M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Abram and Circumcision, the Sign of the Covenant
17 When[a] Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, “I am El-Shaddai;[b] walk before me and be blameless 2 so that[c] I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you exceedingly.”[d] 3 Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying, 4 “As for me, behold, my covenant shall be with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 And I will make you exceedingly[e] fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land in which you are living as an alien,[f] all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God.”
9 And God said to Abraham, “Now as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and also with[g] your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 And at eight days of age[h] you shall yourselves circumcise every male belonging to your generations and the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner[i] who is not from your offspring. 13 You must certainly circumcise[j] the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner.[k] And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14 And as for any uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his[l] people. He has broken my covenant. 15 And God said to Abraham, “as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah shall be her name. 16 And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations.[m] Kings of peoples shall come[n] from her.” 17 And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old,[o] or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?”[p] 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 And God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him exceedingly.[q] He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time next year.” 22 When[r] he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born of his house, and all those acquired by his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the same day that God spoke with him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner,[s] were circumcised with him.
The Signs of the Times
16 And when[a] the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test him,[b] they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 So he answered and[c] said to them, “When[d] evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red,’ 3 and early in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy weather, because the sky is red and[e] darkening.’ You know how to evaluate correctly the appearance of the sky, but you are not able to evaluate[f] the signs of the times. 4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah!” And he left them and[g] went away.
Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
5 And when[h] the disciples arrived at the other side,[i] they had forgotten to take bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out for and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 7 So they were discussing this[j] among themselves, saying, “It is because we did not take bread.” 8 But knowing this,[k] Jesus said, “Why are you discussing among yourselves that you did not take bread,[l] you of little faith? 9 Do you not yet understand or do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up? 11 How do you not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 12 Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter’s Confession at Caesarea Philippi
13 Now when[m] Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,[n] he began asking[o] his disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, Some[p] say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 And Simon Peter answered and[q] said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” 17 And Jesus answered and[r] said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this[s] to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it! 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound[t] in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released[u] in heaven.” 20 Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was the Christ.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
21 From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised on the third day. 22 And Peter took him aside and[v] began to rebuke him, saying, God forbid,[w] Lord! This will never happen to you!” 23 But he turned around and[x] said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a cause for stumbling to me, because you are not intent on the things of God, but the things of people!”
Taking Up One’s Cross to Follow Jesus
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it. 26 For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and at that time he will reward each one according to what he has done.[y] 28 Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Enemies Foiled
6 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that no gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not erected doors in the gates— 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they planned to do evil to me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I am not able to come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you all?” 4 And they sent a message to me four times like this, and I returned an answer like this to them. 5 And Sanballat sent his servant with an open letter, another word like this to me a fifth time, in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It has been reported among the nations, and Gashmu also is saying it, that you and the Jews are considering rebellion. Therefore, truly you are building the wall and you are becoming their king, according to these words. 7 You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now it will be proclaimed to the king according to these words. Now, come and we will plan together.” 8 So I sent to him saying, “None of these words you have spoken has happened. You are indeed saying things created in your own mind”— 9 for all of them sought to frighten us, saying, “their hands will not do the work.” And now, God, strengthen my hands.
10 Now I went into the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, and he said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple; for they are coming to kill you—during the night they are coming to kill you.” 11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? And would a man like me go into the temple so that he can save his life? I will not go in!” 12 Then I look and realized God had not sent him; rather, he had spoken the prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 For this reason he was hired: to frighten me so that I would act and sin, so that they would have a bad report so they could taunt me. 14 Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to their works, and also Noadiah the prophetess, and the remainder of the prophets who were frightening me.
The Wall is Completed
15 So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When our enemies heard of this, all of the nations surrounding us were afraid and lost their confidence.[a] They knew that this work had been done with the help of our God. 17 Also, in those days the nobles of Judah increasingly sent their letters to Tobiah, and letters from Tobiah returned to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah. His son Jehohanan took as a wife the daughter of Meshullam son of Berekiah. 19 They also were speaking of his good deeds in my presence, and they were sending my words out to him. Tobiah sent letters to intimidate me.
Timothy Accompanies Paul and Silas
16 And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named[a] Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman but of a Greek father, 2 who was well spoken of by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this one to go with him, and he took him[b] and[c] circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek. 4 And as they went through the towns, they passed on to them to observe the rules that had been decided by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were growing in number every day.
Paul’s Vision of a Man of Macedonia
6 And they traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia.[d] 7 And when they[e] came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. 8 So going through Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul during the night: a certain Macedonian man was standing there and imploring him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and[f] help us!” 10 And when he had seen the vision, we wanted at once to go away to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
The Conversion of Lydia at Philippi
11 So putting out to sea from Troas, we sailed a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. And we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on the day of the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate beside the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and[g] spoke to the women assembled there. 14 And a certain woman named[h] Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a merchant dealing in purple cloth who showed reverence for God, was listening. The Lord opened her[i] heart to pay attention to what was being said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household, she urged us,[j] saying, “If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come to my house and[k] stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
16 And it happened that as[l] we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination[m] met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners by[n] fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us and[o] was crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” 18 And she was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed and turning around, said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out immediately.[p]
19 But when[q] her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and[r] dragged them[s] into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they[t] had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs that are not permitted for us to accept or to practice, because we[u] are Romans!” 22 And the crowd joined in attacking them, and the chief magistrates tore off their clothing and[v] gave orders to beat them[w] with rods. 23 And after they[x] had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them[y] into prison, giving orders to the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Having received such an order, he[z] put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.[aa]
The Conversion of the Philippian Jailer
25 Now about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and[ab] singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds[ac] were unfastened. 27 And after[ad] the jailer was awake and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his[ae] sword and[af] was about to kill himself, because he[ag] thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do no harm to yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And demanding lights, he rushed in and, beginning to tremble,[ah] fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them outside and[ai] said, “Sirs, what must I do so that I can be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!” 32 And they spoke the message of the Lord to him, together with all those in his house. 33 And he took them at that very hour of the night and[aj] washed their[ak] wounds, and he himself was baptized at once, and all those of his household.[al] 34 And he brought them up into his[am] house and[an] set a meal before them,[ao] and rejoiced greatly that he had believed in God with his whole household.
Paul and Silas Receive an Official Apology
35 And when it[ap] was day, the chief magistrates sent the police officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul: “The chief magistrates have sent an order[aq] that you should be released. So come out now and[ar] go in peace!” 37 But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without due process—men who are Roman citizens—and[as] threw us[at] into prison, and now they are wanting to release us secretly? Certainly not! Rather let them come themselves and[au] bring us out!” 38 So the police officers reported these words to the chief magistrates, and they were afraid when they[av] heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 And they came and[aw] apologized to[ax] them, and after they[ay] brought them[az] out they asked them[ba] to depart from the city. 40 And when they[bb] came out of the prison, they went to Lydia and when they[bc] saw them,[bd] they encouraged the brothers and departed.
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