M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Samson and Delilah
16 Samson went down to Gaza; there he saw a prostitute and had sex with her.[a] 2 The Gazites were told, “Samson has come here,” so they surrounded the place and lay in ambush for him all night at the city gate. They kept silent all night, saying, “We will wait until the morning light, and then we will kill him.” 3 But Samson lay until the middle of the night; he got up in the middle of the night and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two door posts, tore them loose with the bar, put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the hill that is in front of[b] Hebron.
4 After this he fell in love with a woman in the wadi[c] of Sorek, and her name was Delilah. 5 And the rulers of the Philistines came up to her and said, “Entice him and find out what makes his strength so great, and how we can overpower him, so that we may bind him up in order to subdue him; each of us will give you eleven hundred pieces of silver. 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and with what can you be tied up to subdue you?” 7 Samson said to her, “If you tie me up with seven fresh bowstrings that are not dried up, I will become weak like everyone else.” 8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh bowstrings that were not dried up, and she tied him up with them. 9 The ambush was sitting in wait for her in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you Samson!” And he snapped the bowstrings just as flax fiber snaps when it comes close to fire. And the secret of his strength remained unknown. 10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you have mocked me and told me lies. Please tell me how you can be bound.” 11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with new ropes that have not been used, I will become weak and be like everyone else.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him up with them, and she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” (The ambush was sitting in an inner room.) But he snapped them from his arms like thread.
13 And Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told lies to me. Tell me how you can be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave seven locks of my head with warp-threads.”[d] 14 She fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And Samson woke up from his sleep and tore loose the loom pin of the web and the warp-threads.[e]
15 And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me how your strength is so great.” 16 And because she nagged him day after day with her words, and pestered him, his soul grew impatient to the point of death.[f] 17 So he confided everything to her,[g] and he said to her, “A razor has never touched[h] my head, for I am a Nazirite of God[i] from birth.[j] If I am shaved my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, like everyone else.
18 Delilah realized that he had confided in her,[k] so she sent and called the rulers of the Philistines, saying, “Come up one more time, for he has confided in me.”[l] And the rulers of the Philistines came up, and they brought the money with them.[m] 19 And she put him to sleep on her lap; then she called the men[n] and shaved off seven locks of his head. Then she began to subdue him,[o] and his strength went away from him. 20 And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he woke up from his sleep and said, “I will go out just like every other time and shake myself free,” but he did not know that Yahweh had left him. 21 And the Philistines seized him, gouged his eyes, and brought him to Gaza. They tied him up with bronze shackles, and he became a grinder in the prison.[p] 22 But the hair of his head began to grow back after it had been shaved off.
23 The rulers of the Philistines had gathered to sacrifice a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to rejoice. And they said, “Our god has given Samson our enemy into our hand.” 24 And the people saw him, and they praised their god, for they said, “Our god has given into our hand those who hate us, devastate our land, and have killed many of us.”[q] 25 After awhile, when their hearts[r] were merry, they said, “Call Samson and let him entertain us.” And they called Samson from the prison,[s] and he entertained them.[t] And they made him stand between the pillars. 26 Then Samson said to the servant who was holding him by his hand, “Position me so that I can touch the pillars on which the house[u] rests, so I can lean on them.” 27 And the house[v] was full of men and women, and all of the rulers of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women were on the roof watching the performance of Samson.
Samson’s Revenge
28 And Samson called to Yahweh and said, “My Lord Yahweh, remember me! Please give me strength this one time, O God, so that I can repay with one act of revenge to the Philistines for my eyes.” 29 And Samson reached out and held two of the middle pillars on which the house[w] was resting, and he leaned on them, one on his right and one on his left. 30 And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And he pushed[x] with all his strength, and the house[y] fell on the rulers and all of the people who were with him. And the dead whom he killed in his death were more than those he killed in his life.
31 His brothers and his whole family[z] came down and picked him up; and they brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father; he judged Israel twenty years.
Paul Travels Through Macedonia and Greece
20 Now after the turmoil had ceased, Paul summoned[a] the disciples, and after[b] encouraging them,[c] he said farewell and[d] departed to travel to Macedonia. 2 And after he[e] had gone through those regions and encouraged them at length,[f] he came to Greece 3 and stayed[g] three months. Because[h] a plot was made against him by the Jews as he[i] was about to set sail for Syria, he came to a decision to return through Macedonia. 4 And Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, and Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, and Gaius from Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia, were accompanying him. 5 And these had gone on ahead and[j] were waiting for us in Troas. 6 And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread and came to them at Troas within five days, where we stayed seven days.
Eutychus Falls from a Window
7 And on the first day of the week, when[k] we had assembled to break bread, Paul began conversing[l] with them, because he[m] was going to leave on the next day, and he extended his[n] message until midnight. 8 Now there were quite a few lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered. 9 And a certain young man named[o] Eutychus who was sitting in the window was sinking into a deep sleep while[p] Paul was conversing at length. Being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down and[q] threw himself on him, and putting his arms around him,[r] said, “Do not be distressed, for his life is in him.” 11 So he went up and broke bread,[s] and when he[t] had eaten and talked for a long time, until dawn, then he departed. 12 And they led the youth away alive, and were greatly[u] comforted.
The Voyage to Miletus
13 But we went on ahead to the ship and[v] put out to sea for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. For having made arrangements in this way, he himself was intending to travel by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and[w] went to Mitylene. 15 And we sailed from there on the next day, and[x] arrived opposite Chios. And on the next day we approached Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not be having to spend time in Asia.[y] For he was hurrying if it could be possible for him to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders
17 And from Miletus he sent word[z] to Ephesus and[aa] summoned the elders of the church. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them, “You know from the first day on which I set foot in Asia[ab] how I was the whole time with you— 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews— 20 how I did not shrink from proclaiming to you anything that would be profitable, and from teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks with respect to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now behold, bound by the Spirit I am traveling to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,[ac] 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in town after town, saying that bonds and persecutions await me. 24 But I consider my[ad] life as worth nothing[ae] to myself, in order to finish my mission and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you on this very day that I am guiltless of the blood of all of you,[af] 27 for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole purpose of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he obtained through the blood of his own Son.[ag] 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth[ah] in order to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you[ai] with tears.
32 “And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you[aj] up and to give you[ak] the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have desired no one’s silver or gold or clothing! 34 You yourselves know that these hands served to meet[al] my needs and the needs of[am] those who were with me. 35 I have shown you with respect to all things that by[an] working hard in this way it is necessary to help those who are in need, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”[ao]
36 And when he[ap] had said these things, he fell to his knees and[aq] prayed with them all. 37 And there was considerable weeping by all, and hugging[ar] Paul, they kissed him, 38 especially distressed at the statement that he had said, that they were going to see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon
29 And these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remainder of the exiles,[a] and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2 after the going out of Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the artisans,[b] and the smiths[c] from Jerusalem, 3 by the hand of Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, sent to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying,[d] 4 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles[e] whom I have deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 ‘Build houses and live in them,[f] and plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and father sons and daughters, and take for your sons wives, and give your daughters to men that they may bear sons and daughters, and multiply there, and you must not be few. 7 And seek the prosperity of the city where I have deported you, and pray on behalf of it to Yahweh, for in its prosperity you will have prosperity.’
8 For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst, and your diviners, deceive you, and you must not listen to your dreams that you are causing them to dream. 9 For they are prophesying falsely[g] to you in my name; I have not sent them,’ declares[h] Yahweh. 10 For thus says Yahweh, ‘As soon as the time has passed,[i] seventy years[j] for Babylon, I will attend to you, and I will fulfill my good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,’ declares[k] Yahweh, ‘plans for prosperity and not for harm, to give to you a future and a hope. 12 Then when you call me, and you come and pray to me, then I will listen to you. 13 When you search for me, then you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart. 14 And I will let myself be found by you,’ declares[l] Yahweh, ‘and I will restore your fortunes,[m] and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places to which I have driven you,’ declares[n] Yahweh, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from which I deported you.’
15 Because you have said, ‘Yahweh has raised up prophets for us in Babylon’— 16 for thus says Yahweh concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your fellow kinsmen who did not go with you into the exile— 17 thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Look, I am going to send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, and I will make them like rotten figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality. 18 And I will pursue them with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague, and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse, and a horror, and an object of hissing, and a disgrace among all the nations to which I have driven them, 19 because they did not listen to my words,’ declares[o] Yahweh, ‘when I sent to them my servants the prophets, sending over and over again,[p] and they would not listen,’ declares[q] Yahweh.
20 And you, hear the word of Yahweh, all you exiles[r] whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you in my name a lie, ‘Look, I am going to give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and he will strike them before your eyes. 22 And a curse will be taken up because of them by all the exiles[s] of Judah who are in Babylon, saying,[t] “May Yahweh make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done a disgraceful thing in Israel, and they have committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and they have spoken words[u] in my name, lies[v] that I have not commanded them, and I am he who knows, and I am a witness,’ declares[w] Yahweh.”
Shemaiah’s Letter to Zephaniah the Priest
24 And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall say, saying,[x] 25 “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying,[y] ‘Because you yourself sent a letter[z] in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying,[aa] 26 “Yahweh made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, so that there are overseers in the house of Yahweh over any mad man who exhibits the behavior of a prophet, and you must put him into the stocks and into the neck iron, 27 and so then why have you not rebuked Jeremiah the Anathothite who exhibits the behavior of a prophet for you? 28 Because[ab] he has sent to us in Babylon, saying,[ac] ‘It will be a long time, build houses and live in them,[ad] and plant gardens and eat their fruit.’”’” 29 And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing[ae] of Jeremiah the prophet.
Jeremiah’s Response to Shemaiah’s Letter
30 And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah, saying,[af] 31 “Send to all the exiles,[ag] saying,[ah] ‘Thus says Yahweh concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah prophesied to you, though I have not sent him, and he has made you trust in a lie,” 32 therefore[ai] thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his offspring. There will not be for him a man who lives in the midst of this people, and he will not see the good that I am going to do to my people,” declares[aj] Yahweh, “For he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh.”’”
Jesus Taken to Pilate
15 And as soon as morning came, after[a] formulating a plan, the chief priests, with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, tied up Jesus, led him[b] away, and handed him[c] over to Pilate. 2 And Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” And he answered him and[d] said, “You say so.” 3 And the chief priests began to accuse[e] him of many things. 4 So Pilate asked him again, saying, “Do you not answer anything? See how many charges[f] they are bringing against you!” 5 But Jesus did not answer anything further, so that Pilate was astonished.
Pilate Releases Barabbas
6 Now at each feast he customarily released[g] for them one prisoner whom they requested. 7 And the one named Barabbas[h] was imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the rebellion. 8 And the crowd came up and[i] began to ask him to do as he customarily did[j] for them. 9 So Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” 10 (For he realized that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.) 11 But the chief priests incited the crowd so that he would release for them Barabbas[k] instead. 12 So Pilate answered and said to them again, “Then what do you want me to do with the one whom you call the king of the Jews?” 13 And they shouted again, “Crucify him!” 14 And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”
15 So Pilate, because he[l] wanted to satisfy[m] the crowd, released for them Barabbas. And after[n] he had Jesus flogged, he handed him[o] over so that he could be crucified.
Jesus Is Mocked
16 So the soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called together the whole cohort. 17 And they put a purple cloak on him, and after[p] weaving a crown of thorns they placed it[q] on him. 18 And they began to greet him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 And they repeatedly struck[r] him on the head with a reed, and were spitting on him, and they knelt down[s] and[t] did obeisance to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes[u] on him, and they led him out so that they could crucify him.
Jesus Is Crucified
21 And they forced a certain man who was passing by, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), who was coming from the country, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place Golgotha (which is translated “Place of a Skull”). 23 And they attempted to give[v] him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his clothes among themselves[w] by[x] casting lots for them to see who should take what. 25 Now it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him was written, “The king of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.[y] 29 And those who passed by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it[z] in three days, 30 save yourself by[aa] coming down from the cross!” 31 In the same way also the chief priests, along with the scribes, were mocking him[ab] to one another, saying, “He saved others; he is not able to save himself! 32 Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe! Even those who were crucified with him were reviling him.
Jesus Dies on the Cross
33 And when[ac] the sixth hour came, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which is translated, “My God, my God, why[ad] have you forsaken me?”)[ae] 35 And some of the bystanders, when they[af] heard it,[ag] said, “Behold, he is summoning Elijah!” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it[ah] on a reed, and[ai] gave it[aj] to him to drink, saying, “Leave him[ak] alone! Let us see if Elijah is coming to take him down.” 37 But Jesus uttered a loud cry and[al] expired. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when[am] the centurion who was standing opposite him saw that he expired like this, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” 40 And there were also women observing from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger[an] and Joses,[ao] and Salome, 41 who used to follow[ap] him and serve him when he was in Galilee, and many other women who went up with him to Jerusalem.
Jesus Is Buried
42 And when it[aq] was already evening, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council who was also himself looking forward to[ar] the kingdom of God, came acting courageously and[as] went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 And Pilate was surprised that he was already dead, and summoning the centurion, asked him whether he had died already. 45 And when he[at] learned of it[au] from the centurion, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And after[av] purchasing a linen cloth and[aw] taking him down, he wrapped him[ax] in the linen cloth and placed him in a tomb that had been cut from the rock. And he rolled a stone over the entrance of the tomb. 47 Now Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was placed.
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