M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 26
Uzziah’s Projects. 1 (A)All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was only sixteen years old, and made him king to succeed Amaziah his father. 2 It was he who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah, after the king rested with his ancestors. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah, from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, just as his father Amaziah had done.
5 He was prepared to seek God as long as Zechariah[a] lived,(B) who taught him to fear God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. 6 He went out and fought the Philistines and razed the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod, and built cities in the district of Ashdod and in Philistia.(C) 7 God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabians who dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites paid tribute to Uzziah and his fame spread as far as Egypt, for he grew stronger and stronger. 9 Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and he fortified them. 10 He built towers in the wilderness and dug numerous cisterns, for he had many cattle. He had plowmen in the Shephelah and the plains, farmers and vinedressers in the highlands and the garden land. He was a lover of the soil.
11 Uzziah also had a standing army of fit soldiers divided into bands according to the number in which they were mustered by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the recorder, under the command of Hananiah, one of the king’s officials. 12 The entire number of family heads over these valiant warriors was two thousand six hundred, 13 and at their disposal was a mighty army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred fighting men of great valor to help the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided for them—for the entire army—bucklers, lances, helmets, breastplates, bows, and slingstones. 15 He also built machines in Jerusalem, devices designed to stand on the towers and at the angles of the walls to shoot arrows and cast large stones. His name spread far and wide; the help he received was wondrous, so strong did he become.
Pride and Fall. 16 But after he had become strong, he became arrogant to his own destruction and acted treacherously with the Lord, his God. He entered the temple of the Lord to make an offering on the altar of incense. 17 But Azariah the priest, and with him eighty other priests of the Lord, courageous men, followed him. 18 They stood up to King Uzziah, saying to him: “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been consecrated for this purpose.(D) Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted treacherously and no longer have a part in the glory that comes from the Lord God.” 19 Uzziah, who was holding a censer for burning the incense, became angry. But at the very moment he showed his anger to the priests, while they were looking at him in the house of the Lord beside the altar of incense, leprosy broke out on his forehead.(E) 20 Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests examined him, and when they saw that his forehead was leprous, they rushed him out. He let himself be expelled, for the Lord had afflicted him. 21 (F)King Uzziah remained a leper till the day he died. As a leper he lived in a house apart, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. Therefore his son Jotham was master of the palace and ruled the people of the land.
22 The rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, were written by Isaiah the prophet, son of Amoz. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors and was buried with them in the field adjoining the royal cemetery, for they said, “He was a leper.” His son Jotham succeeded him as king.
Chapter 13
The First Beast.[a] 1 Then I saw a beast come out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads; on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads blasphemous name[s].(A) 2 The beast I saw was like a leopard, but it had feet like a bear’s, and its mouth was like the mouth of a lion.[b](B) To it the dragon gave its own power and throne, along with great authority. 3 I saw that one of its heads seemed to have been mortally wounded, but this mortal wound was healed.[c] Fascinated, the whole world followed after the beast. 4 They worshiped the dragon because it gave its authority to the beast; they also worshiped the beast[d] and said, “Who can compare with the beast or who can fight against it?”
5 [e]The beast was given a mouth uttering proud boasts and blasphemies,(C) and it was given authority to act for forty-two months.[f] 6 It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was also allowed to wage war against the holy ones and conquer them, and it was granted authority over every tribe, people, tongue, and nation.(D) 8 All the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, all whose names were not written from the foundation of the world in the book of life, which belongs to the Lamb who was slain.(E)
9 Whoever has ears ought to hear these words.(F)
10 Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity.
Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword.(G)
Such is the faithful endurance of the holy ones.
The Second Beast.[g] 11 Then I saw another beast come up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb’s but spoke like a dragon. 12 It wielded all the authority of the first beast in its sight and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13 It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of everyone.(H) 14 It deceived the inhabitants of the earth with the signs it was allowed to perform in the sight of the first beast, telling them to make an image for the beast who had been wounded by the sword and revived. 15 It was then permitted to breathe life into the beast’s image, so that the beast’s image could speak and [could] have anyone who did not worship it put to death.(I) 16 It forced all the people, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to be given a stamped image on their right hands or their foreheads,(J) 17 so that no one could buy or sell except one who had the stamped image of the beast’s name or the number that stood for its name.
18 [h](K)Wisdom is needed here; one who understands can calculate the number of the beast, for it is a number that stands for a person. His number is six hundred and sixty-six.
Chapter 9
Restoration of the Land of Israel[a]
1 An oracle:[b] the word of the Lord is against the land of Hadrach,
and Damascus is its destination,
For the cities of Aram are the Lord’s,
as are all the tribes of Israel.
2 Hamath also on its border,
Tyre too, and Sidon, no matter how clever they be.
3 Tyre built itself a stronghold,
and heaped up silver like dust,
and gold like the mud of the streets.
4 But now the Lord will dispossess it,
and cast its wealth into the sea,
and it will be devoured by fire.
5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid;
Gaza too will be in great anguish;
Ekron also, for its hope will wither.
The king will disappear from Gaza,
Ashkelon will not be inhabited,
6 and the illegitimate will rule in Ashdod.
I will destroy the pride of the Philistines
7 and take from their mouths their bloody prey,
their disgusting meat from between their teeth.
They will become merely a remnant for our God,(A)
and will be like a clan in Judah;
Ekron will be like the Jebusites.[c]
8 I will encamp at my house,
a garrison against invaders;
No oppressor will overrun them again,
for now I have seen their affliction.
The King’s Entry into Jerusalem[d]
9 Exult greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
Behold: your king[e] is coming to you,
a just savior is he,
Humble, and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(B)
10 He shall banish the chariot from Ephraim,(C)
and the horse from Jerusalem;
The warrior’s bow will be banished,
and he will proclaim peace to the nations.(D)
His dominion will be from sea to sea,
and from the River[f] to the ends of the earth.(E)
Restoration of the People
11 As for you, by the blood of your covenant,[g](F)
I have freed your prisoners from a waterless pit.
12 Return to a fortress,[h]
O prisoners of hope;
This very day, I announce
I am restoring double to you.
13 For I have bent Judah as my bow,
I have set Ephraim as its arrow;
I will arouse your sons, O Zion,
against your sons, O Yavan,[i]
and I will use you as a warrior’s sword.
14 The Lord will appear over them,
God’s arrow will shoot forth as lightning;
The Lord God will sound the ram’s horn,
and come in a storm from the south.(G)
15 The Lord of hosts will protect them;
they will devour and conquer with sling stones,
they will drink and become heated as with wine;
they will be full like bowls—like the corners of the altar.(H)
16 And the Lord their God will save them:
the people, like a flock on that day;(I)
For like gemstones of a crown[j]
they will shine on the land.
17 Then how good and how lovely!
Grain will make the young men flourish,
and new wine the young women.(J)
Chapter 12
The Anointing at Bethany.(A) 1 [a]Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.(B) 2 They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.(C) 3 Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus[b] and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.(D) 4 Then Judas the Iscariot, one [of] his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, 5 “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages[c] and given to the poor?” 6 He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.(E) 7 So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial.[d] 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”(F)
9 [The] large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.(G) 10 And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, 11 because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.(H)
The Entry into Jerusalem.[e] 12 (I)On the next day, when the great crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches[f] and went out to meet him, and cried out:
“Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
[even] the king of Israel.”(J)
14 Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written:
16 His disciples did not understand this at first, but when Jesus had been glorified they remembered that these things were written about him and that they had done this[h] for him.(L) 17 [i]So the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from death continued to testify. 18 This was [also] why the crowd went to meet him, because they heard that he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the whole world[j] has gone after him.”(M)
The Coming of Jesus’ Hour.[k] 20 Now there were some Greeks[l] among those who had come up to worship at the feast.(N) 21 [m]They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”(O) 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.(P) 23 [n]Jesus answered them,(Q) “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 [o]Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat;(R) but if it dies, it produces much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life[p] loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.(S) 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.(T)
27 “I am troubled[q] now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.(U) 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”(V) 29 The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”(W) 30 Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.(X) 31 Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world[r] will be driven out.(Y) 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”(Z) 33 He said this indicating the kind of death he would die. 34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever.[s] Then how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”(AA) 35 Jesus said to them, “The light will be among you only a little while. Walk while you have the light, so that darkness may not overcome you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where he is going.(AB) 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.”(AC)
Unbelief and Belief Among the Jews. After he had said this, Jesus left and hid from them. 37 [t](AD)Although he had performed so many signs in their presence they did not believe in him, 38 [u]in order that the word which Isaiah the prophet spoke might be fulfilled:
“Lord, who has believed our preaching,
to whom has the might of the Lord been revealed?”(AE)
39 For this reason they could not believe, because again Isaiah said:
40 “He blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,
so that they might not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart and be converted,
and I would heal them.”(AF)
41 Isaiah said this because he saw his glory[v] and spoke about him.(AG) 42 Nevertheless, many, even among the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue.(AH) 43 For they preferred human praise to the glory of God.(AI)
Recapitulation. 44 Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me,(AJ) 45 and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.(AK) 46 I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.(AL) 47 And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.(AM) 48 Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day,(AN) 49 because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.(AO) 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.