M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Call of Abram

12 And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. ² And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. ³ And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”

Abram’s Journey

⁴ And Abram went out as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old^[a] when he went out from Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew,^[b] and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan. ⁶ And Abram traveled through the land up to the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. ⁷ And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. ⁸ And he moved on from there to the hill country, east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent at Bethel on the west, and at Ai on the east. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. And he called on the name of Yahweh. ⁹ And Abram kept moving on,^[c] toward the Negev. ¹⁰ And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ And it happened that as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance, ¹² and it shall happen that, if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ then they will kill me but let you live. ¹³ Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. Then I will live^[d] on account of you.” ¹⁴ And it happened that as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. ¹⁵ And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. ¹⁶ And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷ Then^[e] Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that was with him away.

A Question from John the Baptist

11 And it happened that when Jesus had finished giving orders to his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and to preach in their towns. ² Now when^[a] John^[b] heard in prison the deeds of Christ, he sent word^[c] by his disciples ³ and^[d] said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered and^[e] said to them, “Go and^[f] tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have good news announced to them.^{[g] 6} And whoever is not offended by me is blessed.”

⁷ Now as^[h] these were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in the houses of kings. ⁹ But why did you go out? To see a prophet?^[i] Yes, I tell you, and even more than a prophet! ¹⁰ It is this man about whom it is written:

¹¹ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist. But the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² But from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is treated violently, and the violent claim^[k] it. ¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it,^[l] he is Elijah, the one who is going to come. ¹⁵ The one who has ears, let him hear!

¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another, ¹⁷ saying,

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a man who is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”^[m]

Woes Pronounced on Unrepentant Towns

²⁰ Then he began to reproach the towns in which the majority of his miracles had been done, because they did not repent: ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² Nevertheless I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and for Sidon on the day of judgment than for you! ²³ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. ²⁴ Nevertheless I tell you that it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you!”

A Yoke That Is Easy

²⁵ At that time Jesus answered and^[n] said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to young children.^{[o] 26} Yes, Father, for to do so was your gracious will.^{[p] 27} All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom^[q] the Son wants to reveal him.^{[r] 28} Come to me, all of you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to carry and my burden is light.”

Nehemiah’s Prayer for the People

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.

It happened in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year, that I myself was in the citadel in Susa, ² and one of my brothers, Hanani, came with some men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had escaped the captivity and about Jerusalem. ³ They replied to me, “The survivors in the province who have survived the captivity are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned in the fire.”

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens. ⁵ I said, “O Yahweh God of the heavens, the great and awesome one who keeps the covenant and loyal love for the ones who love him and for those who keep his commands. ⁶ Please, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I am praying before you by day and by night for your servants, the Israelites,^[a] and confessing the sins of the Israelites^[b] that we have sinned against you. I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have certainly offended you and have not kept the commands, regulations, and judgments that you have commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Please, remember the word that you have commanded to your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you act unfaithfully I will scatter you all among the nations. ⁹ But if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, even though all of your outcasts are at the furthest parts of heaven, I will gather them and bring them to the place which I have chosen to make my name dwell.’ ¹⁰ They are your servants and your people whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight to revere in your name. Please, let your servant be successful this day and give him compassion before this man.”

I was cupbearer for the king.

Peter’s Explanation to the Church in Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had accepted the word^[a] of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision took issue with him, ³ saying, “You went to men who were uncircumcised^[b] and ate with them!” ⁴ But Peter began and^[c] explained it^[d] to them in an orderly sequence, saying, ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision—an object something like a large sheet coming down, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. ⁶ As I^[e] looked intently into it, I was considering it,^[f] and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild animals and the reptiles and the birds of the sky. ⁷ And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!’ ⁸ But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord! For nothing common or unclean has ever entered into my mouth!’ ⁹ But the voice replied from heaven for the second time, ‘The things which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!’ ¹⁰ And this happened three times, and everything was pulled up into heaven again. ¹¹ And behold, at once three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea approached the house in which we were staying.^{[g] 12} And the Spirit told me to accompany them, not hesitating at all. So these six brothers also went with me, and we entered into the man’s house. ¹³ And he reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter, ¹⁴ who will speak words to you by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵ And as I was beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as also on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’^{[h] 17} Therefore if God gave them the same gift as also to us when we^[i] believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?” ¹⁸ And when they^[j] heard these things, they became silent^[k] and praised God, saying, “Then God has granted the repentance leading to life to the Gentiles also!”

Developments in the Church in Antioch

¹⁹ Now those who had been scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, proclaiming the message to no one except Jews alone. ²⁰ But some of them were men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they^[l] came to Antioch, began to speak^[m] to the Hellenists^[n] also, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²² And the report came to the attention^[o] of the church that was in Jerusalem about them, and they sent out Barnabas as far as^[p] Antioch, ²³ who, when he^[q] arrived and saw the grace of God, rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts,^{[r] 24} because he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large number were added^[s] to the Lord. ²⁵ So he departed for Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶ And when he^[t] found him,^[u] he brought him^[v] to Antioch. And it happened to them also that they met together for a whole year with the church and taught a large number of people.^[w] And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

²⁷ Now in those days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them named^[x] Agabus stood up and^[y] indicated by the Spirit that a great famine was about to come over the whole inhabited earth (which took place in the time of Claudius). ²⁹ So from the disciples, according to their ability to give,^[z] each one of them determined to send financial aid^[aa] for support to the brothers who lived in Judea, ³⁰ which they also did, sending the aid^[ab] to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.