M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Ruth Meets Boaz
2 Now[a] Naomi had a relative of her husband,[b] a prominent rich man[c] from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after someone in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she went and came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. And she happened by chance upon the tract of field belonging to[d] Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech. 4 And look, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “May Yahweh be with you.” And they said to him, “May Yahweh bless you.” 5 And Boaz said to his servant in charge of the reapers,[e] “To whom does this young woman belong?” 6 And the servant in charge of the reapers[f] said, “She is a Moabite girl returning with Naomi from the countryside of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and let me gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.’ So she came and remained from the morning up to now. She is sitting for a little while in the house.”[g]
8 And Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully,[h] my daughter, go no longer to glean in another field. Moreover, do not leave from this one, but stay close[i] with my young women. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that they reap and go after them. Have I not ordered the servants not to bother you? And if you get thirsty, you shall go to the containers and drink from where the servants have drawn.” 10 And she fell on her face and bowed down to the ground and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes by recognizing me—for I am a foreigner?” 11 And Boaz answered and said to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband was fully told to me. How you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and you went to a people that you did not know before.[j] 12 May Yahweh reward your work and may a full reward be given to you from Yahweh, the God of Israel, under whose wings you came to take refuge.” 13 And she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your servant,[k] and I am not one of your servants.”
14 And Boaz said to her at mealtime,[l] “Come here and eat from the bread and dip your morsel in the wine vinegar.” So she sat beside the gleaners, and he offered to her roasted grain. And she ate and was satisfied, and she had some left over. 15 And she got up to glean, and Boaz instructed his servants saying, “Let her also glean between the sheaves and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out for her from your bundles and leave it so that she may glean—and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until the evening and she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. 18 And she picked it up and went to the town. Her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. And she took it out and gave to her what she had left over after being satisfied.[m] 19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today[n] and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.” And she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked[o] and said, “The name of the man who I worked with today is Boaz.” 20 And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Yahweh, whose loyal love has not forsaken the living or the dead.” And Naomi said to her, “The man is a close relative for us, he is one of our redeemers.” 21 And Ruth the Moabite said, “Also, he said to me, ‘You shall stay close with the servants which are mine until they have finished all of the harvest which is mine.’” 22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his maidservants so that you will not be bothered[p] in another field.” 23 So she stayed close with the maidservants of Boaz to glean until the end of the barley harvest and wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Paul and His Associates Sail for Rome
27 And when it was decided that we would sail away to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named[a] Julius of the Augustan[b] Cohort. 2 And we went aboard a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the places along the coast[c] of Asia[d] and[e] put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3 And on the next day, we put in at Sidon. And Julius, treating Paul kindly, allowed him[f] to go to his[g] friends to be cared for.[h] 4 And from there we put out to sea and[i] sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.[j] 5 And after we[k] had sailed across the open sea along Cilicia and Pamphylia, we put in at Myra in Lycia. 6 And there the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and[l] put us on board[m] it. 7 And sailing slowly, in many days and with difficulty we came[n] to Cnidus. Because[o] the wind did not permit us to go further, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 And sailing along its coast with difficulty, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea.
9 And because[p] considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast[q] was already over, Paul strongly recommended, 10 saying to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage is going to end[r] with disaster and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives!” 11 But the centurion was convinced even more by the shipmaster and the shipowner than by what was said by Paul. 12 And because[s] the harbor was unsuitable for spending the winter in, the majority decided on a plan to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could arrive at Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing toward the southwest and toward the northwest, to spend the winter there.[t]
A Violent Storm at Sea
13 And when[u] a southwest wind began to blow gently, because they[v] thought they could accomplish their purpose, they weighed anchor and[w] sailed close along Crete. 14 But not long afterward a wind like a hurricane, called the northeaster,[x] rushed down from it.[y] 15 And when[z] the ship was caught and was not able to head into the wind, we gave way and[aa] were driven along. 16 And running under the lee of a certain small island called Cauda, we were able with difficulty to get the ship’s boat under control. 17 After[ab] hoisting it up,[ac] they made use of supports to undergird the ship. And because they[ad] were afraid lest they run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and[ae] thus were driven along. 18 And because[af] we were violently battered by the storm, on the next day they began[ag] jettisoning the cargo,[ah] 19 and on the third day they threw overboard the gear of the ship with their own hands. 20 But when[ai] neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and with not a little bad weather confronting us,[aj] finally all hope was abandoned that we would be saved.
21 And because[ak] many were experiencing lack of appetite, at that time Paul stood up in their midst and[al] said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice not to put out to sea from Crete, and thus avoided this damage and loss! 22 And now I urge you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life from among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve came to me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! It is necessary for you to stand before Caesar, and behold, God has graciously granted you all who are sailing with you.’ 25 Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will be like this—according to the[am] way it was told to me. 26 But it is necessary that we run aground on some island.”
27 And when the fourteenth night had come, as[an] we were being driven in the Adriatic Sea about the middle of the night, the sailors suspected they were approaching some land.[ao] 28 And taking soundings, they found twenty fathoms. So going on a little further and taking soundings again, they found fifteen fathoms. 29 And because they[ap] were afraid lest somewhere we run aground against rough places, they threw down four anchors from the stern and[aq] prayed for day to come. 30 And when[ar] the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship and were lowering the ship’s boat into the sea, pretending as if they were going to lay out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved!” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.[as]
33 And until the day was about to come, Paul was urging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited anxiously, and[at] you have continued without eating, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is necessary for your preservation. For not a hair from your head will be lost.” 35 And after he[au] said these things and took bread, he gave thanks to God in front of them all, and after[av] breaking it,[aw] he began to eat. 36 So they all were[ax] encouraged and partook of food themselves. 37 (Now we were in all two hundred seventy six persons on the ship.) 38 And when they[ay] had eaten their fill of food, they lightened the ship by[az] throwing the wheat[ba] into the sea.
The Shipwreck
39 Now when day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay having a beach, onto which they decided to run the ship ashore if they could. 40 And slipping the anchors, they left them[bb] in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes[bc] of the steering oars. And hoisting the foresail to the wind that was blowing, they held course for the beach. 41 But falling into a place of crosscurrents,[bd] they ran the ship aground. And the bow stuck fast and[be] stayed immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence.[bf] 42 Now the plan of the soldiers was that they would kill the prisoners lest any escape by[bg] swimming away, 43 but the centurion, because he[bh] wanted to save Paul, prevented them from doing what they intended,[bi] and gave orders that those who were able to swim should jump in first to get to the land, 44 and then the rest, some of whom floated[bj] on planks and some of whom on anything that was from the ship. And in this way all were brought safely to the land.
The Babylonians Withdraw to Meet a Threat from Egypt
37 And king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had made king, reigned as king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim. 2 But he and his servants and the people of the land did not listen to the words of Yahweh that he spoke by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. 3 And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,[a] “Please pray for us to Yahweh our God.” 4 Now Jeremiah was coming and going out in the midst of the people and they had not put him in the house of imprisonment. 5 And the army of Pharaoh had come out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who were laying siege to Jerusalem, heard their report and they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 And the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying,[b] 7 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘This is what you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me, “Look, the army of Pharaoh, which set out to help you, is going to return to his land Egypt. 8 And the Chaldeans will return, and they will fight against this city, and they will capture it, and they will burn it with fire.”’ 9 Thus says Yahweh: ‘You must not deceive yourselves, saying,[c] “Surely the Chaldeans will go from us,” for they will not go. 10 For even if you struck the whole army of the Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and only men pierced through remained among them, each one in his tent, they would rise up and they would burn this city with fire.’”
Jeremiah is Arrested and Put in Prison
11 And then,[d] at the withdrawing of the army of the Chaldeans from Jerusalem before[e] the army of Pharaoh, 12 Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive a portion from there in the midst of the people. 13 And when[f] he was at the Gate of Benjamin, there was a sentry on duty[g] whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying,[h] “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” 14 And Jeremiah said, “That is a lie! I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But he would not listen to him. So Irijah seized Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 And the officials were angry at Jeremiah and they struck him. And they put him in prison,[i] in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for they had converted it to the prison[j]. 16 So Jeremiah came to the dungeon[k], even to the vaulted cells, and Jeremiah stayed there many days.
17 Then King Zedekiah sent and fetched him. And the king questioned him in secrecy in his house, and he said, “Is there a word from Yahweh?” And Jeremiah said, “There is.” And he said, “You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon.”
18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What did I do wrong to you, or to your servants, or to this people, that you have put me in prison?[l] 19 And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying,[m] ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20 Now then, my lord the king, please let my plea fall before you.[n] You must not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, so that I will not die there.” 21 So King Zedekiah commanded, and they handed Jeremiah over in the courtyard of the guard, and they gave to him a round loaf of bread from the street of the bakers every day[o] until the finishing of all the bread from the city. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.
A Prayer for God to Throw down the Wicked
10 Why, O Yahweh, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide[a] during times of distress?
2 In arrogance the wicked persecutes[b] the poor.
Let them be caught in the schemes that they devised,
3 for the wicked boasts about the desire of his heart,[c]
and the one greedy for gain curses and treats Yahweh with contempt.
4 With bald-faced pride[d] the wicked will not seek God.
There is no God in any of his thoughts.
5 His ways[e] endure at all times.[f]
Your judgments are aloof from him.
As for all his enemies, he scoffs at them.
6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved
throughout all generations,[g] during which I will have no trouble.”
7 His mouth is filled with cursing,
with deceits and oppression;
under his tongue are trouble and evil.
8 He sits in ambush in villages;
in the hiding places he kills the innocent.
His eyes lurk[h] for the helpless.
9 He lies in ambush secretly,[i] like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to seize the poor;
he seizes the poor by catching him in his net.
10 He is crushed;[j] he is bowed down;[k]
so[l] the helpless host[m] falls by his might.[n]
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He has hidden his face.
He never sees.”
12 Rise up, O Yahweh;
O God, lift up your hand.
Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked treat God with contempt?
He says in his heart, “You will not call me to account.”
14 But you have seen; indeed you have noted trouble and grief
to take it into your hand.
The helpless abandons himself upon you;
you have been the helper for the orphan.
15 Break the arm of the wicked,
and as for the evil man—
seek out his wickedness until you find none.
16 Yahweh is king forever and ever;
the nations have perished from his land.
17 The longing of the afflicted you have heard, O Yahweh.
You will make their heart secure. You will listen attentively[o]
18 to render judgment for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that a mere mortal from the earth will no longer cause terror.
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