M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abraham and Abimelech

20 Abraham traveled from there to the land of the Negev, and made his home between Kadesh and Shur. Then he lived for a time in Gerar. ² Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her for his wife. ³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said, “See, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken. For she is already married.” ⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will You destroy a nation who is without blame? ⁵ Did the man not tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a heart of honor and with hands that are not guilty.”

⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a heart of honor. And I kept you from sinning against Me. I did not let you touch her. ⁷ So now return the man’s wife. For he is one who speaks for Me. Then he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you and all who are yours will die for sure.”

⁸ So Abimelech got up early in the morning. He called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham and said, “What have you done to us? What wrong have I done to you, that made you bring a great sin upon me and my nation? You have done to me what should not have been done.” ¹⁰ Abimelech said to Abraham, “What made you do such a thing?” ¹¹ Abraham said, “I did it because I thought there was no fear of God in this place. I thought they would kill me because of my wife. ¹² And it is true she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not of my mother. And she became my wife. ¹³ When God made me go from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is the kindness you must show me. Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” ¹⁴ Then Abimelech gave to Abraham sheep and cattle, and men and women servants. And he returned his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “See, my land is in front of you. Make your home any place you want.” ¹⁶ He said to Sarah, “See, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is to pay you for all that has happened. Your honor is made right in the eyes of all men.”

¹⁷ So Abraham prayed to God. And God healed Abimelech, his wife and the women who served him, so that they gave birth to children. ¹⁸ For the Lord had stopped all births in the house of Abimelech because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.

What Jesus Taught about Marriage and Divorce ^(A)

19 When Jesus had finished talking, He went from the country of Galilee. He came to the part of the country of Judea which is on the other side of the Jordan River. ² Many people followed Him and He healed them there.

³ The proud religious law-keepers came to Jesus. They tried to trap Him by saying, “Does the Law say a man can divorce his wife for any reason?” ⁴ He said to them, “Have you not read that He Who made them in the first place made them man and woman? ⁵ It says, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will live with his wife. The two will become one.’ ⁶ So they are no longer two but one. Let no man divide what God has put together.”

⁷ The proud religious law-keepers said to Jesus, “Then why did the Law of Moses allow a man to divorce his wife if he put it down in writing and gave it to her?” ⁸ Jesus said to them, “Because of your hard hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives. It was not like that from the beginning. ⁹ And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sex sins, and marries another, is guilty of sex sins in marriage. Whoever marries her that is divorced is guilty of sex sins in marriage.”

¹⁰ His followers said to Him, “If that is the way of a man with his wife, it is better not to be married.” ¹¹ But Jesus said to them, “Not all men are able to do this, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For there are some men who from birth will never be able to have children. There are some men who have been made so by men. There are some men who have had themselves made that way because of the holy nation of heaven. The one who is able to do this, let him do it.”

Jesus Gives Thanks for Little Children ^(B)

¹³ Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray for them. The followers spoke sharp words to them. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me. Do not stop them. The holy nation of heaven is made up of ones like these.” ¹⁵ He put His hands on them and went away.

Jesus Teaches about Keeping the Law ^(C)

¹⁶ A man came to Jesus and asked, “Good Teacher, what good work must I do to have life that lasts forever?” ¹⁷ Jesus said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One Who is good. If you want to have life that lasts forever, you must obey the Laws.” ¹⁸ The man said to Him, “What kind of laws?” Jesus said, “You must not kill another person. You must not be guilty of sex sins. You must not steal. You must not lie. ¹⁹ Show respect to your father and your mother. And love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ²⁰ The young man said to Jesus, “I have obeyed all these Laws. What more should I do?” ²¹ Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to poor people. Then you will have riches in heaven. Come and follow Me.” ²² When the young man heard these words, he went away sad for he had many riches.

The Danger of Riches

²³ Jesus said to His followers, “For sure, I tell you, it will be hard for a rich man to get into the holy nation of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the holy nation of heaven.” ²⁵ When His followers heard this, they could not understand it. They said, “Then who can be saved from the punishment of sin?” ²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “This cannot be done by men. But with God all things can be done.”

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “We have given up everything and have followed You. Then what will we have?” ²⁸ Jesus said to them, “For sure, I tell you, when all the earth will be new and the Son of Man will sit on His throne in His shining-greatness, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve family groups of the Jewish nation. ²⁹ Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands because of Me, will get a hundred times more. And you will get life that lasts forever. ³⁰ Many who are first will be last. Many who are last will be first.

The People Tell Their Sins to God

9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel gathered together, but they did not eat. They dressed in cloth made from hair, and put dirt on their heads. ² The children of Israel separated themselves from all those of other nations. They stood and told their sins and the sins of their fathers to God. ³ While they stood in their place, they read from the book of the Law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day. And for another fourth they told their sins and worshiped the Lord their God. ⁴ Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the Levites’ raised floor. And they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

⁵ Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Stand up and give honor and thanks to the Lord your God forever and ever! O may Your great name be praised!”

The Prayer—Telling of Their Sins

⁶ “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their angels. You have made the earth and all that is on it, and the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them, and the angels of heaven bow down to You. ⁷ You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees and gave him the name Abraham. ⁸ You found his heart faithful to You and made an agreement with him, to give his children and their children’s children the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And You have done what You promised, for You are right and good.

⁹ “You saw the trouble of our fathers in Egypt. You heard their cry by the Red Sea. ¹⁰ Then You made special things to see and did powerful works against Pharaoh, against all his servants and all the people of his land. For You knew that they were proud and made it hard for our fathers. And You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day. ¹¹ You divided the sea in front of them, so they passed through the sea on dry ground. And You threw those who went after them into the deep sea, like a stone into troubled waters. ¹² You led the people during the day with a cloud, and with a pillar of fire during the night to light the way they were to go. ¹³ Then You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them Laws that are right and true and good. ¹⁴ You made known to them Your holy Day of Rest, and gave them Laws through Your servant Moses. ¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger. You brought them water from a rock for their thirst. And You told them to go in to take for their own the land You promised to give them.

¹⁶ “But they, our fathers, acted with pride. They became strong-willed and would not listen to Your Words. ¹⁷ They would not listen, and did not remember Your powerful works which You had done among them. So they became strong-willed and chose a leader to return to their hard work in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God. You are kind and loving, slow to anger, and full of loving-kindness. You did not leave them. ¹⁸ They even melted gold and made a calf, and said, ‘This is your God Who brought you up from Egypt.’ They spoke sinful words against You. ¹⁹ But You, in Your great loving-kindness, did not leave them in the desert. The pillar of cloud which led them on their way during the day did not leave them. And the pillar of fire which gave light to the way they were to go during the night did not leave them. ²⁰ You gave Your good Spirit to teach them. You did not keep Your bread from heaven from their mouths. And You gave them water when they were thirsty. ²¹ For forty years You kept them alive in the desert and gave them everything they needed. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not become sore. ²² You gave them nations and peoples, and You gave them every part. For their own they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan. ²³ You made their sons as many as the stars of heaven. And You brought them into the land which You had told their fathers to go into and take for their own. ²⁴ So their sons went into the land and took it. You gave them power over the people of the land, the Canaanites. You gave these people into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, to do with them as they would. ²⁵ They took strong cities and a rich land. They took houses full of every good thing. They took wells that had been dug, grape-vines, olive trees, and many fruit trees. So they ate and were filled and became fat. They were glad because You were so good to them.

²⁶ “But they would not obey and they turned against You. They put Your Law behind their backs. They killed the men who tell what will happen who had spoken sharp words to them telling them to return to You. The people spoke very sinful words against You. ²⁷ So You gave them into the hand of those who made it hard for them. But when they cried to You in the time of their trouble, You heard from heaven. And by Your great loving-kindness You sent men to save them from those who made it hard for them. ²⁸ But as soon as they had rest, they sinned against You again. So You left them in the hand of those who hated them, so that they ruled over them. When they cried again to You, You heard from heaven. And many times You took them away from trouble because of Your loving-kindness. ²⁹ You spoke sharp words to them to turn them back to Your Law. Yet they acted in pride and did not listen to Your Words, but sinned against Your Laws, by which if a man obeys them he will live. They were strong-willed and made their hearts hard against You, and would not listen. ³⁰ But You did not give up taking care of them for many years. You spoke sharp words to them by Your Spirit through the men who tell what will happen. Yet they would not listen. So You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. ³¹ But in Your great loving-kindness, You did not make an end of them or leave them for You are a kind and loving God.

³² “So now, our God, the great and powerful God, honored with fear, Who keeps His agreement and loving-kindness, do not let all this trouble look small in Your eyes which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our religious leaders, our men who tell what will happen, our fathers, and on all Your people since the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. ³³ Yet You have been right and fair in all that has come upon us. For You have been faithful, but we have sinned. ³⁴ Our kings, leaders, religious leaders, and fathers have not kept Your Law or listened to Your Laws and Your strong words which You have given them. ³⁵ Even when they were in their own nation, with all the good things You gave them and with the great rich land You gave them, they did not serve You or turn from their sins. ³⁶ See, we are servants today. We are servants in the land You gave to our fathers. You gave it to them so they could eat the fruit and have other good things. ³⁷ The many good things the land gives are used by the kings whom You have put over us because of our sins. They also rule over our bodies and over our cattle as they please. So we are in much trouble.

The People Sign an Agreement

³⁸ “Now because of all this we are making an agreement in writing. And our leaders, our Levites, and our religious leaders have put their mark on it.”

Christians in Ephesus Are Filled with the Holy Spirit

19 While Apollos was in the city of Corinth, Paul went through the hill country to get to the city of Ephesus. He found a few followers there. ² He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you put your trust in Christ?” They said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ He asked them, “How were you baptized?” They answered, “The way John baptized.” ⁴ Paul said, “John baptized those who were sorry for their sins and turned from them. He told the people to put their trust in Jesus Who was coming later.”

⁵ The people there were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus when they heard this. ⁶ When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them. They started to talk in special sounds and to speak God’s Word. ⁷ There were about twelve men.

Paul Preaches in a Place of Worship and in a School in Ephesus

⁸ For three months Paul went into the Jewish place of worship and spoke without fear. He taught them things about the holy nation of God. ⁹ Some let their hearts grow hard. They would not put their trust in Christ. These spoke against the Christian religion in front of other people. Then Paul took the followers away from the others. He taught them each day in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ He did this for two years. All the Jews and the Greeks in the countries of Asia heard the Word of the Lord.

Paul Does Powerful Works

¹¹ God used Paul to do powerful special works. ¹² Pieces of cloth and parts of his clothes that had been next to his body were put on sick people. Then they were healed of their diseases and demons came out of them.

¹³ There were Jews who went from city to city trying to put demons out of people. Some of these tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had demons. They said, “I speak to you in the name of Jesus, the One Paul preaches about.” ¹⁴ A Jewish leader of the people by the name of Sceva had seven sons. These sons were trying to do this. ¹⁵ The demon said, “I know Jesus. I know about Paul. But who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man with the demon jumped on the sons. He had power over them and beat them. They ran out of the house with no clothes on and they were hurt.

¹⁷ All the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about it. Because of this all the people became afraid. And the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great honor. ¹⁸ Many Christians came and told of the wrong things they were doing. ¹⁹ Many of those who did witchcraft gathered their books together and burned them in front of everyone. These books were worth 50,000 pieces of silver money. ²⁰ The Word of the Lord became well-known.

²¹ After this, Paul thought he would go through the countries of Macedonia and Greece. Then he would go to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have been there, I must go to the city of Rome also.” ²² He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. Paul stayed in the countries of Asia awhile longer.

The Meeting of the Silver Workmen in Ephesus

²³ During that time there was much trouble about the Christians. ²⁴ A man named Demetrius made small silver buildings for the worship of Diana. His workmen received much money for their work. ²⁵ He called his workmen together and other men who made these small silver buildings. He said to them, “Men, you know we make much money from this work. ²⁶ Now you hear that Paul has turned away many people in Ephesus as well as in Asia. He tells them that gods made with hands are not gods. ²⁷ It could be that our work will not be respected. Not only that, the house of worship for the god of Diana will be worth nothing and her greatness will be destroyed. All the countries of Asia and the world worship her.”

²⁸ They became angry when they heard this and cried out, “Great is Diana of Ephesus.” ²⁹ The whole city was filled with loud cries. They caught Gaius and Aristarchus. These two men from Macedonia were with Paul. They gathered around them at the meeting place in the city.

³⁰ Paul wanted to stand in front of all the people but his followers would not let him. ³¹ Some of the city leaders who were his friends told him not to go to the meeting. ³² All this time some were crying out one thing and some another. The meeting was all noise. Most of the people did not know why they had come together. ³³ Then the Jews pushed Alexander to the front. Alexander held his hand up and was going to speak. ³⁴ As soon as they saw he was a Jew, they cried out with a loud voice for two hours, “Great is Diana of Ephesus!”

³⁵ One of the city leaders stopped the noise. He spoke, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows our city is where the god of Diana is kept. That is the stone god that fell from the sky. ³⁶ Everyone knows this is true, so you must not cry out or do anything foolish. ³⁷ The men you brought here do not rob houses of worship or talk against our god. ³⁸ If Demetrius and his workmen have something against anyone, we have special days for courts. Let them go to court. ³⁹ If you want anything else, it should be done in another meeting. ⁴⁰ We are in danger of being asked about this trouble today. There is no good reason we can give for this meeting.” ⁴¹ When he had said this, he told them to leave.