M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

22 The people living in Yerushalayim made Achazyah his youngest son king in place of him, since the raiding party that had invaded the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older ones. So Achazyah the son of Y’horam king of Y’hudah reigned. ² Achazyah was forty-two years old when he began his reign, and he ruled for one year in Yerushalayim. His mother’s name was ‘Atalyahu the daughter of ‘Omri. ³ He too lived after the example of the house of Ach’av, because his mother was his counselor in acting wickedly. ⁴ So he did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, as had the house of Ach’av; because, to his destruction, they were his counselors after his father died; ⁵ and he lived his life by their advice.

With Y’horam the son of Ach’av, king of Isra’el, he went to war against Haza’el king of Aram at Ramot-Gil‘ad, where the Aramim wounded Yoram. ⁶ He returned to Yizre‘el to be healed of the wounds which they had inflicted on him at Ramah while fighting Haza’el king of Aram. Achazyah the son of Y’horam, king of Y’hudah, went down to visit Y’horam the son of Ach’av in Yizre‘el, because he was not feeling well.

⁷ Through Achazyah’s visit to Yoram, God brought about his downfall. After he arrived, he accompanied Yoram against Yehu the son of Nimshi, whom Adonai had anointed to cut off the house of Ach’av. ⁸ But it happened that when Yehu was executing judgment on the house of Ach’av, he found the leading men of Y’hudah and Achazyah’s nephews in attendance on Achazyah and killed them. ⁹ Then he went searching for Achazyah; they caught him where he had been hiding in Shomron, brought him to Yehu and killed him. But [his subjects] buried him, because they said, “He was the [grand]son of Y’hoshafat, who sought Adonai with all his heart.”

At this point there was no one in the house of Achazyah strong enough to rule the kingdom. ¹⁰ When ‘Atalyah the mother of Achazyah saw that her son was dead, she set about destroying the entire royal family of the house of Y’hudah. ¹¹ But Y’hoshav‘at the daughter of the king took Yo’ash the son of Achazyah, stole him away from among the princes who were being slaughtered, and sequestered him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Y’hoshav‘at the daughter of King Y’horam, wife of Y’hoyada the cohen and sister of Achazyah, hid him from ‘Atalyah, so that he was not killed. ¹² He remained hidden with them in the house of God for six years; during this time ‘Atalyah ruled the land.

23 In the seventh year Y’hoyada took courage and formed a conspiracy with certain captains of hundred-man platoons — ‘Azaryah the son of Yerocham, Yishma‘el the son of Y’hochanan, ‘Azaryah the son of ‘Oved, Ma‘aseiyahu the son of ‘Adayahu and Elishafat the son of Zikhri. ² They canvassed Y’hudah and gathered the L’vi’im from all the cities of Y’hudah, together with the clan heads of Isra’el, and came to Yerushalayim. ³ The whole assembly made an agreement with the king in the house of God. [Y’hoyada] addressed them: “Here! The king’s son will reign, as Adonai said in regard to the descendants of David! ⁴ Here is what you are to do: of you cohanim and L’vi’im who come on duty on Shabbat, a third are to guard the gates, ⁵ a third the royal palace and a third the Gate of the Foundation; while all the people are to remain in the courtyards of the house of Adonai. ⁶ No one is to enter the house of Adonai except the cohanim and those L’vi’im who are actually performing the service. These may enter, because they are holy; but all the people are to observe Adonai’s order. ⁷ The L’vi’im are to surround the king, each man with his weapons in his hand. Anyone who enters the house is to be killed. Stay with the king whenever he enters or leaves.”

⁸ The L’vi’im and all Y’hudah did exactly as Y’hoyada the cohen ordered. Each took his men, those coming on duty on Shabbat and those going off duty on Shabbat (for Y’hoyada the cohen did not dismiss the divisions). ⁹ Y’hoyada the cohen issued to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David’s and were kept in the house of God. ¹⁰ He then positioned all the people, each man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, alongside the altar, alongside [the exterior of] the house and around the king. ¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son, crowned him, gave him [a copy of] the testimony and thus made him king. Y’hoyada and his sons anointed him, and they shouted, “Long live the king!”

¹² When ‘Atalyah heard the sound of the people running and praising the king, she entered the house of Adonai where the people were, ¹³ looked and saw the king standing there on his platform at the entrance, with the leaders and trumpeters next to the king. All the people of the land were celebrating and blowing the trumpets; while the singers with their musical instruments were leading songs of praise. At this, ‘Atalyah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” ¹⁴ Y’hoyada the cohen brought out the captains of hundreds who were in charge of the army and said to them, “Escort her out past the ranks [of guards]; but anyone who follows her, let him be put to the sword.” For the cohen had said, “Do not put her to death in the house of Adonai.” ¹⁵ So they took her by force and led her by the horses’ entry to the king’s palace, and there they put her to death.

¹⁶ Y’hoyada made a covenant between himself, all the people and the king, that they would be Adonai’s people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the house of Ba‘al and broke it down; they smashed his altars and images and killed Mattan the priest of Ba‘al in front of the altars.

¹⁸ Y’hoyada appointed officers for the house of Adonai under the supervision of the cohanim and L’vi’im, whom David had assigned turns of duty in the house of Adonai, to offer the burnt offerings of Adonai, as written in the Torah of Moshe, with rejoicing and singing in keeping with David’s orders. ¹⁹ He stationed guards at the gates of the house of Adonai, so that no one who was unclean in any respect could enter. ²⁰ He took the captains of hundreds, the men of rank, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land; and they brought the king down from the house of Adonai, going through the Upper Gate to the royal palace, and seated the king on the royal throne. ²¹ All the people of the land celebrated, and at last the city was quiet. That is how they killed ‘Atalyah with the sword.

10 Next I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was dressed in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, his legs like columns of fire; ² and he had a little scroll lying open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ and shouted in a voice as loud as the roar of a lion; and when he shouted, seven thunderclaps sounded with voices that spoke. ⁴ When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say,

⁵ Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted his right hand toward heaven ⁶ and swore by the One who lives forever and ever,^[a] who created heaven and what is in it, earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it:^[b] “There will be no more delay; ⁷ on the contrary, in the days of the sound from the seventh angel when he sounds his shofar, the hidden plan of God will be brought to completion, the Good News as he proclaimed it to his servants the prophets.”

⁸ Next the voice which I had heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll lying open in the hand of the angel standing on the sea and on the land!” ⁹ So I went over to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll; and he said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” ¹⁰ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it; and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; but after I had swallowed it, my stomach turned bitter. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

6 Again I raised my eyes, and I saw in front of me four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and the mountains were mountains of bronze. ² The first chariot had red horses; the second chariot, black horses; ³ the third chariot, white horses; and the fourth chariot, spotted gray horses. ⁴ I asked the angel speaking with me, “What are these, my Lord?” ⁵ The angel answered me, “These are the four winds of the sky that go out, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the land. ⁶ The one with the black horses is going out toward the land in the north, the white [horses] have gone out after them, and the spotted have gone out toward the land in the south.” ⁷ Then the gray ones went out and were seeking to go and wander throughout the whole earth, when he said, “Wander throughout the whole earth”; and they did wander throughout the whole earth. ⁸ Then he called out to me and said, “Look! The ones going to the land in the north have given my Spirit rest in the north country.”

⁹ This message from Adonai came to me: ¹⁰ “Take [gifts] from the exiles of Heldai, Toviyah, and Y’da‘yah, who have arrived from Bavel; then you, go to the house of Yoshiyah the son of Tz’fanyah. ¹¹ Take silver and gold; make crowns; put one on the head of Y’hoshua the son of Y’hotzadak, the cohen hagadol; ¹² and tell him, ‘Adonai-Tzva’ot says: “There is coming a man whose name is Tzemach [Sprout]. He will sprout up from his place and rebuild the temple of Adonai. ¹³ Yes, he will rebuild the temple of Adonai; and he will take up royal splendor, sitting and ruling from his throne. There will be a cohen before his throne; and they will accept each other’s advice in complete harmony. ¹⁴ The other crowns will be for Helem, Toviyah, Y’da‘yah and Hen the son of Tz’fanyah; then [they are to be kept] as a memorial in the temple of Adonai. ¹⁵ Those who are now far away will come and help rebuild the temple of Adonai.” Then you will know that it is Adonai-Tzva’ot who sent me to you. And it will all come about, provided you heed carefully what Adonai your God says.’”

9 As Yeshua passed along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His talmidim asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned — this man or his parents — to cause him to be born blind?” ³ Yeshua answered, “His blindness is due neither to his sin nor to that of his parents; it happened so that God’s power might be seen at work in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must keep doing the work of the One who sent me; the night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶ Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, put the mud on the man’s eyes, ⁷ and said to him, “Go, wash off in the Pool of Shiloach!” (The name means “sent.”) So he went and washed and came away seeing.

⁸ His neighbors and those who previously had seen him begging said, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some said, “Yes, he’s the one”; while others said, “No, but he looks like him.” However, he himself said, “I’m the one.” ¹⁰ “How were your eyes opened?” they asked him. ¹¹ He answered, “The man called Yeshua made mud, put it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Shiloach and wash!’ So I went; and as soon as I had washed, I could see.” ¹² They said to him, “Where is he?” and he replied, “I don’t know.”

¹³ They took the man who had been blind to the P’rushim. ¹⁴ Now the day on which Yeshua had made the mud and opened his eyes was Shabbat. ¹⁵ So the P’rushim asked him again how he had become able to see; and he told them, “He put mud on my eyes, then I washed, and now I can see.” ¹⁶ At this, some of the P’rushim said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep Shabbat.” But others said, “How could a man who is a sinner do miracles like these?” And there was a split among them. ¹⁷ So once more they spoke to the blind man: “Since you’re the one whose eyes he opened, what do you say about him?” He replied: “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸ The Judeans, however, were unwilling to believe that he had formerly been blind, but now could see, until they had summoned the man’s parents. ¹⁹ They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?” ²⁰ His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind; ²¹ but how it is that he can see now, we don’t know; nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him — he’s old enough, he can speak for himself!” ²² The parents said this because they were afraid of the Judeans, for the Judeans had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged Yeshua as the Messiah would be banned from the synagogue. ²³ This is why his parents said, “He’s old enough, ask him.”

²⁴ So a second time they called the man who had been blind; and they said to him, “Swear to God that you will tell the truth! We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵ He answered, “Whether he’s a sinner or not I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, now I see.” ²⁶ So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷ “I already told you,” he answered, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Maybe you too want to become his talmidim?” ²⁸ Then they railed at him. “You may be his talmid,” they said, “but we are talmidim of Moshe! ²⁹ We know that God has spoken to Moshe, but as for this fellow — we don’t know where he’s from!” ³⁰ “What a strange thing,” the man answered, “that you don’t know where he’s from — considering that he opened my eyes! ³¹ We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners; but if anyone fears God and does his will, God does listen to him. ³² In all history no one has ever heard of someone’s opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do a thing!” ³⁴ “Why, you mamzer!” they retorted, “Are you lecturing us?” And they threw him out.

³⁵ Yeshua heard that they had thrown the man out. He found him and said, “Do you trust in the Son of Man?” ³⁶ “Sir,” he answered, “tell me who he is, so that I can trust in him.” ³⁷ Yeshua said to him, “You have seen him. In fact, he’s the one speaking with you now.” ³⁸ “Lord, I trust!” he said, and he kneeled down in front of him.

³⁹ Yeshua said, “It is to judge that I came into this world, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” ⁴⁰ Some of the P’rushim nearby heard this and said to him, “So we’re blind too, are we?” ⁴¹ Yeshua answered them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But since you still say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.