M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
19 That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom, and Lot was sitting there as they arrived. When he saw them he stood up to meet them, and welcomed them.
2 “Sirs,” he said, “come to my home as my guests for the night; you can get up as early as you like and be on your way again.”
“Oh, no thanks,” they said, “we’ll just stretch out here along the street.”
3 But he was very urgent, until at last they went home with him, and he set a great feast before them, complete with freshly baked unleavened bread. After the meal, 4 as they were preparing to retire for the night, the men of the city—yes, Sodomites, young and old from all over the city—surrounded the house 5 and shouted to Lot, “Bring out those men to us so we can rape them.”
6 Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. 7 “Please, fellows,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing. 8 Look—I have two virgin daughters, and I’ll surrender them to you to do with as you wish. But leave these men alone, for they are under my protection.”
9 “Stand back,” they yelled. “Who do you think you are? We let this fellow settle among us and now he tries to tell us what to do! We’ll deal with you far worse than with those other men.” And they lunged at Lot and began breaking down the door.
10 But the two men reached out and pulled Lot in and bolted the door 11 and temporarily blinded the men of Sodom so that they couldn’t find the door.
12 “What relatives do you have here in the city?” the men asked. “Get them out of this place—sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. 13 For we will destroy the city completely. The stench of the place has reached to heaven and God has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city, for the Lord is going to destroy it.” But the young men looked at him as though he had lost his senses.
15 At dawn the next morning the angels became urgent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot, “take your wife and your two daughters who are here and get out while you can, or you will be caught in the destruction of the city.”
16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety, outside the city, for the Lord was merciful.
17 “Flee for your lives,” the angels told him. “And don’t look back. Escape to the mountains. Don’t stay down here on the plain or you will die.”
18-20 “Oh no, sirs, please,” Lot begged, “since you’ve been so kind to me and saved my life, and you’ve granted me such mercy, let me flee to that little village over there instead of into the mountains, for I fear disaster in the mountains. See, the village is close by and it is just a small one. Please, please, let me go there instead. Don’t you see how small it is? And my life will be saved.”
21 “All right,” the angel said, “I accept your proposition and won’t destroy that little city. 22 But hurry! For I can do nothing until you are there.” (From that time on that village was named Zoar, meaning “Little City.”)
23 The sun was rising as Lot reached the village. 24 Then the Lord rained down fire and flaming tar from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah, 25 and utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, eliminating all life—people, plants, and animals alike. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following along behind him and became a pillar of salt.
27 That morning Abraham was up early and hurried out to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked out across the plain to Sodom and Gomorrah and saw columns of smoke and fumes, as from a furnace, rising from the cities there. 29 So God heeded Abraham’s plea and kept Lot safe, removing him from the maelstrom of death that engulfed the cities.
30 Afterwards Lot left Zoar, fearful of the people there, and went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. 31 One day the older girl said to her sister, “There isn’t a man anywhere in this entire area that our father would let us marry. And our father will soon be too old for having children. 32 Come, let’s fill him with wine and then we will sleep with him, so that our clan will not come to an end.” 33 So they got him drunk that night, and the older girl went in and had sexual intercourse with her father; but he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
34 The next morning she said to her younger sister, “I slept with my father last night. Let’s fill him with wine again tonight, and you go in and lie with him, so that our family line will continue.” 35 So they got him drunk again that night, and the younger girl went in and lay with him, and, as before, he didn’t know that anyone was there. 36 And so it was that both girls became pregnant from their father. 37 The older girl’s baby was named Moab; he became the ancestor of the nation of the Moabites. 38 The name of the younger girl’s baby was Benammi; he became the ancestor of the nation of the Ammonites.
18 About that time the disciples came to Jesus to ask which of them would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven!
2 Jesus called a small child over to him and set the little fellow down among them, 3 and said, “Unless you turn to God from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Therefore anyone who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 And any of you who welcomes a little child like this because you are mine is welcoming me and caring for me. 6 But if any of you causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose his faith,[a] it would be better for you to have a rock tied to your neck and be thrown into the sea.
7 “Woe upon the world for all its evils.[b] Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but woe to the man who does the tempting. 8 So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better to enter heaven crippled than to be in hell with both of your hands and feet. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. Better to enter heaven with one eye than to be in hell with two.
10 “Beware that you don’t look down upon a single one of these little children. For I tell you that in heaven their angels have constant access[c] to my Father. 11 And I, the Messiah,[d] came to save the lost.
12 “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? 13 And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home! 14 Just so, it is not my Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.
15 “If a brother sins against you, go to him privately and confront him with his fault. If he listens and confesses it, you have won back a brother. 16 But if not, then take one or two others with you and go back to him again, proving everything you say by these witnesses. 17 If he still refuses to listen, then take your case to the church, and if the church’s verdict favors you, but he won’t accept it, then the church should excommunicate him.[e] 18 And I tell you this—whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you free on earth will be freed in heaven.
19 “I also tell you this—if two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I will be right there among them.”
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Sir, how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No!” Jesus replied, “seventy times seven!
23 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him $10 million!
26 “But the man fell down before the king, his face in the dust, and said, ‘Oh, sir, be patient with me and I will pay it all.’
27 “Then the king was filled with pity for him and released him and forgave his debt.
28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a man who owed him $2,000
29 “The man fell down before him and begged him to give him a little time. ‘Be patient and I will pay it,’ he pled.
30 “But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt would be paid in full.
31 “Then the man’s friends went to the king and told him what had happened. 32 And the king called before him the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil-hearted wretch! Here I forgave you all that tremendous debt, just because you asked me to— 33 shouldn’t you have mercy on others, just as I had mercy on you?’
34 “Then the angry king sent the man to the torture chamber until he had paid every last penny due. 35 So shall my heavenly Father do to you if you refuse to truly forgive your brothers.”
8 1-5 Now, in mid-September, all the people assembled at the plaza in front of the Water Gate and requested Ezra, their religious leader, to read to them the law of God, which he had given to Moses.
So Ezra the priest brought out to them the scroll of Moses’ laws. He stood on a wooden stand made especially for the occasion so that everyone could see him as he read. He faced the square in front of the Water Gate and read from early morning until noon. Everyone stood up as he opened the scroll. And all who were old enough to understand paid close attention. To his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah. To his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddenah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
6 Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people said, “Amen,” and lifted their hands toward heaven; then they bowed and worshiped the Lord with their faces toward the ground.
7-8 As Ezra read from the scroll, Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites went among the people[a] and explained the meaning of the passage that was being read. 9 All the people began sobbing when they heard the commands of the law.
Then Ezra the priest, and I as governor, and the Levites who were assisting me said to them, “Don’t cry on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God— 10 it is a time to celebrate with a hearty meal and to send presents to those in need, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. You must not be dejected and sad!”
11 And the Levites, too, quieted the people, telling them, “That’s right! Don’t weep! For this is a day of holy joy, not of sadness.”
12 So the people went away to eat a festive meal and to send presents; it was a time of great and joyful celebration because they could hear and understand God’s words.
13 The next day the clan leaders and the priests and Levites met with Ezra to go over the law in greater detail. 14 As they studied it, they noted that Jehovah had told Moses that the people of Israel should live in tents during the Festival of Tabernacles to be held that month. 15 He had said also that a proclamation should be made throughout the cities of the land, especially in Jerusalem, telling the people to go to the hills to get branches from olive, myrtle, palm, and fig trees and to make huts in which to live for the duration of the feast.
16 So the people went out and cut branches and used them to build huts on the roofs of their houses, or in their courtyards, or in the court of the Temple, or on the plaza beside the Water Gate, or at the Ephraim Gate Plaza. 17 They lived in these huts for the seven days of the feast, and everyone was filled with joy! (This procedure had not been carried out since the days of Joshua.) 18 Ezra read from the scroll on each of the seven days of the feast, and on the eighth day there was a solemn closing service as required by the laws of Moses.
18 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2-3 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had been expelled from Italy as a result of Claudius Caesar’s order to deport all Jews from Rome. Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.
4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. 5 And after the arrival of Silas and Timothy from Macedonia, Paul spent his full time preaching and testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. 6 But when the Jews opposed him and blasphemed, hurling abuse at Jesus, Paul shook off the dust from his robe and said, “Your blood be upon your own heads—I am innocent—from now on I will preach to the Gentiles.”
7 After that he stayed with Titus Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. 8 However, Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and all his household believed in the Lord and were baptized—as were many others in Corinth.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t quit! 10 For I am with you and no one can harm you. Many people here in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there the next year and a half, teaching the truths of God.
12 But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, the Jews rose in concerted action against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. 13 They accused Paul of “persuading men to worship God in ways that are contrary to Roman law.” 14 But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to his accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some crime, I would be obliged to listen to you, 15 but since it is merely a bunch of questions of semantics and personalities and your silly Jewish laws, you take care of it. I’m not interested and I’m not touching it.” 16 And he drove them out of the courtroom.
17 Then the mob[a] grabbed Sosthenes, the new leader of the synagogue, and beat him outside the courtroom. But Gallio couldn’t have cared less.
18 Paul stayed in the city several days after that and then said good-bye to the Christians and sailed for the coast of Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him. At Cenchreae Paul had his head shaved according to Jewish custom, for he had taken a vow.[b] 19 Arriving at the port of Ephesus, he left us aboard ship while he went over to the synagogue for a discussion with the Jews. 20 They asked him to stay for a few days, but he felt that he had no time to lose.[c]
21 “I must by all means be at Jerusalem for the holiday,”[d] he said. But he promised to return to Ephesus later if God permitted; and so he set sail again.
22 The next stop was at the port of Caesarea from where he visited the church at Jerusalem[e] and then sailed on to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he left for Turkey again, going through Galatia and Phrygia visiting all the believers, encouraging them and helping them grow in the Lord.
24 As it happened, a Jew named Apollos, a wonderful Bible teacher and preacher, had just arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. 25-26 While he was in Egypt, someone had told him about John the Baptist and what John had said about Jesus, but that is all he knew. He had never heard the rest of the story! So he was preaching boldly and enthusiastically in the synagogue, “The Messiah is coming! Get ready to receive him!” Priscilla and Aquila were there and heard him—and it was a powerful sermon. Afterwards they met with him and explained what had happened to Jesus since the time of John, and all that it meant![f]
27 Apollos had been thinking about going to Greece, and the believers encouraged him in this. They wrote to their fellow-believers there, telling them to welcome him. And upon his arrival in Greece, he was greatly used of God to strengthen the church, 28 for he powerfully refuted all the Jewish arguments in public debate, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.