The Robert Murray M‘Cheyne
Bible Reading Plan
December 24
Family Reading
2 Chronicles 29
Hezekiah Succeeds Ahaz in Judah
1 Hezekiah became king when he was twenty-five years old; and he reigned twenty-nine
years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter
of Zechariah.
2 He did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David
had done.
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of
the house of the Lord and repaired them.
4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square
on the east.
Reforms Begun
5 Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. Consecrate yourselves
now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry
the uncleanness out from the holy place.
6 “For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight
of the Lord our God, and have forsaken Him and turned their faces away from the
dwelling place of the Lord, and have turned their backs.
7 “They have also shut the doors of the porch and put out the lamps, and
have not burned incense or offered burnt offerings in the holy place to the God
of Israel.
8 “Therefore the wrath of the Lord was against Judah and Jerusalem, and
He has made them an object of terror, of horror, and of hissing, as you see with
your own eyes.
9 “For behold, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our
daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
10 “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel,
that His burning anger may turn away from us.
11 “My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand
before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”
12 Then the Levites arose: Mahath, the son of Amasai and Joel the son of Azariah,
from the sons of the Kohathites; and from the sons of Merari, Kish the son of
Abdi and Azariah the son of Jehallelel; and from the Gershonites, Joah the son
of Zimmah and Eden the son of Joah;
13 and from the sons of Elizaphan, Shimri and Jeiel; and from the sons of Asaph,
Zechariah and Mattaniah;
14 and from the sons of Heman, Jehiel and Shimei; and from the sons of Jeduthun,
Shemaiah and Uzziel.
15 They assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse
the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king by the words
of the Lord.
16 So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse
it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord they brought
out to the court of the house of the Lord. Then the Levites received it to carry
out to the Kidron valley.
17 Now they began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and on
the eighth day of the month they entered the porch of the Lord. Then they consecrated
the house of the Lord in eight days, and finished on the sixteenth day of the
first month.
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole
house of the Lord, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and
the table of showbread with all of its utensils.
19 “Moreover, all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his
reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they
are before the altar of the Lord.”
Hezekiah Restores Temple Worship
20 Then King Hezekiah arose early and assembled the princes of the city and went
up to the house of the Lord.
21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats for
a sin offering for the kingdom, the sanctuary, and Judah. And he ordered the
priests, the sons of Aaron, to offer them on the altar of the Lord.
22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and sprinkled
it on the altar. They also slaughtered the rams and sprinkled the blood on the
altar; they slaughtered the lambs also and sprinkled the blood on the altar.
23 Then they brought the male goats of the sin offering before the king and the
assembly, and they laid their hands on them.
24 The priests slaughtered them and purged the altar with their blood to atone
for all Israel, for the king ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering
for all Israel.
25 He then stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with
harps and with lyres, according to the command of David and of Gad the king’s
seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His
prophets.
26 The Levites stood with the musical instruments of David, and the priests with
the trumpets.
27 Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When
the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets,
accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel.
28 While the whole assembly worshiped, the singers also sang and the trumpets
sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
29 Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present
with him bowed down and worshiped.
30 Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises
to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises
with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.
31 Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the
Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the
Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all
those who were willing brought burnt offerings.
32 The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was 70 bulls,
100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord.
33 The consecrated things were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.
34 But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt
offerings; therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was
completed and until the other priests had consecrated themselves. For the Levites
were more conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests.
35 There were also many burnt offerings with the fat of the peace offerings and
with the libations for the burnt offerings. Thus the service of the house of
the Lord was established again.
36 Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the
people, because the thing came about suddenly.
Revelation 15
A Scene of Heaven
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had
seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had
been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing
on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.
3 And they *?sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of
the Lamb, saying,
“ Great and marvelous are Your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!
4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony
in heaven was opened,
6 and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed
in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes.
7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden
bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.
8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power;
and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven
angels were finished.
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)