The Robert Murray M‘Cheyne
Bible Reading Plan
December 26
Private Reading
Zechariah 13:2-9
2 “It will come about in
that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off
the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered;
and I will also remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.
3 “And if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who gave
birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you have spoken
falsely in the name of the Lord’; and his father and mother who gave birth
to him will pierce him through when he prophesies.
4 “Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be ashamed
of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a hairy robe in order
to deceive;
5 but he will say, ‘I am not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for
a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’
6 “And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’ Then
he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
And against the man, My Associate,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
“
Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
And I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 “It will come about in all the land,”
Declares the Lord,
“
That two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.
9 “And I will bring the third part through the fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
John 16
Jesus’ Warning
1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
2 “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming
for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
3 “These things they will do because they have not known the Father or
Me.
4 “But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes,
you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not say to you at
the beginning, because I was with you.
The Holy Spirit Promised
5 “But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where
are You going?’
6 “But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your
heart.
7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for
if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send
Him to you.
8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness
and judgment;
9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer
see Me;
11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all
the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears,
He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to
you.
15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes
of Mine and will disclose it to you.
Jesus’ Death and Resurrection Foretold
16 “A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while,
and you will see Me.”
17 Some of His disciples then said to one another, “What is this thing
He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a
little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?”
18 So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’?
We do not know what He is talking about.”
19 Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, “Are
you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and
you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
20 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the
world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.
21 “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come;
but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because
of the joy that a child has been born into the world.
22 “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your
heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
Prayer Promises
23 “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly,
I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it
to you.
24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive,
so that your joy may be made full.
25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is
coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell
you plainly of the Father.
26 “In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I
will request of the Father on your behalf;
27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed
that I came forth from the Father.
28 “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving
the world again and going to the Father.”
29 His disciples *?said, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not
using a figure of speech.
30 “Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to
question You; by this we believe that You came from God.”
31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered,
each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because
the Father is with Me.
33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
"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)