M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Isaac Sends Jacob Away
28 Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You are not to marry any of the Canaanite women. 2 Quick! Go to Paddan Aram. Go to the home of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and get yourself a wife from there from the daughters of your uncle Laban. 3 May El Shadday bless you, make you fertile, and increase the number of your descendants so that you will become a community of people. 4 May he give to you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham so that you may take possession of the land where you are now living, the land that Elohim gave to Abraham.”
5 Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan Aram. Jacob went to live with Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah. She was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him away to Paddan Aram to get a wife from there. He learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had commanded him not to marry any of the Canaanite women. 7 He also learned that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had left for Paddan Aram. 8 Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of Canaanite women. 9 So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth, in addition to the wives he had.
Jacob’s First Encounter with God
10 Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 When he came to a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones from that place, put it under his head, and lay down there. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway set up on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven. He saw the angels of Elohim going up and coming down on it. 13 Yahweh was standing above it, saying, “I am Yahweh, the Elohim of your grandfather Abraham and the Elohim of Isaac. I will give the land on which you are lying to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust on the earth. You will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. Through you and through your descendant every family on earth will be blessed. 15 Remember, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will also bring you back to this land because I will not leave you until I do what I’ve promised you.”
16 Then Jacob woke up from his sleep and exclaimed, “Certainly, Yahweh is in this place, and I didn’t know it!” 17 Filled with awe, he said, “How awe-inspiring this place is! Certainly, this is the house of Elohim and the gateway to heaven!”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had put under his head. He set it up as a marker and poured olive oil on top of it. 19 He named that place Bethel [House of God]. Previously, the name of the city was Luz.
20 Then Jacob made a vow: “If Elohim will be with me and will watch over me on my trip and give me food to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then Yahweh will be my Elohim. 22 This stone that I have set up as a marker will be the house of Elohim, and I will surely give you a tenth of everything you give me.”
The Death of Judas
27 Early in the morning all the chief priests and the leaders of the people decided to execute Yeshua. 2 They tied him up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
3 Then Judas, who had betrayed Yeshua, regretted what had happened when he saw that Yeshua was condemned. He brought the 30 silver coins back to the chief priests and leaders. 4 He said, “I’ve sinned by betraying an innocent man.”
They replied, “What do we care? That’s your problem.”
5 So he threw the money into the temple, went away, and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests took the money and said, “It’s not right to put it into the temple treasury, because it’s blood money.” 7 So they decided to use it to buy a potter’s field for the burial of strangers. 8 That’s why that field has been called the Field of Blood ever since. 9 Then what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true, “They took the 30 silver coins, the price the people of Israel had placed on him, 10 and used the coins to buy a potter’s field, as the Lord had directed me.”
Pilate Questions Jesus(A)
11 Yeshua stood in front of the governor, Pilate. The governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Yes, I am,” Yeshua answered.
12 While the chief priests and leaders were accusing him, he said nothing. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear how many charges they’re bringing against you?”
14 But Yeshua said absolutely nothing to him in reply, so the governor was very surprised.
The Crowd Rejects Jesus(B)
15 At every Passover festival the governor would free one prisoner whom the crowd wanted. 16 At that time there was a well-known prisoner by the name of Barabbas. 17 So when the people gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which man do you want me to free for you? Do you want me to free Barabbas or Yeshua, who is called Christ?” 18 Pilate knew that they had handed Yeshua over to him because they were jealous.
19 While Pilate was judging the case, his wife sent him a message. It said, “Leave that innocent man alone. I’ve been very upset today because of a dream I had about him.”
20 But the chief priests and leaders persuaded the crowd to ask for the release of Barabbas and the execution of Yeshua.
21 The governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to free for you?”
They said, “Barabbas.”
22 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with Yeshua, who is called Christ?”
“He should be crucified!” they all said.
23 Pilate asked, “Why? What has he done wrong?”
But they began to shout loudly, “He should be crucified!”
24 Pilate saw that he was not getting anywhere. Instead, a riot was breaking out. So Pilate took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. He said, “I won’t be guilty of killing this man. Do what you want!”
25 All the people answered, “The responsibility for killing him will rest on us and our children.”
26 Then Pilate freed Barabbas for the people. But he had Yeshua whipped and handed over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus(C)
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Yeshua into the palace and gathered the whole troop around him. 28 They took off his clothes and put a bright red cape on him. 29 They twisted some thorns into a crown, placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. They knelt in front of him and made fun of him by saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” 30 After they had spit on him, they took the stick and kept hitting him on the head with it.
The Crucifixion(D)
31 After the soldiers finished making fun of Yeshua, they took off the cape and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32 On the way they found a man named Simon. He was from the city of Cyrene. The soldiers forced him to carry Yeshua’s cross.
33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 They gave him a drink of wine mixed with a drug called gall. When he tasted it, he refused to drink it. 35 After they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by throwing dice. 36 Then they sat there and kept watch over him. 37 They placed a written accusation above his head. It read, “This is Yeshua, the king of the Jews.”
38 At that time they crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and the other on his left.
39 Those who passed by insulted him. They shook their heads 40 and said, “You were going to tear down God’s temple and build it again in three days. Save yourself! If you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 The chief priests together with the experts in Moses’ Teachings and the leaders made fun of him in the same way. They said, 42 “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. So he’s Israel’s king! Let him come down from the cross now, and we’ll believe him. 43 He trusted God. Let God rescue him now if he wants. After all, this man said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the criminals crucified with him were insulting him the same way.
Jesus Dies on the Cross(E)
45 At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 About three o’clock Yeshua cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” 47 When some of the people standing there heard him say that, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 One of the men ran at once, took a sponge, and soaked it in some vinegar. Then he put it on a stick and offered Yeshua a drink. 49 The others said, “Leave him alone! Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 Then Yeshua loudly cried out once again and gave up his life.
51 Suddenly, the curtain in the temple was split in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split open. 52 The tombs were opened, and the bodies of many holy people who had died came back to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after he had come back to life, and they went into the holy city where they appeared to many people.
54 An army officer and those watching Yeshua with him saw the earthquake and the other things happening. They were terrified and said, “Certainly, this was the Son of God!”
55 Many women were there watching from a distance. They had followed Yeshua from Galilee and had always supported him. 56 Among them were Mary from Magdala, Mary (the mother of James and Joseph), and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.
Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb(F)
57 In the evening a rich man named Joseph arrived. He was from the city of Arimathea and had become a disciple of Yeshua. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Yeshua. Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
59 Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. 60 Then he laid it in his own new tomb, which had been cut in a rock. After rolling a large stone against the door of the tomb, he went away. 61 Mary from Magdala and the other Mary were sitting there, facing the tomb.
The Chief Priests and Pharisees Secure Jesus’ Tomb
62 The next day, which was the day of worship, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together and went to Pilate. 63 They said, “Sir, we remember how that deceiver said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be brought back to life.’ 64 Therefore, give the order to make the tomb secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been brought back to life.’ Then the last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 Pilate told them, “You have the soldiers you want for guard duty. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
66 So they went to secure the tomb. They placed a seal on the stone and posted the soldiers on guard duty.
4 When Mordecai found out about everything that had been done, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went into the middle of the city and cried loudly and bitterly. 2 He even went right up to the king’s gate. (No one could enter it wearing sackcloth.)
3 In every province touched by the king’s command and decree, the Jews went into mourning, fasting, weeping, and wailing. Many put on sackcloth and ashes.
Esther’s Problem
4 Esther’s servants and eunuchs came and informed her about Mordecai. The queen was stunned. She sent clothing for Mordecai to put on in place of his sackcloth, but he refused to accept it. 5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to serve her. She commanded him to go to Mordecai and find out what was going on and why.
6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai informed him about everything that had happened to him. He told him the exact amount of silver that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasury to destroy the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the decree that was issued in Susa. The decree gave permission to exterminate the Jews. Hathach was supposed to show it to Esther to inform and command her to go to the king, beg him for mercy, and appeal to him for her people. 9 So Hathach returned and told Esther what Mordecai had said.
10 Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s advisers and the people in the king’s provinces know that no one approaches the king in the throne room without being summoned. By law that person must be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to him will he live. I, myself, have not been summoned to enter the king’s presence for 30 days now.” 12 So Esther’s servants told Mordecai what Esther said.
13 Mordecai sent this answer back to Esther, “Do not imagine that just because you are in the king’s palace you will be any safer than all the rest of the Jews. 14 The fact is, even if you remain silent now, someone else will help and rescue the Jews, but you and your relatives will die. And who knows, you may have gained your royal position for a time like this.”
15 Esther sent this reply back to Mordecai, 16 “Assemble all the Jews in Susa. Fast for me: Do not eat or drink at all for three entire days. My servants and I will also fast. After that, I will go to the king, even if it is against a royal decree. If I die, I die.”
17 Mordecai did just as Esther had commanded him.
Paul Sails for Rome
27 When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were turned over to an army officer. His name was Julius, and he belonged to the emperor’s division. 2 We set sail on a ship from the city of Adramyttium. The ship was going to stop at ports on the coast of the province of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from the city of Thessalonica, went with us.
3 The next day we arrived at the city of Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to visit his friends and receive any care he needed. 4 Leaving Sidon, we sailed on the northern side of the island of Cyprus because we were traveling against the wind. 5 We sailed along the coast of the provinces of Cilicia and Pamphylia and arrived at the city of Myra in the province of Lycia. 6 In Myra the officer found a ship from Alexandria that was on its way to Italy and put us on it. 7 We were sailing slowly for a number of days. Our difficulties began along the coast of the city of Cnidus because the wind would not let us go further. So at Cape Salmone, we started to sail for the south side of the island of Crete. 8 We had difficulty sailing along the shore of Crete. We finally came to a port called Fair Harbors. The port was near the city of Lasea.
9 We had lost so much time that the day of fasting had already past. Sailing was now dangerous, so Paul advised them, 10 “Men, we’re going to face a disaster and heavy losses on this voyage. This disaster will cause damage to the cargo and the ship, and it will affect our lives.” 11 However, the officer was persuaded by what the pilot and the owner of the ship said and not by what Paul said. 12 Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men decided to sail from there. They hoped to reach the city of Phoenix somehow and spend the winter there. (Phoenix is a harbor that faces the southwest and northwest winds and is located on the island of Crete.)
13 When a gentle breeze began to blow from the south, the men thought their plan would work. They raised the anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete.
14 Soon a powerful wind (called a northeaster) blew from the island. 15 The wind carried the ship away, and we couldn’t sail against the wind. We couldn’t do anything, so we were carried along by the wind. 16 As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda, we barely got control of the ship’s lifeboat. 17 The men pulled it up on deck. Then they passed ropes under the ship to reinforce it. Fearing that they would hit the large sandbank off the shores of Libya, they lowered the sail and were carried along by the wind. 18 We continued to be tossed so violently by the storm that the next day the men began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day they threw the ship’s equipment overboard. 20 For a number of days we couldn’t see the sun or the stars. The storm wouldn’t let up. It was so severe that we finally began to lose any hope of coming out of it alive.
21 Since hardly anyone wanted to eat, Paul stood among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete. You would have avoided this disaster and loss. 22 Now I advise you to have courage. No one will lose his life. Only the ship will be destroyed. 23 I know this because an angel from the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood by me last night. 24 The angel told me, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul! You must present your case to the emperor. God has granted safety to everyone who is sailing with you.’ 25 So have courage, men! I trust God that everything will turn out as he told me. 26 However, we will run aground on some island.”
The Shipwreck
27 On the fourteenth night we were still drifting through the Mediterranean Sea. About midnight the sailors suspected that we were approaching land. 28 So they threw a line with a weight on it into the water. It sank 120 feet. They waited a little while and did the same thing again. This time the line sank 90 feet. 29 Fearing we might hit rocks, they dropped four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for morning to come.
30 The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They let the lifeboat down into the sea and pretended they were going to lay out the anchors from the front of the ship. 31 Paul told the officer and the soldiers, “If these sailors don’t stay on the ship, you have no hope of staying alive.” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
33 Just before daybreak Paul was encouraging everyone to have something to eat. “This is the fourteenth day you have waited and have had nothing to eat. 34 So I’m encouraging you to eat something. Eating will help you survive, since not a hair from anyone’s head will be lost.” 35 After Paul said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat. 36 Everyone was encouraged and had something to eat. 37 (There were 276 of us on the ship.) 38 After the people had eaten all they wanted, they lightened the ship by dumping the wheat into the sea.
39 In the morning they couldn’t recognize the land, but they could see a bay with a beach. So they decided to try to run the ship ashore. 40 They cut the anchors free and left them in the sea. At the same time they untied the ropes that held the steering oars. Then they raised the top sail to catch the wind and steered the ship to the shore. 41 They struck a sandbar in the water and ran the ship aground. The front of the ship stuck and couldn’t be moved, while the back of the ship was broken to pieces by the force of the waves.
42 The soldiers had a plan to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming away and escaping. 43 However, the officer wanted to save Paul, so he stopped the soldiers from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim ashore. 44 Then he ordered the rest to follow on planks or some other pieces of wood from the ship. In this way everyone got to shore safely.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.