M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
12 Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king to say, “What problem is there between you and me, that you have come to me to wage war in my land?”
13 The Ammonite king said to the messengers of Jephthah, “Because when Israel came up from Egypt, they took my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and as far as the Jordan. Now return it peacefully.”
14 Again Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king, 15 and said to him,
“Jephthah says this: Israel did not take the land of Moab, nor the Ammonite land; 16 for when Israel came up from Egypt, they went into the desert as far as the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land.’ Yet the king of Edom would not listen. They also sent messengers to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling. So Israel stayed at Kadesh.
18 “They went into the wilderness, around the lands of Edom and Moab. They went east of the land of Moab and set up camp on the other side of the River Arnon. They did not cross the boundary of Moab, for the River Arnon was the boundary of Moab.
19 “Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Israel said to him, “Please let us pass through your land to our home.” 20 Yet Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people and set up camp in Jahaz to fight with Israel.
21 “The Lord God of Israel gave Sihon and all his people into the hands of Israel, and they struck them down. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites who lived in that land. 22 They took possession of all of the territory of the Amorites, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan.
23 “Now that the Lord God of Israel has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you take it? 24 Will you not take possession of whatever Chemosh your god gives you? So everything that the Lord our God possesses before us, we will take possession of it. 25 Now are you really better than Balak son of Zippor, the king of Moab? Did he ever contend with Israel or wage war with them? 26 Israel has lived in Heshbon and its nearby towns, in Aroer and its nearby towns, and in all the cities along the banks of the River Arnon for three hundred years. Why did you not take them back during that time? 27 So I have not sinned against you, but it is you who are doing evil to me by waging war against me. May the Lord, the Judge, judge today between the children of Israel and the Ammonites.”
28 Yet the Ammonite king would not listen to the message that Jephthah had sent him.
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and went on to the Ammonites. 30 Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, “If You will indeed give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 then whatever comes out from the door of my house to meet me, when I return safely from the Ammonites, will surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to wage war against them, and the Lord gave them into his hands. 33 He struck them down from Aroer to Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel Keramim. The defeat was very severe, and the Ammonites were humbled before the children of Israel.
34 When Jephthah went to his house at Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, dancing with a tambourine. She was his only child. Other than her, he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he ripped up his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought utter disaster to me. You are my undoing, for I have given my word to the Lord, and I cannot take it back.”
36 She said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord. Do to me what has come out of your mouth, because the Lord worked vengeance upon your enemies, the Ammonites.” 37 Then she said to her father, “Let this be done for me: Give me two months, and I and my friends will wander the hill country and mourn over my virginity.”
38 He said, “Go,” and he sent her away for two months. She and her friends went and mourned over her virginity in the hill country. 39 At the end of two months she returned to her father, and he did to her according to the vow that he had made. She had not ever slept with a man.
So it became a custom in Israel 40 that the women of Israel would commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite for four days each year.
The Council in Jerusalem
15 Some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised in the tradition of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others among them, should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared what God had done through them.
5 Then some believers of the sect of the Pharisees rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”
6 The apostles and elders assembled to consider this matter. 7 After much disputing, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that some time ago God decided among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows the heart, approved of them, giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between them and us, and purified their hearts by faith. 10 Now then, why test God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.”
12 The entire assembly remained silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they had become silent, James answered, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has declared how God first visited the Gentiles to take from among them a people for His name. 15 With this the words of the prophets agree. As it is written:
16 ‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will set it up;[a]
17 that the rest of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,[b]
says the Lord who does all these things.’[c]
18 Known to God are all His works since the beginning of the world.
19 “Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from strangled animals, and from blood. 21 For Moses has had in every city since early generations those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
The Reply of the Council
22 Then it pleased the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely, Judas called Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers. 23 They wrote this letter by their hand:
The apostles and the elders and the brothers,
To the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that some of us, whom we did not commission, have gone out and have troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, saying, “You must be circumcised and keep the law,” 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled in unity, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we have sent Judas and Silas, who will also speak to you, saying the same things. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to put on you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 Abstain from food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from strangled animals, and from blood. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
Farewell.
30 So when they were dismissed, they went down to Antioch. And when they had assembled the congregation, they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over the exhortation. 32 Judas and Silas, being prophets themselves, exhorted the brothers with many words and strengthened them. 33 After they had remained there for a time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to the apostles. 34 But it seemed good to Silas to remain there. 35 And Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.
Paul and Barnabas Separate
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit our brothers in every city where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas determined to take with them John, who was called Mark. 38 But Paul thought it was not good to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 Then there arose a sharp contention, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brothers to the grace of God. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
The Good and Bad Figs
24 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs that were set before the temple of the Lord after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the carpenters and smiths from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe, and the other basket had very rotten figs, which were so rotten they could not be eaten.
3 Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good. And the rotten, very rotten, that are so rotten they cannot be eaten.”
4 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 5 Thus says the Lord the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will acknowledge those who are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. 6 For I will set My eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. And I will build them up and not pull them down. And I will plant them and not pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.
8 But as the rotten figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so rotten, says the Lord, so I will forsake Zedekiah the king of Judah and his officials, and the rest of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 And I will make them a horror and an evil to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places wherever I shall drive them. 10 I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.
Teaching About Divorce(A)
10 He arose and went from there to the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan, and the people came to Him again. And again, as was His custom, He taught them.
2 The Pharisees came to test Him, asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her.”
5 Jesus answered them, “Due to the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’[a] 7 ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, 8 and the two shall be one flesh.’[b] So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”
10 In the house His disciples asked Him concerning this matter again. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Little Children Blessed(B)
13 They brought young children to Him, that He might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was very displeased and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.
The Rich Man(C)
17 When He set out on His way, a man came running and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good, except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.[c]”
20 He answered Him, “Teacher, all these have I observed from my youth.”
21 Then Jesus, looking upon him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow Me.”
22 He was saddened by that word, and he went away grieving. For he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 They were astonished beyond measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible.”
28 Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and have followed You.”
29 Jesus answered, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left a house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 who shall not receive a hundred times as much now in this age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecution, and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection a Third Time(D)
32 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Again, He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what would happen to Him, 33 saying, “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles. 34 They will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. Then after three days He will rise.”
The Request of James and John(E)
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want that whatever we may ask, You would do for us.”
36 He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
37 They said to Him, “Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and the other at Your left hand, in Your glory.”
38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
39 They said to Him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. 40 But to sit at My right hand or at My left hand is not Mine to grant. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 When the ten heard it, they began to be very displeased with James and John. 42 But Jesus called them together, and said, “You know that those who are appointed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever among you would be greatest must be servant of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus(F)
46 Then they came to Jericho. And as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat along the way begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many ordered him to keep silent. But he cried out even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.
So they called the blind man, saying, “Be of good comfort. Rise, He is calling you.” 50 Throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.
51 Jesus answered him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The blind man said to Him, “Rabbi, that I might receive my sight.”
52 Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.