M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samson’s Wedding
14 Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman from the daughters of the Philistines. 2 He came back up and told his father and mother, “I have seen a woman in Timnah from the daughters of the Philistines; now get her for me as a wife.”
3 His father and mother said to him, “Are there no women among your relatives, or all of our people, that you are intending to take a wife from among the uncircumcised Philistines?”
Yet Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” 4 His father and mother did not know that this was from the Lord, for He was seeking an opportunity to act against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
5 Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah. As they came to the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and though unarmed, he tore the lion in two as one might tear a young goat in two. However, he did not tell his father and his mother what he had done. 7 So Samson went down and spoke with the woman, and she pleased Samson.
8 After a while, when he returned to take her, he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion. And a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. 9 He scooped it out into his hands and ate it as he went along. He came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they also ate. Yet he did not tell them he had scooped the honey out of a lion’s carcass.
10 Then his father went down to the woman. Samson put on a feast there, for this is what young men would do. 11 When the Philistines saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
12 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you can explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will find thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes to give you. 13 However, if you are not able to explain it to me, then you will give me thirty linen robes and thirty sets of clothes.”
They said to him, “Tell us your riddle, so we can hear it.”
14 He said to them,
“Out of the eater came something to eat,
and out of the strong came something sweet.”
They could not explain the riddle after three days.
15 On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Trick your groom into telling us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to steal what we have? Is that not so?”
16 So Samson’s wife wept all over him and said, “You must hate me. You do not love me. You have told a riddle to the young men and did not tell it to me.”
Then he said to her, “I have not told it to my father and mother. Why should I tell it to you?” 17 She wept on him for the seven days of the feast, then on the seventh day he told it to her because she had nagged him. Then she explained the riddle to her people.
18 So on the seventh day before sunset, the men of the city said to Samson,
“What is sweeter than honey,
and what is stronger than a lion?”
Then he said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle.”
19 Then the Spirit of the Lord mightily came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty of their men. He took their clothes and gave them to the ones who had explained the riddle. His anger burned and he went up to his father’s house. 20 So Samson’s wife was given to his companion, who had been his best man.
Paul in Corinth
18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 He found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to them. 3 And because he was of the same trade, he remained with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 He lectured in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul was pressed by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your heads. I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 Then he departed from there and entered the house of a man named Justus, one who worshipped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians, who heard, believed and were baptized.
9 The Lord spoke to Paul in the night through a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one shall attack you and hurt you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 So for a year and six months he sat among them, teaching the word of God.
12 When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews in unity attacked Paul and brought him to court, 13 saying, “This man is persuading men to worship God contrary to the law.”
14 When Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “O Jews, if it were a matter of a misdemeanor or serious crime, I would rightly bear with you. 15 But if it is a question of words and names and your law, look into it yourselves. For I do not intend to be a judge of these matters.” 16 So he drove them out of court. 17 Then all the Greeks seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But none of these things mattered to Gallio.
Paul’s Return to Antioch
18 Yet Paul remained many days. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow. Then, bidding farewell to the brothers, he sailed to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. 19 He arrived at Ephesus and left them there. But he himself went into the synagogue and lectured the Jews. 20 When they asked him to remain for a while longer, he did not consent, 21 but, bidding farewell, said, “I must by all means attend this upcoming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return to you if God wills.” And he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.
23 After spending some time there, he departed and passed through the entire region of Galatia and Phrygia in sequence, strengthening all the disciples.
Apollos Preaches in Ephesus
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, who was an eloquent man and powerful in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John, but being fervent in spirit, he accurately spoke and taught the things concerning the Lord. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him and explained the way of God more accurately.
27 When Apollos intended to pass into Achaia, the brothers wrote to encourage the disciples to welcome him. On arriving, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. 28 For he vehemently refuted the Jews publicly, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Judah to Serve Nebuchadnezzar
27 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Thus says the Lord to me: Make bonds and yokes and put them on your neck, 3 and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 And command them to go to their masters, saying: Thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to your masters: 5 I have made the earth, the men, and the beasts which are on the ground by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed good to Me. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And also I have given to him the beasts of the field to serve him. 7 All nations shall serve him and his son and his son’s son until the time of his own land comes; and then many nations and great kings will make him their servant.
8 It shall come to pass that I will punish the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, says the Lord. I will punish that nation with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 Therefore do not listen to your prophets, or to your diviners, or to your dreamers, or to your enchanters, or to your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” 10 For they prophesy a lie to you in order to remove you far from your land. And I will drive you out, and you shall perish. 11 But the nations that bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, those I will let remain still in their own land, says the Lord, and they shall till it and dwell in it.
12 I spoke also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying: Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people, and live. 13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, “You will not serve the king of Babylon,” because they prophesy a lie to you. 15 For I have not sent them, says the Lord, yet they prophesy a lie in My name, so that I might drive you out and that you might perish, you and the prophets that prophesy to you.
16 I also spoke to the priests and to all this people: Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets that prophesy to you, saying, “The vessels of the house of the Lord will now soon be brought again from Babylon.” For they prophesy a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city be laid waste? 18 But if they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of Hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem not go to Babylon. 19 For thus says the Lord of Hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the rest of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21 Indeed, thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem: 22 They will be carried to Babylon and they will be there until the day that I visit them, says the Lord. Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold(A)
13 As He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what great stones and what great buildings are here.”
2 Jesus answered him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.”
Troubles and Persecutions(B)
3 As He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”
5 Jesus answered them, “Take heed lest anyone deceive you. 6 Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled. For such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “But take heed. For they will hand you over to councils, and in the synagogues you will be beaten. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 But when they arrest you and hand you over, take no thought beforehand, or premeditate what you should speak. But speak whatever is given you in that time, for it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Now a brother will betray his brother to death, and the father the son; children will rise up against their parents, and will cause them to be put to death. 13 You will be hated by all men for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
The Great Tribulation(C)
14 “When you see the ‘abomination of desolation’[a] spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let him who is on the housetop not go down or enter the house to take anything out of his house. 16 Let him who is in the field not turn back to take his garment. 17 But woe to women who are pregnant and to those who nurse in those days! 18 Pray that your escape may not be in winter. 19 For in those days there will be distress as has not been from the beginning of the creation which God created to this time, nor ever shall be.
20 “Except the Lord shortened the days, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. 21 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there He is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 But take heed. I have told you all things beforehand.
The Coming of the Son of Man(D)
24 “But in those days, after that distress,
‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give her light;
25 the stars of heaven will fall,
and the powers that are in heaven will be shaken.’[b]
26 “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 Then He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree(E)
28 “Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When her branch is yet tender and puts outs leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things come to pass, know that it is near, even at the doors. 30 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
The Unknown Day and Hour(F)
32 “But concerning that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch and pray. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 For the Son of Man is like a man leaving on a far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 “Watch therefore—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, or at midnight, or at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you I say to all: Watch!”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.