M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Descendants of Adam

5 ^1-2 (A) God created men and women to be like himself. He gave them his blessing and called them human beings. The following is a list of the descendants of Adam, the first man:

^3-4 When Adam was 130, he had a son who was just like him, and he named him Seth. Adam had more children ⁵ and died at the age of 930.

⁶ When Seth was 105, he had a son named Enosh. ⁷ Seth had more children ⁸ and died at the age of 912.

⁹ When Enosh was 90, he had a son named Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh had more children ¹¹ and died at the age of 905.

¹² When Kenan was 70, he had a son named Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan had more children ¹⁴ and died at the age of 910.

¹⁵ When Mahalalel was 65, he had a son named Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel had more children ¹⁷ and died at the age of 895.

¹⁸ When Jared was 162, he had a son named Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared had more children ²⁰ and died at the age of 962.

²¹ When Enoch was 65, he had a son named Methuselah, ²² and during the next 300 years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God, ^23-24 (B) and God took him away at the age of 365.

²⁵ When Methuselah was 187, he had a son named Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah had more children ²⁷ and died at the age of 969.

²⁸ When Lamech was one 182, he had a son. ²⁹ Lamech said, “I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort,^[a] as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the Lord has put under a curse.” ³⁰ Lamech had more children ³¹ and died at the age of 777.

³² After Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons and named them Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Sermon on the Mount

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the side of a mountain and sat down.^[a]

Blessings

(Luke 6.20-23)

Jesus' disciples gathered around him, ² and he taught them:

^11 (F) God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. ^12 (G) Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.

Salt and Light

(Mark 9.50; Luke 14.34,35)

^13 (H) You are the salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.

^14 (I) You are the light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, ^15 (J) and no one lights a lamp and puts it under a clay pot. Instead, it is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. ^16 (K) Make your light shine, so others will see the good you do and will praise your Father in heaven.

The Law of Moses

¹⁷ Don't suppose I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets.^[e] I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning. ^18 (L) Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen.

¹⁹ If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. ²⁰ You must obey God's commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don't, I promise you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

Anger

^21 (M) You know our ancestors were told, “Do not murder” and “A murderer must be brought to trial.” ²² But I promise you if you are angry with someone,^[f] you will have to stand trial. If you call someone a fool, you will be taken to court. And if you say that someone is worthless, you will be in danger of the fires of hell.

²³ So if you are about to place your gift on the altar and remember that someone is angry with you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. Make peace with that person, then come back and offer your gift to God.

²⁵ Before you are dragged into court, make friends with the person who has accused you of doing wrong. If you don't, you will be handed over to the judge and then to the officer who will put you in jail. ²⁶ I promise you will not get out until you have paid the last cent you owe.

Marriage

^27 (N) You know the commandment which says, “Be faithful in marriage.” ²⁸ But I tell you if you look at another woman and want her, you are already unfaithful in your thoughts. ^29 (O) If your right eye causes you to sin, poke it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to end up in hell. ^30 (P) If your right hand causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Divorce

(Matthew 19.9; Mark 10.11,12; Luke 16.18)

^31 (Q) You have been taught that a man who divorces his wife must write out divorce papers for her.^{[g] 32 (R)} But I tell you not to divorce your wife unless she has committed some terrible sexual sin.^[h] If you divorce her, you will cause her to be unfaithful, just as any man who marries her is guilty of taking another man's wife.

Promises

^33 (S) You know our ancestors were told, “Don't use the Lord's name to make a promise unless you are going to keep it.” ^34 (T) But I tell you not to swear by anything when you make a promise! Heaven is God's throne, so don't swear by heaven. ^35 (U) The earth is God's footstool, so don't swear by the earth. Jerusalem is the city of the great king, so don't swear by it. ³⁶ Don't swear by your own head. You cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ When you make a promise, say only “Yes” or “No.” Anything else comes from the devil.

Revenge

(Luke 6.29,30)

^38 (V) You know you have been taught, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” ³⁹ But I tell you not to try to get even with a person who has done something to you. When someone slaps your right cheek,^[i] turn and let that person slap your other cheek. ⁴⁰ If someone sues you for your shirt, give up your coat as well. ⁴¹ If a soldier forces you to carry his pack one kilometer, carry it two kilometers.^{[j] 42} When people ask you for something, give it to them. When they want to borrow money, lend it to them.

Love

(Luke 6.27,28,32-36)

^43 (W) You have heard people say, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemies.” ⁴⁴ But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. ^45 (X) Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. ⁴⁶ If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for this? Even tax collectors^[k] love their friends. ⁴⁷ If you greet only your friends, what's so great about this? Don't even unbelievers do that? ^48 (Y) But you must always act like your Father in heaven.

5 ^1 (A) Then the Lord God of Israel told the prophets Haggai and Zechariah^[a] to speak in his name to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And they did. ^2 (B) So Zerubbabel the governor and Joshua the priest urged the people to start working on the temple again, and God's prophets encouraged them.

³ Governor Tattenai of Western Province and his assistant Shethar Bozenai got together with some of their officials. Then they went to Jerusalem and said to the people, “Who told you to rebuild this temple? ⁴ Give us the names of the workers!”

⁵ But God was looking after the Jewish leaders. So the governor and his group decided not to make the people stop working on the temple until they could report to Darius and get his advice.

⁶ Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their advisors sent a report to Darius, ⁷ which said:

King Darius, we wish you the best! ⁸ We went to Judah, where the temple of the great God is being built with huge stones and wooden beams set in the walls. Everyone is working hard, and the building is going up quickly.

⁹ We asked those in charge to tell us who gave them permission to rebuild the temple. ¹⁰ We also asked for the names of their leaders, so that we could write them down for you.

¹¹ They claimed to be servants of the God who rules heaven and earth. And they said they were rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago by one of Israel's greatest kings.^[b]

^12 (C) We were told that their people had made God angry, and he let them be captured by Nebuchadnezzar,^[c] the Babylonian king^[d] who took them away as captives to Babylonia. Nebuchadnezzar tore down their temple, ^13-15 (D) took its gold and silver articles, and put them in the temple of his own god in Babylon.

They also said that during the first year Cyrus was king of Babylonia,^[e] he gave orders for God's temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem where it had stood before. So Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar governor of Judah and sent these gold and silver articles for him to put in the temple. ¹⁶ Sheshbazzar then went to Jerusalem and laid the foundation for the temple, and the work is still going on.

¹⁷ Your Majesty, please order someone to look up the old records in Babylonia and find out if King Cyrus really did give orders to rebuild God's temple in Jerusalem. We will do whatever you think we should.

Peter Condemns Ananias and Sapphira

5 Ananias and his wife Sapphira also sold a piece of property. ² But they agreed to cheat and keep some of the money for themselves.

So when Ananias took the rest of the money to the apostles, ³ Peter said, “Why has Satan made you keep back some of the money from the sale of the property? Why have you lied to the Holy Spirit? ⁴ The property was yours before you sold it, and even after you sold it, the money was still yours. What made you do such a thing? You didn't lie to people. You lied to God!”

^5 (A) As soon as Ananias heard this, he dropped dead, and everyone who heard about it was frightened. ⁶ Some young men came in and wrapped up his body. Then they took it out and buried it.

⁷ Three hours later Sapphira came in, but she did not know what had happened to her husband. ⁸ Peter asked her, “Tell me, did you sell the property for this amount?”

“Yes,” she answered, “that's the amount.”

⁹ Then Peter said, “Why did the two of you agree to test the Lord's Spirit? The men who buried Ananias are by the door, and they will carry you out!” ¹⁰ At once she fell at Peter's feet and died.

When the young men came back in, they found Sapphira lying there dead. So they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹ The church members were afraid, and so was everyone else who heard what had happened.

Peter's Unusual Power

¹² The apostles worked many miracles and wonders among the people. All of the Lord's followers often met in the part of the temple known as Solomon's Porch.^{[a] 13} No one outside their group dared join them, even though everyone liked them very much.

¹⁴ Many men and women started having faith in the Lord. ¹⁵ Then sick people were brought out to the road and placed on mats. It was hoped that Peter would walk by, and his shadow would fall on them and heal them. ¹⁶ A lot of people living in the towns near Jerusalem brought those who were sick or troubled by evil spirits, and they were all healed.

Trouble for the Apostles

¹⁷ The high priest and all the other Sadducees who were with him became jealous. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the city jail. ¹⁹ But that night an angel from the Lord opened the doors of the jail and led the apostles out. The angel said, ²⁰ “Go to the temple and tell the people everything about this new life.” ²¹ So they went into the temple before sunrise and started teaching.

The high priest and his men called together their council, which included all of Israel's leaders. Then they ordered the apostles to be brought to them from the jail. ²² The temple police who were sent to the jail did not find the apostles. They returned and said, ²³ “We found the jail locked tight and the guards standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors and went in, we didn't find anyone there.” ²⁴ The captain of the temple police and the chief priests listened to their report, but they did not know what to think about it.

²⁵ Just then someone came in and said, “Now those men you put in jail are in the temple, teaching the people!” ²⁶ The captain went with some of the temple police and brought the apostles back. But they did not use force. They were afraid that the people might start throwing stones at them.

²⁷ When the apostles were brought before the council, the high priest said to them, ^28 (B) “We told you plainly not to teach in the name of Jesus. But look what you have done! You have been teaching all over Jerusalem, and you are trying to blame us for his death.”

²⁹ Peter and the apostles replied:

We don't obey people. We obey God. ³⁰ You killed Jesus by nailing him to a cross. But the God our ancestors worshiped raised him to life ³¹ and made him our Leader and Savior. Then God gave him a place at his right side,^[b] so that the people of Israel would turn back to him and be forgiven. ³² We are here to tell you about all this, and so is the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to everyone who obeys God.

³³ When the council members heard this, they became so angry they wanted to kill the apostles. ³⁴ But one of the members was the Pharisee Gamaliel, a highly respected teacher. He ordered the apostles to be taken out of the room for a little while. ³⁵ Then he said to the council:

Men of Israel, be careful what you do with these men. ³⁶ Not long ago Theudas claimed to be someone important, and about 400 men joined him. But he was killed, and all his followers were scattered. That was the end of that.

³⁷ Later, when the people of our nation were being counted, Judas from Galilee showed up. A lot of people followed him, but he was killed, and all his followers were scattered.

³⁸ So I advise you to stay away from these men. Leave them alone. If what they are planning is something of their own doing, it will fail. ^39 (C) But if God is behind it, you cannot stop it anyway, unless you want to fight against God.

The council members agreed with what he said, ⁴⁰ and they called the apostles back in. They had them beaten with a whip and warned them not to speak in the name of Jesus. Then they let them go.

⁴¹ The apostles left the council and were happy, because God had considered them worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus. ⁴² Every day they spent time in the temple and in one home after another. They never stopped teaching and telling the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.