M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Special Act of the Agreement
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him and said, “I am God All-powerful. Obey Me, and be without blame. 2 And I will keep My agreement between Me and you. I will give you many children.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. God said to him, 4 “See, My agreement is with you. You will be the father of many nations. 5 No more will your name be Abram. But your name will be Abraham. For I will make you the father of many nations. 6 Many will come from you. I will make nations of you. Kings will come from you. 7 I will make My agreement between Me and you and your children after you through their whole lives for all time. I will be God to you and to your children’s children after you. 8 I will give to you and your children after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan for yourselves forever. And I will be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “You must keep My agreement, you and your children after you for all time. 10 This is My agreement between Me and you and your children after you, which you must obey: Every man among you must have this religious act done. 11 In this religious act the skin is cut off from the end of your sex part. This will be the special act of the agreement between Me and you. 12 Every male child among you who is eight days old must have this religious act done, through all time. The same must be done to all the men born in your house or bought with your money from any stranger, who is not one of your family. 13 He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must have this religious act done. So will My agreement be marked in your flesh, an agreement that lasts forever. 14 But the man who has not had this religious act done, of cutting off his piece of skin, will be cut off from his people. He has broken My agreement.”
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her name Sarai. But Sarah will be her name. 16 And I will bring good to her. I will give you a son by her. I will bring good to her. And she will be the mother of nations. Kings of many people will come from her.”
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed. He said to himself, “Will a child be born to a man who is 100 years old? 18 Then Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live before You!” 19 But God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will give birth to your son. And you will give him the name Isaac. I will make My agreement with him and for his children after him, an agreement that will last forever. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will bring good to him. I will make him grow in number. He will be the father of twelve rulers. I will make him a great nation. 21 But I will make My agreement with Isaac, who will be born to Sarah at this time next year.”
22 When He had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money, and every man and boy who lived in his house. And he cut off their piece of skin that very day, as God had told him to do. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he had the religious act done of cutting off his piece of skin. 25 His son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he had the religious act done of cutting off his piece of skin. 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael had this religious act done that very day. 27 And all the men of his house, who were born in the house or bought with money from a stranger, had this religious act done with him.
Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Proud Religious Law-Keepers (A)
16 The proud religious law-keepers and a religious group of people who believe no one will be raised from the dead came to Jesus. They asked Him to show something special from heaven. They wanted to trap Jesus. 2 (*He said to them, “In the evening you say, ‘The weather will be good tomorrow because the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning you say, ‘We will have a storm today because the sky is red and the clouds are low.’ You understand the things you see in the sky, but you cannot understand the special things you see these days!) 4 The sinful people of this day go after something special to see. There will be nothing special for them to see but the early preacher Jonah.” Then He went away from them.
Jesus Shows That the Teaching of the Proud Religious Law-Keepers Is Wrong (B)
5 The followers came to the other side of the lake. They remembered they had forgotten to bring bread. 6 Jesus said to them, “See! Have nothing to do with the yeast of the proud religious law-keepers and the religious group of people who believe no one will be raised from the dead.” 7 They started to think about it among themselves and said, “He said this because we forgot to bring bread.” 8 Jesus knew this and said, “You have very little faith! Why are you talking among yourselves about not bringing bread? 9 Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of bread that fed five thousand men? And how many baskets full were gathered up? 10 Or do you not even remember the seven loaves of bread that fed the four thousand men? And how many baskets full were gathered up? 11 Why is it that you do not see that I was not talking to you about bread? I was talking to you about keeping away from the yeast of the proud religious law-keepers and the religious group of people who believe no one will be raised from the dead.” 12 Then they understood that it was not the yeast of bread that He was talking about. But He was talking about the teaching of the proud religious law-keepers and of the other religious group of people.
Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ (C)
13 Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked His followers, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 They said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of Jonah, you are happy because you did not learn this from man. My Father in heaven has shown you this.
18 “And I tell you that you are Peter. On this rock I will build My church. The powers of hell will not be able to have power over My church. 19 I will give you the keys of the holy nation of heaven. Whatever you do not allow on earth will not have been allowed in heaven. Whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven.” 20 Then with strong words He told His followers to tell no one that He was the Christ.
Jesus Tells of His Death for the First Time (D)
21 From that time on Jesus began to tell His followers that He had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. These hard things would come from the leaders and from the head religious leaders of the Jews and from the teachers of the Law. He told them He would be killed and three days later He would be raised from the dead. 22 Peter took Jesus away from the others and spoke sharp words to Him. He said, “Never, Lord! This must not happen to You!” 23 Then Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are standing in My way. You are not thinking how God thinks. You are thinking how man thinks.”
Giving Up Riches
24 Jesus said to His followers, “If anyone wants to be My follower, he must forget about himself. He must take up his cross and follow Me. 25 If anyone wants to keep his life safe, he will lose it. If anyone gives up his life because of Me, he will save it. 26 For what does a man have if he gets all the world and loses his own soul? What can a man give to buy back his soul? 27 The Son of Man will come in the greatness of His Father with His angels. Then He will give to every man his pay as he has worked. 28 For sure, I tell you, there are some standing here that will not die until they see the Son of Man coming as King.”
Neighbors Do Not Want the Wall Built
6 It was told to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of those who hated us that I had built the wall again. They were told that the wall had no more open places, but I had not yet set up the doors in the gates. 2 So Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to hurt or kill me. 3 So I sent men with word to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 They sent word to me four times in this way, and I gave them the same answer. 5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same way for a fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is said among the nations, and Gashmu says that you and the Jews are planning to turn against the king. This is why you are building the wall again. It is said that you wish to be their king. 7 You have also chosen men who tell what will happen to speak to the people in Jerusalem about you, saying, ‘A king is in Judah!’ Now this will be told to the king. So come now, let us meet to speak with each other.” 8 Then I sent word to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done. You are making them up in your own mind.” 9 For they all wanted to make us afraid, thinking, “Their hands will become weak and the work will not be done.” But now, O God, strengthen my hands.
10 When I went into the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was at home said, “Let us meet together inside the house of God, and close the doors of the Lord’s house for they are coming to kill you. They are coming to kill you at night.” 11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? And could a man such as I go into the house of God to save his life? I will not go in.” 12 Then I understood that God had not sent him. He had spoken these words against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had paid him to do it. 13 He had been paid to try to make me afraid and to do as he said and sin, so they would have sinful things to say about me and put me to shame. 14 O my God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat by these works of theirs. And remember Noadiah and the rest of the men who tell what will happen who were trying to make me afraid.
The Wall Is Finished
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all those who hated us heard about it, all the nations around us were afraid and troubled. For they saw that this work had been done with the help of our God. 17 In those days the rulers of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were joined by promise to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah. And his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam, son of Berechiah. 19 Also they spoke about Tobiah’s good works in front of me, and told my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.
Timothy Starts to Work with Paul
16 Paul went down to the cities of Derbe and Lystra. There was a follower there named Timothy. His mother was a Jewish Christian and his father was a Greek. 2 The Christians in the city of Lystra and Iconium respected Timothy. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to go with him as a missionary. He took him and had Timothy go through the religious act of becoming a Jew because of the Jews who were in those places. Everyone knew his father was a Greek.
4 They went from city to city and told the Christians what the missionaries and the church leaders in Jerusalem had written for the Christians to do. 5 The churches were made stronger in the faith. More people were added each day.
Paul Is Called to Macedonia in a Dream
6 They went through the countries of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit kept them from preaching the Word of God in the countries of Asia. 7 When they came to the city of Mysia, they tried to go on to the city of Bithynia but the Holy Spirit would not let them go. 8 From Mysia they went down to the city of Troas.
9 That night Paul had a dream. A man was standing in front of him crying out, “Come over to the country of Macedonia and help us!” 10 After he had seen this, we agreed that God told us to go to Macedonia to tell them the Good News.
Lydia, the First Christian in Europe
11 We took a ship from the city of Troas to the city of Samothracia. The next day we went to the city of Neapolis. 12 From there we went to the city of Philippi. This was an important city in Macedonia. It was ruled by the leaders of the country of Rome. We stayed here for some days. 13 On the Day of Rest we went outside the city to a place down by the river. We thought people would be gathering there for prayer. Some women came and we sat down and talked to them. 14 One of the women who listened sold purple cloth. She was from the city of Thyatira. Her name was Lydia and she was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to hear what Paul said. 15 When she and her family had been baptized, she said to us, “If you think I am faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” She kept on asking. Then we went with her.
Paul Heals a Girl with a Demon
16 One day as we were going to the place to pray, we met a servant-girl who could tell what was going to happen in the future by a demon she had. Her owner made much money from her power. 17 She followed Paul and us crying out, “These are servants of the Highest God. They are telling you how to be saved from the punishment of sin.” 18 She did this many days. Paul was troubled. Then he turned and said to the demon in her, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I speak to you. Come out of her!” At once it left her.
Paul and Silas in Jail
19 The girl’s owners saw that they could not make money with her anymore. Then they took hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them to the leaders. This happened in the center of town where people gather. 20 After they brought them in front of the leaders, they said, “These men are Jews and are making a lot of trouble in our city. 21 They are teaching a religion that we Romans are not allowed to follow.”
22 Many people had gathered around Paul and Silas. They were calling out things against them. The leaders had the clothes of Paul and Silas taken off and had them beaten with sticks. 23 After they had hit them many times, they put Paul and Silas in prison. The soldiers told the man who watched the prison to be sure to keep them from getting away. 24 Because of this, they were put in the inside room of the prison and their feet were put in pieces of wood that held them.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs of thanks to God. The other men in prison were listening to them. 26 All at once the earth started to shake. The stones under the prison shook and the doors opened. The chains fell off from everyone.
27 The man who watched the prison woke up. He saw the prison doors wide open and thought the men in prison had gotten away. At once he pulled out his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul called to him, “Do not hurt yourself. We are all here!” 29 The man who watched the prison called for a light. Then he ran in and got down in front of Paul and Silas. He was shaking with fear. 30 As he took them outside, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said, “Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your family will be saved from the punishment of sin.”
32 Then Paul spoke the Word of God to him and his family. 33 It was late at night, but the man who watched the prison took Paul and Silas in and washed the places on their bodies where they were hurt. Right then he and his family were baptized. 34 He took Paul and Silas to his house and gave them food. He and all his family were full of joy for having put their trust in God.
Paul and Silas Are Allowed to Go Free
35 When it was day, the leaders sent a soldier to say, “Let these men go free.” 36 The man who watched the prison told this to Paul. He said, “The leaders have sent word to let you go free. Come out now and go without any trouble.”
37 Paul said, “No! They have beaten us in front of many people without a trial. We are Roman citizens and they have put us in prison. Now do they think they can send us away without anyone knowing? No! They must come themselves and take us out.” 38 The soldiers told this to the leaders. Then the leaders were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 They went themselves and told Paul and Silas they were sorry. Then they took them out and asked them to leave their city. 40 Paul and Silas went to Lydia’s house after they left the prison. They met with the Christians and gave them comfort. Then they went away from the city.
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