M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover Feast

30 Hezekiah sent a message to all the people of Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He invited everyone to come to the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. He wanted them to celebrate the Passover Feast to honor the Lord. He is the God of Israel. ² The king, his officials and the whole community in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover Feast in the second month. ³ They hadn’t been able to celebrate it at the regular time. That’s because there weren’t enough priests who had set themselves apart to the Lord. Also, the people hadn’t gathered together in Jerusalem. ⁴ The plan seemed good to the king and the whole community. ⁵ They decided to send a message all through Israel. It was sent out from Beersheba all the way to Dan. The message invited the people to come to Jerusalem. It invited them to celebrate the Passover Feast to honor the Lord, the God of Israel. The Passover Feast hadn’t been celebrated by large numbers of people for a long time. It hadn’t been done in keeping with what was written in the law.

⁶ Messengers went all through Israel and Judah. They carried letters from the king and his officials. The king had ordered them to do that. The letters said,

“People of Israel, return to the Lord. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Return to him. Then he will return to you who are left in the land. You have escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria. ⁷ Don’t be like your parents and the rest of your people. They weren’t faithful to the Lord, the God of their people. That’s why he punished them. He made them look so bad that everyone was shocked when they saw them. You can see it for yourselves. ⁸ Don’t be stubborn. Don’t be as your people were. Obey the Lord. Come to his temple. He has set it apart to himself forever. Serve the Lord your God. Then he’ll stop being angry with you. ⁹ Suppose you return to the Lord. Then those who captured your relatives and children will be kind to them. In fact, your relatives and children will come back to this land. The Lord your God is kind and tender. He won’t turn away from you if you return to him.”

¹⁰ The messengers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh. They went all the way to Zebulun. But people laughed and made fun of them. ¹¹ In spite of that, some people from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun made themselves humble. They went to Jerusalem. ¹² God helped the people of Judah. He helped them agree with one another. So they did what the king and his officials had ordered. They did what the Lord told them to do.

¹³ A very large crowd of people gathered together in Jerusalem. They went there to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It took place in the second month. ¹⁴ They removed the altars in Jerusalem. They cleared away the altars for burning incense. They threw all the altars into the Kidron Valley.

¹⁵ They killed the Passover lamb on the 14th day of the second month. The priests and Levites were ashamed of how they had lived. They set themselves apart to the Lord. They brought burnt offerings to his temple. ¹⁶ Then they did their regular tasks just as the Law of Moses, the man of God, required. The Levites gave the blood of the animals to the priests. The priests splashed it against the altar. ¹⁷ Many people in the crowd hadn’t set themselves apart to the Lord. They weren’t “clean.” They couldn’t set apart their lambs to him. So the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all of them. ¹⁸ Many people came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun. Most of them hadn’t made themselves pure and “clean.” But they still ate the Passover meal. That was against what was written in the law. But Hezekiah prayed for them. He said, “The Lord is good. May he forgive everyone ¹⁹ who wants to worship God with all their heart. God is the Lord, the God of their people. May God forgive them even if they aren’t ‘clean’ in keeping with the rules of the temple.” ²⁰ The Lord answered Hezekiah’s prayer. He healed the people.

²¹ The people of Israel who were in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread. They celebrated for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests praised the Lord every day. They praised the Lord with loud musical instruments. The instruments had been set apart to the Lord.

²² Hezekiah spoke words that gave hope to all the Levites. They understood how to serve the Lord well. For the seven days of the feast they ate the share given to them. They also sacrificed friendship offerings. They praised the Lord, the God of their people.

²³ Then the whole community agreed to celebrate the feast for seven more days. So for another seven days they celebrated with joy. ²⁴ Hezekiah, the king of Judah, provided 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep and goats for the community. The officials provided 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep and goats for them. A large number of priests set themselves apart to the Lord. ²⁵ The entire community of Judah was filled with joy. So were the priests and Levites. And so were all the people who had gathered together from Israel. That included the outsiders who had come from Israel. It also included those who lived in Judah. ²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem. There hadn’t been anything like it in Israel since the days of Solomon, the son of David. Solomon had been king of Israel. ²⁷ The priests and Levites gave their blessing to the people. God heard them. Their prayer reached all the way to heaven. It’s the holy place where God lives.

The Seven Bowls of God’s Great Anger

16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple speaking to the seven angels. “Go,” it said. “Pour out the seven bowls of God’s great anger on the earth.”

² The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land. Ugly and painful sores broke out on people. Those people had the mark of the beast and worshiped its statue.

³ The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea. It turned into blood like the blood of a dead person. Every living thing in the sea died.

⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water. They became blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel who was in charge of the waters. He said,

⁷ Then I heard the altar reply. It said,

⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. The sun was allowed to burn people with fire. ⁹ They were burned by the blazing heat. So they spoke evil things against the name of God, who controlled these plagues. But they refused to turn away from their sins. They did not give glory to God.

¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast. The kingdom of the beast became very dark. People chewed on their tongues because they were suffering so much. ¹¹ They spoke evil things against the God of heaven. They did this because of their pains and their sores. But they refused to turn away from the sins they had committed.

¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. Its water dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. ¹³ Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs. They came out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. ¹⁴ They are spirits of demons that perform signs. They go out to gather the kings of the whole world for battle. This battle will take place on the great day of the God who rules over all.

¹⁵ “Look! I am coming like a thief! Blessed is anyone who stays awake and keeps their clothes on. Then they will be ready. They will not be caught naked and so be put to shame.”

¹⁶ Then the evil spirits gathered the kings together. In the Hebrew language, the place where the kings met is called Armageddon.

¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. Out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne. It said, “It is done!” ¹⁸ Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, thunder and a powerful earthquake. There has never been an earthquake as terrible as this. One like this hasn’t happened while human beings have lived on earth. ¹⁹ The great city split into three parts. The cities of the nations crumbled and fell. God remembered Babylon the Great. He gave Babylon the cup filled with the wine of his terrible anger. ²⁰ Every island ran away. The mountains could not be found. ²¹ Huge hailstones weighing about 100 pounds each fell from the sky. The hail crushed people. And they spoke evil things against God because of the plague. That’s because the plague of hail was so terrible.

The Lord Will Destroy Jerusalem’s Enemies

12 This is a prophecy. It is the Lord’s message about Israel.

The Lord spreads out the heavens. He lays the foundation of the earth. He creates the human spirit within a person. He says, ² “Jerusalem will be like a cup in my hand. It will make all the surrounding nations drunk from the wine of my anger. Judah will be attacked by its enemies. So will Jerusalem. ³ At that time all the nations on earth will gather together against Jerusalem. Then it will become like a rock that can’t be moved. All the nations that try to move it will only hurt themselves. ⁴ On that day I will fill every horse with panic. I will make every rider crazy,” announces the Lord. “I will watch over the people of Judah. But I will make all the horses of the nations blind. ⁵ Then the family groups of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong. That’s because the Lord who rules over all is their God.’

⁶ “At that time Judah’s family groups will be like a fire pot in a pile of wood. They will be like a burning torch among bundles of grain. They will destroy all the surrounding nations on every side. But Jerusalem will remain unharmed in its place.

⁷ “I will save the houses in Judah first. The honor of David’s family line is great. So is the honor of those who live in Jerusalem. But their honor will not be greater than the honor of the rest of Judah. ⁸ At that time I will be like a shield to those who live in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest among them will be great warriors like David. And David’s family line will be like the angel of the Lord who leads them. ⁹ On that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.

Israel’s People Will Mourn Over the One They Pierced

¹⁰ “I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on David’s family line. I will also send it on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look to me. I am the one they have pierced. They will mourn over me as someone mourns over an only child who has died. They will be full of sorrow over me. Their sorrow will be just like someone’s sorrow over an oldest son. ¹¹ At that time there will be a lot of weeping in Jerusalem. It will be as great as the weeping of the people at Hadad Rimmon. Hadad Rimmon is in the valley of Megiddo. They were weeping over Josiah’s death. ¹² Everyone in the land will mourn. Each family will mourn by themselves and their wives by themselves. That will include the family lines of David, Nathan, ¹³ Levi, Shimei and ¹⁴ all the others.

The Lord Makes Israel Pure and “Clean”

13 “At that time a fountain will be opened for the benefit of David’s family line. It will also bless the others who live in Jerusalem. It will wash away their sins. It will make them pure and ‘clean.’

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am the true vine. My Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch joined to me that does not bear fruit. He trims every branch that does bear fruit. Then it will bear even more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain joined to me, just as I also remain joined to you. No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain joined to the vine. In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain joined to me.

⁵ “I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain joined to me, and I to you, you will bear a lot of fruit. You can’t do anything without me. ⁶ If you don’t remain joined to me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and dries up. Branches like those are picked up. They are thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain joined to me and my words remain in you, ask for anything you wish. And it will be done for you. ⁸ When you bear a lot of fruit, it brings glory to my Father. It shows that you are my disciples.

⁹ “Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. In the same way, I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that you will have the same joy that I have. I also want your joy to be complete. ¹² Here is my command. Love one another, just as I have loved you. ¹³ No one has greater love than the one who gives their life for their friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I do not call you slaves anymore. Slaves do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends. I have told you everything I learned from my Father. ¹⁶ You did not choose me. Instead, I chose you. I appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit that will last. I also appointed you so that the Father will give you what you ask for. He will give you whatever you ask for in my name. ¹⁷ Here is my command. Love one another.

The World Hates the Disciples

¹⁸ “My disciples, does the world hate you? Remember that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you like one of its own. But you do not belong to the world. I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you. I said, ‘A slave is not more important than his master.’ (John 13:16) If people hated me and tried to hurt me, they will do the same to you. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹ They will treat you like that because of my name. They do not know the one who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ I did works among them that no one else did. If I hadn’t, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen those works. And still they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ This has happened so that what is written in their Law would come true. It says, ‘They hated me without any reason.’ (Psalms 35:19; 69:4)

The Work of the Holy Spirit

²⁶ “I will send the Friend to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth, who comes out from the Father. When the Friend comes to help you, he will be a witness about me. ²⁷ You must also be witnesses about me. That’s because you have been with me from the beginning.