M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jehoahaz King of Judah
36 The people of Judah chose Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him king in Jerusalem in his father’s place.
2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for three months. 3 Then King Neco of Egypt removed Jehoahaz from being king in Jerusalem. Neco made the people of Judah pay about seventy-five hundred pounds of silver and about seventy-five pounds of gold. 4 The king of Egypt made Jehoahaz’s brother Eliakim the king of Judah and Jerusalem and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took his brother Jehoahaz to Egypt.
Jehoiakim King of Judah
5 Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. He did what the Lord his God said was wrong. 6 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked Judah, captured Jehoiakim, put bronze chains on him, and took him to Babylon. 7 Nebuchadnezzar removed some of the things from the Temple of the Lord, took them to Babylon, and put them in his own palace.
8 The other things Jehoiakim did as king, the hateful things he did, and everything he was guilty of doing, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. And Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin became king in his place.
Jehoiachin King of Judah
9 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he was king in Jerusalem for three months and ten days. He did what the Lord said was wrong. 10 In the spring King Nebuchadnezzar sent for Jehoiachin and brought him and some valuable treasures from the Temple of the Lord to Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin’s uncle Zedekiah the king of Judah and Jerusalem.
Zedekiah King of Judah
11 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. 12 Zedekiah did what the Lord his God said was wrong. The prophet Jeremiah spoke messages from the Lord, but Zedekiah did not obey. 13 Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to swear in God’s name to be loyal to him. But Zedekiah became stubborn and refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 Also, all the leaders of the priests and the people of Judah became more wicked, following the evil example of the other nations. The Lord had made the Temple in Jerusalem holy, but the leaders made it unholy.
The Fall of Jerusalem
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent prophets again and again to warn his people, because he had pity on them and on his Temple. 16 But they made fun of God’s prophets and hated God’s messages. They refused to listen to the prophets until, finally, the Lord became so angry with his people that he could not be stopped. 17 So God brought the king of Babylon to attack them. The king killed the young men even when they were in the Temple. He had no mercy on the young men or women, the old men or those who were sick. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar. 18 Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon all the things from the Temple of God, both large and small, and all the treasures from the Temple of the Lord and from the king and his officers. 19 Nebuchadnezzar and his army set fire to God’s Temple and broke down Jerusalem’s wall and burned all the palaces. They took or destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem.
20 Nebuchadnezzar took captive to Babylon the people who were left alive, and he forced them to be slaves for him and his descendants. They remained there as slaves until the Persian kingdom defeated Babylon. 21 And so what the Lord had told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah happened: The country was an empty wasteland for seventy years to make up for the years of Sabbath rest[a] that the people had not kept.
22 In the first year Cyrus was king of Persia, the Lord had Cyrus send an announcement to his whole kingdom. This happened so the Lord’s message spoken by Jeremiah would come true. He wrote:
23 This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has appointed me to build a Temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Now may the Lord your God be with all of you who are his people. You are free to go to Jerusalem.
22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. It was shining like crystal and was flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the street of the city. The tree of life was on each side of the river. It produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of all the nations. 3 Nothing that God judges guilty will be in that city. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and God’s servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 There will never be night again. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light. And they will rule as kings forever and ever.
6 The angel said to me, “These words can be trusted and are true.” The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must happen soon.
7 “Listen! I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who obeys the words of prophecy in this book.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed these things to me. 9 But the angel said to me, “Do not worship me! I am a servant like you, your brothers the prophets, and all those who obey the words in this book. Worship God!”
10 Then the angel told me, “Do not keep secret the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near for all this to happen. 11 Let whoever is doing evil continue to do evil. Let whoever is unclean continue to be unclean. Let whoever is doing right continue to do right. Let whoever is holy continue to be holy.”
12 “Listen! I am coming soon! I will bring my reward with me, and I will repay each one of you for what you have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega,[a] the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes[b] so that they will receive the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside the city are the evil people, those who do evil magic, who sin sexually, who murder, who worship idols, and who love lies and tell lies.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to tell you these things for the churches. I am the descendant from the family of David, and I am the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears this say, “Come!” Let whoever is thirsty come; whoever wishes may have the water of life as a free gift.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to these words, God will add to that person the disasters written about in this book. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away that one’s share of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are written about in this book.
20 Jesus, the One who says these things are true, says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
The Day of the Lord’s Judging
4 “There is a day coming that will burn like a hot furnace, and all the proud and evil people will be like straw. On that day they will be completely burned up so that not a root or branch will be left,” says the Lord All-Powerful. 2 “But for you who honor me, goodness will shine on you like the sun, with healing in its rays. You will jump around, like well-fed calves. 3 Then you will crush the wicked like ashes under your feet on the day I will do this,” says the Lord All-Powerful.
4 “Remember the teaching of Moses my servant, those laws and rules I gave to him on Mount Sinai for all the Israelites.
5 “But I will send you Elijah the prophet before that great and terrifying day of the Lord’s judging. 6 Elijah will help parents love their children and children love their parents. Otherwise, I will come and put a curse on the land.”
Jesus Appears to Seven Followers
21 Later, Jesus showed himself to his followers again—this time at Lake Galilee.[a] This is how he showed himself: 2 Some of the followers were together: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the two sons of Zebedee, and two other followers. 3 Simon Peter said, “I am going out to fish.”
The others said, “We will go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat. They fished that night but caught nothing.
4 Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the followers did not know it was Jesus. 5 Then he said to them, “Friends, did you catch any fish?”
They answered, “No.”
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they did, and they caught so many fish they could not pull the net back into the boat.
7 The follower whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard him say this, he wrapped his coat around himself. (Peter had taken his clothes off.) Then he jumped into the water. 8 The other followers went to shore in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were not very far from shore, only about a hundred yards. 9 When the followers stepped out of the boat and onto the shore, they saw a fire of hot coals. There were fish on the fire, and there was bread.
10 Then Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
11 Simon Peter went into the boat and pulled the net to the shore. It was full of big fish, one hundred fifty-three in all, but even though there were so many, the net did not tear. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” None of the followers dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, along with the fish.
14 This was now the third time Jesus showed himself to his followers after he was raised from the dead.
Jesus Talks to Peter
15 When they finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
17 A third time he said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” Peter said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”
He said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger, you tied your own belt and went where you wanted. But when you are old, you will put out your hands and someone else will tie you and take you where you don’t want to go.” 19 (Jesus said this to show how Peter would die to give glory to God.) Then Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me!”
20 Peter turned and saw that the follower Jesus loved was walking behind them. (This was the follower who had leaned against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who will turn against you?”) 21 When Peter saw him behind them, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to live until I come back, that is not your business. You follow me.”
23 So a story spread among the followers that this one would not die. But Jesus did not say he would not die. He only said, “If I want him to live until I come back, that is not your business.”
24 That follower is the one who is telling these things and who has now written them down. We know that what he says is true.
25 There are many other things Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not be big enough for all the books that would be written.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.