M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

2 So the heavens and the earth, and all their hosts, were finished.

² On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made.

Adam and Eve

⁴ This is the account^[a] of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ⁵ no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. ⁶ But a mist^[b] arose from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. ⁷ Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

⁸ The Lord God planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it encompasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² The gold of that land is good; bdellium and the onyx stone are there. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it encompasses the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris; it goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam^[c] there was not found a helper suitable for him.

²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. Then He took one of his ribs and closed up the place with flesh. ²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ Then Adam said,

²⁴ Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

²⁵ They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The Visit of the Wise Men

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem, ² saying, “Where is He who was born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

³ When Herod the king heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. ⁵ They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

⁷ Then Herod, when he had privately called the wise men, carefully inquired of them what time the star appeared. ⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word again, so that I may come and worship Him also.”

⁹ When they heard the king, they departed. And the star which they saw in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the young Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great excitement. ¹¹ And when they came into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary, His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² But being warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ Now when they departed, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word. For Herod will seek the young Child to kill Him.”

¹⁴ When he rose, he took the young Child and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt, ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod, to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called My Son.”^[b]

The Killing of the Infants

¹⁶ Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was utterly furious and sent forth and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and the surrounding region, from two years old and under, based on the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. ¹⁷ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet:

The Return From Egypt

¹⁹ But when Herod was dead, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, ²⁰ saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.”

²¹ And he rose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Nevertheless, being warned by God in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. ²³ And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

The List of Returning Exiles^(A)

2 Now these are the people of the province who went up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and came again to Jerusalem and Judah. Each returned to his own city. ² Those who came with Zerubbabel were Joshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of men of the people of Israel were:

³⁶ Those who came with the priests were:

⁶⁸ As some of the heads of households came to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, they volunteered to erect the foundations for the house of God. ⁶⁹ They gave after their ability to the treasure of the work sixty-one thousand drachmas^[a] of gold, five thousand pounds^[b] of silver, and one hundred priestly garments.

⁷⁰ So the priests and the Levites, along with some of the people, the singers, the porters, and those donated as temple servants, lived in their cities, with the result that all Israel resettled in their cities.

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ There appeared to them tongues as of fire, being distributed and resting on each of them, ⁴ and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.

⁵ Now dwelling in Jerusalem were Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When this sound occurred, the crowd came together and were confounded, because each man heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷ They were all amazed and marveled, saying to each other, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ How is it that we hear, each in our own native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the mighty works of God.” ¹² They were all amazed and perplexed, saying to each other, “What does this mean?”

¹³ Others mocking said, “These men are full of new wine.”

Peter’s Speech at Pentecost

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all you who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to my words. ¹⁵ For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with powerful works and wonders and signs, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know. ²³ You have taken Him, who was handed over to you by the ordained counsel and foreknowledge of God, and by lawless hands have crucified and killed Him, ²⁴ whom God raised up by loosening the pull of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. ²⁵ For David says concerning Him:

²⁹ “Brothers, I may speak confidently to you concerning the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ But being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of his seed according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, ³¹ he foresaw this and spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. ³² God raised up this Jesus, of which we all are witnesses. ³³ Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David has not ascended to the heavens, yet he says:

³⁶ “Therefore, let all the house of Israel assuredly know that God has made this Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷ When they heard this, they were stung in the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰ With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” ⁴¹ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Life Among the Believers

⁴² They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. ⁴³ Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. ⁴⁴ All who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and goods and distributed them to all, according to their need. ⁴⁶ And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.