M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Elimelech’s Family Goes to Moab
1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons.(A) 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon[a] and Chilion;[b] they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.(B) 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Naomi and Her Moabite Daughters-in-Law
6 Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food.(C) 7 So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me.(D) 9 The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.” Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud.(E) 10 They said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters. Why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands?(F) 12 Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, 13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.”(G) 14 Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
15 So she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you,
to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people
and your God my God.(H)
17 Where you die, I will die,
and there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.(I)
19 So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them,
“Call me no longer Naomi;[c]
call me Mara,[d]
for the Almighty[e] has dealt bitterly with me.(J)
21 I went away full,
but the Lord has brought me back empty;
why call me Naomi
when the Lord has dealt harshly with[f] me
and the Almighty[g] has brought calamity upon me?”(K)
22 So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.(L)
Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself:(A)
2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.(B)
4 “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.(C) 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I have belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee.(D) 6 And now I stand here on trial on account of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors,(E) 7 a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship day and night. It is for this hope, Your Excellency,[a] that I am accused by Jews!(F) 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?(G)
9 “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.[b](H) 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.(I) 11 By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme, and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.(J)
Paul Tells of His Conversion
12 “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,(K) 13 when at midday along the road, Your Excellency,[c] I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. 14 When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew[d] language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’(L) 15 I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me[e] and to those in which I will appear to you.(M) 17 I will rescue you from your people and from the gentiles—to whom I am sending you(N) 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’(O)
Paul Tells of His Preaching
19 “After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance.(P) 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.(Q) 22 To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place:(R) 23 that the Messiah[f] must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the gentiles.”(S)
Paul Appeals to Agrippa to Believe
24 While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!”(T) 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.(U) 26 Indeed, the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely, for I am certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you so quickly persuading me to become a Christian?”(V) 29 Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains.”(W)
30 Then the king got up and with him the governor and Bernice and those who had been seated with them, 31 and as they were leaving they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”(X) 32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to the emperor.”(Y)
The Scroll Read in the Temple
36 In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:(A) 2 Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today.(B) 3 It may be that, when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.(C)
4 Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words that the Lord had spoken to him.(D) 5 And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, “I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord,(E) 6 so you go, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. 7 It may be that their plea will come before the Lord and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.”(F) 8 And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.
9 In the fifth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the towns of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.(G) 10 Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.(H)
The Scroll Read in the Palace
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah son of Shaphan heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll,(I) 12 he went down to the king’s house, into the secretary’s chamber, and all the officials were sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the officials.(J) 13 And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people.(K) 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah son of Shelemiah son of Cushi to say to Baruch, “Bring the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them.(L) 15 And they said to him, “Sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.(M) 16 When they heard all the words, they turned to one another in alarm and said to Baruch, “We certainly must report all these words to the king.”(N) 17 Then they questioned Baruch, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” 18 Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” 19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”(O)
Jehoiakim Burns the Scroll
20 Leaving the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the secretary, they went to the court of the king, and they reported all the words in the hearing of the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and all the officials who stood beside the king.(P) 22 Now the king was sitting in his winter apartment (it was the ninth month), and there was a fire burning in the brazier before him.(Q) 23 As Jehudi read three or four columns, he would cut them off with a penknife and throw them into the fire in the brazier, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier. 24 Yet neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was alarmed, nor did they tear their garments.(R) 25 Even when Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them.(S) 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son and Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. But the Lord hid them.(T)
Jeremiah Dictates Another
27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah:(U) 28 Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned.(V) 29 And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, “Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and will cut off from it human beings and animals?”(W) 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He shall have no one to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night.(X) 31 And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem and on the people of Judah all the disasters with which I have threatened them, but they would not listen.(Y)
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the secretary Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire, and many similar words were added to them.
A Word of Comfort to Baruch
45 The word that the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah:(A) 2 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, “Woe is me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.”(B) 4 Thus you shall say to him, “Thus says the Lord: I am going to break down what I have built and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land.(C) 5 And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them, for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the Lord, but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.”(D)
Psalm 9
God’s Power and Justice
To the leader: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
1 [a]I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.(A)
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.(B)
3 When my enemies turned back,
they stumbled and perished before you.(C)
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment.(D)
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.(E)
6 The enemies have vanished in everlasting ruins;
their cities you have rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.(F)
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.(G)
8 He judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with equity.(H)
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.(I)
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.(J)
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.
Declare his deeds among the peoples.(K)
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.(L)
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord.
See what I suffer from those who hate me;
you are the one who lifts me up from the gates of death,(M)
14 so that I may recount all your praises
and, in the gates of daughter Zion,
rejoice in your deliverance.(N)
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.(O)
16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion. Selah(P)
17 The wicked shall depart to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.(Q)
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor perish forever.(R)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.