M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So he handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.

² There was a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan, who lived in the city of Zorah. He had a wife, but she could not have children. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “You have not been able to have children, but you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. ⁴ Be careful not to drink wine or beer or eat anything that is unclean, ⁵ because you will become pregnant and have a son. You must never cut his hair, because he will be a Nazirite, given to God from birth. He will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

⁶ Then Manoah’s wife went to him and told him what had happened. She said, “A man from God came to me. He looked like an angel from God; his appearance was frightening. I didn’t ask him where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and will have a son. Don’t drink wine or beer or eat anything that is unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from his birth until the day of his death.’”

⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, I beg you to let the man of God come to us again. Let him teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born to us.”

⁹ God heard Manoah’s prayer, and the angel of God came to Manoah’s wife again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. ¹⁰ So she ran to tell him, “He is here! The man who appeared to me the other day is here!”

¹¹ Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?”

The man said, “I am.”

¹² So Manoah asked, “When what you say happens, what kind of life should the boy live? What should he do?”

¹³ The angel of the Lord said, “Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her to do. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything that grows on a grapevine, or drink any wine or beer, or eat anything that is unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

¹⁵ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay awhile so we can cook a young goat for you.”

¹⁶ The angel of the Lord answered, “Even if I stay awhile, I would not eat your food. But if you want to prepare something, offer a burnt offering to the Lord.” (Manoah did not understand that the man was really the angel of the Lord.)

¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, “What is your name? Then we will honor you when what you have said really happens.”

¹⁸ The angel of the Lord said, “Why do you ask my name? It is too amazing for you to understand.” ¹⁹ So Manoah sacrificed a young goat on a rock and offered some grain as a gift to the Lord. Then an amazing thing happened as Manoah and his wife watched. ²⁰ The flames went up to the sky from the altar. As the fire burned, the angel of the Lord went up to heaven in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they bowed facedown on the ground. ²¹ The angel of the Lord did not appear to them again. Then Manoah understood that the man was really the angel of the Lord. ²² Manoah said, “We have seen God, so we will surely die.”

²³ But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our burnt offering or grain offering. He would not have shown us all these things or told us all this.”

²⁴ So the woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew, and the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ The Spirit of the Lord began to work in Samson while he was in the city of Mahaneh Dan, between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

17 Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue. ² Paul went into the synagogue as he always did, and on each Sabbath day for three weeks, he talked with his fellow Jews about the Scriptures. ³ He explained and proved that the Christ must die and then rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I am telling you about is the Christ.” ⁴ Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas, along with many of the Greeks who worshiped God and many of the important women.

⁵ But some others became jealous. So they got some evil men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot. They ran to Jason’s house, looking for Paul and Silas, wanting to bring them out to the people. ⁶ But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers to the leaders of the city. The people were yelling, “These people have made trouble everywhere in the world, and now they have come here too! ⁷ Jason is keeping them in his house. All of them do things against the laws of Caesar, saying there is another king, called Jesus.”

⁸ When the people and the leaders of the city heard these things, they became very upset. ⁹ They made Jason and the others put up a sum of money. Then they let the believers go free.

Paul and Silas Go to Berea

¹⁰ That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea where they went to the synagogue. ¹¹ These people were more willing to listen than the people in Thessalonica. The Bereans were eager to hear what Paul and Silas said and studied the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true. ¹² So, many of them believed, as well as many important Greek women and men. ¹³ But the people in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, too. So they came there, upsetting the people and making trouble. ¹⁴ The believers quickly sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. ¹⁵ The people leading Paul went with him to Athens. Then they carried a message from Paul back to Silas and Timothy for them to come to him as soon as they could.

Paul Preaches in Athens

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he was troubled because he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ In the synagogue, he talked with the Jews and the Greeks who worshiped God. He also talked every day with people in the marketplace.

¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers^[a] argued with him, saying, “This man doesn’t know what he is talking about. What is he trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be telling us about some other gods,” because Paul was telling them about Jesus and his rising from the dead. ¹⁹ They got Paul and took him to a meeting of the Areopagus,^[b] where they said, “Please explain to us this new idea you have been teaching. ²⁰ The things you are saying are new to us, and we want to know what this teaching means.” ²¹ (All the people of Athens and those from other countries who lived there always used their time to talk about the newest ideas.)

²² Then Paul stood before the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens, I can see you are very religious in all things. ²³ As I was going through your city, I saw the objects you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: to a god who is not known. You worship a god that you don’t know, and this is the God I am telling you about! ²⁴ The God who made the whole world and everything in it is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them; he has everything he needs. ²⁶ God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live. ²⁷ God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us: ²⁸ ‘By his power we live and move and exist.’ Some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are his children.’ ²⁹ Since we are God’s children, you must not think that God is like something that people imagine or make from gold, silver, or rock. ³⁰ In the past, people did not understand God, and he ignored this. But now, God tells all people in the world to change their hearts and lives. ³¹ God has set a day that he will judge all the world with fairness, by the man he chose long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead!”

³² When the people heard about Jesus being raised from the dead, some of them laughed. But others said, “We will hear more about this from you later.” ³³ So Paul went away from them. ³⁴ But some of the people believed Paul and joined him. Among those who believed was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and some others.

Jeremiah’s Lesson at the Temple

26 This message came from the Lord soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah became king of Judah. ² This is what the Lord said: “Jeremiah, stand in the courtyard of the Temple of the Lord. Give this message to all the people of the towns of Judah who are coming to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Tell them everything I tell you to say; don’t leave out a word. ³ Maybe they will listen and stop their evil ways. If they will, I will change my mind about bringing on them the disaster that I am planning because of the evil they have done. ⁴ Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord says: You must obey me and follow my teachings that I gave you. ⁵ You must listen to what my servants the prophets say to you. I have sent them to you again and again, but you did not listen. ⁶ If you don’t obey me, I will destroy my Temple in Jerusalem as I destroyed my Holy Tent at Shiloh. When I do, people all over the world will curse Jerusalem.’”

⁷ The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the Temple of the Lord. ⁸ When Jeremiah finished speaking everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, prophets, and all the people grabbed Jeremiah. They said, “You must die! ⁹ How dare you prophesy in the name of the Lord that this Temple will be destroyed like the one at Shiloh! How dare you say that Jerusalem will become a desert without anyone to live in it!” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.

¹⁰ Now when the officers of Judah heard about what was happening, they came out of the king’s palace and went up to the Temple of the Lord and took their places at the entrance of the New Gate. ¹¹ Then the priests and prophets said to the officers and all the other people, “Jeremiah should be killed. He prophesied against Jerusalem, and you heard him yourselves.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke these words to all the officers of Judah and all the other people: “The Lord sent me to say everything you have heard about this Temple and this city. ¹³ Now change your lives and start doing good and obey the Lord your God. Then he will change his mind and not bring on you the disaster he has told you about. ¹⁴ As for me, I am in your power. Do to me what you think is good and right. ¹⁵ But be sure of one thing. If you kill me, you will be guilty of killing an innocent person. You will make this city and everyone who lives in it guilty, too! The Lord truly sent me to you to give you this message.”

¹⁶ Then the officers and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “Jeremiah must not be killed. What he told us comes from the Lord our God.”

¹⁷ Then some of the elders of Judah stood up and said to all the people, ¹⁸ “Micah, from the city of Moresheth, was a prophet during the time Hezekiah was king of Judah. Micah said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord All-Powerful says:

¹⁹ “Hezekiah king of Judah and the people of Judah did not kill Micah. You know that Hezekiah feared the Lord and tried to please the Lord. So the Lord changed his mind and did not bring on Judah the disaster he had promised. If we hurt Jeremiah, we will bring a terrible disaster on ourselves!”

²⁰ (Now there was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from the city of Kiriath Jearim. He preached the same things against Jerusalem and the land of Judah that Jeremiah did. ²¹ When King Jehoiakim, all his army officers, and all the leaders of Judah heard Uriah preach, King Jehoiakim wanted to kill Uriah. But Uriah heard about it and was afraid. So he escaped to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Acbor and some other men to Egypt, ²³ and they brought Uriah back from Egypt. Then they took him to King Jehoiakim, who had Uriah killed with a sword. His body was thrown into the burial place where poor people are buried.)

²⁴ Ahikam son of Shaphan supported Jeremiah. So Ahikam did not hand Jeremiah over to be killed by the people.

A Story About God’s Son

12 Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. ² When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. ³ But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. ⁵ So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others.

⁶ “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. ¹⁰ Surely you have read this Scripture:

¹² The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.

Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?

¹³ Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and Herodians^[a] to Jesus to trap him in saying something wrong. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you, because you pay no attention to who they are. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay them, or not?”

But knowing what these men were really trying to do, Jesus said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a coin to look at.” ¹⁶ They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, “Whose image and name are on the coin?”

They answered, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said.

Some Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus

¹⁸ Then some Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question. (Sadducees believed that people would not rise from the dead.) ¹⁹ They said, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, then that man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. ²⁰ Once there were seven brothers. The first brother married and died, leaving no children. ²¹ So the second brother married the widow, but he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. ²² All seven brothers married her and died, and none of the brothers had any children. Finally the woman died too. ²³ Since all seven brothers had married her, when people rise from the dead, whose wife will she be?”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “Why don’t you understand? Don’t you know what the Scriptures say, and don’t you know about the power of God? ²⁵ When people rise from the dead, they will not marry, nor will they be given to someone to marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶ Surely you have read what God said about people rising from the dead. In the book in which Moses wrote about the burning bush,^[b] it says that God told Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[c] 27} God is the God of the living, not the dead. You Sadducees are wrong!”

The Most Important Command

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees. Seeing that Jesus gave good answers to their questions, he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’^{[d] 31} The second command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’^[e] There are no commands more important than these.”

³² The man answered, “That was a good answer, Teacher. You were right when you said God is the only Lord and there is no other God besides him. ³³ One must love God with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength. And one must love his neighbor as he loves himself. These commands are more important than all the animals and sacrifices we offer to God.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that the man answered him wisely, Jesus said to him, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.

³⁵ As Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? ³⁶ David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said:

³⁷ David himself calls the Christ ‘Lord,’ so how can the Christ be his son?” The large crowd listened to Jesus with pleasure.

³⁸ Jesus continued teaching and said, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing fancy clothes, and they love for people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces. ³⁹ They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at feasts. ⁴⁰ But they cheat widows and steal their houses and then try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. They will receive a greater punishment.”

True Giving

⁴¹ Jesus sat near the Temple money box and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. ⁴² Then a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which were only worth a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. ⁴⁴ They gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had; she gave all she had to live on.”