M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

19 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He put his face to the ground ² and said, “My lords, come into the house of your servant. Stay the night, and wash your feet. Then you may rise early and go on your way.” But they said, “No, we will stay the night in the street.” ³ But he begged them, so they turned aside with him and went into his house. And he made a supper for them. He made bread without yeast, and they ate.

⁴ Before they went to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom both young and old gathered around the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we may lie with them.” ⁶ Lot went out the door to the men, and shut the door behind him. ⁷ He said, “My brothers, please do not be so sinful. ⁸ See, I have two daughters who have never had a man. Let me bring them out to you. And do to them whatever you want. But do nothing to these men, for they have come to be safe under my roof.” ⁹ But they said, “Get out of our way. This man came to live here from another land. And already he acts like a judge. Now we will do worse things to you than to them.” So they pushed hard against Lot and almost broke down the door. ¹⁰ But the two men put out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they blinded the men who were at the door of the house, both small and big. So the men became tired trying to find the door.

Lot Leaves Sodom

¹² Then the two men asked Lot, “Do you have any others here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, anyone you have in the city, bring them out of this place. ¹³ For we are about to destroy this place. Because the cry against its people has become so loud to the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So Lot went out to speak to his sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters. He said, “Get up! Get out of this place! For the Lord will destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was only joking.

¹⁵ When morning came, the angels told Lot to hurry. They said, “Get up. Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Or else you will be destroyed when the city is punished.” ¹⁶ But Lot was slow to move. So the men took him, his wife and two daughters by the hand and brought them out of the city. For the Lord had loving-pity for him. ¹⁷ When they had brought them out of the city, one of them said, “Run for your life! Do not look behind you. Do not stop until you are out of the valley. Run to the mountains or else you will be destroyed.” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “O, no, my lords! ¹⁹ See, your servant has found favor in your eyes. You have shown me great kindness in what you have done for me by saving my life. But I cannot run to the mountains. For I will run into danger and die. ²⁰ See, this town is near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me run there (is it not small?) and my life will be saved.” ²¹ The angel said to him, “See, I am doing what you ask. I will not destroy this town that you have spoken about. ²² Hurry and run there. For I cannot do anything until you get there.” So the name given to the town was Zoar.

²³ The sun had moved over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord poured fire from the heavens upon Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁵ He destroyed those cities, and all the valley, and all the people of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife behind him turned and looked toward the cities. And she was changed into salt.

²⁷ Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley. And he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke from a place where there is much fire. ²⁹ But when God destroyed the cities of the valley, He remembered Abraham. He sent Lot out of the center of the danger, when He destroyed the cities where Lot lived.

³⁰ Then Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters, and lived in the mountains for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He lived in a cave in the side of a mountain with his two daughters. ³¹ Then the first-born daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is old. And there is not a man on earth to marry us. ³² Come, let us make our father drink wine. Let us lie with him, so we may keep our family through our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁴ On the next day, the first-born said to the younger, “See, I lay with my father last night. Let us make him drink wine tonight also, then you go in and lie with him. And we may keep our family through our father.” ³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night also, then the younger daughter went and lay with him. He did not know when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁶ So both the daughters of Lot were going to have a child by their father. ³⁷ The first-born daughter gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ The younger daughter gave birth to a son also. She gave him the name Benammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

Jesus Teaches about the Faith of a Child ^(A)

18 At that time the followers came to Jesus. They said, “Who is the greatest in the holy nation of heaven?” ² Jesus took a little child and put him among them. ³ He said, “For sure, I tell you, unless you have a change of heart and become like a little child, you will not get into the holy nation of heaven. ⁴ Whoever is without pride as this little child is the greatest in the holy nation of heaven. ⁵ Whoever receives a little child because of Me receives Me. ⁶ But whoever is the reason for one of these little children who believe in Me to fall into sin, it would be better for him to have a large rock put around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.

⁷ “It is bad for the world because of that which makes people sin. Men will be tempted to sin. But it is bad for the one who is the reason for someone to sin. ⁸ If your hand or your foot is the reason you sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to go into life without a hand or a foot, than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the fire of hell. ⁹ If your eye is the reason you sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better for you to go into life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. ¹⁰ Be sure you do not hate one of these little children. I tell you, they have angels who are always looking into the face of My Father in heaven.

The Lost Sheep

¹¹ “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. ¹² What do you think about this? A man has one hundred sheep and one of them is lost. Will he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to look for that one lost sheep? ¹³ If he finds it, for sure, I tell you, he will have more joy over that one, than over the ninety-nine that were not lost. ¹⁴ I tell you, My Father in heaven does not want one of these little children to be lost.

What to Do with a Brother Who Sins Against You

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him what he did without other people hearing it. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back again. ¹⁶ But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other people with you. Every word may be remembered by the two or three who heard. ¹⁷ If he will not listen to them, tell the trouble to the church. If he does not listen to the church, think of him as a person who is as bad as one who does not know God and a person who gathers taxes.

¹⁸ “For sure, I tell you, whatever you do not allow on earth will not have been allowed in heaven. Whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I tell you this: If two of you agree on earth about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am with them.”

True Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and said, “Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him, up to seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I tell you, not seven times but seventy times seven!

²³ “The holy nation of heaven is like a king who wanted to find out how much money his servants owed him. ²⁴ As he began, one of the servants was brought to him who owed him very much money. ²⁵ He could pay nothing that he owed. So the king spoke the word that he and his wife and his children and all that he had should be sold to pay what he owed. ²⁶ The servant got down on his face in front of the king. He said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ ²⁷ Then the king took pity on his servant and let him go. He told him he did not have to pay the money back.

²⁸ “But that servant went out and found one of the other servants who owed him very little money. He took hold of his neck and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’ ²⁹ The other servant got down at his feet and said, ‘Give me time, and I will pay you all the money.’ ³⁰ But he would not. He had him put in prison until he could pay the money.

³¹ “When his other servants saw what had happened, they were very sorry. They came and told the king all that was done. ³² Then the king called for the first one. He said, ‘You bad servant! I forgave you. I said that you would not have to pay back any of the money you owed me because you asked me. ³³ Should you not have had pity on the other servant, even as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ The king was very angry. He handed him over to men who would beat and hurt him until he paid all the money he owed. ³⁵ So will My Father in heaven do to you, if each one of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”

Ezra Reads the Law

8 Then all the people gathered as one man at the open space in front of the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the writer to bring the book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had given to Israel. ² And on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the religious leader brought the Law to the gathering of men, women, and all who were able to understand. ³ He read from it in the open space by the Water Gate from early morning until noon. He read it in front of men and women and those who were able to understand and all the people listened to the book of the Law. ⁴ Ezra the writer stood on a raised floor of wood which they had made for this reason. Beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right. And Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam stood on his left. ⁵ All the people saw Ezra open the book, for he was standing above all of them. And all the people stood up when he opened it. ⁶ Then Ezra gave honor and thanks to the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, “Let it be so!” while lifting up their hands. They bowed low with their faces to the ground and worshiped the Lord. ⁷ Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people understand the Law, while the people stayed in their places. ⁸ They read from the book of the Law of God, telling the meaning of it so that they understood what was read.

⁹ Then Nehemiah, who was the ruler, and Ezra the religious leader and writer, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all of them, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not cry or be filled with sorrow.” For all the people were crying when they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰ Ezra said to them, “Go, eat and drink what you enjoy, and give some to him who has nothing ready. For this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be sad for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ¹¹ So the Levites made all the people quiet, saying, “Be quiet, for this is a holy day. Do not be sad.” ¹² And all the people went away to eat and drink, to share what they had, and to show their joy. They understood the words which had been made known to them.

¹³ On the second day the heads of the family groups of all the people, the religious leaders, and the Levites were gathered to Ezra the writer, that they might better understand the words of the Law. ¹⁴ They found written in the Law how the Lord had said through Moses that the sons of Israel should live in tents during the special supper of the seventh month. ¹⁵ So they made it known in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other trees with leaves, to make tents, as it is written.” ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought them and made tents for themselves, each on his roof. And they made tents in their open spaces, in the open spaces of the house of God, in the place by the Water Gate, and in the place by the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷ All the people who had returned from Babylon made tents and lived in them. The sons of Israel had not done so since the days of Joshua the son of Nun. And there was much joy. ¹⁸ Every day Ezra read from the book of the Law of God, from the first day to the last day. They held the special supper seven days, and on the eighth day there was a special gathering, as it is written in the Law.

Paul Goes to Corinth

18 After that Paul went from the city of Athens and came to the city of Corinth. ² He met a Jew there named Aquila who was born in the country of Pontus. He had lived in the country of Italy a short time. His wife Priscilla was with him. Claudius, who was the leader of the country, had told all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla. ³ They made tents for a living. Paul did the same kind of work so he stayed with them and they worked together.

⁴ Every Day of Rest he would go to the Jewish place of worship and teach both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ Silas and Timothy came down from the country of Macedonia. Then Paul used all his time preaching to the Jews. He taught that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶ But they worked against Paul and said bad things about him. He shook his clothes and said, “Whatever happens to you is your own doing. I am free from your guilt. From now on I will go to the people who are not Jews.”

⁷ Paul went from there and came to the house of a man named Titus Justus who worshiped God. His house was next to the Jewish place of worship. ⁸ Crispus was the leader of the Jewish place of worship. He and his family believed in the Lord. Many of the people of Corinth who heard Paul became Christians and were baptized.

⁹ Paul saw the Lord in a dream one night. He said to Paul, “Do not be afraid. Keep speaking. Do not close your mouth. ¹⁰ I am with you. No one will hurt you. I have many people in this city who belong to Me.” ¹¹ For a year and a half Paul stayed there and taught them the Word of God.

¹² Gallio was leader of the country of Greece. All the Jews worked against Paul and brought him in front of the court. ¹³ They said, “This man is trying to get people to worship God against the Law.” ¹⁴ Paul was ready to speak, but Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were something bad or a wrong doing, I would listen to you. ¹⁵ But because it is about words and names and your own Law, you will have to take care of it yourselves. I do not want to judge who is right or wrong in things like this.” ¹⁶ And he sent them out of his court.

¹⁷ Then all the Greek people took Sosthenes, the leader of the Jewish place of worship, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio did not let this trouble him.

Paul Goes Back to Antioch

¹⁸ Paul stayed in Corinth many days longer. Then he said good-bye and left the followers. He went by ship to the country of Syria with Priscilla and Aquila going with him. In the city of Cenchrea he had his hair cut short because of a promise he had made to God. ¹⁹ They came to the city of Ephesus. Priscilla and Aquila stayed there. Paul went to the Jewish place of worship and argued with the Jews. ²⁰ They wanted him to stay longer but he would not. ²¹ As he left them, he said, (*“I must go to the special supper at Jerusalem.) I will return again to you if God wants me to.” Then he got on a ship and left Ephesus. ²² He stopped in the city of Caesarea to greet the people in the church. Then he went down to the city of Antioch. ²³ Paul stayed there for some time. Then he went from city to city through the countries of Galatia and Phrygia. In each place he helped the Christians become strong in the faith.

Aquila and Priscilla Help Apollos in Ephesus

²⁴ A Jew by the name of Apollos had come to Ephesus. He was from the city of Alexandria. He could talk to people about the Holy Writings very well. ²⁵ He had been taught in the way of the Lord. And with a strong desire in his heart, he taught about Jesus. What he said was true, but he knew only about the baptism of John.

²⁶ He began to speak without fear in the Jewish place of worship. Aquila and Priscilla heard him. They took him to their house and taught him much more about the things of God. ²⁷ Apollos wanted to cross over to Greece. The Christians wrote a letter to the followers there asking them to be good to him. When he got there, he was much help to those who had put their trust in Christ. ²⁸ In front of everyone he proved with great power that the Jews were wrong. He showed from the Holy Writings that Jesus was the Christ.