M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
6 1-2 Now a population explosion took place upon the earth. It was at this time that beings from the spirit world[a] looked upon the beautiful earth women and took any they desired to be their wives. 3 Then Jehovah said, “My Spirit must not forever be disgraced in man, wholly evil as he is. I will give him 120 years to mend his ways.”
4 In those days, and even afterwards, when the evil beings from the spirit world were sexually involved with human women, their children became giants, of whom so many legends are told. 5 When the Lord God saw the extent of human wickedness, and that the trend and direction of men’s lives were only towards evil, 6 he was sorry he had made them. It broke his heart.
7 And he said, “I will blot out from the face of the earth all mankind that I created. Yes, and the animals too, and the reptiles and the birds. For I am sorry I made them.”
8 But Noah was a pleasure to the Lord. Here is the story of Noah: 9-10 He was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time. He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God’s will. And he had three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Meanwhile, the crime rate was rising rapidly across the earth, and, as seen by God, the world was rotten to the core.
12-13 As God observed how bad it was, and saw that all mankind was vicious and depraved, he said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all mankind; for the earth is filled with crime because of man. Yes, I will destroy mankind from the earth. 14 Make a boat from resinous wood, sealing it with tar; and construct decks and stalls throughout the ship. 15 Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 16 Construct a skylight all the way around the ship, eighteen inches below the roof; and make three decks inside the boat—a bottom, middle, and upper deck—and put a door in the side.
17 “Look! I am going to cover the earth with a flood and destroy every living being—everything in which there is the breath of life. All will die. 18 But I promise to keep you safe in the ship, with your wife and your sons and their wives. 19-20 Bring a pair of every animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you, to keep them alive through the flood. Bring in a pair of each kind of bird and animal and reptile. 21 Store away in the boat all the food that they and you will need.” 22 And Noah did everything as God commanded him.
6 “Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, for then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give a gift to a beggar, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you in all earnestness, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly—don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. 4 And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
5 “And now about prayer. When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who pretend piety by praying publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. Truly, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, all alone, and shut the door behind you and pray to your Father secretly, and your Father, who knows your secrets, will reward you.
7-8 “Don’t recite the same prayer over and over as the heathen do, who think prayers are answered only by repeating them again and again. Remember, your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
9 “Pray along these lines: ‘Our Father in heaven, we honor your holy name. 10 We ask that your kingdom will come now. May your will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven. 11 Give us our food again today, as usual, 12 and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. 13 Don’t bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One.[a] Amen.’ 14-15
16 “And now about fasting. When you fast, declining your food for a spiritual purpose, don’t do it publicly, as the hypocrites do, who try to look wan and disheveled so people will feel sorry for them. Truly, that is the only reward they will ever get. 17 But when you fast, put on festive clothing, 18 so that no one will suspect you are hungry, except your Father who knows every secret. And he will reward you.
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen. 20 Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value and are safe from thieves. 21 If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there too.
22 “If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul. 23 But if your eye is clouded with evil thoughts and desires, you are in deep spiritual darkness. And oh, how deep that darkness can be!
24 “You cannot serve two masters: God and money. For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around.
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28 “And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don’t worry about theirs. 29 Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?
31-32 “So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, 33 and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.
34 “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.[b]
6 So King Darius issued orders that a search be made in the Babylonian archives, where documents were stored.
2 Eventually the record was found in the palace at Ecbatana, in the province of Media. This is what it said:
3 “In this first year of the reign of King Cyrus, a decree has been sent out concerning the Temple of God at Jerusalem where the Jews offer sacrifices. It is to be rebuilt, and the foundations are to be strongly laid. The height will be ninety feet and the width will be ninety feet. 4 There will be three layers of huge stones in the foundation, topped with a layer of new timber. All expenses will be paid by the king. 5 And the gold and silver bowls, which were taken from the Temple of God by Nebuchadnezzar, shall be taken back to Jerusalem and put into the Temple as they were before.”
6 So King Darius II sent this message[a] to Governor Shethar-bozenai and the other officials west of the Euphrates:
“Do not disturb the construction of the Temple. Let it be rebuilt on its former site, 7 and don’t molest the governor of Judah and the other leaders in their work. 8 Moreover, I decree that you are to pay the full construction costs without delay from my taxes collected in your territory. 9 Give the priests in Jerusalem young bulls, rams, and lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven; and give them wheat, wine, salt, and olive oil each day without fail. 10 Then they will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for me and my sons. 11 Anyone who attempts to change this message in any way shall have the beams pulled from his house and built into a gallows on which he will be hanged;[b] and his house shall be reduced to a pile of rubble. 12 The God who has chosen the city of Jerusalem will destroy any king and any nation that alters this commandment and destroys this Temple. I, Darius, have issued this decree; let it be obeyed with all diligence.”
13 Governors Tattenai and Shethar-bozenai, and their companions complied at once with the command of King Darius.
14 So the Jewish leaders continued in their work, and they were greatly encouraged by the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (son of Iddo).
The Temple was finally finished, as had been commanded by God and decreed by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the kings of Persia. 15 The completion date was February 18[c] in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius II.
16 The Temple was then dedicated with great joy by the priests, the Levites, and all the people. 17 During the dedication celebration 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs were sacrificed; and twelve male goats were presented as a sin offering for the twelve tribes of Israel. 18 Then the priests and Levites were divided into their various service corps to do the work of God as instructed in the laws of Moses.
19 The Passover was celebrated on the first day of April.[d] 20 For by that time many of the priests and Levites had consecrated themselves. 21-22 And some of the heathen people who had been relocated in Judah turned from their immoral customs and joined the Israelis in worshiping the Lord God. They, with the entire nation, ate the Passover feast and celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great joy throughout the land because the Lord had caused the king of Assyria to be generous to Israel and to assist in the construction of the Temple.
6 But with the believers multiplying rapidly, there were rumblings of discontent. Those who spoke only Greek complained that their widows were being discriminated against, that they were not being given as much food in the daily distribution as the widows who spoke Hebrew. 2 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers.
“We should spend our time preaching, not administering a feeding program,” they said. 3 “Now look around among yourselves, dear brothers, and select seven men, wise and full of the Holy Spirit, who are well thought of by everyone; and we will put them in charge of this business. 4 Then we can spend our time in prayer, preaching, and teaching.”
5 This sounded reasonable to the whole assembly, and they elected the following: Stephen (a man unusually full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, Nicolaus of Antioch (a Gentile convert to the Jewish faith, who had become a Christian).
6 These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them and laid their hands on them in blessing.
7 God’s message was preached in ever-widening circles, and the number of disciples increased vastly in Jerusalem; and many of the Jewish priests were converted too.
8 Stephen, the man so full of faith and the Holy Spirit’s power,[a] did spectacular miracles among the people.
9 But one day some of the men from the Jewish cult of “The Freedmen” started an argument with him, and they were soon joined by Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria in Egypt, and the Turkish provinces of Cilicia, and Asia Minor. 10 But none of them was able to stand against Stephen’s wisdom and spirit.
11 So they brought in some men to lie about him, claiming they had heard Stephen curse Moses, and even God.
12 This accusation roused the crowds to fury against Stephen, and the Jewish leaders[b] arrested him and brought him before the Council. 13 The lying witnesses testified again that Stephen was constantly speaking against the Temple and against the laws of Moses.
14 They declared, “We have heard him say that this fellow Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple and throw out all of Moses’ laws.” 15 At this point everyone in the Council chamber saw Stephen’s face become as radiant as an angel’s!
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.