M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Micah’s Idols
17 There was a man named Micah who lived in the mountains of Ephraim. 2 He said to his mother, “I heard you speak a curse about the twenty-eight pounds of silver that were taken from you. I have the silver with me; I took it.”
His mother said, “The Lord bless you, my son!”
3 Micah gave the twenty-eight pounds of silver to his mother. Then she said, “I will give this silver to the Lord. I will have my son make an idol and a statue. So I will give the silver back to you.”
4 When he gave the silver back to his mother, she took about five pounds and gave it to a silversmith. With it he made an idol and a statue, which stood in Micah’s house. 5 Micah had a special holy place, and he made a holy vest and some household idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest. 6 At that time Israel did not have a king, so everyone did what seemed right.
7 There was a young man who was a Levite[a] from the city of Bethlehem in Judah who was from the people of Judah. 8 He left Bethlehem to look for another place to live, and on his way he came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim. 9 Micah asked him, “Where are you from?”
He answered, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m looking for a place to live.”
10 Micah said to him, “Live with me and be my father and my priest. I will give you four ounces of silver each year and clothes and food.” So the Levite went in. 11 He agreed to live with Micah and became like one of Micah’s own sons. 12 Micah made him a priest, and he lived in Micah’s house. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know the Lord will be good to me, because I have a Levite as my priest.”
Paul Goes to Jerusalem
21 After we all said good-bye to them, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes, and from there we went to Patara. 2 There we found a ship going to Phoenicia, so we went aboard and sailed away. 3 We sailed near the island of Cyprus, seeing it to the north, but we sailed on to Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. 4 We found some followers in Tyre and stayed with them for seven days. Through the Holy Spirit they warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5 When we finished our visit, we left and continued our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came outside the city with us. After we all knelt on the beach and prayed, 6 we said good-bye and got on the ship, and the followers went back home.
7 We continued our trip from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais, where we greeted the believers and stayed with them for a day. 8 The next day we left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea. There we went into the home of Philip the preacher, one of the seven helpers,[a] and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophesying. 10 After we had been there for some time, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11 He came to us and borrowed Paul’s belt and used it to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how evil people in Jerusalem will tie up the man who wears this belt. Then they will give him to the older leaders.’”
12 When we all heard this, we and the people there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 13 But he said, “Why are you crying and making me so sad? I am not only ready to be tied up in Jerusalem, I am ready to die for the Lord Jesus!”
14 We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped begging him and said, “We pray that what the Lord wants will be done.”
15 After this, we got ready and started on our way to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the followers from Caesarea went with us and took us to the home of Mnason, where we would stay. He was from Cyprus and was one of the first followers.
Paul Visits James
17 In Jerusalem the believers were glad to see us. 18 The next day Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were there. 19 Paul greeted them and told them everything God had done among the other nations through him. 20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul, “Brother, you can see that many thousands of our people have become believers. And they think it is very important to obey the law of Moses. 21 They have heard about your teaching, that you tell our people who live among the nations to leave the law of Moses. They have heard that you tell them not to circumcise their children and not to obey customs. 22 What should we do? They will learn that you have come. 23 So we will tell you what to do: Four of our men have made a promise to God. 24 Take these men with you and share in their cleansing ceremony.[b] Pay their expenses so they can shave their heads.[c] Then it will prove to everyone that what they have heard about you is not true and that you follow the law of Moses in your own life. 25 We have already sent a letter to the non-Jewish believers. The letter said: ‘Do not eat food that has been offered to idols, or blood, or animals that have been strangled. Do not take part in sexual sin.’”
26 The next day Paul took the four men and shared in the cleansing ceremony with them. Then he went to the Temple and announced the time when the days of the cleansing ceremony would be finished. On the last day an offering would be given for each of the men.
27 When the seven days were almost over, some of his people from Asia saw Paul at the Temple. They caused all the people to be upset and grabbed Paul. 28 They shouted, “People of Israel, help us! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching against the law of Moses, against our people, and against this Temple. Now he has brought some Greeks into the Temple and has made this holy place unclean!” 29 (They said this because they had seen Trophimus, a man from Ephesus, with Paul in Jerusalem. They thought that Paul had brought him into the Temple.)
30 All the people in Jerusalem became upset. Together they ran, took Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple. The Temple doors were closed immediately. 31 While they were trying to kill Paul, the commander of the Roman army in Jerusalem learned that there was trouble in the whole city. 32 Immediately he took some officers and soldiers and ran to the place where the crowd was gathered. When the people saw them, they stopped beating Paul. 33 The commander went to Paul and arrested him. He told his soldiers to tie Paul with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done wrong. 34 Some in the crowd were yelling one thing, and some were yelling another. Because of all this confusion and shouting, the commander could not learn what had happened. So he ordered the soldiers to take Paul to the army building. 35 When Paul came to the steps, the soldiers had to carry him because the people were ready to hurt him. 36 The whole mob was following them, shouting, “Kill him!”
37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the army building, he spoke to the commander, “May I say something to you?”
The commander said, “Do you speak Greek? 38 I thought you were the Egyptian who started some trouble against the government not long ago and led four thousand killers out to the desert.”
39 Paul said, “No, I am a Jew from Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I am a citizen of that important city. Please, let me speak to the people.”
40 The commander gave permission, so Paul stood on the steps and waved his hand to quiet the people. When there was silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language.
Promises of Hope
30 These are the words that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. 2 The Lord, the God of Israel, said: “Jeremiah, write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. 3 The days will come when I will bring Israel and Judah back from captivity,” says the Lord. “I will return them to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will own it!” says the Lord.
4 The Lord spoke this message about the people of Israel and Judah: 5 This is what the Lord said:
“We hear people crying from fear.
They are afraid; there is no peace.
6 Ask this question, and consider it:
A man cannot have a baby.
So why do I see every strong man
holding his stomach in pain like a woman having a baby?
Why is everyone’s face turning white like a dead man’s face?
7 This will be a terrible day!
There will never be another time like this.
This is a time of great trouble for the people of Jacob,
but they will be saved from it.”
8 The Lord All-Powerful says, “At that time
I will break the yoke from their necks
and tear off the ropes that hold them.
Foreign people will never again make my people slaves.
9 They will serve the Lord their God
and David their king,
whom I will send to them.
10 “So people of Jacob, my servants, don’t be afraid.
Israel, don’t be frightened,” says the Lord.
“I will soon save you from that faraway place where you are captives.
I will save your family from that land.
The people of Jacob will be safe and have peace again;
there will be no enemy to frighten them.
11 I am with you and will save you,”
says the Lord.
“I will completely destroy all those nations
where I scattered you,
but I will not completely destroy you.
I will punish you fairly,
but I will still punish you.”
12 This is what the Lord said:
“You people have a wound that cannot be cured;
your injury will not heal.
13 There is no one to argue your case
and no cure for your sores.
So you will not be healed.
14 All those nations who were your friends have forgotten you.
They don’t care about you.
I have hurt you as an enemy would.
I punished you very hard,
because your guilt was so great
and your sins were so many.
15 Why are you crying out about your injury?
There is no cure for your pain.
I did these things to you because of your great guilt,
because of your many sins.
16 But all those nations that destroyed you will now be destroyed.
All your enemies will become captives in other lands.
Those who stole from you will have their own things stolen.
Those who took things from you in war will have their own things taken.
17 I will bring back your health
and heal your injuries,” says the Lord,
“because other people forced you away.
They said about you, ‘No one cares about Jerusalem!’”
18 This is what the Lord said:
“I will soon make the tents of Jacob’s people as they used to be,
and I will have pity on Israel’s houses.
The city will be rebuilt on its hill of ruins,
and the king’s palace will stand in its proper place.
19 People in those places will sing songs of praise.
There will be the sound of laughter.
I will give them many children
so their number will not be small.
I will bring honor to them
so no one will look down on them.
20 Their descendants will be as they were in the old days.
I will set them up as a strong people before me,
and I will punish the nations who have hurt them.
21 One of their own people will lead them;
their ruler will come from among them.
He will come near to me when I invite him.
Who would dare to come to me uninvited?” says the Lord.
22 “So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.”
23 Look! It is a storm from the Lord!
He is angry and has gone out to punish the people.
Punishment will come like a storm
crashing down on the evil people.
24 The Lord will stay angry
until he finishes punishing the people.
He will stay angry
until he finishes the punishment he planned.
When that day comes,
you will understand this.
The New Israel
31 The Lord says, “At that time I will be God of all Israel’s family groups, and they will be my people.”
2 This is what the Lord says:
“The people who were not killed by the enemy’s sword
found help in the desert.
I came to give rest to Israel.”
3 And from far away the Lord appeared to his people and said,
“I love you people
with a love that will last forever.
That is why I have continued
showing you kindness.
4 People of Israel, I will build you up again,
and you will be rebuilt.
You will pick up your tambourines again
and dance with those who are joyful.
5 You will plant vineyards again
on the hills around Samaria.
The farmers will plant them
and enjoy their fruit.
6 There will be a time when watchmen in the mountains of Ephraim shout this message:
‘Come, let’s go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God!’”
7 This is what the Lord says:
“Be happy and sing for the people of Jacob.
Shout for Israel, the greatest of the nations.
Sing your praises and shout this:
‘Lord, save your people,
those who are left alive from the nation of Israel!’
8 Look, I will soon bring Israel from the country in the north,
and I will gather them from the faraway places on earth.
Some of the people are blind and crippled.
Some of the women are pregnant, and some are ready to give birth.
A great many people will come back.
9 They will be crying as they come,
but they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead those people by streams of water
on an even road where they will not stumble.
I am Israel’s father,
and Israel is my firstborn son.
10 “Nations, listen to the message from the Lord.
Tell this message in the faraway lands by the sea:
‘The one who scattered the people of Israel will bring them back,
and he will watch over his people like a shepherd.’
11 The Lord will pay for the people of Jacob
and will buy them back from people stronger than they were.
12 The people of Israel will come to the high points of Jerusalem
and shout for joy.
Their faces will shine with happiness about all the good things from the Lord:
the grain, new wine, oil, young sheep, and young cows.
They will be like a garden that has plenty of water,
and they will not be troubled anymore.
13 Then young women of Israel will be happy and dance,
the young men and old men also.
I will change their sadness into happiness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sadness.
14 The priests will have more than enough sacrifices,
and my people will be filled with the good things I give them!” says the Lord.
15 This is what the Lord says:
“A voice was heard in Ramah
of painful crying and deep sadness:
Rachel crying for her children.
She refused to be comforted,
because her children are dead!”
16 But this is what the Lord says:
“Stop crying;
don’t let your eyes fill with tears.
You will be rewarded for your work!” says the Lord.
“The people will return from their enemy’s land.
17 So there is hope for you in the future,” says the Lord.
“Your children will return to their own land.
18 “I have heard Israel moaning:
‘Lord, you punished me, and I have learned my lesson.
I was like a calf that had never been trained.
Take me back so that I may come back.
You truly are the Lord my God.
19 Lord, after I wandered away from you,
I changed my heart and life.
After I understood,
I beat my breast with sorrow.
I was ashamed and disgraced,
because I suffered for the foolish things I did when I was young.’
20 “You know that Israel is my dear son,
The child I love.
Yes, I often speak against Israel,
but I still remember him.
I love him very much,
and I want to comfort him,” says the Lord.
21 “People of Israel, fix the road signs.
Put up signs to show you the way home.
Watch the road.
Pay attention to the road on which you travel.
People of Israel, come home,
come back to your towns.
22 You are an unfaithful daughter.
How long will you wander before you come home?
The Lord has made something new happen in the land:
A woman will go seeking a man.”
23 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “I will again do good things for the people of Judah. At that time the people in the land of Judah and its towns will again use these words: ‘May the Lord bless you, home of what is good, holy mountain.’ 24 People in all the towns of Judah will live together in peace. Farmers and those who move around with their flocks will live together in peace. 25 I will give rest and strength to those who are weak and tired.”
26 After hearing that, I, Jeremiah, woke up and looked around. My sleep had been very pleasant.
27 The Lord says, “The time is coming when I will help the families of Israel and Judah and their children and animals to grow. 28 In the past I watched over Israel and Judah, to pull them up and tear them down, to destroy them and bring them disaster. But now I will watch over them to build them up and make them strong,” says the Lord.
29 “At that time people will no longer say:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and that caused the children to grind their teeth from the sour taste.’
30 Instead, each person will die for his own sin; the person who eats sour grapes will grind his own teeth.
The New Agreement
31 “Look, the time is coming,” says the Lord,
“when I will make a new agreement
with the people of Israel
and the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the agreement
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to bring them out of Egypt.
I was a husband to them,
but they broke that agreement,” says the Lord.
33 “This is the agreement I will make
with the people of Israel at that time,” says the Lord:
“I will put my teachings in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 People will no longer have to teach their neighbors and relatives
to know the Lord,
because all people will know me,
from the least to the most important,” says the Lord.
“I will forgive them for the wicked things they did,
and I will not remember their sins anymore.”
The Lord Will Never Leave Israel
35 The Lord makes the sun shine in the day
and the moon and stars to shine at night.
He stirs up the sea so that its waves crash on the shore.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
This is what the Lord says:
36 “Only if these laws should ever fail,”
says the Lord,
“will Israel’s descendants ever stop
being a nation before me.”
37 This is what the Lord says:
“Only if people can measure the sky above
and learn the secrets of the earth below,
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because of what they have done,” says the Lord.
The New Jerusalem
38 The Lord says, “The time is coming when Jerusalem will be rebuilt for me—everything from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 The measuring line will stretch from the Corner Gate straight to the hill of Gareb. Then it will turn to the place named Goah. 40 The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate—all that area will be holy to the Lord. The city of Jerusalem will never again be torn down or destroyed.”
Jesus Rises from the Dead
16 The day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on that day, the first day of the week, soon after sunrise, the women were on their way to the tomb. 3 They said to each other, “Who will roll away for us the stone that covers the entrance of the tomb?”
4 Then the women looked and saw that the stone had already been rolled away, even though it was very large. 5 The women entered the tomb and saw a young man wearing a white robe and sitting on the right side, and they were afraid.
6 But the man said, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who has been crucified. He has risen from the dead; he is not here. Look, here is the place they laid him. 7 Now go and tell his followers and Peter, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there as he told you before.’”
8 The women were confused and shaking with fear, so they left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell anyone about what happened, because they were afraid.
Verses 9–20 are not included in some of the earliest surviving Greek copies of Mark.
Some Followers See Jesus
[9 After Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week, he showed himself first to Mary Magdalene. One time in the past, he had forced seven demons out of her. 10 After Mary saw Jesus, she went and told his followers, who were very sad and were crying. 11 But Mary told them that Jesus was alive. She said that she had seen him, but the followers did not believe her.
12 Later, Jesus showed himself to two of his followers while they were walking in the country, but he did not look the same as before. 13 These followers went back to the others and told them what had happened, but again, the followers did not believe them.
Jesus Talks to the Apostles
14 Later Jesus showed himself to the eleven apostles while they were eating, and he criticized them because they had no faith. They were stubborn and refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead.
15 Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who does not believe will be punished. 17 And those who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force out demons. They will speak in new languages.[a] 18 They will pick up snakes and drink poison without being hurt. They will touch the sick, and the sick will be healed.”
19 After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven, and he sat at the right side of God. 20 The followers went everywhere in the world and told the Good News to people, and the Lord helped them. The Lord proved that the Good News they told was true by giving them power to work miracles.]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.