M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord's covenant with Abram
15 After this, the Lord spoke to Abram in a dream. God said, ‘Do not be afraid Abram. I will keep you safe. I myself will give you many good gifts.’
2 But Abram said, ‘Almighty Lord, there is one gift that I want. I still have no children. When I die, Eliezer of Damascus will receive everything that I have. 3 Because you have not given me any children, understand this: Everything that I have will one day belong to a servant in my house.’[a]
4 The Lord gave Abram this message: ‘No! Eliezer will not be the one who receives your things. You will have your own son. He will be the one who receives everything that you have.’
5 The Lord took Abram outside. He said to Abram, ‘Look up at the sky. Count the stars. They are too many for you to count!’ Then God said, ‘That is how many descendants you will have.’
6 Abram believed the Lord. As a result, the Lord accepted Abram as right with him.
7 The Lord also said to Abram, ‘I am the Lord. I brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to bring you to this land. I am giving it to you. It will belong to you.’ 8 But Abram said, ‘Almighty Lord, how can I be sure that this land will belong to me?’
9 The Lord said to Abram, ‘Bring a young cow, a goat and a male sheep to offer them to me. Each animal must be three years old. Also bring a dove and a young pigeon.’
10 Abram brought the three animals and the two birds to offer to God. Abram cut each animal in two pieces. He put the halves opposite each other. But he did not cut the birds in two pieces. 11 Some birds flew down to eat the animals' dead bodies. But Abram sent them away.
12 When the sun was going down, Abram started to sleep. Suddenly he became very afraid because it was dark all around him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Be sure of this: Your descendants will live in a foreign country. They will be strangers there. People will do bad things to them and they will become slaves. This will continue for 400 years. 14 But I will punish the people of that country who give them trouble. After this, your descendants will leave that country. They will take many valuable things with them. 15 But as for you, Abram, you will have a long life. When you die, you will have peace in your mind. 16 After four generations, your descendants will come back here to Canaan. At that time, I will punish the Amorites because they do very bad things. But the time has not yet arrived that I will punish them.’[b]
17 Then the sun went down and it became dark. Abram saw a pot that had coals in it. The coals were burning and making smoke. There was also a branch that burned with bright fire. These passed between the halves of the animals that Abram had cut in two pieces.[c]
18 On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram. The Lord promised, ‘I give this land to your descendants. The land starts from the river of Egypt and continues as far as the River Euphrates. 19 These people live in the land: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.’[d]
Herod's soldiers kill John the Baptist
14 At that time, people told Herod about the things that Jesus was doing.[a] 2 Herod said to his servants, ‘That man Jesus is really John the Baptist. John died but he has become alive again. That is the reason why this man can do these very powerful things.’
3 Before that, Herod had commanded his soldiers, ‘Take hold of John. Tie his hands and feet and put him in prison.’ Herod had done this because of his wife Herodias. Before Herod married her, she was the wife of Herod's brother Philip. 4 John had said to Herod, ‘Herodias was your brother's wife. So it is not right for you to have her as your wife.’[b]
5 Herod wanted to tell his soldiers that they must kill John. But the people thought that John was a prophet from God. So Herod was afraid to kill him.
6 One day, when it was Herod's birthday, he asked people to come to a special meal. The daughter of Herodias danced in front of him and his visitors. Her dance caused Herod to become very happy. 7 He said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything that you want. I make a strong promise that I will give it to you.’ 8 Herodias suggested to her daughter, ‘Ask Herod to give you John's head.’ So the girl said to Herod, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist on a plate.’ 9 Then Herod felt sad. But he had made a special promise to the girl, and his visitors had heard him. So he sent his men to do what she had asked for. 10 He said to a soldier, ‘Go to the prison and cut off John's head.’ 11 The soldier did this. Then he brought the head on a plate and he gave it to the girl. The girl took it and gave it to her mother.
12 After this, John's disciples went to the prison. They took away John's body and they buried it. Then they went and they told Jesus what had happened.
Jesus gives food to 5,000 men and their families
13 Jesus heard about what had happened to John. After that, he went away from that place. He sailed in a boat to a quiet place where he could be alone. But the crowd heard where Jesus had gone. So they left their towns and they went on land to the place where he was going. 14 Jesus got out of the boat. He saw a large crowd there on the shore. He felt sorry for them. There were sick people among them and he made them well again.
15 When it was almost evening, Jesus' disciples came to speak to him. They said to him, ‘We are in a place where there are no houses. It will soon be dark. Send the crowd away now, so that they can go to the villages near here. Then they can buy some food for themselves to eat.’
16 Jesus said to them, ‘The people do not need to go away. You should give them some food to eat.’
17 But the disciples said, ‘We only have five loaves of bread and two fish.’
18 ‘Bring the bread and fish here to me,’ Jesus said. 19 Then he said to the large crowd, ‘Sit down on the grass.’ He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and he thanked God for the bread and the fish. Then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave the pieces of bread to his disciples, and they gave them to the crowd. 20 Then everybody ate. They all had enough food and they were not hungry any more. Then the disciples picked up all the bits of food that people had not eaten. They filled 12 baskets with little bits of bread and fish. 21 About 5,000 men ate the bread and fish. Women and children also ate it with them.[c]
Jesus walks on the water
22 Immediately after this, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Get in the boat and sail across to the other side of the lake.’ Jesus said that he would first send the crowd away. Then he would also leave. 23 So Jesus sent the crowd away. After they had gone, he went up on a mountain alone to pray. When it became dark, he was still there alone. 24 At this time the boat with the disciples in it was in the middle of the lake. It was a long way from the land. The wind was blowing against the boat and the water was hitting it.
25 Then, when it was nearly dawn, Jesus walked on the water towards his disciples. 26 The disciples saw him walking on the water. They were very frightened. ‘It is a spirit,’ they said. They screamed loudly because they were afraid.
27 But immediately Jesus said to them. ‘Be brave! It is I. Do not be afraid.’
28 Peter replied, ‘Lord, is it really you? If it is you, say to me, “Come here! Walk to me on the water.” ’
29 Jesus said to him, ‘Come to me.’
So Peter got down out of the boat. He walked on the water and he came towards Jesus. 30 But then Peter saw that the wind was still blowing strongly. He became afraid and he began to go down into the water. He shouted to Jesus, ‘Lord, save me!’
31 Immediately, Jesus put out his hand and he took hold of Peter. He said to Peter, ‘You should trust me more than you do. Why did you not believe that I could help you?’
32 Jesus and Peter climbed up into the boat. Then the strong wind stopped. 33 The disciples who were in the boat went down on their knees. They praised Jesus and they said to him, ‘It is true. You are really the Son of God.’
34 They sailed across the lake and reached the shore at a place called Gennesaret.[d]
35 The people who lived in that place recognized Jesus. So they went to tell everyone who lived in places near there. People brought all their sick friends to him. 36 The sick people asked Jesus for help. They wanted to touch only the edge of his coat. Every sick person who touched him became well again.
The Jews' enemies try to stop the work
4 Sanballat heard that we were building the wall. He was very angry and upset. He laughed at the Jews. 2 His officers and Samaria's army were with him. He said to them, ‘Those Jews have great ideas, but they are weak. How will they ever repair the wall? Will they give sacrifices to their God? Will that help them to repair the wall in one day? They will never build anything from this heap of stones that fire has destroyed!’
3 Tobiah the Ammonite was with him. Tobiah said, ‘The wall that the Jews are trying to build is very weak. Even if a little fox climbs up on it, the stones would all fall down again!’
4 So I prayed, ‘Hear us, our God. Our enemies think that we are fools. Make them seem like fools themselves! Let their enemies take them away as slaves. 5 Do not forgive their sins. Do not say that they are not guilty. They have insulted us when we are trying to build.’
6 The people worked hard because they wanted to build the wall. As a result, the wall all round the city soon became half as high as the old wall.
7 Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arab people, the Ammonites and the people who came from Ashdod all heard that the work was continuing. They could see that we were repairing the holes in the wall. So they were very angry. 8 They met together to decide what they should do. They decided to attack Jerusalem so that there would be trouble. 9 So we continued to pray to our God. We also put guards on the walls in the day and the night, to keep the city safe.
10 Then the people in Judah complained, ‘Our workers are becoming weak. There are so many stones and rubbish! We cannot finish the work on the wall!’
11 At the same time, our enemies were boasting, ‘Before the Jews even see us, we will attack them. We will kill them before they know what is happening. That will be the end of their work on the wall!’
12 The Jews who lived near our enemies warned us many times. They told us that our enemies would attack us wherever we went.
13 So I put some men behind the lowest part of the wall where there were holes. Each of the families had guards with swords, spears, bows and arrows. 14 I went round the city and I looked at everything. I said to the leaders, the officers and the people, ‘Do not be afraid of our enemies. Remember that our Lord God is great and powerful. Fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters and your wives. Fight to keep your homes safe.’
15 Our enemies realized that we knew what they had decided to do. God had stopped them from doing what they wanted. So each of us went back to our work on the wall.
16 After that day, half of my men continued to do the work on the wall. The other half carried spears, shields and bows. They also wore armour. The officers stood behind the people while they built the wall. 17 The men who were carrying materials held them with one hand. They held a weapon in their other hand. 18 All of the builders had swords tied on their belts while they were building. There was a man who would make a sound with his trumpet if there was danger. He stayed near me.
19 I said to the leaders, the officers and all the people, ‘It is hard work and the wall is very long. So we are not working near to each other. 20 When you hear the sound of the trumpet, come to join us here. Our God will fight on our behalf.’
21 We continued to work on the wall every day, from dawn until it became dark. Half of the men held spears to be our guards. 22 I said to the people, ‘Everybody must stay in Jerusalem each night, together with those who are helping them. Then they can be our guards to keep us safe at night. During each day they can do the work.’
23 I did not take my clothes off at night time, and neither did any of my friends. The workers and the guards who were with me kept their clothes on all the time. Everyone carried his own weapon whatever he was doing.
This is what happened in Iconium
14 When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Iconium, they did the same as they had done before. They went to the Jewish meeting place and they spoke God's message there. They spoke very clearly, so that many Jews and Gentiles believed in Jesus. 2 But some of the Jews refused to believe God's message. They told the Gentiles that they too should not believe it. The Jews put bad thoughts into the minds of the Gentiles so that they became angry against the believers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium for a long time. They were not afraid to tell people the message about the Lord Jesus. The Lord gave them power to do miracles. These showed the people that God was with Paul and Barnabas and that their message was true. They taught that God saves people because he is very kind. 4 The people in the city did not agree with each other. Some of them believed the message from the apostles, Paul and Barnabas. But some people agreed with the Jews who did not believe their message. 5 Some of the Jews and the Gentiles met with their leaders. They decided to do bad things to Paul and Barnabas. They wanted to throw stones at them and kill them. 6 Paul and Barnabas heard that these people wanted to hurt them. So they left Iconium quickly and they went to Lystra and Derbe, and other places near there. These cities were in the region called Lycaonia. 7 In all these places, they continued to tell people the good news about Jesus.
This is what happened in Lystra
8 There was a man who lived in Lystra. His feet had been weak since he was born. So he had never been able to walk. 9 While Paul was speaking God's message, this man listened to him. Paul looked at him carefully. He could see that the man believed in Jesus. The man believed that God could make him well. 10 So Paul said to him loudly, ‘Stand up on your feet!’ Immediately the man jumped up and he began to walk about.
11 The crowd saw what Paul had done. They began to shout in their own language that the people of Lycaonia spoke. ‘The gods have become like men and they have come down from the sky to us,’ they said. 12 They called Barnabas ‘Zeus’. They called Paul ‘Hermes’, because he was the one who spoke the message to the people.[a]
13 The temple of Zeus was very near to the town. The priest who worked there brought bulls and flowers to the town gate. Many people had come together in that place. The priest and the crowd wanted to kill the animals as sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas.[b]
14 Paul and Barnabas heard what the people wanted to do. So they tore their own clothes to show that they were very upset. They ran into the middle of the crowd, 15 and they shouted, ‘Stop! You people should not do this. We are only men like you. We are not gods. We came here to tell you some good news about the great God. You must stop worshipping these gods who are really nothing. Instead worship the God who lives. He made the sky, the earth and the sea. He also made everything that is in them.
16 In past times, God let people everywhere do what they wanted to do. 17 But God has showed everybody very clearly what he is like. He has showed you that he is kind. He causes the rain to fall from the sky. He causes the plants to give you food at the right time each year. He gives you plenty of food to eat. In these ways he makes you very happy.’
18 Even when Paul had said all this, the people still wanted to offer sacrifices to him and Barnabas. Finally Paul and Barnabas were able to stop them.
19 Then some Jews arrived there in Lystra. They had travelled from Antioch and from Iconium. They talked to the people, so that they turned against Paul. Then these Jews threw stones at Paul to kill him. They pulled his body to outside the town. They thought that he was dead. 20 But some believers came out from the town and they stood around Paul. Then Paul stood up! He went back with them into the town.
Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch in Syria
The next day, Paul and Barnabas left Lystra and they went to Derbe. 21 While they were there, they told people the good news about Jesus. Many people in Derbe became believers. After that, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra. From there they went back to Iconium. Then they returned to Antioch in the region of Pisidia. 22 In all these towns, they taught the believers to be strong. They said to them, ‘Continue to trust in the Lord Jesus! All believers will have trouble at different times. That will continue to happen in our lives. But one day we will go into the kingdom of God where he rules.’
23 Paul and Barnabas chose leaders for each group of believers in these places. They fasted and they prayed to God for some time about this. They asked the Lord Jesus to help these leaders who trusted in him.
24 Then Paul and Barnabas travelled through Pisidia. They arrived in Pamphylia. 25 They spoke God's message to the people in Perga. Then they went down to the coast, to the town of Attalia.
26 From there they went in a ship back to Antioch. That was the place where the believers had chosen them to do God's work. They had asked God to help Paul and Barnabas in this work. Now Paul and Barnabas had finished this work and they had returned home. 27 When they arrived, they sent a message to the group of believers in Antioch. When all the believers had come together, Paul and Barnabas told them about their journey. They told the believers about everything that God had helped them to do. They said, ‘God has made it possible now for Gentiles to believe in Jesus.’
28 Paul and Barnabas stayed there with the believers in Antioch for a long time.
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