M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Uzziah rules Judah as king
26 All the people of Judah chose Uzziah to be their king instead of his father, King Amaziah. Uzziah was 16 years old.[a] 2 He built Elath again after King Amaziah had died. He made it a part of Judah again.
3 Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king. And he ruled in Jerusalem for 52 years. His mother's name was Jecoliah. She came from Jerusalem. 4 Uzziah did things that the Lord said were good, as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He served God faithfully all the time that Zechariah was alive. Zechariah taught him to respect and obey God. As long as Uzziah served the Lord faithfully, God gave him success.
God helps Uzziah
6 Uzziah took his army to attack the Philistines. He destroyed the walls of their cities, Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. Then he made the towns near Ashdod strong, as well as other towns where the Philistines lived. 7 God helped him to win battles against the Philistines, against the Arabs who lived in Gur-Baal, and against the Meunites. 8 The people from Ammon paid taxes to Uzziah. He became very powerful. So everyone as far as the border of Egypt knew that he was a great king.
9 Uzziah built strong towers on Jerusalem's walls to make the city safe. He built them at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate and at the place where the wall turned. 10 He also built towers in the desert. He dug holes in the ground to contain water. He needed water for his animals on the low hills and in the valleys, because he had many of them. He also enjoyed growing crops. He had men who worked in the fields and in the vineyards. These were on the hills and in places where crops would grow well.
Uzziah's army
11 Uzziah had an army of soldiers who were ready to fight battles. The king's secretary, Jeiel, and his officer, Maaseiah, put the soldiers into groups. They counted the soldiers in each group. Hananiah was the army captain who had authority over them. 12 There were 2,600 family leaders who led the groups of soldiers. 13 Together they led 307,500 soldiers who knew how to fight well. They were a powerful army that could keep the king safe against his enemies. 14 Uzziah gave shields, spears, helmets and armour to the whole army. He also gave them bows and arrows, and stones to put in their slings.
15 Men in Jerusalem who had special skills built machines that could shoot arrows and big stones. Uzziah put them on the towers and at the corners of the walls around Jerusalem. God helped him in many ways, so that he became very famous and powerful.
Uzziah becomes proud and God punishes him
16 Uzziah was so powerful that he became proud. That caused him to lose his power. He began to turn away from the Lord his God. He went into the Lord's temple to burn incense on the special altar there. 17 Azariah and 80 other brave priests of the Lord went into the temple after him. 18 They warned King Uzziah. They said to him, ‘It is not right for you, Uzziah, to offer incense to the Lord. Only the priests, Aaron's descendants, may do that. They are the people that God has chosen to offer incense to him. So you must leave this Holy Place because you have done something that is wrong. As a result, the Lord God will not give you any honour.’
19 Then Uzziah became angry. In his hand, he was holding a pot with hot coals and incense in it. He was standing in the Lord's temple, near the special altar for incense. The priests were there with him. When he started to shout at the priests, a bad disease suddenly appeared on the skin of his face. 20 Azariah, the leader of the priests, and all the other priests turned towards Uzziah. They saw the terrible disease on the skin at the front of his head. So they quickly took him out of the temple. Uzziah himself was also in a hurry to leave, because the Lord had punished him with this disease.[b]
King Uzziah dies
21 King Uzziah had the terrible disease on his skin until the day that he died. He lived in his own house, away from other people. He could not go into the Lord's temple because of his disease. His son Jotham had authority in the palace and he ruled the people of Judah.
22 All the other things that happened while Uzziah was king are written in a book. The prophet Isaiah, Amoz's son, wrote down those things. 23 Uzziah died and they buried him near his ancestors. Because he had the terrible disease on his skin, they did not bury him beside the other kings that had died. Instead they buried him in a field for graves that belonged to the kings of Judah.
His son Jotham became king after him.
The wild animal from the sea
13 Then I saw a wild animal that was coming up out of the sea.[a] It had ten horns and there was a crown on each horn. The animal also had seven heads. On each head there was a bad name that insulted God. 2 The wild animal that I saw was like a leopard. But its feet were like a bear's feet and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave his own power and great authority to the wild animal so that it could rule as king.
3 Someone had hurt one of the wild animal's heads with a bad wound. It seemed that it would soon die. But the wound in the animal's head had become well again. This surprised all the people who were living on the earth. As a result, they were ready to obey what the wild animal said. 4 People worshipped the dragon because he had given his authority to the wild animal. They also worshipped the wild animal. They said, ‘Nobody is like this animal! Nobody is strong enough to fight against him!’
5 The wild animal received authority to rule people for 42 months. It could speak proud words and insult God. 6 So it started to speak against God. It insulted God's name and the place where he lives, as well as the people who live there in heaven. 7 It received power to fight a war against God's own people and to win against them. It received authority to rule over people from every nation, people from every tribe and people from every language. 8 Nearly all the people who live on the earth will worship the wild animal. But those people whose names are in the Lamb's book of life will not worship it.[b] The Lamb wrote the names of these believers in his book from the beginning of the world. He is the Lamb that people killed as a sacrifice.
9 Everyone who can understand should listen carefully to these words:
10 ‘If it is right for someone's enemy to catch him, that is what will happen.
If it is right for someone's enemy to kill him with a sword, that is what will happen.’
This means that God's people must be patient and strong. They must continue to trust God.[c]
The wild animal from the land
11 Then I saw a second wild animal. This one was coming up out of the ground.[d] It had two horns like a lamb's horns. But it spoke like a dragon. 12 It worked for the first wild animal and it used the authority of the first wild animal. It made all the people on earth worship the first wild animal. That first animal was the one that someone had hurt very much. It seemed that it would soon die but it had become well again.
13 The second wild animal did great miracles. It even caused fire to come down from heaven to the earth, while people watched. 14 It used the authority of the first wild animal to do many miracles. In that way, it deceived the people who lived on the earth. It told them to make an image of the first wild animal. This was the animal that was still alive after a sword had given it a bad wound. 15 The second wild animal received power to give life to the image of the first wild animal. As a result, the image could speak. It said, ‘Anyone who refuses to worship me must die!’
16 The second wild animal also caused everyone to receive a mark. Everyone received a mark on their right hand or on the front of their head. This included important people and ordinary people, rich people and poor people, free people and slaves. 17 Nobody could buy anything unless they had this mark on them. Nor could they sell anything. This mark shows the wild animal's name or the number of its name.
18 You must think carefully so that you can understand this number. Anyone who is wise should try to understand what the wild animal's number means. It is a human number. The number is 666.
God speaks against Israel's enemies
9 The Lord speaks against the land of Hadrach, and against the city of Damascus.
The Lord watches all men and all the groups of people in Israel.
2 The Lord speaks against the country called Hamath. (It is next to the country called Hadrach.) The people in Tyre and Sidon cities are very wise. But the Lord also speaks against them.
3 Tyre's people have built strong walls to keep enemies out.
They have swept up rich metals like dirt.
They have swept up gold like dirt in the streets.
4 The Lord will take away all the things that Tyre's people have.
And he will remove their ships from the sea.
Fire will burn every part of the city.
5 The people in Ashkelon city will see it and they will be afraid.
The people in Gaza city will see it and they will be afraid.
The things that the people in Ekron city hope for will not happen.
The king of Gaza will die
and there will be no people in Ashkelon any longer.
6 Foreign people will live in Ashdod city.
I will show the Philistines that they are not clever. They are not as clever as they believe.
7 I will take the blood from their mouths.
I will take the food from their teeth, because it is bad food.
Those that remain will still be my people.
They will become leaders in Judah.
Ekron will be like a part of Judah, as the Jebusites were.
8 Then I will keep my house safe against my enemies.
No army will ever again beat my people,
because I am watching them.
The king of Zion comes
9 Sing loudly, people in Zion.
Shout, people in Jerusalem.
Look! Your king comes to you.
He will save you because he does everything well.
But he is quiet and he is riding on a donkey.
He will ride on a young animal. Its mother is a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim,[a]
and the horses of war from Jerusalem.
The bows of war will be broken.
He will speak to all the countries and wars will finish.
He will rule from sea to sea. He will rule from the river Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
11 But I made a promise to you. I made that promise true with blood. I will free your people that are in a prison, in deep dark holes without water.
12 All you people who hoped to see your own country again, return to Jerusalem.
I tell you this now: I will give back to you twice as much as you have lost.
13 I will use Judah and Israel to attack my enemies.
I will use you, men from Zion, to attack the men from Greece.
I will make you like the long metal knife of a soldier.
The Lord will appear
14 Then the Lord will appear above his people.
His arrows will be as fast as lightning in the sky.
The Lord God will make a loud sound with a trumpet.
He will march in a storm from the south to attack.
15 And the Lord Almighty will help his people.
They will throw great stones at their enemies.
When they go to war, they will shout loudly,
like men who have drunk too much wine.
They will be as full of joy as the priest's bowl is full of blood,
when he pours it on the altar.
16 On that day, the Lord will save them.
They are his people.
They will shine in his country
like beautiful stones that shine in a crown.
17 The people will be beautiful and good.
The young people will become strong
when they eat good bread.
The young women will become strong
when they drink new wine.
Jesus at Bethany
12 Six days before the Passover festival, Jesus went to Bethany, the village where Lazarus lived. He was the man who had been dead, but Jesus had raised him. 2 Some friends prepared a special meal there for Jesus. Martha gave out the food, and Lazarus sat among the visitors, with Jesus. 3 Then Mary brought a pound of very expensive oil that had a very nice smell. They used nard to make it. She poured it over Jesus' feet and then she made his feet dry again with her hair. The nice smell of the oil filled the whole house.
4 Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' disciples, was there. He was the man who would sell Jesus to Jesus' enemies. 5 Judas said, ‘We could have sold this oil for 300 coins. That is as much money as someone would get for a year's work. Then we could have given that money to poor people.’ 6 He did not say this because he really wanted to help the poor people. No, he said it because he wanted the money himself. He kept the bag of money and sometimes he took money from it for himself. 7 But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop her! She has kept this oil safe until now. She wanted it for the day when they will bury my dead body. 8 You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me with you.’
9 By this time, a large crowd of Jews had heard the news that Jesus was at Bethany. So they came there to see him. They came also to see Lazarus, because Jesus had made him alive again. 10 So the leaders of the priests decided to kill not only Jesus, but Lazarus too. 11 They wanted to do that because many Jews now refused to obey them. Instead, these Jews believed in Jesus because of what he had done for Lazarus.
Jesus goes into Jerusalem
12 The next day, a large crowd of people were in Jerusalem for the festival. They heard the news that Jesus was on the way there. 13 So they took branches from palm trees and they went out to meet Jesus. They were shouting, ‘We praise God! May the Lord God bless the king who comes with his authority. May he bless the king of Israel!’ 14 Jesus found a young donkey, and he sat on it. This happened in the way that was written in the Bible long ago:
15 ‘Do not be afraid, you people in Zion.
Look! Your king is coming.
He is riding on a young donkey.’[a]
16 Jesus' disciples did not understand all this at that time. They understood only after Jesus had returned to God in heaven. Then they remembered that someone had written these things about him in the Bible. And they remembered that these things had now really happened to him. 17 The crowd that had been with Jesus before at Bethany continued to tell people about Lazarus. They said, ‘Jesus told Lazarus that he should come out of the hole in the rock. He made Lazarus alive again after he had died and his body had been put in there.’ 18 That is why many people came to meet Jesus. They had heard that he had done this miracle. 19 So the Pharisees said to each other, ‘This is not what we wanted.[b] Look! All the people in the world have left us to go with him!’
Jesus says that he will soon die
20 There were some Greek people among the people at the festival. They also had come to worship God. 21 These Greek people came to Philip, who was from a town in Galilee called Bethsaida. They said to him, ‘Please sir, we want to meet Jesus.’ 22 Philip went and he told Andrew this. Then Philip and Andrew went to Jesus and they told him.
23 Jesus said to them, ‘God will show how great the Son of Man is. It is now time for that to happen. 24 I tell you this: A seed of wheat continues to be only a single seed unless it falls into the ground. It must fall into the ground and then it must die. If it dies like that, it will grow to give a lot of seeds.
25 Anyone who loves his own life will lose it. But anyone who hates his life in this world will have true life for ever with God. 26 Anyone who wants to be my servant must follow me. Then he will be with me, where I am. My Father will praise anyone who is my servant. 27 Now I have trouble in my mind. What will I say? I might say, “Father, save me from this time of trouble!” But this difficult time is the purpose for which I came to the world. 28 So I will say, “Father, show how great and how good you are.” ’
Then a voice spoke from heaven and said, ‘I have shown how great and how good I am. And I will do it again.’ 29 The crowd of people who were standing there heard the sound of this voice. They said that it was like the noise of thunder in a storm. But other people said, ‘An angel spoke to him!’
30 Jesus said, ‘When this voice spoke, it was not so that it could help me. No, it spoke so that it could help you. 31 It is time now for God to judge the people in this world. Now he will throw out the ruler of this world. 32 But when people lift me up from the ground, then I will bring everyone to myself.’ 33 Jesus said this to show in what way he would soon die.[c]
34 The crowd said, ‘The Bible tells us that the Messiah will continue for ever. So why do you say, “People must lift up the Son of Man”? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35 Jesus answered, ‘The light will be with you for only a short time longer. So continue to walk while you still have the light. Do that, so that the dark will not come over you. Anyone who walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 While you still have the light with you, believe in that light. So then you will become children of light.’ When Jesus had said this, he went away. He hid himself from them.[d]
Many people still do not believe in Jesus
37 Jesus had done many miracles that the people themselves had seen. But even then, they still did not believe in him. 38 This showed that the prophet Isaiah had spoken true words when he said:[e]
‘Lord, has anyone believed our message?
You have shown how powerful you are,
but nobody has really understood.’
39 Isaiah spoke also about why the people could not believe.[f] 40 He said:
‘God has made their eyes unable to see.
He has closed their minds.
So they cannot see with their eyes,
and they cannot understand with their minds.
They will not turn to me, so that I can make them well.’
41 Long ago, Isaiah saw the great glory of Christ. That is why he said these things. He was speaking about Jesus.
42 But even at that time, many of the Jewish leaders did believe in Jesus. But they were afraid of the Pharisees. So they did not tell people that they believed. They were afraid that the Pharisees would send them away from their meeting places. 43 The Pharisees wanted other people to praise them, more than they wanted God to praise them.
Jesus' message warns people
44 Jesus said in a loud voice, ‘Anyone who believes in me does not believe only in me. That person believes also in the one who sent me. 45 Anyone who looks at me does not see only me. They see also him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world to be a light for people. Everyone who believes in me will not remain in the dark. That is why I came. 47 Not everyone who hears my words will obey them. I will not judge anyone who is like that. I did not come to judge the people in the world. I came to save them. 48 But there is something that will judge people who refuse to believe in me. Those are people who do not accept my message. The message that I have spoken will itself judge people like that on the last day. 49 The words that I have spoken did not come from me myself. They came from the Father, who sent me. He told me what message I must speak. He told me the words I must say. 50 The message that the Father has given me causes people to have life for ever. I know that. So I speak only those things that the Father has said to me.’
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