M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
God Chooses Gideon’s 300 Soldiers
7 Then Jerubbaal, also known as Gideon, got up early along with all of his soldiers. They encamped near the Harod Spring. The Midian encampment lay in the valley to their north, near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord told Gideon, “You have too many soldiers with you for me to drop Midian into their hands, because Israel would become arrogant and say, ‘It was my own abilities that delivered me.’ 3 That’s why you’re to ask in full view of the soldiers, “Whoever is afraid or is trembling may go back from Mount Gilead and return home.”[a] So 22,000 soldiers left and 10,000 remained.
4 “There are still too many soldiers,” the Lord told Gideon. “Bring them down to the water and I’ll refine them for you there. Therefore when I say to you, ‘This one will be going with you,’ he’ll go with you, but no one may go about whom I tell you, ‘This one won’t be going with you.’”
5 So he brought his soldiers down to the water, and the Lord told Gideon, “You are to cull out everyone who laps up water with his tongue like a dog from everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 The contingent of soldiers who lapped water[b] with their hands to their mouths numbered 300 men, but everyone else kneeled to drink water.
7 Then the Lord told Gideon, “I’m going to deliver you with the 300 soldiers who lapped by giving the Midianites into your control. Send everyone else back to their own homes.”[c]
8 So the soldiers took provisions with them, along with their trumpets, and Gideon[d] sent all the rest of the soldiers of Israel back to their own tents, but he retained the 300 men. And the Midian encampment was below him in the valley.
Gideon Sneaks Down to the Midianite Encampment
9 Later that same night, the Lord directed Gideon,[e] “Get up and go down to the Midianite[f] encampment, because I’ve given it into your control. 10 But if you’re afraid to go down there, you may take your servant Purah with you to their encampment, 11 where you will hear what they’re talking about. That way, you’ll be encouraged to attack the encampment.” So he and his servant Purah went down to the perimeter outposts of the encamped army.
12 The Midianites, the Amalekites, and certain groups[g] from the east lay encamped in the valley, as thick as locusts. The number of their camels couldn’t be calculated—they seemed as numerous as the sand on the seashore. 13 Gideon arrived just as a soldier was talking to a friend about a dream. “Look!” he was saying. “I had a dream that went like this: A loaf of barley bread rolled into the Midianite encampment, came to a tent, and collided with it. The loaf of bread fell down, turned upside down, and the tent collapsed!”
14 Then his friend replied, “Can this be anything else than the sword of Joash’s son Gideon, that man from Israel? God must have given Midian and the entire encampment into his control!”
15 When Gideon[h] heard the tale of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down in worship and then returned to the Israeli encampment.
Gideon’s 300 Attack
There he announced, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite army into your control!” 16 Then he separated the 300 men into three companies, gave them each trumpets to carry, along with jars into which he placed lit torches.
17 He instructed them, “Watch me, and do what I do. When we come to the outer perimeter of the encampment, do what I do. 18 When I sound my trumpet, accompanied by everyone who is with me, you must blow your trumpets all around the entire encampment. Then shout out, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 So Gideon and the 100 men with him arrived at the outer perimeter of the encampment at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had posted sentries. They blew their trumpets and smashed the jars that they were carrying in their hands. 20 When the three companies sounded their trumpets and broke the jars, they held the torches in their left hands and sounded their trumpets with their right hands. Then they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 They stood up, each soldier in his assigned[i] place surrounding the encampment, and the entire army ran away, sounding the alarm to retreat.
22 As the 300 trumpets were being sounded, the Lord turned the swords of the Midianite[j] soldiers against one another throughout the entire army, and the army ran away as far as Beth-shittah in the direction of Zererah. They got as far as the outskirts of Abel-meholah, near Tabbath. 23 Israeli soldiers were called out from the territories of[k] Naphtali, Asher, and throughout Manasseh, and they chased after the Midianites.
24 Gideon dispatched messengers throughout the mountainous region[l] of Ephraim, notifying them, “Come down to fight Midian. Capture the water crossings[m] as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan River before they can get to them.” 25 They captured two Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. While they were pursuing the Midianites, they executed Oreb at Oreb’s Rock and Zeeb at Zeeb’s Winepress, and then they carried the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from the east bank[n] of the Jordan River.
Peter Reports to the Church in Jerusalem
11 Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 But when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who emphasized circumcision[a] disagreed with him. 3 They said, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”
4 Then Peter began to explain to them point by point what had happened. He said, 5 “I was in the town of Joppa praying when in a trance I saw a vision: Something like a large linen sheet descended down from heaven, lowered by its four corners, and it came right down to me. 6 When I examined it closely, I saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter! Kill something and eat it.’ 8 But I replied, ‘Absolutely not, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ 9 Then the voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘You must stop calling common what God has made clean!’ 10 This happened three times. Then everything was pulled back up to heaven.
11 “At that very moment three men arrived at the house where we were staying. They had been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them without hesitating. These six brothers went with me, too, and we entered the house of the man from Caesarea.[b] 13 Then he told us how he had seen an angel standing in his home and saying, ‘Send messengers[c] to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. 14 He will discuss with you how you and your entire household will be saved.’
15 “When I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he was first given to us. 16 Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with[d] water, but you will be baptized with[e] the Holy Spirit.’ 17 Now if God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[f] who was I to try to stop God?”
18 When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God by saying, “So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles.”
The New Church in Antioch
19 Now the people who were scattered by the persecution that started because of Stephen went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But among them were some men from Cyprus and Cyrene, who came to Antioch and began proclaiming the Lord Jesus even to the Hellenistic Jews.[g] 21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 When the church in Jerusalem heard this news, they sent Barnabas all the way to Antioch. 23 When he arrived, he rejoiced to see what the grace of God had done,[h] and with hearty determination he kept encouraging all of them to remain faithful to the Lord, 24 because he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith. And so a large number of people was brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas left for Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he found him, he brought him to Antioch, and for a whole year they were guests of the church and taught many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.
27 At that time some prophets from Jerusalem came down to Antioch. 28 One of them named Agabus got up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine all over the world. This happened during the reign of Claudius. 29 So all of the disciples decided they would send a contribution to the brothers living in Judea, as they were able, 30 by sending it through[i] Barnabas and Saul to the elders.
Jeremiah Denounced
20 When the priest Pashhur, Immer’s son, who was the officer in charge[a] of the Lord’s Temple heard Jeremiah prophesying these words, 2 Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate of the Temple. 3 The next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, and Jeremiah told him, “The Lord has not named you Pashhur, but rather Magor-missabib.[b] 4 For this is what the Lord says: ‘Look, I’m going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your loved ones. They’ll fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. I’ll give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He will take them into exile to Babylon, and he will execute them with swords. 5 I’ll turn over all the wealth of this city, all its possessions, all its valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah right into the hands of their enemies, and they’ll plunder them, capture them, and take them to Babylon. 6 You, Pashhur, and all those living in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon and there you will die. There you and all your loved ones[c] to whom you have falsely prophesied will be buried.’”
Jeremiah’s Complaint to the Lord
7 You deceived me, Lord,
and I’ve been deceived.
You overpowered me,
and you prevailed.
I’ve become a laughing stock all day long,
and everyone mocks me.
8 Indeed, as often as I speak, I cry out,
and shout, “Violence and destruction!”
For this message from the Lord has caused me
constant[d] reproach and derision.
9 When I say, “I won’t remember the Lord[e],
nor will I speak in his name anymore,
then there is this burning fire in my heart.
It is bound up in my bones,
I grow weary of trying to hold it in,
and I cannot do it!
10 Indeed, I hear many people whispering,
“Terror on every side.[f]
Denounce him, let’s denounce him!”
All my close friends watch my steps and say,
“Perhaps he will be deceived,
and we can prevail against him
and take vengeance on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a fearsome warrior.
Therefore, those who pursue me will stumble
and won’t prevail.
They’ll be put to great shame,
when they don’t succeed.
Their everlasting disgrace won’t be forgotten.
12 Lord of the Heavenly Armies,
who tests the righteous,
who sees the inner motives[g] and the heart,
let me see you take vengeance on them,
for I’ve committed my case to you.
13 Sing to the Lord,
give praise to the Lord!
For he saves the life of the poor
from the hand of the wicked.
Jeremiah Curses the Day of His Birth
14 Let the day on which I was born be cursed.
Don’t let the day on which my mother gave birth to me be blessed.
15 Cursed is the person who brought
the good news to my father,
“A baby boy has been born to you,”
making him very happy.
16 May that man be like the cities that
the Lord overthrew without compassion.
Let him hear a cry in the morning,
and a battle cry at noon,
17 because he didn’t kill me in the womb,
so that my mother would have been my grave
and her womb forever pregnant.
18 Why did I ever come out of the womb
to see trouble and sorrow,
and to finish my life living in shame?
Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth(A)
6 Jesus[a] left that place and went back to his hometown,[b] and his disciples followed him. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were utterly amazed. “Where did this man get all these things?” they asked. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What great miracles are being done by his hands! 3 This is the builder,[c] the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon, isn’t it? His sisters are here with us, aren’t they?” And they were offended by him.
4 Jesus had been telling them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own home.” 5 He couldn’t perform a miracle there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went around to the villages and continued teaching.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve(B)
7 He called the Twelve and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick—no bread, no traveling bag, nothing in their moneybag. 9 They could wear sandals but not take along an extra shirt.[d] 10 He told them repeatedly, “Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you leave that place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and the people[e] refuse to listen to you, when you leave, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went and preached that people[f] should repent. 13 They also kept driving out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.
The Death of John the Baptist(C)
14 King Herod heard about this, because Jesus’[g] name had become well-known. He was[h] saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead! That’s why he is able to do these miracles.”
15 Others were saying, “He is Elijah.”
Still others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the other[i] prophets.”
16 But when Herod heard about it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised,” 17 because Herod himself had sent men who arrested[j] John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom Herod[k] had married.
18 John had been telling Herod, “It’s not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias bore a grudge against John[l] and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t do it 20 because Herod was afraid of John. He knew that John[m] was a righteous and holy man, and so he protected him. Whenever he listened to John,[n] he did much of what he said.[o] In fact, he liked listening to him.
21 An opportunity came during Herod’s birthday celebration, when he gave a banquet for his top officials, military officers, and the most important people of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias[p] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. So the king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 He swore with an oath to her, “I’ll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom.”
24 So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother[q] replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
25 Immediately the girl[r] hurried back to the king with her request, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was deeply saddened, yet because of his oaths and his guests he was reluctant to refuse her. 27 So without delay the king sent a soldier and ordered him to bring John’s[s] head. The soldier[t] went and beheaded him in prison. 28 Then he brought John’s[u] head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When John’s[v] disciples heard about this, they came and carried off his body and laid it in a tomb.
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(D)
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. 31 He told them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while,” because so many people were coming and going[w] that they didn’t even have time to eat. 32 So they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 But when many people saw them leave and recognized them, they hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 When he got out of the boat,[x] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
35 When it was quite late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. 36 Send the crowds[y] away so that they can go to the neighboring farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”
They asked him, “Should we go and buy 200 denarii[z] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 He asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.”
They found out and told him, “Five loaves[aa] and two fish.”
39 Then he ordered them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people.[ab] He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 All of them ate and were filled. 43 Then the disciples[ac] picked up twelve baskets full of leftover bread and fish. 44 There were 5,000 men who had eaten the loaves.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(E)
45 Jesus[ad] immediately had his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him, while he sent the crowd away. 46 After saying goodbye to them, he went up on a hillside to pray. 47 When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while he was alone on the land. 48 He saw that his disciples[ae] were straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn[af] he came to them, walking on the sea. He intended to go up right beside them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream. 50 All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he told them, “Have courage! It’s me. Stop being afraid!”
51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples[ag] were utterly astounded, 52 because they didn’t understand the significance of the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret(F)
53 When they had crossed over, they came ashore at Gennesaret and anchored the boat. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus.[ah] 55 They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their mats to any place where they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went, whether into villages, towns, or farms, people[ai] would place their sick in the marketplaces and beg him to let them touch even the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was healed.
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