M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Judah’s King Uzziah
26 All the people(A) of Judah took Uzziah,[a] who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 2 After Amaziah the king rested with his ancestors, Uzziah rebuilt Eloth[b](B) and restored it to Judah.
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old(C) when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God(D) throughout the lifetime of Zechariah, the teacher of the fear[c](E) of God. During the time that he sought the Lord, God gave him success.(F)
Uzziah’s Exploits
6 Uzziah went out to wage war against the Philistines,(G) and he tore down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod. Then he built cities in the vicinity of Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabs that live in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites[d] paid tribute to Uzziah,(H) and his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for God made him very powerful. 9 Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate,(I) the Valley Gate,(J) and the corner buttress, and he fortified them. 10 Since he had many cattle both in the Judean foothills[e] and the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many wells.(K) And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands.[f]
11 Uzziah had an army equipped for combat that went out to war by division according to their assignments, as recorded by Jeiel the court secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the authority of Hananiah, one of the king’s commanders. 12 The total number of family heads was 2,600 valiant warriors. 13 Under their authority was an army of 307,500 equipped for combat, a powerful force to help the king against the enemy.(L) 14 Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones. 15 He made skillfully designed devices in Jerusalem to shoot arrows and catapult large stones for use on the towers and on the corners. So his fame spread even to distant places, for he was wondrously helped until he became strong.
Uzziah’s Disease
16 But when he became strong, he grew arrogant,(M) and it led to his own destruction. He acted unfaithfully against the Lord his God by going into the Lord’s sanctuary to burn incense on the incense altar.(N) 17 The priest Azariah,(O) along with eighty brave priests of the Lord, went in after him. 18 They took their stand(P) against King Uzziah and said, “Uzziah, you have no right to offer incense to the Lord(Q)—only the consecrated priests, the descendants of Aaron, have the right to offer incense.(R) Leave the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully! You will not receive honor from the Lord God.”
19 Uzziah, with a firepan in his hand to offer incense, was enraged. But when he became enraged with the priests, in the presence of the priests in the Lord’s temple beside the altar of incense, a skin disease(S) broke out on his forehead. 20 Then Azariah the chief priest and all the priests turned to him and saw that he was diseased on his forehead. They rushed him out of there. He himself also hurried to get out because the Lord had afflicted him. 21 So King Uzziah was diseased to the time of his death.(T) He lived in quarantine[g](U) with a serious skin disease and was excluded from access to the Lord’s temple, while his son Jotham was over the king’s household governing the people of the land.
22 Now the prophet Isaiah(V) son of Amoz wrote about the rest of the events of Uzziah’s reign, from beginning to end. 23 Uzziah rested with his ancestors, and he was buried with his ancestors in the burial ground of the kings’ cemetery,(W) for they said, “He has a skin disease.” His son Jotham became king in his place.
13 And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.(A) It had ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten crowns,[a](B) and on its heads were blasphemous names.[b](C) 2 The beast I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth.(D) The dragon gave the beast his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 One of its heads appeared to be fatally wounded, but its fatal wound was healed.
The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast.(E) 4 They worshiped the dragon(F) because he gave authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast?(G) Who is able to wage war against it?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter boasts and blasphemies.(H) It was allowed to exercise authority[c][d] for forty-two months.(I) 6 It began to speak[e] blasphemies against God: to blaspheme his name and his dwelling—those who dwell in heaven. 7 And it was permitted to wage war against the saints and to conquer them.(J) It was also given authority(K) over every tribe, people, language, and nation.(L) 8 All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written from the foundation of the world in the book[f] of life(M) of the Lamb who was slaughtered.[g](N)
9 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.(O)
10 If anyone is to be taken captive,
into captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be killed[h] with a sword,
with a sword he will be killed.(P)
This calls for endurance[i] and faithfulness from the saints.(Q)
The Beast from the Earth
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb,[j](R) but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf and compels the earth and those who live on it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 It also performs great signs,(S) even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in front of people.(T) 14 It deceives those who live on the earth(U) because of the signs that it is permitted to perform in the presence of the beast,(V) telling those who live on the earth to make an image[k] of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was permitted to give breath[l] to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak and cause whoever would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.(W) 16 And it makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,(X) 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.
18 This calls for wisdom:[m](Y) Let the one who has understanding calculate[n] the number of the beast, because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.[o]
Judgment of Zion’s Enemies
9 A pronouncement:
The word of the Lord
is against the land of Hadrach,
and Damascus(A) is its resting place—
for the eyes of humanity
and all the tribes of Israel
are on the Lord[a]—
2 and also against Hamath,(B) which borders it,
as well as Tyre(C) and Sidon,(D)
though they are very shrewd.
3 Tyre has built herself a fortress;
she has heaped up silver like dust
and gold like the dirt of the streets.
4 Listen! The Lord will impoverish her
and cast her wealth into the sea;
she herself will be consumed by fire.(E)
5 Ashkelon will see it and be afraid;
Gaza too, and will writhe in great pain,
as will Ekron, for her hope will fail.
There will cease to be a king in Gaza,
and Ashkelon will become uninhabited.
6 A mongrel people will live in Ashdod,
and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.(F)
7 I will remove the blood from their mouths
and the abhorrent things(G)
from between their teeth.
Then they too will become a remnant for our God;
they will become like a clan in Judah
and Ekron like the Jebusites.(H)
8 I will encamp at my house as a guard,
against those who march back and forth,
and no oppressor will march against them again,
for now I have seen with my own eyes.
The Coming of Zion’s King
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem!
Look, your King is coming to you;
he is righteous and victorious,[b]
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.(I)
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the horse from Jerusalem.
The bow of war will be removed,
and he will proclaim peace to the nations.
His dominion will extend from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates River
to the ends of the earth.(J)
11 As for you,
because of the blood of your covenant,(K)
I will release your prisoners
from the waterless cistern.(L)
12 Return to a stronghold,
you prisoners who have hope;
today I declare that I will restore double to you.(M)
13 For I will bend Judah as my bow;
I will fill that bow with Ephraim.
I will rouse your sons, Zion,
against your sons, Greece.[c](N)
I will make you like a warrior’s sword.
14 Then the Lord will appear over them,
and his arrow will fly like lightning.
The Lord God will sound the ram’s horn
and advance with the southern storms.(O)
15 The Lord of Armies will defend them.
They will consume and conquer with slingstones;
they will drink and be rowdy as if with wine.(P)
They will be as full as the sprinkling basin,(Q)
like those at the corners of the altar.(R)
16 The Lord their God will save them on that day
as the flock of his people;(S)
for they are like jewels in a crown,(T)
sparkling over his land.
17 How lovely and beautiful!
Grain will make the young men flourish,
and new wine, the young women.
The Anointing at Bethany
12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany(A) where Lazarus[a] was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead.(B) 2 So(C) they gave a dinner for him there; Martha(D) was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair.(E) So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot(F) (who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii[b](G) and given to the poor?” 6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief.(H) He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it.
7 Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial.(I) 8 For you always have the poor with you,(J) but you do not always have me.”
The Decision to Kill Lazarus
9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.(K) 10 But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, 11 because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them[c] and believing in Jesus.
The Triumphal Entry
12 The(L) next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches(M) and went out to meet him. They kept shouting:
14 Jesus found a young donkey(Q) and sat on it, just as it is written:
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him(T) and that they had done these things to him.
17 Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb(U) and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.[f] 18 This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!” (V)
Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion
20 Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 So they came to Philip,(W) who was from Bethsaida(X) in Galilee,(Y) and requested of him, “Sir,(Z) we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew;(AA) then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man(AB) to be glorified. 24 Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat(AC) falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.(AD) 25 The one who loves his life will lose it,(AE) and the one who hates(AF) his life(AG) in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant(AH) also will be.(AI) If anyone serves me, the Father will honor(AJ) him.
27 “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save me(AK) from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.”[g](AL)
Then a voice(AM) came from heaven: (AN) “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”(AO)
29 The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for me, but for you.(AP) 31 Now is the judgment of this world.(AQ) Now the ruler of this world(AR) will be cast out.(AS) 32 As for me, if I am lifted up[h] from the earth I will draw all people to myself.”(AT) 33 He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.(AU)
34 Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever.(AV) So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man(AW) must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
35 Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer.(AX) Walk while you have the light(AY) so that darkness doesn’t overtake you.(AZ) The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going.(BA) 36 While you have the light,(BB) believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.(BC)
Isaiah’s Prophecies Fulfilled
37 Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill(BD) the word of Isaiah(BE) the prophet, who said:[i]
39 This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:
40 He has blinded(BH) their eyes
and hardened their hearts,(BI)
so that they would not see with their eyes
or understand with their hearts,
and turn,(BJ)
and I would heal them.[k](BK)
41 Isaiah said these things because[l] he saw his glory(BL) and spoke about him.
42 Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers,(BM) but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. 43 For they loved human praise(BN) more than praise from God.(BO)
A Summary of Jesus’s Mission
44 Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me(BP) believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 And the one who sees me sees him(BQ) who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep(BR) them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world(BS) but to save the world.(BT) 48 The one who rejects me(BU) and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: [m] The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.(BV) 49 For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father(BW) himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. 50 I know that his command is eternal life.(BX) So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”(BY)
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