M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The healing of the paralytic
9 Jesus got into the boat, and crossed back over to his own town.
2 Some people brought to him a paralyzed man lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Cheer up, my son! Your sins are forgiven!”
3 “This fellow’s blaspheming!” said some of the scribes to themselves.
4 Jesus read their thoughts. “Why let all this wickedness fester in your hearts?” he said. 5 “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But, to let you know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he spoke to the paralyzed man—“Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”
7 And he got up, and went away to his home. 8 When the crowds saw it they were frightened, and praised God for giving authority like this to humans.
The call of Matthew
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-office.
“Follow me!” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.
10 When he was at home, sitting down to a meal, there were lots of tax-collectors and sinners there who had come to have dinner with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?”
12 Jesus heard them.
“It isn’t the healthy who need a doctor,” he said, “it’s the sick. 13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘It’s mercy I want, not sacrifice.’ My job isn’t to call upright people, but sinners.”
14 Then John’s disciples came to him with a question.
“How come,” they asked, “we and the Pharisees fast frequently, but your disciples don’t fast at all?”
15 “Wedding guests can’t fast, can they,” replied Jesus, “as long as the bridegroom is with them? But sooner or later the bridegroom will be taken away from them. They’ll fast then all right.
16 “No one,” he went on, “sews a patch of unshrunk cloth onto an old coat. The patch will simply pull away from the coat, and you’ll have a worse hole than you started with. 17 People don’t put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins will split, the wine will be lost, and the skins will be ruined. They put new wine into new skins, and then both are fine.”
The raising of the little girl
18 As Jesus was saying this, suddenly an official came up and knelt down in front of him.
“It’s my daughter!” he said. “She’s just died! But—if you’ll come and lay your hand on her, she’ll come back to life!”
19 Jesus got up and followed him. So did his disciples.
20 Just then a woman appeared. She had suffered from internal bleeding for twelve years. She came up behind Jesus and touched the hem of his coat.
21 “If I can only touch his coat,” she said to herself, “I’ll be rescued.”
22 Jesus turned round and saw her.
“Cheer up, my daughter!” he said. “Your faith has rescued you.”
And the woman was healed from that moment.
23 Jesus went into the official’s house. There he saw the flute-players, and everybody in a great state of agitation.
24 “Go away!” he said. “The little girl isn’t dead. She’s asleep!” And they laughed at him.
25 So when the crowd had been put out, he went in and took hold of her hand, and she got up. 26 The report of this went out around the whole of that region.
Jesus’ fame increases
27 As Jesus was leaving the area, two blind men followed him, shouting “Have pity on us, son of David!” at the tops of their voices.
28 Jesus went into the house, and the blind men came to him.
“Do you believe that I can do this?” asked Jesus.
“Yes, Master,” they replied.
29 Then Jesus touched their eyes. “As you have believed, so let it happen,” he said. 30 And their eyes were opened.
Then Jesus gave them a stern warning. “Take good care,” he said, “that nobody gets to know about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news in the whole of that region.
32 After they had left, people brought to Jesus a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak. 33 Jesus cast out the demon, and the man spoke. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this ever happened in Israel,” they said. 34 But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
35 Jesus went around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, announcing the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he felt deeply sorry for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “There’s plenty of harvest to be had, but not many workers! 38 So pray the master of the harvest to send more workers to harvest his fields!”
The conversion of Saul
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out threats and murder on the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and requested from him official letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that he could find people who belonged to the Way, men and women alike, tie them up and bring them back to Jerusalem.
3 While he was on the journey, and was getting near to Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to him.
“Saul, Saul!” said the voice. “Why are you persecuting me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.
“I am Jesus,” he said, “and you are persecuting me. 6 But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men who were traveling with Saul stood speechless. They heard the voice, but couldn’t see anybody. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he couldn’t see anything. So they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. 9 He went for three days, still unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
Ananias and Saul
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision.
“Ananias!” he said.
“Here I am, Lord,” he replied.
11 “Get up,” said the Lord to him, “and go to the street called Straight. Inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. Look—he’s praying! 12 And he has seen, in a vision, a man named Ananias coming and laying his hands on him so that he can see again.”
13 “Well, Lord,” replied Ananias, “I’ve heard about this man from several people . . . all about how he’s done wicked things to your holy people in Jerusalem . . . 14 and now he’s come here with authority from the chief priests to tie up everybody who calls on your Name!”
15 “Just go,” replied the Lord. “He is a chosen vessel for me, to carry my Name before nations and kings—and the children of Israel, too. 16 I am going to show him how many things he is going to have to suffer for the sake of my Name.”
17 So Ananias set off, went into the house, and laid his hands on him.
“Brother Saul,” he said, “the Lord has sent me—yes, Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—so that you may be able to see again, and receive the holy spirit.”
18 At once something like scales fell off his eyes, and he was able to see. He got up and was baptized. 19 He had something to eat, and regained his strength.
“He is God’s son”
Saul stayed with the disciples in Damascus for a few days. 20 At once he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This really is the son of God!” 21 Everyone was astonished, and said, “Isn’t this the man who caused havoc to those in Jerusalem who call on this Name? And here he is, coming to tie them up and take them off to the high priests!” 22 But Saul grew all the stronger, and threw the Jews in Damascus into confusion by demonstrating that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.
23 After some days, the Jews made a plot to kill him, 24 but Saul got wind of their plan. They were watching the city gates day and night so that they could do away with him. 25 But the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall, lowering him in a basket.
26 When he got back to Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and explained to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.
28 He was with them in Jerusalem, coming and going and speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He spoke, as well, to the Hellenists, who tried to kill him. 30 But the family heard of it and took him down to Caesarea. There they sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the church in all Judaea, Galilee and Samaria found itself at peace. It was built up and gained in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the holy spirit.
Back to Peter
32 As Peter was going through various places among all the believers, he went down to God’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a paralyzed man named Aeneas who had been confined to bed for eight years.
34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus the Messiah heals you! Stand up and fold up your bed!”
And at once he stood up. 35 Everyone who lived at Lydda and Sharon saw it, and they turned to the Lord.
36 In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, whose name translates as “Dorcas.” She was full of good works and generous deeds. 37 Around that time she fell ill and died. They washed her and laid her in an upper room. 38 Lydda is near Joppa, and the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the urgent request that he shouldn’t delay, but come to them at once. 39 So Peter got up and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the upper room, where all the widows were weeping. They showed him the tunics and the other clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.
40 Peter sent them all out. Then he knelt down and prayed, and turned to the body.
“Tabitha,” he said, “get up!”
She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 He gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then he called God’s people, including the widows, and presented her alive.
42 This became known throughout the whole of Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 Peter stayed on in Joppa for some days, at the house of Simon the tanner.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.