked the angel who was conversing with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ The angel replied, “These are the four winds of heaven which are now ready to depart after presenting themselves for review by the Lord of all the earth. ⁶ The chariot with the black horses is departing for the land of the north, the red and the white horses will follow after them, and the chariot with the spotted horses will leave for the land of the south.”

⁷ As these horses emerged, eager to set off and patrol the earth, he said to them, “Go forth and patrol the earth,” and they did so. ⁸ Then he called to me and said, “Those who are going forth to the land of the north have allowed my Spirit to rest on the land of the north.”

The Present, a Promise for the Future^[a]

The Coronation.^{[b] 9} The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁰ Collect silver and gold from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, and go on the very same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take the silver and the gold and make a crown, and set it upon the head of the high priest Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, ¹² and say this to him: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Here is a man whose name is Branch. He will branch out from where he is, and he will build the temple of the Lord.

¹³ Yes, he will build the temple of the Lord, and, wearing the royal insignia, he will sit on his throne and govern. There will be a priest at his right hand, and peaceful harmony will exist between the two of them. ¹⁴ The crown will serve as a memorial in the temple of the Lord for Heldai, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. ¹⁵ And those who are now far off will come and work on the building of the temple of the Lord. Then you will realize that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. All this will happen if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord, your God.

A Sign of the Triumph of the Light^[a]

Chapter 9

Jesus Cures a Man Born Blind.^{[b] 1} As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³ Jesus answered,

⁶ When he had said this, he spat on the ground, made a paste with the saliva, and smeared the paste on the eyes of the blind man. ⁷ Then he said to him, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.”^[c] (The name means “Sent.”) The man went forth and washed, and he returned seeing.

That Man Is a Prophet.^{[d] 8} His neighbors and those who had seen him begging asked, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some were saying, “Yes, this is the same man,” but others insisted, “No. It simply is someone who looks like him.” He said, “I am the man.”

¹⁰ Therefore, they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹ He replied, “The man called Jesus made a paste and smeared it over my eyes. Then he said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and then I was able to see.” ¹² They asked him, “Where is he?” He replied, “I do not know.”

¹³ They then brought the man who had formerly been blind to the Pharisees. ¹⁴ Now it was on a Sabbath day that Jesus had made the paste and opened his eyes.

¹⁵ The Pharisees also asked him how he had gained his sight. He said to them, “He put a paste on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I can see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man cannot be from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” Thus, they were divided in their opinions. ¹⁷ And so they spoke again to the blind man, asking, “What do you have to say about him? It was your eyes that he opened.” He replied, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸ However, the Jews refused to believe that the man had been blind and had received his sight until they summoned the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹ and asked them, “Is this your son who you say was born blind? How then is he now able to see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, ²¹ but we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age. He can speak for himself.”

²² His parents responded in this way because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ This is why his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”

²⁴ That Man Is from God.^[e] And so for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. But one thing I do know: I was blind, and now I am able to see.” ²⁶ They then asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ He answered them, “I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

²⁸ Then they began to taunt him, saying, “It is you who are his disciple. We are disciples of Moses. ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from.” ³⁰ He answered, “That is what is so amazing. You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners, but that he does listen to anyone who is devout and obeys his will.

³² “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could not have been able to accomplish anything.” ³⁴ They answered him, “You were born in sin and you would teach us?” Then they threw him out.

³⁵ Do You Believe in the Son of Man?^[f] When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ He replied, “Who is he, sir, so that I may believe in him?” ³⁷ “You have seen him,” said Jesus, “and he is the one who is speaking to you.” ³⁸ He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he fell down in worship before him.

³⁹ Spiritual Blindness.^[g] Then Jesus said,

⁴⁰ On hearing this, some Pharisees who were present asked him, “Are we blind too?” ⁴¹ Jesus replied,