M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 34
The Reforms of Josiah. 1 Josiah was eight years old when he ascended the throne, and he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and he followed in the ways of his ancestor David, not deviating either to the right or to the left.
3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the sacred poles, and the carved and the cast images.[a] 4 Then, in his presence and following his instructions, he oversaw the destruction of the altars of the Baals, and the incense stands erected above them were torn down. The sacred poles and the carved and molten images were shattered and beaten into dust, which was then scattered over the tombs of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 Finally, the bones of the priests he burned upon their altars. Thus he purified Judah and Jerusalem.
6 In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and in the ruined villages as far as Naphtali, 7 Josiah destroyed the altars, crushed the sacred poles and the images into powder, and demolished all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
The Temple Restored. 8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, after he had purified the land as well as the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan, the son of Azaliah, Maaseiah, the governor of the city, and Joah, the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair and restore the house of the Lord, his God. 9 They came to the high priest Hilkiah and delivered the money that had been brought into the house of God, which the Levites, the guardians of the threshold, had collected from Manasseh, Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, as well as from all of Judah, Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
10 They delivered the money to the master workmen in the house of the Lord, and these in turn used it to pay the workmen in the Lord’s house who were restoring and repairing the temple. 11 They also gave money to the carpenters and the builders to purchase quarried stone, as well as timber for the rafters and beams of the buildings which the kings of Judah had permitted to fall into disrepair.
12 The men worked conscientiously at their tasks. Their overseers who directed the work were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites of the line of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, members of the Kohathites. The Levites, all of them skilled in the art of playing musical instruments, 13 were in charge of the men who carried the burdens, and they directed all the workers in every kind of labor, while other Levites were secretaries, officials, and gatekeepers.
14 Discovery of the Law. When they brought out the money that had been deposited in the house of the Lord, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord which had been given through Moses. 15 Hilkiah said to the secretary, Shaphan: “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord,” and then he gave the book to Shaphan.
16 Shaphan brought the book to the king and reported to him: “Your servants are doing everything that has been entrusted to them. 17 They have melted down the silver that had been deposited in the house of the Lord and have handed it over to the supervisors and the workers.” 18 Shaphan the secretary also informed the king: “Hilkiah the priest has handed over a book to me.” Then Shaphan proceeded to read extracts from the book in the presence of the king.
19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his garments. 20 Then he issued this command to Hilkiah, Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, Abdon, the son of Micah, the secretary, Shaphan, and the king’s servant, Asaiah: 21 “Go forth and inquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book that has been discovered. For the intense wrath of the Lord that has been poured out on us is great, because our ancestors did not observe the Lord’s command and do all that is written in this book.”
22 Therefore, Hilkiah and those others whom the king had designated went to the prophetess Huldah, the wife of Shallum, son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, the guardian of the wardrobe, and consulted her at her home in the Second Quarter of Jerusalem, as they had been instructed. After they spoke to her, 23 she replied: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the one who sent you to me: 24 The Lord says: I am going to bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants—all the curses written in the book that was read in the presence of the king of Judah. 25 Because they have abandoned me and have burned incense to other gods, thereby provoking my anger with all the works of their hands, my wrath will be poured out on this place and it will not be quenched.’
26 “As for the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, give this response: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: In regard to the words that you have heard, 27 since your heart was penitent and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words spoken against this place and its inhabitants and tore your garments and wept before me, I in turn have listened, declares the Lord. 28 I will gather you to your ancestors, and you shall be taken to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not live to behold all the disaster that I will inflict upon this place and its inhabitants.’ ” Then the representatives of the king brought back this answer to him.
29 Renewal of the Covenant.[b] Thereupon, after the king convened all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, 30 he went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all the people, both great and small. In their hearing he read the entire contents of the book of the covenant that was discovered in the house of the Lord.
31 Then the king stood by his pillar and entered into a covenant before the Lord to obey him and keep his commandments, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and soul, and thus carry out the words of the covenant that were written in this book. 32 After that, he had all those in Jerusalem and in Benjamin pledge their conformity to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
33 Josiah removed all the abominable idols from the entire territory that belonged to the people of Israel, and he made it a requirement that all those who lived in Israel must worship their God. Throughout his lifetime they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their ancestors.
Chapter 20
The Dragon.[a] 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, with the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would not again deceive the nations until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released, but only for a short time.
The Reign of the Martyrs: Return and Destruction of Satan.[b] 4 Next, I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given the authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for bearing witness to Jesus and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.[c]
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed[d] and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
7 When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will emerge to lead astray the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—in order to gather them for battle. They are as numerous as the sands of the sea.[e]
9 They marched across the breadth of the earth[f] and laid siege to the camp of the saints and the beloved city. However, fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil who had led them astray was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been flung to be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11 Preparation for the Judgment.[g] Then I saw a great white throne, and the one who was seated upon it. The earth and the sky fled so far from his presence that they could no longer be found.
12 The Resurrection and Judgment.[h] And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and the scrolls were opened. Then another scroll was opened, the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their deeds, as were recorded in the scrolls.
13 The sea gave up all the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. The dead were judged according to their deeds. 14 Then Death and Hades were hurled into the fiery lake. This fiery lake is the second death.[i] 15 Anyone who was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the fiery lake.
You Have Made Many People Stumble
Chapter 2
1 And now, O priests,
this commandment is for you.
2 If you refuse to listen to me
and do not sincerely resolve
to give glory to my name,
says the Lord of hosts,
I will send a curse on you,
and I will turn your blessings into a curse.
Indeed, I have already done so
because you have not heeded my warning.
3 I will deprive you of the shoulder
and spread dung on your faces,
the dung of your offerings,
and I will banish you from my presence.
4 Then you will know
that I sent you this commandment
because I wish to maintain
my covenant with Levi,
says the Lord of hosts.
5 My covenant with him
was one of life and peace,
which I bestowed on him.
He revered me
and held my name in awe.
6 The instruction he offered was true,
and no dishonesty issued from his mouth.
He walked with me in integrity and uprightness,
and he turned many away from a sinful life.
7 The lips of a priest should safeguard knowledge,
and people should seek instruction from his mouth
because he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8 But you have turned aside from the way
and caused many to stumble
as the result of your instruction.
You have destroyed the covenant of Levi,
says the Lord of hosts.
9 Therefore, I have made you despised and vile
in the eyes of all the people,
inasmuch as you have disregarded my ways
and have not been impartial
in your interpretation of the law.
Profaned Marriage[a]
10 Do we all not have the one Father?
Has not one God created us?
Why then do we break faith with one another,
profaning the covenant of our ancestors?
11 Judah[b] has broken faith,
and an abominable thing has been done
in Israel and in Jerusalem.
By marrying the daughter of a foreign god,
Judah has profaned the Lord’s beloved sanctuary.
12 May the Lord banish from the tents of Jacob
any who do this,
and also deprive them of any witness or advocate
or someone to present offerings to the Lord of hosts.
You Betray the Woman of Your Youth[c]
13 And this you are to do as well:
you must cover the altar of the Lord
with tears, with weeping and moaning,
because at present he refuses to consider your offering
or to accept it with satisfaction from your hand.
14 If you ask the reason why,
it is because the Lord stands as witness
between you and the wife of your youth
with whom you have broken faith,
even though she is your partner
and your wife by a solemn covenant.
15 Did not the one God make her,
both flesh and spirit?
And what does the one God require
but God-given offspring?
Therefore, you must safeguard your own life,
and let none of you be unfaithful
to the wife of your youth.
16 For I hate divorce,
says the Lord, the God of Israel,
as well as covering one’s garment with injustice,
says the Lord of hosts.
Therefore, have respect for your own life,
and do not be unfaithful.
God Will Come and Do Justice
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words.
Yet you ask, “How have we wearied him?”
By asserting, “All who do evil
are good in the eyes of the Lord;
indeed, he delights in them.”
Or by asking,
“Where is the God of justice?”
Chapter 19
Behold, the Man! 1 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be scourged.[a] 2 The soldiers twisted together some thorns into a crown and placed it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept going up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews,” while striking him on the face repeatedly.
4 Once again, Pilate went out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no evidence of a crime in him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”
6 When they saw him, the chief priests and the temple guards shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no evidence of a crime in him.” 7 The Jews answered, “We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
The Second Hearing before Pilate. 8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9 Returning to the praetorium, he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus offered no response. 10 Pilate then said to him, “Are you refusing to speak to me? Do you not realize that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him,
“You would have no authority over me at all
unless it had been given to you from above.
Therefore, the one who handed me over to you
is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 Jesus Is Condemned to Death. From that moment on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no Friend of Caesar.[b] Everyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench at a place known as the Stone Pavement[c] (in Hebrew, “Gabbatha”). 14 It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon.[d] Pilate said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” 15 They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” “Am I to crucify your King?” Pilate asked them. The chief priests replied, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
Jesus Is Crucified. Then they took him away, 17 and, carrying the cross[e] by himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, “Golgotha”). 18 There they crucified him[f] along with two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate also had an inscription written and fastened to the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, King of the Jews.”[g] 20 This inscription, in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, was read by many Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. 21 Therefore, the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “You should not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man claimed to be the King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate responded, “What I have written, I have written.”[h]
23 [i]When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, one share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, which was woven seamless, top to bottom. 24 They said to one another, “Instead of tearing it, let us cast lots for it to see who is to get it.” In this way, the Scripture was fulfilled that says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
And that is what the soldiers did.
25 Mary and John at the Cross. Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
28 Jesus Dies on the Cross. After this, aware that everything had now been completed, and in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” 29 A jar filled with sour wine was standing nearby, so they soaked a sponge in the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.”[j] Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 The Blood and the Water. It was the day of Preparation, and the Jews did not want to have the bodies remain on the cross on the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath day was a great solemnity. Therefore, they requested Pilate to order that their legs be broken and the bodies taken down.
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 However, when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, 34 but one of the soldiers thrust a lance into his side, and immediately a flow of blood and water came forth. 35 An eyewitness has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that what he says is true, so that you also may believe.
36 This happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
“Not one of his bones will be broken.”
37 And again, in another passage Scripture says,
“They shall look on the one
whom they have pierced.”
38 Jesus Is Buried.[k] Shortly thereafter, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate granted him permission, and so he came and took his body away.
39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds.[l] 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, in accordance with the burial custom of the Jews.
41 At the place where Jesus had been crucified there was a garden, and in that garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 42 And so, since it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
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