Simon reads the Bible

John 2 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,  2  and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the celebration.  3  The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, “They have no more wine.” 4  “Dear woman, that’s not our problem,” Jesus replied. “My time has not ye...

John 1 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1  In the beginning the Word already existed.     The Word was with God,     and the Word was God. 2  He existed in the beginning with God. 3  God created everything through him,     and nothing was created except through him. 4  The Word gave life to everything that was created,     and his life brought light to everyone. 5  The light shines in the darkn...

2 Chronicles 36 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Then the people of the land took Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the next king in Jerusalem. 2 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. 3 Then he was deposed by the king of Egypt, who demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold as tribute. 4 The king of Egypt...

2 Chronicles 35 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Then Josiah announced that the Passover of the Lord would be celebrated in Jerusalem, and so the Passover lamb was slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month. 2 Josiah also assigned the priests to their duties and encouraged them in their work at the Temple of the Lord. 3 He issued this order to the Levites, who were to teach all Isra...

2 Chronicles 34 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right. 3 During the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor...

2 Chronicles 33 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He constructed...

2 Chronicles 32 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 After Hezekiah had faithfully carried out this work, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified towns, giving orders for his army to break through their walls. 2 When Hezekiah realized that Sennacherib also intended to attack Jerusalem, 3 he consulted with his officials and military advisers, and they decided to s...

2 Chronicles 31 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1  When the festival ended, the Israelites who attended went to all the towns of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, and they smashed all the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and removed the pagan shrines and altars. After this, the Israelites returned to their own towns and homes. 2 Hezekiah then organized the priests and Levites...

2 Chronicles 30 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1  King Hezekiah now sent word to all Israel and Judah, and he wrote letters of invitation to the people of Ephraim and Manasseh. He asked everyone to come to the Temple of the Lord at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 The king, his officials, and all the community of Jerusalem decided to celebrate Passover a m...

2 Chronicles 29 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane.  Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became the king of Judah, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his ancestor David had done. 3 In the very first month of the first year of his reign, Hezekiah reopened the doors of the Tem...

2 Chronicles 28 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. He did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, as his ancestor David had done. 2 Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel. He cast metal images for the worship of Baal. 3 He offered sacrifices in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, even sac...

2 Chronicles 27 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. 2 Jotham did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. He did everything his father, Uzziah, had done, except that Jotham did not sin by entering the Temple of the Lord. But the people continued in their c...

2 Chronicles 26 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. All the people of Judah had crowned Amaziah’s sixteen-year-old son, Uzziah, as king in place of his father. 2 After his father’s death, Uzziah rebuilt the town of Elath[ a ] and restored it to Judah. 3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. 4 He did wh...

2 Chronicles 25 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother was Jehoaddin from Jerusalem. 2 Amaziah did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, but not wholeheartedly. 3 When Amaziah was well established as king, he executed the officials who had assassinated his father. 4 However, he did not...

2 Chronicles 24 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash, and he had sons and daughters. 4 At one point Joash decided to repair and restore the...

2 Chronicles 23 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. In the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoiada the priest decided to act. He summoned his courage and made a pact with five army commanders: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. 2 These men traveled secretly throughout Judah and summoned the Levites and clan...

2 Chronicles 22 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Then the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, their next king, since the marauding bands who came with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram reigned as king of Judah. 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother was Athaliah, a granddau...

2 Chronicles 21 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1  When Jehoshaphat died, he was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. Then his son Jehoram became the next king. 2 Jehoram’s brothers—the other sons of Jehoshaphat—were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Judah. 3 Their father had given each of them valuable gift...

2 Chronicles 20 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 After this, the armies of the Moabites, Ammonites, and some of the Meunites declared war on Jehoshaphat. 2 Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea. They are already at Hazazon-tamar.” (This was another name for En-gedi.) 3 Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the...

2 Chronicles 19 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 When King Jehoshaphat of Judah arrived safely home in Jerusalem, 2 Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him. “Why should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” he asked the king. “Because of what you have done, the Lord is very angry with you. 3 Even so, there is some good in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles t...

2 Chronicles 18 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 Jehoshaphat enjoyed great riches and high esteem, and he made an alliance with Ahab of Israel by having his son marry Ahab’s daughter. 2 A few years later he went to Samaria to visit Ahab, who prepared a great banquet for him and his officials. They butchered great numbers of sheep, goats, and cattle for the feast. Then Ahab enticed Jehoshaphat...

2 Chronicles 17 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. Then Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, became the next king. He strengthened Judah to stand against any attack from Israel. 2 He stationed troops in all the fortified towns of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father, Asa, had captured. 3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed t...

2 Chronicles 16 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 In the thirty-sixth year of Asa’s reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa’s territory in Judah. 2 Asa responded by removing the silver and gold from the treasuries of the Temple of the Lord and the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruli...

2 Chronicles 14 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1 When Abijah died, he was buried in the City of David. Then his son Asa became the next king. There was peace in the land for ten years. 2 Asa did what was pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and the pagan shrines. He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. 4 He commanded the peo...

2 Chronicles 15 NLT read aloud by Simon MacFarlane. 1  Then the Spirit of God came upon Azariah son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet King Asa as he was returning from the battle. “Listen to me, Asa!” he shouted. “Listen, all you people of Judah and Benjamin! The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon...