M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
God Saves Judah from the Assyrians(A)
32 After everything Hezekiah had done so faithfully, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to invade Judah. He set up camp ⌞to attack⌟ the fortified cities. He intended to conquer them himself.
2 When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come to wage war against Jerusalem, 3 he, his officers, and his military staff made plans to stop the water from flowing out of the springs outside the city. They helped him do it. 4 A large crowd gathered as they stopped all the springs and the brook that flowed through the land. They said, “Why should the kings of Assyria find plenty of water?”
5 Hezekiah worked hard. He rebuilt all the broken sections of the wall, made the towers taller, built another wall outside ⌞the city wall⌟, strengthened the Millo [a] in the City of David, and made plenty of weapons and shields. 6 He appointed military commanders over the troops and gathered the commanders in the square by the city gate. He spoke these words of encouragement: 7 “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be frightened or terrified by the king of Assyria or the crowd with him. Someone greater is on our side. 8 The king of Assyria has human power on his side, but the Lord our God is on our side to help us and fight our battles.” So the people were encouraged by what King Hezekiah of Judah said.
9 After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria and all his royal forces were attacking Lachish, he sent his officers to King Hezekiah of Judah and to all of the people in Judah who were in Jerusalem to say: 10 “This is what King Sennacherib of Assyria says: Why are you so confident as you live in Jerusalem while it is blockaded? 11 Isn’t Hezekiah misleading you and abandoning you to die from hunger and thirst when he says, ‘The Lord our God will rescue us from the king of Assyria?’ 12 Isn’t this the same Hezekiah who got rid of the Lord’s places of worship and altars and told Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Worship and sacrifice at one altar?’ 13 Don’t you know what I and my predecessors have done to the people of all other countries? Were any of the gods of these other nations ever able to rescue their countries from me? 14 Were the gods of these nations able to rescue their people from my control? My predecessors claimed and destroyed those nations. Is your God able to rescue you from my control? 15 Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or persuade you like this. Don’t believe him. No god of any nation or kingdom could save his people from me or my ancestors. Certainly, your God will not rescue you from me!”
16 Sennacherib’s officers said more against the Lord God and his servant Hezekiah. 17 Sennacherib wrote letters cursing the Lord God of Israel. These letters said, “As the gods of the nations in other countries couldn’t rescue their people from me, Hezekiah’s God cannot rescue his people from me.” 18 Sennacherib’s officers shouted loudly in the Judean language to the troops who were on the wall of Jerusalem. They tried to frighten and terrify the troops so that they could capture the city. 19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the gods made by human hands and worshiped by the people in other countries.
20 Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, prayed about this and called to heaven. 21 The Lord sent an angel who exterminated all the soldiers, officials, and commanders in the Assyrian king’s camp. Humiliated, Sennacherib returned to his own country. When he went into the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him with a sword. 22 So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from everyone else. The Lord gave them peace with all their neighbors.
23 Many people still went to Jerusalem to bring gifts to the Lord and expensive presents to King Hezekiah of Judah. From then on, he was considered important by all the nations.
Other Events in Hezekiah’s Life(B)
24 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was about to die. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. 25 But Hezekiah was conceited, so he didn’t repay the Lord for his kindness. The Lord became angry with him, with Judah, and with Jerusalem. 26 Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem humbled themselves when they realized they had become conceited. So the Lord didn’t vent his anger on them during Hezekiah’s time.
27 Hezekiah became richer and was highly honored. He prepared storerooms for himself to hold silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields, and all kinds of valuables. 28 He made sheds to store his harvests of grain, new wine, and fresh olive oil, and he made barns for all his cattle and stalls for his flocks. 29 He made cities for himself because he had many sheep and cattle. God had given him a lot of property. 30 Hezekiah was the one who stopped the water from flowing from the upper outlet of Gihon. He channeled the water directly underground to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah succeeded in everything he did.
31 When the leaders of Babylon sent ambassadors to ask him about the miraculous sign that had happened in the land, God left him. God did this to test him, to find out everything that was in Hezekiah’s heart.
32 Everything else about Hezekiah, including his devotion to God, is written in the vision of the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, and in the records of the kings of Judah and Israel. 33 Hezekiah lay down in death with his ancestors. He was buried in the upper tombs of David’s descendants. When Hezekiah died, all of Judah and the people in Jerusalem honored him. His son Manasseh succeeded him as king.
Babylon’s Fall
18 After these things I saw another angel come from heaven. He had tremendous power, and his glory lit up the earth. 2 He cried out in a powerful voice, “Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a prison for every evil spirit, every unclean [a] bird, and every unclean and hated beast. 3 All the nations fell because of the wine of her sexual sins. The kings of the earth had sex with her. Her luxurious wealth has made the merchants of the earth rich.”
4 I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Babylon, my people, so that you do not participate in her sins and suffer from any of her plagues. 5 Her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. 6 Do to her what she has done. Give her twice as much as she gave. Serve her a drink in her own cup twice as large as the drink she served others. 7 She gave herself glory and luxury. Now give her just as much torture and misery. She says to herself, ‘I’m a queen on a throne, not a widow. I’ll never be miserable.’ 8 For this reason her plagues of death, misery, and starvation will come in a single day. She will be burned up in a fire, because the Lord God, who judges her, is powerful.
9 “The kings of the earth who had sex with her and lived in luxury with her will cry and mourn over her when they see the smoke rise from her raging fire. 10 Frightened by her torture, they will stand far away and say,
‘How horrible, how horrible it is for that important city,
the powerful city Babylon!
In one moment judgment has come to it!’
11 “The merchants of the earth cry and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore. 12 No one buys their cargo of gold, silver, gems, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, bright red cloth, all kinds of citron wood, articles made of ivory and very costly wood, bronze, iron, marble, 13 cinnamon, spices, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, slaves (that is, humans).
14 ‘The fruit you craved is gone.
All your luxuries and your splendor have disappeared.
No one will ever find them again.’
15 “Frightened by her torture, the merchants who had become rich by selling these things will stand far away. They will cry and mourn, 16 saying,
‘How horrible, how horrible for that important city
which was wearing fine linen, purple clothes,
bright red clothes, gold jewelry, gems, and pearls.
17 In one moment all this wealth has been destroyed!’
Every ship’s captain, everyone who traveled by ship, sailors, and everyone who made their living from the sea stood far away. 18 When they saw the smoke rise from her raging fire, they repeatedly cried out, ‘Was there ever a city as important as this?’ 19 Then they threw dust on their heads and shouted while crying and mourning,
‘How horrible, how horrible for that important city.
Everyone who had a ship at sea
grew rich because of that city’s high prices.
In one moment it has been destroyed!’
20 “Gloat over it, heaven, God’s people, apostles, and prophets.
God has condemned it for you.”
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a stone that was like a large millstone. He threw it into the sea and said,
“The important city Babylon will be thrown down with the same force.
It will never be found again.
22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters
will never be heard in it again.
A skilled craftsman—regardless of the type of craft—
will never be found in it again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in it again.
23 Light from lamps
will never shine in it again.
Voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in it again.
Its merchants were the important people of the world,
because all the nations were deceived by its witchcraft.
24 “The blood of prophets, God’s people, and everyone who had been murdered on earth was found in it.”
The Lord Will Fight the Nations
14 A day is going to come for the Lord when the loot you have taken will be divided among you. 2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for battle. The city will be captured, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people in the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people won’t be taken from the city.
3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as he does when he fights a battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will be split in two, forming a very large valley from east to west. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and the other half will move toward the south. 5 Then you will flee to the valley of my mountains, because this valley between the mountains will go as far as Azel. You will flee as you did from the earthquake at the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones will be with him.
6 On that day there will be neither heat nor freezing cold. 7 There will be one day—a day known to the Lord—with no difference between day and night. It will be light even in the evening.
Living Water from Jerusalem
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea. It will continue in summer and in winter.
9 The Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be the only Lord and his name the only name.
10 The whole earth will become like the plains from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site, from Benjamin Gate to the place of First Gate, Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 People will live there, and it will never be threatened with destruction. Jerusalem will live securely.
12 This will be the plague the Lord will use to strike all the people from the nations that have gone to war against Jerusalem. Their flesh will rot while they are standing on their feet. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
13 On that day a large-scale panic from the Lord will spread among them. One person will grab the hand of another, and one will attack the other. 14 Judah will also fight in Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected, a very large amount of gold, silver, and clothes. 15 A similar plague will also affect horses, mules, camels, donkeys, and all other animals in those camps.
16 Everyone who is left from all the nations that attacked Jerusalem will come every year to worship the king, the Lord of Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Booths. 17 If any of the families on the earth won’t go to Jerusalem to worship the king, the Lord of Armies, then rain won’t fall on them. 18 If the people of Egypt won’t go or enter Jerusalem, then ⌞rain won’t fall⌟ on them. The plague the Lord uses to strike the nations will affect those who won’t come to celebrate the Festival of Booths. 19 This will be ⌞the punishment⌟ for Egypt’s sin and for the sin of all the nations that won’t go to celebrate the Festival of Booths.
20 On that day “Holy to the Lord” will be written on the bells of the horses. And the cooking pots in the house of the Lord will be like the bowls in front of the altar. 21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of Armies. All who come to sacrifice will take some of them and cook in them. On that day there will no longer be any Canaanite [a] in the house of the Lord of Armies.
Jesus Prays for Himself, His Disciples, and His Church
17 After saying this, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time is here. Give your Son glory so that your Son can give you glory. 2 After all, you’ve given him authority over all humanity so that he can give eternal life to all those you gave to him. 3 This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. 4 On earth I have given you glory by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 Now, Father, give me glory in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I made your name known to the people you gave me. They are from this world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They did what you told them. 7 Now they know that everything you gave me comes from you, 8 because I gave them the message that you gave me. They have accepted this message, and they know for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.
9 “I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. 10 Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine. I have been given glory by the people you have given me. 11 I won’t be in the world much longer, but they are in the world, and I’m coming back to you. Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me, so that their unity may be like ours. 12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name that you gave me. I watched over them, and none of them, except one person, became lost. So Scripture came true.
13 “But now, ⌞Father,⌟ I’m coming back to you. I say these things while I’m still in the world so that they will have the same joy that I have. 14 I have given them your message. But the world has hated them because they don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one. 16 They don’t belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
17 “Use the truth to make them holy. Your words are truth. 18 I have sent them into the world the same way you sent me into the world. 19 I’m dedicating myself to this holy work I’m doing for them so that they, too, will use the truth to be holy.
20 “I’m not praying only for them. I’m also praying for those who will believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that all of these people continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they may be united with us so that the world will believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me. I did this so that they are united in the same way we are. 23 I am in them, and you are in me. So they are completely united. In this way the world knows that you have sent me and that you have loved them in the same way you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given to me to be with me, to be where I am. I want them to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the world was made. 25 Father, you have done what is right and the world didn’t know you. Yet, I knew you, and these ⌞disciples⌟ have known that you sent me. 26 I have made your name known to them, and I will make it known so that the love you have for me will be in them and I will be in them.”
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