M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Abraham Lies to Abimelech
20 And Abraham journeyed from (A)there toward the land of (B)the [a]Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in (C)Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “(D)She is my sister.” So (E)Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 (F)But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, “Behold, (G)you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is [b]married.” 4 (Now Abimelech had not come near her.) Then he said, “Lord, (H)will You kill a nation, even though righteous? 5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she (I)herself also said, ‘He is my brother.’ In (J)the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my [c]hands I have done this.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Indeed, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also [d](K)held you back from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 So now, return the man’s wife, for (L)he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
8 So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were greatly afraid. 9 (M)Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And [e]how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom (N)a great sin? You have done to me [f]things that ought not to be done.” 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you seen, that you have done this thing?” 11 And Abraham said, “Because I said, surely there is no (O)fear of God in this place, and (P)they will kill me because of my wife. 12 Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife; 13 and it happened when (Q)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is [g]the lovingkindness which you will show to me: [h]everywhere we go, (R)say of me, “He is my brother.”’” 14 (S)Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham and returned his wife Sarah to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “(T)Behold, my land is before you; [i]settle wherever it is good in your sight.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your (U)brother one thousand pieces of silver; behold, it is [j]your vindication before all who are with you, and before all you are [k]cleared.” 17 (V)And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they bore children. 18 (W)For Yahweh had utterly shut all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
Teaching About Divorce
19 [a](A)Now it happened that when Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and (B)came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and [b]large crowds followed Him, and (C)He healed them there.
3 And some Pharisees came to [c]Jesus, testing Him and saying, “(D)Is it lawful for a man to [d]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read (E)that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘(F)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and (G)the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They *said to Him, “(H)Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to [e]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, (I)whoever [f]divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman [g]commits adultery[h].”
10 The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “(J)Not all men can accept this statement, but (K)only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
Jesus Blesses Children
13 (L)Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “[i](M)Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for (N)the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 And after laying His hands on them, He departed from there.
The Rich Young Ruler
16 (O)And behold, someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have (P)eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but (Q)if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “(R)You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 (S)Honor your father and mother; and (T)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be [j]complete, go and (U)sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have (V)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
23 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, (W)it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, (X)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.” 25 And when the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “(Y)With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Many Who Are First Will Be Last
27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” 28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when (Z)the Son of Man will sit on [k]His glorious throne, (AA)you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And (AB)everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother [l]or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive [m]one hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life. 30 (AC)But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.
Israel Confesses Their Sins
9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of (A)this month the sons of Israel gathered (B)with fasting, in sackcloth and with (C)dirt upon them. 2 The (D)seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and (E)confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And (F)they rose up in their place and read from the book of the law of Yahweh their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God. 4 (G)Then Jeshua rose up on the Levites’ platform, along with Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.
5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Rise up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting!
O may Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 (H)You alone are Yahweh.
(I)You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
(J)You give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down to You.
7 You are Yahweh God,
(K)Who chose Abram
And brought him out from (L)Ur of the Chaldees,
And (M)gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found (N)his heart faithful before You,
And cut a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite and the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—
To give it to his seed.
And You (O)have established Your promise,
For You are righteous.
9 “(P)You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (Q)heard their cry by the [a]Red Sea.
10 Then You performed (R)signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that (S)they acted presumptuously toward them,
And (T)made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 (U)You split the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;
And (V)their pursuers You cast into the depths,
Like a stone into mighty waters.
12 And with a pillar of cloud (W)You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light for them the way
In which they were to go.
13 Then (X)You came down on Mount Sinai,
And (Y)spoke with them from heaven;
You gave them (Z)upright judgments and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 So You made known to them (AA)Your holy sabbath,
And commanded to them commandments, statutes and law,
By the hand of Your servant Moses.
15 You (AB)gave bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You (AC)brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You (AD)said to them to enter in order to possess
The land which You [b]swore to give them.
16 “But they, our fathers, (AE)acted presumptuously;
They [c](AF)became stiff-necked and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And (AG)did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them;
So they became stiff-necked and (AH)gave themselves a chief to return to their slavery [d]in Egypt.
But You are a God (AI)of lavish forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
18 Even when they (AJ)made for themselves
A molten calf
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And [e]committed great [f]blasphemies,
19 (AK)But You, in Your abundant compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
(AL)The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To light for them the way in which they were to go.
20 (AM)You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 Indeed, (AN)forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22 You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And apportioned them to them as a [g]boundary.
(AO)They took possession of the land of Sihon [h]the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 You made their sons numerous as (AP)the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had said for their fathers to enter and possess.
24 (AQ)So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And (AR)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them according to their desire.
25 (AS)They captured fortified cities and a [i](AT)rich [j]land.
They took possession of (AU)houses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Trees for food in abundance.
So they ate, were filled, and (AV)grew fat,
And (AW)reveled in Your great goodness.
26 “(AX)But they became disobedient and rebelled against You,
And (AY)cast Your law behind their backs
And (AZ)killed Your prophets who had (BA)testified to them
So that they might return to You,
And (BB)they [k]committed great [l]blasphemies.
27 Therefore You (BC)gave them into the hand of the ones who distressed them, and they afflicted them with distress,
But (BD)at the time of their distress they cried to You,
And You listened from heaven, and according to Your abundant compassion
You (BE)gave them saviors and they saved them from the hand of the ones that distressed them.
28 But (BF)as soon as they had rest, they returned to do evil before You;
Therefore You forsook them in the hand of their enemies, so they had dominion over them.
Then they returned and cried to You. And You listened from heaven,
And (BG)many times You delivered them according to Your compassion,
29 And (BH)testified to them in order to turn them back to Your law.
Yet (BI)they acted presumptuously and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your judgments,
By (BJ)which if a man does them, he shall live.
And they (BK)gave a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.
30 (BL)However, You bore with them for many years,
And (BM)testified to them by (BN)Your Spirit by the hand of Your prophets,
Yet they would not give ear.
So You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless, in Your abundant compassion You (BO)did not make a complete destruction of them or forsake them,
For You are (BP)a gracious and compassionate God.
32 “So now, our God, (BQ)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness,
Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,
Which has found us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all Your people,
(BR)From the days of the kings of Assyria to this day.
33 However, (BS)You are righteous in all that has come upon us;
For You have dealt in truth, but we have acted wickedly.
34 Now our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers did not do Your law
Or pay attention to Your commandments and Your testimonies with which You testified against them.
35 But (BT)they, in their own kingdom,
(BU)With Your abundant goodness which You gave them,
With the broad and rich land which You set before them,
Did not serve You or turn from their evil deeds.
36 Behold, (BV)we are slaves today,
And as to the land which You gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its goodness,
Behold, we are slaves in it.
37 (BW)Its abundant produce is for the kings
Whom You have put over us because of our sins;
They also rule over our bodies
And over our cattle according to their desire,
So we are in great distress.
An Agreement Is Cut
Paul in Ephesus
19 Now it happened that while (A)Apollos was at (B)Corinth, Paul passed through the (C)upper regions and came to (D)Ephesus and found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “(E)Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, (F)we have not even heard if the Holy Spirit is being received.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “(G)Into John’s baptism.” 4 Then Paul said, “(H)John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people (I)to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 And when they heard this, they were (J)baptized [a]in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had (K)laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began (L)speaking with tongues and (M)prophesying. 7 Now there were in all about twelve men.
8 And after he entered (N)the synagogue, he continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them (O)about the kingdom of God. 9 But when (P)some were becoming hardened and were not believing, speaking evil of (Q)the Way before the multitude, he left them and took away (R)the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for (S)two years, so that all who lived in [b](T)Asia heard (U)the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Miracles in Ephesus
11 And God was doing (V)extraordinary [c]miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 (W)so that cloths or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and (X)the evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish (Y)exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I implore you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 Now seven sons of one named Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them, subdued all of them, and utterly prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in (Z)Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Also, many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and were burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand [d](AA)pieces of silver. 20 So [e](AB)the word of the Lord (AC)was growing mightily and prevailing.
Riots in Ephesus
21 Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the [f]Spirit to (AD)go to Jerusalem (AE)after he had passed through (AF)Macedonia and (AG)Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, (AH)I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into (AI)Macedonia two of (AJ)those who ministered to him, (AK)Timothy and (AL)Erastus, he himself stayed in [g](AM)Asia for a while.
23 Now about that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning (AN)the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [h]Artemis, (AO)was bringing no little [i]business to the craftsmen; 25 these he gathered together with the workers of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is from this business. 26 And you see and hear that not only in (AP)Ephesus, but in almost all of (AQ)Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable crowd, saying that (AR)things made with hands are not gods. 27 And not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess [j]Artemis be considered as worthless and that she, whom all of (AS)Asia and (AT)the [k]world worship, is even about to be brought down from her majesty.”
28 When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is [l]Artemis of the (AU)Ephesians!” 29 And the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed [m]with one accord into the theater, dragging along (AV)Gaius and (AW)Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling (AX)companions from (AY)Macedonia. 30 And when Paul wanted to go into the [n]assembly, (AZ)the disciples would not let him. 31 Also some of the [o]Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to [p]venture into the theater. 32 (BA)So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the [q]meeting was in confusion and the majority did not know [r]for what reason they had come together. 33 And some of the crowd [s]concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having (BB)motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the [t]assembly. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single cry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 Now after calming the crowd, the city clerk *said, “Men of (BC)Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? 36 So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither (BD)robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and [u](BE)proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the [v]lawful meeting. 40 For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no cause for which we can give as an account for this disorderly gathering.” 41 After saying this he dismissed the meeting.
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