M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Abraham’s Family
25 Abraham married again, and his new wife was Keturah. 2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the people of Assyria, Letush, and Leum. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah. 5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But before Abraham died, he did give gifts to the sons of his other wives, then sent them to the East to be away from Isaac.
7 Abraham lived to be one hundred seventy-five years old. 8 He breathed his last breath and died at an old age, after a long and satisfying life. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron east of Mamre. (Ephron was the son of Zohar the Hittite.) 10 So Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah in the same field that he had bought from the Hittites. 11 After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac was now living at Beer Lahai Roi.
12 This is the family history of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. (Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian servant, was Ishmael’s mother.) 13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons in the order they were born: Nebaioth, the first son, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These were Ishmael’s sons, and these are the names of the tribal leaders listed according to their settlements and camps. 17 Ishmael lived one hundred thirty-seven years and then breathed his last breath and died. 18 His descendants lived from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt stretching toward Assyria. They often attacked the descendants of his brothers.
Isaac’s Family
19 This is the family history of Isaac. Abraham had a son named Isaac. 20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, who came from Northwest Mesopotamia. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac’s wife could not have children, so Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.
22 While she was pregnant, the babies struggled inside her. She asked, “Why is this happening to me?” Then she went to get an answer from the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your body,
and two groups of people will be taken from you.
One group will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. 25 The first baby was born red. Since his skin was like a hairy robe, he was named Esau.[a] 26 When the second baby was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel, so that baby was named Jacob.[b] Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter. He loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man and stayed among the tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating. But Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 One day Jacob was boiling a pot of vegetable soup. Esau came in from hunting in the fields, weak from hunger. 30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red soup, because I am weak with hunger.” (That is why people call him Edom.[c])
31 But Jacob said, “You must sell me your rights as the firstborn son.”[d]
32 Esau said, “I am almost dead from hunger. If I die, all of my father’s wealth will not help me.”
33 But Jacob said, “First, promise me that you will give it to me.” So Esau made a promise to Jacob and sold his part of their father’s wealth to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetable soup, and he ate and drank, and then left. So Esau showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son.
The Temple Will Be Destroyed
24 As Jesus left the Temple and was walking away, his followers came up to show him the Temple’s buildings. 2 Jesus asked, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground.”
3 Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his followers came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that it is time for you to come again and for this age to end?”
4 Jesus answered, “Be careful that no one fools you. 5 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will fool many people. 6 You will hear about wars and stories of wars that are coming, but don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. 7 Nations will fight against other nations; kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat, and there will be earthquakes in different places. 8 These things are like the first pains when something new is about to be born.
9 “Then people will arrest you, hand you over to be hurt, and kill you. They will hate you because you believe in me. 10 At that time, many will lose their faith, and they will turn against each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe lies. 12 There will be more and more evil in the world, so most people will stop showing their love for each other. 13 But those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved. 14 The Good News about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.
15 “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘a blasphemous object that brings destruction.’[a] You will see this standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) 16 “At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. 17 If people are on the roofs[b] of their houses, they must not go down to get anything out of their houses. 18 If people are in the fields, they must not go back to get their coats. 19 At that time, how terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 20 Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away, 21 because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than there has ever been since the beginning of the world until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again. 22 God has decided to make that terrible time short. Otherwise, no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. 23 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 24 False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great wonders and miracles. They will try to fool even the people God has chosen, if that is possible. 25 Now I have warned you about this before it happens.
26 “If people tell you, ‘The Christ is in the desert,’ don’t go there. If they say, ‘The Christ is in the inner room,’ don’t believe it. 27 When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone, like lightning flashing from the east to the west. 28 Wherever the dead body is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Soon after the trouble of those days,
‘the sun will grow dark,
and the moon will not give its light.
The stars will fall from the sky.
And the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
30 “At that time, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the peoples of the world will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds in the sky with great power and glory. 31 He will use a loud trumpet to send his angels all around the earth, and they will gather his chosen people from every part of the world.
32 “Learn a lesson from the fig tree: When its branches become green and soft and new leaves appear, you know summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to come. 34 I tell you the truth, all these things will happen while the people of this time are still living. 35 Earth and sky will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed.
When Will Jesus Come Again?
36 “No one knows when that day or time will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son.[c] Only the Father knows. 37 When the Son of Man comes, it will be like what happened during Noah’s time. 38 In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. 39 They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 40 Two men will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain with a mill.[d] One will be taken, and the other will be left.
42 “So always be ready, because you don’t know the day your Lord will come. 43 Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time of night a thief was coming, the owner would watch and not let the thief break in. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time you don’t expect him.
45 “Who is the wise and loyal servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? 46 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. 48 But suppose that evil servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ 49 and he begins to beat the other servants and eat and get drunk with others like him? 50 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. 51 Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the hypocrites, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.
Queen Vashti Disobeys the King
1 This is what happened during the time of King Xerxes, the king who ruled the one hundred twenty-seven states from India to Cush. 2 In those days King Xerxes ruled from his capital city of Susa. 3 In the third year of his rule, he gave a banquet for all his important men and royal officers. The army leaders from the countries of Persia and Media and the important men from all Xerxes’ empire were there.
4 The banquet lasted one hundred eighty days. All during that time King Xerxes was showing off the great wealth of his kingdom and his own great riches and glory. 5 When the one hundred eighty days were over, the king gave another banquet. It was held in the courtyard of the palace garden for seven days, and it was for everybody in the palace at Susa, from the greatest to the least. 6 The courtyard had fine white curtains and purple drapes that were tied to silver rings on marble pillars by white and purple cords. And there were gold and silver couches on a floor set with tiles of white marble, shells, and gems. 7 Wine was served in gold cups of various kinds. And there was plenty of the king’s wine, because he was very generous. 8 The king commanded that the guests be permitted to drink as much as they wished. He told the wine servers to serve each man what he wanted.
9 Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.
10 On the seventh day of the banquet, King Xerxes was very happy, because he had been drinking much wine. He gave a command to the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas. 11 He commanded them to bring him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown. She was to come to show her beauty to the people and important men, because she was very beautiful. 12 The eunuchs told Queen Vashti about the king’s command, but she refused to come. Then the king became very angry; his anger was like a burning fire.
13 It was a custom for the king to ask advice from experts about law and order. So King Xerxes spoke with the wise men who would know the right thing to do. 14 The wise men the king usually talked to were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, seven of the important men of Persia and Media. These seven had special privileges to see the king and had the highest rank in the kingdom. 15 The king asked them, “What does the law say must be done to Queen Vashti? She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes, which the eunuchs took to her.”
16 Then Memucan said to the king and the other important men, “Queen Vashti has not done wrong to the king alone. She has also done wrong to all the important men and all the people in all the empire of King Xerxes. 17 All the wives of the important men of Persia and Media will hear about the queen’s actions. Then they will no longer honor their husbands. They will say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought to him, but she refused to come.’ 18 Today the wives of the important men of Persia and Media have heard about the queen’s actions. So they will speak in the same way to their husbands, and there will be no end to disrespect and anger.
19 “So, our king, if it pleases you, give a royal order, and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be changed. The law should say Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her place as queen to someone who is better than she is. 20 And let the king’s order be announced everywhere in his enormous kingdom. Then all the women will respect their husbands, from the greatest to the least.”
21 The king and his important men were happy with this advice, so King Xerxes did as Memucan suggested. 22 He sent letters to all the states of the kingdom in the writing of each state and in the language of each group of people. These letters announced that each man was to be the ruler of his own family.
Paul Is Accused
24 Five days later Ananias, the high priest, went to the city of Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They had come to make charges against Paul before the governor. 2 Paul was called into the meeting, and Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, “Most Excellent Felix! Our people enjoy much peace because of you, and many wrong things in our country are being made right through your wise help. 3 We accept these things always and in every place, and we are thankful for them. 4 But not wanting to take any more of your time, I beg you to be kind and listen to our few words. 5 We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up his people everywhere in the world. He is a leader of the Nazarene group. 6 Also, he was trying to make the Temple unclean, but we stopped him. [And we wanted to judge him by our own law. 7 But the officer Lysias came and used much force to take him from us. 8 And Lysias commanded those who wanted to accuse Paul to come to you.][a] By asking him questions yourself, you can decide if all these things are true.” 9 The others agreed and said that all of this was true.
10 When the governor made a sign for Paul to speak, Paul said, “Governor Felix, I know you have been a judge over this nation for a long time. So I am happy to defend myself before you. 11 You can learn for yourself that I went to worship in Jerusalem only twelve days ago. 12 Those who are accusing me did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple or stirring up the people in the synagogues or in the city. 13 They cannot prove the things they are saying against me now. 14 But I will tell you this: I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way of Jesus. The others say that the Way of Jesus is not the right way. But I believe everything that is taught in the law of Moses and that is written in the books of the Prophets. 15 I have the same hope in God that they have—the hope that all people, good and bad, will surely be raised from the dead. 16 This is why I always try to do what I believe is right before God and people.
17 “After being away from Jerusalem for several years, I went back to bring money to my people and to offer sacrifices. 18 I was doing this when they found me in the Temple. I had finished the cleansing ceremony and had not made any trouble; no people were gathering around me. 19 But there were some people from Asia who should be here, standing before you. If I have really done anything wrong, they are the ones who should accuse me. 20 Or ask these people here if they found any wrong in me when I stood before the council in Jerusalem. 21 But I did shout one thing when I stood before them: ‘You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from the dead!’”
22 Felix already understood much about the Way of Jesus. He stopped the trial and said, “When commander Lysias comes here, I will decide your case.” 23 Felix told the officer to keep Paul guarded but to give him some freedom and to let his friends bring what he needed.
Paul Speaks to Felix and His Wife
24 After some days Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, and asked for Paul to be brought to him. He listened to Paul talk about believing in Christ Jesus. 25 But Felix became afraid when Paul spoke about living right, self-control, and the time when God will judge the world. He said, “Go away now. When I have more time, I will call for you.” 26 At the same time Felix hoped that Paul would give him some money, so he often sent for Paul and talked with him.
27 But after two years, Felix was replaced by Porcius Festus as governor. But Felix had left Paul in prison to please the Jews.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.