M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Samson and Delilah

16 Samson went to Gaza and saw a woman who sold the use of her body there. He went in to her. ² The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here.” So they gathered around the place and waited for him all night at the gate of the city. They were quiet all night, saying, “Let us wait until the morning light. Then we will kill him.” ³ But Samson lay until late at night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the pieces that held them. He pulled them up together with the locks and put them on his shoulders. And he carried them up to the top of the mountain beside Hebron.

⁴ After this Samson loved a woman in the valley of Sorek. Her name was Delilah. ⁵ The leaders of the Philistines came to her, saying, “Tempt Samson to tell you the secret of his powerful strength. Find out how we can get power over him so we can tie him and hold him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” ⁶ So Delilah said to Samson, “I beg you. Tell me the secret of your powerful strength. Tell me how one can get power over you and tie you up and hold you.” ⁷ Samson said to her, “They must tie me with seven new ropes that have not been dried. Then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ⁸ So the leaders of the Philistines brought her seven new ropes that had not been dried. And Delilah tied Samson with them. ⁹ She had men hiding and waiting in another room. She said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he broke the ropes like a string breaks when it touches fire. So they did not find the secret of his strength.

¹⁰ Delilah said to Samson, “See, you have fooled me and told me lies. Now tell me, I beg you, how can you be tied?” ¹¹ Samson said to her, “They must tie me with new ropes which have never been used. Then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹² So Delilah took new ropes, tied Samson with them, and said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” Men were hiding and waiting in another room. But Samson broke the ropes from his arms like a string.

¹³ Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have fooled me and told me lies until now. Tell me how you can be tied.” Samson said to her, “You must work the seven strings of my hair into the cloth you are making and hold it there with a nail. Then I will become weak and be like any other man.” ¹⁴ So while Samson slept, Delilah took the seven strings of his hair and worked them into the cloth. She held it in place with the nail. Then she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the nail, the cloth maker and the cloth.

¹⁵ Delilah said to Samson, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have lied to me these three times. You have not told me the secret of your powerful strength.” ¹⁶ She asked him day after day until his soul was troubled to death. ¹⁷ So he told her all that was in his mind. He said to her, “My hair has never been cut. For I have been a Nazirite to God from the time I was born. If my hair is cut, my strength will leave me. I will become weak and be like any other man.”

¹⁸ Delilah saw that Samson had told her the truth. She sent and called the leaders of the Philistines, saying, “Come once again. For he has told me all he knows.” So the leaders of the Philistines came to her. And they brought the money in their hands. ¹⁹ She made Samson sleep on her knees. Then she called for a man to cut off the seven parts of Samson’s hair. She began to hurt Samson, and his strength left him. ²⁰ She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” He awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as I have at other times. I will shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. ²¹ The Philistines took hold of him and cut out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and tied him with brass chains. Samson was made to grind grain in the prison. ²² But the hair of his head started to grow again after it was cut off.

The Death of Samson

²³ Now the leaders of the Philistines gathered to give a large gift to their god Dagon. They were happy, for they said, “Our god has given us Samson, the man who has fought against us.” ²⁴ The people praised their god when they saw Samson. They said, “Our god has given us the one who fought against us, destroyed our country, and killed many of us.” ²⁵ After the people had had much to drink, they said, “Bring Samson here so we can have some fun with him.” So they called Samson out of prison and made fun of him. They made him stand between the stone pillars that held up the building. ²⁶ Samson said to the boy who was holding his hand, “Let me feel the tall pillars that hold up the building. I want to rest against them.” ²⁷ Now the building was full of men and women. All the leaders of the Philistines were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof looking down and laughing at Samson.

²⁸ Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, I beg You. Remember me. Give me strength only this once, O God. So I may now punish the Philistines for my two eyes.” ²⁹ Samson took hold of the two center pillars that held up the building. He pushed against them, with his right hand on one and his left hand on the other. ³⁰ Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his strength so that the building fell on the leaders and all the people in it. He killed more at his death than he killed in his life. ³¹ Then his brothers and all those of his father’s house came and took him. They brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the grave of his father Manoah. Samson had ruled Israel for twenty years.

Paul Goes to Greece and Macedonia

20 When the noise had come to an end, Paul called the followers to him. He spoke words of comfort and then said good-bye. He left to go to the country of Macedonia. ² As he went through those parts of the country, he spoke words of comfort and help to the Christians. Then he went on to the country of Greece. ³ He stayed there three months. As he was about to get on a ship for the country of Syria, he learned that the Jews had made a plan to take him. He changed his plans and went back through Macedonia. ⁴ Some men were going along with him. They were Sopater of the city of Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus of the city of Thessalonica, Gaius of the city of Derbe, and Timothy and Tychicus and Trophimus of the countries of Asia. ⁵ They went on to the city of Troas and waited there for us. ⁶ After the supper of bread without yeast we got on a ship in the city of Philippi. We met these men at Troas. It took five days to get there and we stayed one week.

Eutychus Falls from a Building While Paul Preaches

⁷ On the first day of the week we met together to eat the Lord’s supper. Paul talked to them. He thought he would leave the next day, so he kept on talking until twelve o’clock at night. ⁸ There were many lights in the room on the third floor where we had our meeting. ⁹ A young man named Eutychus sat in the window. As Paul kept on preaching, this man started to go to sleep. At last he went to sleep. He fell from the third floor to the ground and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down and stood over him. Then he took him in his arms and said, “Do not be worried. He is alive!” ¹¹ Paul went up again to the meeting and ate with them. He talked with them until the sun came up. Then he left. ¹² They were happy they could take the young man home alive.

¹³ We went on ahead by ship to the city of Assos. There we were to pick up Paul. He had planned it that way. He wanted to walk by land that far. ¹⁴ We got to Assos and met him there. We picked him up and went on to the city of Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day we went by ship to a place beside the island of Chios. The next day we crossed over to the island of Samos. Then the next day we came to the city of Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul planned to pass by the city of Ephesus so he would not lose more time in Asia. He wanted to be in Jerusalem if he could be on the day to remember how the Holy Spirit came on the church.

Paul Meets with the Leaders of the Church of Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus. He asked the leaders of the church to come to him. ¹⁸ When they got there, he said to them, “From the first day that I came to Asia you have seen what my life has been like. ¹⁹ I worked for the Lord without pride. Because of the trouble the Jews gave me, I have had many tears. ²⁰ I always told you everything that would be a help to you. I taught you in open meetings and from house to house. ²¹ I preached to the Jews and to the Greeks. I told them to turn from their sin to God and to put their trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²² “As you see, I am on my way to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit makes me go. I do not know what will happen to me there. ²³ But in every city I have been, the Holy Spirit tells me that trouble and chains will be waiting for me there. ²⁴ But I am not worried about this. I do not think of my life as worth much, but I do want to finish the work the Lord Jesus gave me to do. My work is to preach the Good News of God’s loving-favor.

²⁵ “All of you have heard me preach the Good News. I am sure that none of you will ever see my face again. ²⁶ I tell you this day that I am clean and free from the blood of all men. ²⁷ I told you all the truth about God. ²⁸ Keep a careful watch over yourselves and over the church. The Holy Spirit has made you its leaders. Feed and care for the church of God. He bought it with His own blood.

²⁹ “Yes, I know that when I am gone, hungry wolves will come in among you. They will try to destroy the church. ³⁰ Also men from your own group will begin to teach things that are not true. They will get men to follow them. ³¹ I say again, keep watching! Remember that for three years I taught everyone of you night and day, even with tears.

³² “And now, my brothers, I give you over to God and to the word of His love. It is able to make you strong and to give you what you are to have, along with all those who are set apart for God. ³³ I have not tried to get anyone’s money or clothes. ³⁴ You all know that these hands worked for what I needed and for what those with me needed. ³⁵ In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we can help those who are weak. We must remember what the Lord Jesus said, ‘We are more happy when we give than when we receive.’ ”

³⁶ As he finished talking, he got down on his knees and prayed with them all. ³⁷ They cried and put their arms around Paul and kissed him. ³⁸ What made them sad most of all was he said that they would never see his face again. Then they went with him to the ship.

Jeremiah’s Letter to Those Taken to Babylon

29 These are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the man of God sent from Jerusalem to the leaders, the religious leaders, the men of God, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from Jerusalem to Babylon. ² (This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the king’s servants, the rulers of Judah and Jerusalem, and the able workmen had left Jerusalem.) ³ The letter was sent with Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom King Zedekiah of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It said, ⁴ “This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says to all of His people who have been sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ ‘Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. ⁶ Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may give birth to sons and daughters. Become many there, and do not let your number become less. ⁷ Work for the well-being of the city where I have sent you to and pray to the Lord for this. For if it is well with the city you live in, it will be well with you.’ ⁸ For the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘Do not let the people among you who tell what is going to happen in the future and those who use their secret ways fool you. Do not listen to their dreams. ⁹ For they speak false words to you in My name. I have not sent them,’ says the Lord.

¹⁰ “For the Lord says, ‘When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and keep My promise to you. I will bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will look for Me and find Me, when you look for Me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will bring you back and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have made you go,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you away.’

¹⁵ “You have said that the Lord has given men who speak for Him in Babylon. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord says about the king who sits on the throne of David, and about all the people who live in this city, your brothers who were not taken with you to Babylon. ¹⁷ The Lord of All says, ‘I am sending the sword, hunger, and disease upon them. I will make them like bad figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸ I will go after them with the sword, hunger, and disease, and will make them a cause of trouble to all the nations of the earth. They will be a curse, an object of much shame and hate among all the nations where I have made them go. ¹⁹ This is because they have not listened to My words,’ says the Lord, ‘which I sent to them again and again by My servants who spoke for Me. And you did not listen,’ says the Lord. ²⁰ So hear the Word of the Lord, all you people who have been sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

²¹ “This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says about Ahab the son of Kolaiah and about Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are speaking false words to you in My name: ‘See, I will give them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And he will kill them in front of your eyes. ²² Because of them a curse will be used by all the people who are from Judah but are in Babylon: “May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned in the fire.” ²³ This is because they have done what is foolish in Israel. They have done sex sins with their neighbors’ wives. And they have spoken false words in My name, which I did not tell them to speak. I am He Who knows, and I see what they have done,’ says the Lord.”

The Letter to Shemaiah

²⁴ And say to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ²⁵ “This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the religious leader, and to all the religious leaders. You said to Zephaniah, ²⁶ “The Lord has made you the religious leader over the house of the Lord instead of Jehoiada. You are to take every crazy man who says he speaks in God’s name and put him in chains with iron around his neck. ²⁷ So why have you not spoken sharp words to Jeremiah of Anathoth who is speaking to you in God’s name? ²⁸ For he has sent word to us in Babylon, saying, ‘You will be held there for a long time. So build houses and live in them. And plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”’”

²⁹ Zephaniah the religious leader read this letter to Jeremiah the man of God. ³⁰ Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ³¹ “Send word to all My people held in Babylon, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Shemaiah has spoken to you in My name, but I did not send him. He has made you trust in a lie.’ ³² So the Lord says, ‘I am about to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his children after him. He will not have anyone living among these people. And he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,’ says the Lord, ‘because he has spoken against Me.’”

Jesus Before Pilate ^(A)

15 Early in the morning the head religious leaders of the Jews and other leaders and the teachers of the Law and all the court gathered together to talk about Jesus. Then they tied up Jesus and led Him away. They handed Him over to Pilate. ² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He said to Pilate, “What you say is true.”

³ The religious leaders spoke many things against Him. Jesus did not say a word. ⁴ Pilate asked Him again, “Have You nothing to say? Listen to the things they are saying against You!” ⁵ Jesus did not say a word. Pilate was much surprised and wondered about it.

Jesus or Barabbas Is to Go Free ^(B)

⁶ Each year at the special supper Pilate would let one person who was in prison go free. It would be the one the people asked for. ⁷ The name of one of those in prison was Barabbas. He, together with others, had killed people while working against the leaders of the country. ⁸ All the people went to Pilate and asked him to do as he had done before. ⁹ Pilate said, “Do you want me to let the King of the Jews go free?” ¹⁰ He knew the religious leaders had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous. ¹¹ The religious leaders talked the people into thinking that Pilate should let Barabbas go free. ¹² Pilate said to them again, “What do you want me to do with the Man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ They spoke with loud voices again, “Nail Him to a cross.” ¹⁴ Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What bad thing has He done?” They spoke with loud voices all the more, “Nail Him to a cross!”

The Crown of Thorns ^(C)

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to please the people. He gave Barabbas to them and had Jesus beaten. Then he handed Him over to be nailed to a cross. ¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away to a large room in the court. They called all the soldiers together. ¹⁷ The soldiers put a purple coat on Him. They put a crown of thorns on His head, ¹⁸ and said to Him, “Hello, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They hit Him on the head with a stick and spit on Him. They got down on their knees and worshiped Him. ²⁰ After they had made fun of Him, they took the purple coat off of Him and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to be nailed to a cross.

²¹ They came to a man called Simon who was coming from the country of Cyrene. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made Simon carry the cross of Jesus.

Jesus on the Cross ^(D)

²² They led Jesus to a place called Golgotha. This name means the place of the skull. ²³ They gave Him wine with something in it to take away the pain, but He would not drink it. ²⁴ When they had nailed Jesus to the cross, they divided His clothes by drawing names to see what each man should take. ²⁵ It was about nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Him to the cross. ²⁶ Over Jesus’ head they put in writing what they had against Him, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

The Two Robbers ^(E)

²⁷ They nailed two robbers on crosses beside Jesus. One was on His right side and the other was on His left side. ²⁸ *It happened as the Holy Writings said it would happen, “They thought of Him as One Who broke the Law.” ^(F)

²⁹ Those who walked by shook their heads and laughed at Jesus. They said, “You were the One Who could destroy the house of God and build it again in three days. ³⁰ Save Yourself and come down from the cross.” ³¹ The head religious leaders and the teachers of the Law made fun of Him also. They said to each other, “He saved others but He cannot save Himself. ³² Let Christ, the King of the Jews, come down from the cross. We want to see it and then we will believe.” Those who were on the crosses beside Jesus spoke bad things to Him.

The Death of Jesus ^(G)

³³ From noon until three o’clock it was dark over all the land. ³⁴ At three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You left Me alone?”

³⁵ When some of those who stood by heard that, they said, “Listen! He is calling for Elijah.” ³⁶ One of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with sour wine. He put it on a stick and gave it to Him to drink. He said, “Let Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come and take Him down.”

The Powerful Works at the Time of His Death ^(H)

³⁷ Then Jesus gave a loud cry. He gave up His spirit and died. ³⁸ The curtain in the house of God was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ The captain of the soldiers was looking at Jesus when He cried out. He saw Him die and said, “For sure, this Man was the Son of God.”

The Women at the Cross ^(I)

⁴⁰ Women were looking on from far away. Among them was Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. ⁴¹ These cared for Him when He was in the country of Galilee. There were many other women there who had followed Him to Jerusalem.

The Grave of Jesus ^(J)

⁴² It was the day to get ready for the Day of Rest and it was now evening. ⁴³ Joseph, who was from the city of Arimathea, was an important man in the court. He was looking for the holy nation of God. Without being afraid, he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised and wondered if Jesus was dead so soon. He called the captain of the soldiers and asked if Jesus was already dead.

⁴⁵ After the captain said that Jesus was dead, Pilate let Joseph take the body. ⁴⁶ Joseph took the body of Jesus down from the cross. He put the linen cloth he had bought around the body. Then he laid the body in a grave which had been cut out in the side of a rock. He pushed a stone over to cover the door of the grave. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where He was laid.