M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
7 Early in the morning Jerub-Baal (also called Gideon) and all his men set up their camp at the spring of Harod. The Midianites were camped north of them in the valley at the bottom of the hill called Moreh. 2 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men to defeat the Midianites. I don’t want the Israelites to brag that they saved themselves. 3 So now, announce to the people, ‘Anyone who is afraid may leave Mount Gilead and go back home.’” So twenty-two thousand men returned home, but ten thousand remained.
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take the men down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say, ‘This man will go with you, he will go. But if I say, ‘That one will not go with you,’ he will not go.”
5 So Gideon led the men down to the water. There the Lord said to him, “Separate them into those who drink water by lapping it up like a dog and those who bend down to drink.” 6 There were three hundred men who used their hands to bring water to their mouths, lapping it as a dog does. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “Using the three hundred men who lapped the water, I will save you and hand Midian over to you. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of Israel to their homes. But he kept three hundred men and took the jars and the trumpets of those who left.
Now the camp of Midian was in the valley below Gideon. 9 That night the Lord said to Gideon, “Get up. Go down and attack the camp of the Midianites, because I will give them to you. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, take your servant Purah with you. 11 When you come to the camp of Midian, you will hear what they are saying. Then you will not be afraid to attack the camp.”
Gideon Is Encouraged
So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the peoples from the east were camped in that valley. There were so many of them they seemed like locusts. Their camels could not be counted because they were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore!
13 When Gideon came to the enemy camp, he heard a man telling his friend about a dream. He was saying, “I dreamed that a loaf of barley bread rolled into the camp of Midian. It hit the tent so hard that the tent turned over and fell flat!”
14 The man’s friend said, “Your dream is about the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel. God will hand Midian and the whole army over to him!”
15 When Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he worshiped God. Then Gideon went back to the camp of Israel and called out to them, “Get up! The Lord has handed the army of Midian over to you!” 16 Gideon divided the three hundred men into three groups. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar with a burning torch inside.
17 Gideon told the men, “Watch me and do what I do. When I get to the edge of the camp, do what I do. 18 Surround the enemy camp. When I and everyone with me blow our trumpets, you blow your trumpets, too. Then shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
Midian Is Defeated
19 So Gideon and the one hundred men with him came to the edge of the enemy camp just after they had changed guards. It was during the middle watch of the night. Then Gideon and his men blew their trumpets and smashed their jars. 20 All three groups of Gideon’s men blew their trumpets and smashed their jars. They held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands. Then they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Each of Gideon’s men stayed in his place around the camp, but the Midianites began shouting and running to escape.
22 When Gideon’s three hundred men blew their trumpets, the Lord made all the Midianites fight each other with their swords! The enemy army ran away to the city of Beth Shittah toward Zererah. They ran as far as the border of Abel Meholah, near the city of Tabbath. 23 Then men of Israel from Naphtali, Asher, and all of Manasseh were called out to chase the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers through all the mountains of Ephraim, saying, “Come down and attack the Midianites. Take control of the Jordan River as far as Beth Barah before the Midianites can get to it.”
So they called out all the men of Ephraim, who took control of the Jordan River as far as Beth Barah. 25 The men of Ephraim captured two princes of Midian named Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, and they continued chasing the Midianites. They brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was east of the Jordan River.
Peter Returns to Jerusalem
11 The apostles and the believers in Judea heard that some who were not Jewish had accepted God’s teaching too. 2 But when Peter came to Jerusalem, some people argued with him. 3 They said, “You went into the homes of people who are not circumcised and ate with them!”
4 So Peter explained the whole story to them. 5 He said, “I was in the city of Joppa, and while I was praying, I had a vision. I saw something that looked like a big sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. It came very close to me. 6 I looked inside it and saw animals, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds. 7 I heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘No, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is unholy or unclean.’ 9 But the voice from heaven spoke again, ‘God has made these things clean, so don’t call them unholy.’ 10 This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back to heaven. 11 Right then three men who were sent to me from Caesarea came to the house where I was staying. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them without doubting. These six believers here also went with me, and we entered the house of Cornelius. 13 He told us about the angel he saw standing in his house. The angel said to him, ‘Send some men to Joppa and invite Simon Peter to come. 14 By the words he will say to you, you and all your family will be saved.’ 15 When I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the words of the Lord. He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 Since God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I stop the work of God?”
18 When the believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, “So God is allowing even other nations to turn to him and live.”
The Good News Comes to Antioch
19 Many of the believers were scattered when they were persecuted after Stephen was killed. Some of them went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch telling the message to others, but only to Jews. 20 Some of these believers were people from Cyprus and Cyrene. When they came to Antioch, they spoke also to Greeks,[a] telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord was helping the believers, and a large group of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 The church in Jerusalem heard about all of this, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23-24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. When he reached Antioch and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad. He encouraged all the believers in Antioch always to obey the Lord with all their hearts, and many people became followers of the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year Saul and Barnabas met with the church and taught many people there. In Antioch the followers were called Christians for the first time.
27 About that time some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and spoke with the help of the Holy Spirit. He said, “A very hard time is coming to the whole world. There will be no food to eat.” (This happened when Claudius ruled.) 29 The followers all decided to help the believers who lived in Judea, as much as each one could. 30 They gathered the money and gave it to Barnabas and Saul, who brought it to the elders in Judea.
Pashhur Will Be Captured
20 Pashhur son of Immer was a priest and the highest officer in the Temple of the Lord. When he heard Jeremiah prophesying in the Temple courtyard, 2 he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten. And he locked Jeremiah’s hands and feet between large blocks of wood at the Upper Gate of Benjamin of the Lord’s Temple. 3 The next day when Pashhur took Jeremiah out of the blocks of wood, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name for you is not Pashhur. Now his name for you is Terror on Every Side. 4 This is what the Lord says: ‘I will soon make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. You will watch enemies killing your friends with swords. And I will give all the people of Judah to the king of Babylon, who will take them away as captives to Babylon and then will kill them with swords. 5 I will give all the wealth of this city to its enemies—its goods, its valuables, and the treasures of the kings of Judah. The enemies will carry all those valuables off to Babylon. 6 And Pashhur, you and everyone in your house will be taken captive. You will be forced to go to Babylon, where you will die and be buried, you and your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’”
Jeremiah’s Fifth Complaint
7 Lord, you tricked me, and I was fooled.
You are stronger than I am, so you won.
I have become a joke;
everyone makes fun of me all day long.
8 Every time I speak, I shout.
I am always shouting about violence and destruction.
I tell the people about the message I received from the Lord,
but this only brings me insults.
The people make fun of me all day long.
9 Sometimes I say to myself,
“I will forget about the Lord.
I will not speak anymore in his name.”
But then his message becomes like a burning fire inside me,
deep within my bones.
I get tired of trying to hold it inside of me,
and finally, I cannot hold it in.
10 I hear many people whispering about me:
“Terror on every side!
Tell on him! Let’s tell the rulers about him.”
My friends are all just waiting for me to make some mistake.
They are saying,
“Maybe we can trick him
so we can defeat him
and pay him back.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a strong warrior,
so those who are chasing me will trip and fall;
they will not defeat me.
They will be ashamed because they have failed,
and their shame will never be forgotten.
12 Lord All-Powerful, you test good people;
you look deeply into the heart and mind of a person.
I have told you my arguments against these people,
so let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.
13 Sing to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
He saves the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked.
Jeremiah’s Sixth Complaint
14 Let there be a curse on the day I was born;
let there be no blessing on the day when my mother gave birth to me.
15 Let there be a curse on the man
who brought my father the news:
“You have a son!”
This made my father very glad.
16 Let that man be like the towns
the Lord destroyed without pity.
Let him hear loud crying in the morning
and battle cries at noon,
17 because he did not kill me before I was born.
Then my mother would have been my grave;
she would have stayed pregnant forever.
18 Why did I have to come out of my mother’s body?
All I have known is trouble and sorrow,
and my life will end in shame.
Jesus Goes to His Hometown
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown, and his followers went with him. 2 On the Sabbath day he taught in the synagogue. Many people heard him and were amazed, saying, “Where did this man get these teachings? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? And where did he get the power to do miracles? 3 He is just the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters are here with us.” So the people were upset with Jesus.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his hometown and with his own people and in his own home.” 5 So Jesus was not able to work any miracles there except to heal a few sick people by putting his hands on them. 6 He was amazed at how many people had no faith.
Then Jesus went to other villages in that area and taught. 7 He called his twelve followers together and got ready to send them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 This is what Jesus commanded them: “Take nothing for your trip except a walking stick. Take no bread, no bag, and no money in your pockets. 9 Wear sandals, but take only the clothes you are wearing. 10 When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 If the people in a certain place refuse to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place. Shake its dust off your feet[a] as a warning to them.”[b]
12 So the followers went out and preached that people should change their hearts and lives. 13 They forced many demons out and put olive oil on many sick people and healed them.
How John the Baptist Was Killed
14 King Herod heard about Jesus, because he was now well known. Some people said,[c] “He is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”[d]
Other people said, “Jesus is a prophet, like the prophets who lived long ago.”
16 When Herod heard this, he said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has risen from the dead!”
17 Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison in order to please his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother, but then Herod had married her. 18 John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t, 20 because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a good and holy man. Also, though John’s preaching always bothered him, he enjoyed listening to John.
21 Then the perfect time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. On Herod’s birthday, he gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias[e] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and the people eating with him.
So King Herod said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.” 23 He promised her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you—up to half of my kingdom.”
24 The girl went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.”
25 At once the girl went back to the king and said to him, “I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.”
26 Although the king was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier to bring John’s head. The soldier went and cut off John’s head in the prison 28 and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When John’s followers heard this, they came and got John’s body and put it in a tomb.
More than Five Thousand Fed
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him about all the things they had done and taught. 31 Crowds of people were coming and going so that Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.”
32 So they went in a boat by themselves to a lonely place. 33 But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place where Jesus was going, and they got there before him. 34 When he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.
35 When it was late in the day, his followers came to him and said, “No one lives in this place, and it is already very late. 36 Send the people away so they can go to the countryside and towns around here to buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!”
38 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five loaves and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus told his followers to have the people sit in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred. 41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and, looking up to heaven, he thanked God for the food. He divided the bread and gave it to his followers for them to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all. 42 All the people ate and were satisfied. 43 The followers filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. 44 There were five thousand men who ate.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Immediately Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida across the lake. He stayed there to send the people home. 46 After sending them away, he went into the hills to pray.
47 That night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on the land. 48 He saw his followers struggling hard to row the boat, because the wind was blowing against them. Between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the water, and he wanted to walk past the boat. 49 But when they saw him walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost and cried out. 50 They all saw him and were afraid. But quickly Jesus spoke to them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind became calm. The followers were greatly amazed. 52 They did not understand about the miracle of the five loaves, because their minds were closed.
53 When they had crossed the lake, they came to shore at Gennesaret and tied the boat there. 54 When they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized Jesus. 55 They ran everywhere in that area and began to bring sick people on mats wherever they heard he was. 56 And everywhere he went—into towns, cities, or countryside—the people brought the sick to the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch just the edge of his coat, and all who touched it were healed.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.