M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Levite and Woman Who Acted as His Wife

19 There was no king in Israel in those days. And there was a certain Levite staying in a far away part of the hill country of Ephraim. He took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to act as his wife. ² But his woman was not faithful to him. She left him and went to her father’s house in Bethlehem in Judah. She stayed there four months. ³ Then her husband got up and went after her. He was gentle in speaking to her, asking her to return with him. He brought his servant and two donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father’s house. When her father saw him, he was glad to meet him. ⁴ His father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay. So he stayed with him three days. They ate and drank and stayed there. ⁵ They got up early in the morning on the fourth day to get ready to go. The girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Eat a piece of bread to get your strength. Then you may go.” ⁶ So both of them sat down and ate and drank together. The girl’s father said to the man, “I beg you, agree to stay the night. Let your heart be happy.” ⁷ The man stood up to go. But his father-in-law begged him so that he stayed another night there. ⁸ He got up to go early in the morning on the fifth day. But the girl’s father said, “I beg you, get your strength first. Wait until later in the day.” So both of them ate. ⁹ Then the man stood up to leave with his woman and his servant. His father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Now see, the day is ending. I beg you, stay the night. See, the day is coming to an end. Stay here through the night so your heart may be happy. Get up early tomorrow to go on your way home.”

¹⁰ But the man would not stay the night. He stood up and left and came to a place beside Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). He had his woman with him and two donkeys to carry them both. ¹¹ The day was almost gone when they were near Jebus. The servant said to his owner, “Come, let us go in and stay the night in this city of the Jebusites.” ¹² But his owner said to him, “We will not go into the city of strangers who are not of the people of Israel. We will go as far as Gibeah.” ¹³ And he said to his servant, “Come, let us go to one of these places. We will stay the night in Gibeah or Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed Jebus and went on their way. The sun went down when they were near Gibeah, a city of Benjamin. ¹⁵ They turned to go in and stay at Gibeah. They went in and sat down outside in the center of the city. For no one took them into his house to stay the night.

¹⁶ In the evening an old man came out of the field from his work. He was from the hill country of Ephraim and was staying in Gibeah. But the men of the place were Benjamites. ¹⁷ The old man looked up and saw the traveler in the center of the city, and said, “Where are you going? Where do you come from?” ¹⁸ The Levite said to him, “We are traveling from Bethlehem in Judah to a far away part of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, but am now returning home. But no one will take me into his house. ¹⁹ We have food for our donkeys. And we have bread and wine for me, my woman, and the young man who is with your servants. We have all we need.” ²⁰ The old man said, “Peace to you. Let me take care of all your needs. But do not stay the night in the street.” ²¹ So he took him into his house and gave food to the donkeys. The people washed their feet and ate and drank.

²² While they were having a happy time, certain sinful men of the city gathered around the house. They beat on the door and said to the old man, the owner of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house so we can have sex with him.” ²³ The man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said, “No, my brothers. I beg you not to be so sinful. This man has come into my house. Do not do this sinful thing. ²⁴ Here is my daughter who has never had a man. And here is the woman who belongs to the man. Let me bring them out. Put them to shame. Do to them whatever you wish. But do not do such a sinful act against this man.” ²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the Levite took hold of his woman and brought her out to them. The men had sex with her all night until morning. When the sun came up, they let her go. ²⁶ The woman came early in the morning and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her owner was. She lay there until it was light.

²⁷ Her owner got up in the morning and opened the doors of the house. He went out to go on his way and saw his woman lying at the door of the house. Her hands were on the step. ²⁸ He said to her, “Get up. Let us be going.” But there was no answer. He put her body across the donkey and started on his way home. ²⁹ When he went into his house, he took a knife. He took hold of his woman and cut her into twelve pieces, arm by arm, leg by leg. Then he sent her out through all the land of Israel. ³⁰ All who saw it said, “Nothing like this has happened before. Nothing like this has been seen from the day when the people of Israel came from the land of Egypt until now. Think about it. Listen to what is said about it. And say what you think.”

Paul Speaks to the Religious Leaders’ Court

23 Paul looked straight at the court and said, “Brother Jews, I have lived for God with a heart that has said I am not guilty to this day.” ² Then Ananias, the head religious leader, told those standing near him to hit him on the mouth. ³ Paul said, “God will hit you, you white-washed wall! Do you sit there and say I am guilty by the Law when you break the Law by having me hit?”

⁴ Those standing near said, “Do you talk like that to God’s head religious leader?” ⁵ Paul said, “Brother Jews, I did not know that he was God’s head religious leader. I know the Holy Writings say, ‘You must not speak against the leader of your people.’” ^(A)

⁶ Paul saw that part of the court was made up of the religious group who believe no one is raised from the dead. The other part were proud religious law-keepers. Then he cried out, “Brother Jews, I am a proud religious law-keeper and from a family of proud religious law-keepers. I have been brought in front of this court because of the hope of being raised from the dead.”

⁷ When they heard this, both religious groups started to argue and the people of the court were divided in what they thought. ⁸ The one religious group believes that no one is raised from the dead. Also, they do not believe in angels or spirits. But the other religious group, the proud religious law-keepers, believe that people are raised from the dead and that there are angels and spirits. ⁹ The courtroom was filled with noise. Some of the teachers of the Law working with the proud religious law-keepers stood up and said, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if an angel or spirit has spoken to him?”

¹⁰ They argued all the more. Then the captain was afraid they would pull Paul to pieces. He told his men to get Paul out of there and take him back to the soldiers’ building. ¹¹ The next night the Lord came to Paul and said, “Paul, do not be afraid! You will tell about Me in the city of Rome the same as you have told about Me in Jerusalem.”

The Plan to Kill Paul

¹² In the morning some of the Jews gathered together and made a plan to kill Paul. They promised each other that they would not eat or drink until they had killed him. ¹³ There were more than forty of them who had made this promise. ¹⁴ These people came to the head religious leader and to the leaders of the people and said, “We have made a promise not to eat any food until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ We ask you and the court to have the captain bring Paul down to you tomorrow. It will look as if you want to ask him some things. Before he gets near you, we will be waiting to kill him.”

¹⁶ Paul’s nephew heard about the plan. He went to the soldiers’ building and told Paul. ¹⁷ Paul called one of the soldiers and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something to tell him.” ¹⁸ The soldiers brought the young man to the captain and said, “Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.” ¹⁹ The captain took him by the hand and they walked over where they could be alone. He said, “What is it that you have to tell me?” ²⁰ The young man said, “The Jews have made a plan to ask you to bring Paul to the courtroom tomorrow. It would look as if they were going to ask him some things. ²¹ Do not let them talk you into it. More than forty men are waiting in secret to kill him. They have promised each other not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are all waiting for you to say the word.” ²² The captain told the young man to go. He said, “Do not tell anyone you have told me this.”

Paul Is Sent to Felix in Caesarea

²³ Then the captain called two soldiers and said, “Get 200 men ready to go to the city of Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight. Also have seventy men ride on horses and 200 men carry spears. ²⁴ Get horses ready for Paul to ride. Take him to Felix, the leader of the people.”

²⁵ He wrote a letter which said, ²⁶ “Claudius Lysias greets Felix, the best leader of the people. ²⁷ This man Paul was taken by the Jews. He was about to be killed by them. But I came along with my soldiers and kept him from being killed. I did this when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸ I wanted to know what they had against him. So I took him to the religious leaders’ court. ²⁹ I learned they were holding him because of something about their Law. There was no reason for him to be killed or to be put in prison. ³⁰ I was told that the Jews had a plan to kill this man. At once I sent him to you. I told the Jews who wanted to kill him to tell you what they have against him. Good-bye.”

³¹ The soldiers took Paul as they were told. They brought him during the night to Antipatris. ³² The next day they went back to their building in Jerusalem. The men riding horses went on with Paul. ³³ When they came to Caesarea, they gave the letter to the leader of the people. They also handed Paul over to him. ³⁴ After he read the letter, he asked what part of the country Paul was from. He was told that Paul was from the city of Cilicia. ³⁵ He said, “I will listen to all of this when the men come who want to kill you.” He had Paul kept in King Herod’s building.

A Promise of Hope

33 While Jeremiah was still shut up in the open space of the prison, the Word of the Lord came to him a second time, saying, ² “This is what the Lord says Who made the earth. The Lord made it to last. The Lord is His name. ³ ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you. And I will show you great and wonderful things which you do not know.’ ⁴ For this is what the Lord God of Israel says about the houses of this city and about the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a strong wall to help in the battle against the Babylonians. ⁵ Some will come to fight with the Babylonians, and they will fill the houses with the dead bodies of men whom I have killed in My anger. I will hide My face from this city because of all their sin. ⁶ See, I will make it well again, and I will heal them. I will let them have much peace and truth. ⁷ I will return the land to Judah and to Israel, and I will help them to become as they were before. ⁸ I will make them clean from all the sins they have done against Me. I will forgive all their sins against Me. ⁹ This city will make My name known. It will be to Me joy, praise and shining-greatness before all the nations of the earth that hear of all the good that I do for them. And they will fear and shake because of all the good and all the peace that I give it.’

¹⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘You say of this place, “It is a waste, without man or animal.” Yet in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are laid waste, with no man or animal living in them, there will again be heard ¹¹ the voice of joy and the voice of happiness. In this place will be heard the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride, and the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of All, for the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.” And here will be heard the voice of those who bring a gift of thanks into the house of the Lord. For I will bring them back to the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.

¹² “The Lord of All says, ‘This place is now a waste, without man or animal. Yet there will again be shepherds living in this place and in all its cities who can care for their sheep. ¹³ In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the valley, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the land around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who numbers them,’ says the Lord.

¹⁴ ‘See, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will do what I promised to the people of Israel and the people of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a right and good Branch of David to rise up. And He will do what is fair and right and good on the earth. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will be safe. And this is the name it will be called: The Lord makes us right and good.’ ¹⁷ For the Lord says, ‘David will never be without a man to sit on the throne of the people of Israel. ¹⁸ And the Levite religious leaders will never be without a man before Me to give burnt gifts, to burn grain gifts, and to make gifts ready on the altar all the time.’”

¹⁹ The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘If you can break My agreement with the day and night, so that day and night will not come at their set time, ²¹ then My agreement may also be broken with David My servant, that he will not have a son to rule on his throne. And then My agreement may be broken with My servants, the Levite religious leaders. ²² The stars of heaven cannot be numbered, and the sand of the sea cannot be weighed. In the same way I will make the children of David My servant many, as well as the Levites who serve Me.’”

²³ The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴ “Have you not heard what these people are saying? They say, ‘The Lord has turned away from the two families He had chosen.’ So they hate My people. They are no longer a nation in their eyes. ²⁵ This is what the Lord says: ‘If I do not keep My agreement with day and night and the laws of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I will turn away from the children of Jacob and David My servant. Then I will not choose one of his children to rule over the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will bring them back to their land and will have loving-pity on them.’”

Morning Prayer of Trust

3 O Lord, how many are they who hate me! How many rise up against me! ² Many are saying of me, “There is no help for him in God.” ³ But You, O Lord, are a covering around me, my shining-greatness, and the One Who lifts my head. ⁴ I was crying to the Lord with my voice. And He answered me from His holy mountain. ⁵ I lay down and slept, and I woke up again, for the Lord keeps me safe.

⁶ I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who stand all around against me. ⁷ Rise up, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For You have hit on the face all those who hate me, and you have broken the teeth of the sinful. ⁸ It is You Who saves, O Lord. May You bring happiness to Your people.

Evening Prayer of Trust

4 Answer me when I call, O my God Who is right and good! You have made a way for me when I needed help. Be kind to me, and hear my prayer.

² O sons of men, how long will you turn my honor into shame? How long will you love what is of no use, and run after lies? ³ Know that the Lord has set apart him who is God-like for Himself. The Lord hears when I call to Him.

⁴ Shake with anger and do not sin. When you are on your bed, look into your hearts and be quiet. ⁵ Give the gifts that are right and good, and trust in the Lord.

⁶ Many are asking, “Who will show us any good?” Let the light of Your face shine on us, O Lord. ⁷ You have filled my heart with more happiness than they have when there is much grain and wine. ⁸ I will lie down and sleep in peace. O Lord, You alone keep me safe.