M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Evil Inclination of All Humanity
6 Now when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them, 2 then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good and they took for themselves wives, any they chose. 3 Then Adonai said, “My Spirit will not remain with humankind forever, since they are flesh. So their days will be 120 years. 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, whenever the sons of God came to the daughters of men, and gave birth to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown.
5 Then Adonai saw that the wickedness of humankind was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time. 6 So Adonai regretted that He made humankind on the earth, and His heart was deeply pained. 7 So Adonai said, “I will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the ground, from humankind to livestock, crawling things and the flying creatures of the sky, because I regret that I made them.”
8 But Noah found favor in Adonai’s eyes.
Parashat Noah
9 These are the genealogies of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless among his generation. Noah continually walked with God. 10 Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. 11 Now the earth was ruined before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God saw the earth, and behold it was ruined because all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
Instructions for the Ark
13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is coming before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Behold, I am about to bring ruin upon them along with the land. 14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood. You shall make the ark with compartments and smear pitch on it, both inside and out. 15 Now this is how you shall make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 You shall make a roof for the ark, and you shall finish it to within a cubit from the top. You shall put the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third stories. [a] 17 Now I am about to bring the flood—water upon the land—to destroy all flesh in which is the spirit of life from under the sky. Everything that is on the land will perish. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you. So you shall come into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 Also of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of everything—male and female—into the ark to keep alive with you. 20 Of the flying creatures according to their kind, of the livestock according to their kind, of all the crawling creatures of the ground according to their kind—two of everything will come to you to keep them alive. 21 As for you: take for yourself every kind of edible food and gather it to yourself. It will be food for you and for them.”
22 So Noah did according to all that God commanded him; he did so exactly.
Righteous Living
6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before others to be seen by them; otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So whenever you do tzedakah, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! 3 But when you do tzedakah, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your tzedakah may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.
5 “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! 6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room; and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you. 7 And when you are praying, do not babble on and on like the pagans; for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 “Therefore, pray in this way:
‘Our Father in heaven,
sanctified be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’[a]
14 “For if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
16 “And whenever you fast, do not become sad-faced like the hypocrites, for they neglect their faces to make their fasting evident to men. Amen, I tell you, they have their reward in full! 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting won’t be evident to men, but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.[b]
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[c] destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money.”[d]
Overcoming Worry with Trust
25 “So I say to you, do not worry about your life—what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26 “Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? [e] 28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. [f] 30 Now if in this way God clothes the grass—which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow—will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the pagans eagerly pursue all these things; yet your Father in heaven knows that you need all these. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Darius Endorses Rebuilding
6 King Darius then issued an order and a search was made in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:
“Memorandum:
3 “In the first year of Cyrus the king, King Cyrus issued a decree concerning the House of God at Jerusalem.
“Let the House be rebuilt as a place where sacrifices are offered. Let its foundations be laid. Its height is to be sixty cubits and its width sixty cubits 4 with three layers of large stones and one layer of timber. Let the expense be paid from the king’s house. 5 Also let the gold and silver vessels of the House of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the Temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought to the Temple in Jerusalem; you shall deposit them in the House of God.
6 “Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their colleagues, officials of Trans-Euphrates, all of you stay away from there. 7 Leave the work of this House of God alone! Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this House of God in its place.
8 “Moreover, I hereby issue a decree as to what you are to do for these elders of the Jews to rebuild this House of God. The complete costs are to be paid to these men from the royal treasury, from the tribute from Trans-Euphrates so that they are not hindered.
9 “Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams or lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven or wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the kohanim in Jerusalem—must be given to them daily without neglect, 10 so that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 “Furthermore, I decree that if anyone changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled out from his house, and let him be lifted up and impaled on it, and because of this, his house be made a pile of refuse. 12 May God, who makes His name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts his hand to cause such change to destroy this House of God in Jerusalem. I Darius have issued a decree; let it be carried out with diligence.”
Completion and Dedication of the Temple
13 Then Tattenai the governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates diligently carried it out, just as King Darius had sent. 14 So the elders of the Jews continued building and prospering through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and according to the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. 15 The Temple was completed on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 Then the sons of Israel—the kohanim, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the House of God with joy. 17 For the dedication of this House of God they offered 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 male lambs, and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 They appointed the kohanim in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions over the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
19 The exiles celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, 20 for every one of the kohanim and the Levites had purified themselves and all of them were ceremonially pure. They slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, and for their fellow kohanim and for themselves. 21 So those of Bnei-Yisrael who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the impurity of the nations of the land to seek Adonai the God of Israel. 22 They celebrated the Feast of Matzot with joy for seven days, because Adonai had given them joy and had changed the heart of the king of Assyria toward them so as to strengthen their hands in the work on the House of God, the God of Israel.
Appointed for Service
6 Now in those days, when the disciples were multiplying, grumbling arose[a] among the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily support. 2 So the Twelve called together the whole group of the disciples and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 So, brothers, select from among you seven reputable men, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the Word.”
5 The statement pleased the whole group; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Ruach ha-Kodesh, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. 6 They placed these men before the emissaries; and after praying, they laid hands on them.[b]
7 The word of God kept on spreading, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem greatly multiplied; even a great number of the kohanim were becoming obedient to the faith.
Stephen’s Testimony and Martyrdom
8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen—both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, as well as some from Cilicia and Asia[c]—stood up and began arguing with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Ruach by whom he was speaking.
11 Then they secretly instigated men into saying, “We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and against God!” 12 They also incited the people, the elders, and the Torah scholars; and they rushed at Stephen, seized him, and led him away to the Sanhedrin. 13 They set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking words against this holy place and the Torah. 14 For we have heard him saying that this Yeshua ha-Natzrati will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” 15 Watching him intently, everyone who was sitting in the Sanhedrin saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.