M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Gideon’s acts of vengeance

8 Then the Ephraimites said to him, “Why did you offend us this way by not calling us when you went to fight the Midianites?” And they argued with him fiercely.

² But he said to them, “What have I done now, compared to you? Aren’t Ephraim’s leftovers better than Abiezer’s main harvest? ³ God handed you the Midianite officers Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do compared to you?” When he said this, their anger against him passed.

⁴ Then Gideon came to the Jordan. As he and the three hundred men with him crossed over, they were exhausted but still giving chase. ⁵ So he said to the people of Succoth, “Please give some loaves of bread to those who are on foot, because they’re exhausted, but I’m chasing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

⁶ But the officials of Succoth replied, “Haven’t you already almost gotten your hands on Zebah and Zalmunna? Why should we give food to your army now?”

⁷ “Just for that,” Gideon said, “when the Lord has handed over Zebah and Zalmunna to me, I’m going to beat your skin with desert thorns and briars!” ⁸ From there he went up to Penuel and made the same request. And the people of Penuel responded in the same way the people of Succoth had. ⁹ So he also told the people of Penuel, “When I return in victory,^[a] I’ll break down this tower!”

¹⁰ Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their camp, about fifteen thousand men, all the ones who were left from the easterners’ entire camp. One hundred twenty thousand armed men had fallen. ¹¹ Gideon marched up the caravan road^[b] east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and attacked the camp while it was off-guard. ¹² Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he chased after them. He captured the two Midianite kings Zebah and Zalmunna and threw the entire army into panic.

¹³ Then Gideon, Joash’s son, returned from the battle by the Heres Pass. ¹⁴ He captured a young man from the people of Succoth and interrogated him. He listed for Gideon the seventy-seven officials and elders of Succoth. ¹⁵ So Gideon went to the people of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna! You made fun of me because of them by saying, ‘Haven’t you already almost gotten your hands on Zebah and Zalmunna? Why should we give food to your exhausted men now?’” ¹⁶ Then he seized the city’s elders, and he beat^[c] the people of Succoth with desert thorns and briars. ¹⁷ He also broke down Penuel’s tower, and killed the city’s people.

¹⁸ Then he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What kind of men were those whom you killed at Tabor?”

They replied, “They were just like you; each one looked like a king’s son.”

¹⁹ “They were my brothers,” Gideon said, “my own mother’s sons. As surely as the Lord lives, I promise that if you had let them live, I wouldn’t kill you!” ²⁰ So he ordered his oldest son Jether, “Stand up and kill them.” But the young man didn’t draw his sword because he was afraid, since he was still young.

²¹ So Zebah and Zalmunna said, “You stand up and strike us yourself, because as they say, ‘A man is measured by his strength!’” So Gideon stood up and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took the crescents that were on their camels’ necks.

Gideon’s request

²² Then the Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and then your son and then your grandson, because you’ve rescued us from Midian’s power.”

²³ Gideon replied to them, “I’m not the one who will rule over you, and my son won’t rule over you either. The Lord rules over you.” ²⁴ But Gideon said to them, “May I make one request of you? Everyone give me the earrings from their loot”; the Midianites had worn gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.

²⁵ “We’ll gladly give them,” they replied. And they spread out a piece of cloth, and everyone pitched in the earrings from their loot. ²⁶ The weight of the gold earrings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, not counting the crescents, the pendants, and the purple robes worn by the Midianite kings, or the collars that were on their camels’ necks. ²⁷ Gideon fashioned a priestly vest^[d] out of it, and put it in his hometown of Ophrah. All Israel became unfaithful there because of it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his household.

²⁸ So Midian was brought down before the Israelites and no longer raised its head. The land was peaceful for forty years during Gideon’s time.

Gideon’s death

²⁹ Jerubbaal, Joash’s son, went home to live with his own household. ³⁰ Gideon had seventy sons of his own because he had many wives. ³¹ His secondary wife who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. ³² Gideon, Joash’s son, died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

³³ Right after Gideon died, the Israelites once again acted unfaithfully by worshipping the Baals, setting up Baal-berith as their god. ³⁴ The people of Israel didn’t remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the power of all their enemies on every side. ³⁵ Nor did they act loyally toward the household of Jerubbaal, that is, Gideon, in return for all the good that he had done on Israel’s behalf.

Herod imprisons Peter

12 About that time King Herod began to harass some who belonged to the church. ² He had James, John’s brother, killed with a sword. ³ When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he arrested Peter as well. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ He put Peter in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers, sixteen in all, who guarded him. He planned to charge him publicly after the Passover. ⁵ While Peter was held in prison, the church offered earnest prayer to God for him.

⁶ The night before Herod was going to bring Peter’s case forward, Peter was asleep between two soldiers and bound with two chains, with soldiers guarding the prison entrance. ⁷ Suddenly an angel from the Lord appeared and a light shone in the prison cell. After nudging Peter on his side to awaken him, the angel raised him up and said, “Quick! Get up!” The chains fell from his wrists. ⁸ The angel continued, “Get dressed. Put on your sandals.” Peter did as he was told. The angel said, “Put on your coat and follow me.” ⁹ Following the angel, Peter left the prison. However, he didn’t realize the angel had actually done all this. He thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself. After leaving the prison, they proceeded the length of one street, when abruptly the angel was gone.

¹¹ At that, Peter came to his senses and remarked, “Now I’m certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod and from everything the Jewish people expected.” ¹² Realizing this, he made his way to Mary’s house. (Mary was John’s mother; he was also known as Mark.) Many believers had gathered there and were praying. ¹³ When Peter knocked at the outer gate, a female servant named Rhoda went to answer. ¹⁴ She was so overcome with joy when she recognized Peter’s voice that she didn’t open the gate. Instead, she ran back in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.

¹⁵ “You’ve lost your mind!” they responded. She stuck by her story with such determination that they began to say, “It must be his guardian angel.” ¹⁶ Meanwhile, Peter remained outside, knocking at the gate. They finally opened the gate and saw him there, and they were astounded.

¹⁷ He gestured with his hand to quiet them down, then recounted how the Lord led him out of prison. He said, “Tell this to James and the brothers and sisters.” Then he left for another place.

¹⁸ The next morning the soldiers were flustered about what had happened to Peter. ¹⁹ Herod called for a thorough search. When Peter didn’t turn up, Herod interrogated the guards and had them executed. Afterward, Herod left Judea in order to spend some time in Caesarea.

²⁰ Herod had been furious with the people of Tyre and Sidon for some time. They made a pact to approach him together, since their region depended on the king’s realm for its food supply. They persuaded Blastus, the king’s personal attendant, to join their cause, then appealed for an end to hostilities. ²¹ On the scheduled day Herod dressed himself in royal attire, seated himself on the throne, and gave a speech to the people. ²² Those assembled kept shouting, over and over, “This is a god’s voice, not the voice of a mere human!” ²³ Immediately an angel from the Lord struck Herod down, because he didn’t give the honor to God. He was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴ God’s word continued to grow and increase. ²⁵ Barnabas and Saul returned to Antioch from Jerusalem^[a] after completing their mission, bringing with them John, who was also known as Mark.

Verdict against king and city

21 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur, Malchiah’s son, and the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah’s son, to him with an appeal: ² “Speak to the Lord on our behalf because Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar^[a] is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform one of his mighty deeds and force him to withdraw from us.”

³ Jeremiah answered them: This is what you should tell Zedekiah: ⁴ The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to turn your own weapons against you, yes, the weapons you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians^[b] who have surrounded you! I will round them up in the center of the city. ⁵ Then I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and strong arm in fierce anger and rage. ⁶ I will strike down those within this city—both people and animals—and they will die of a terrible plague. ⁷ Afterward, declares the Lord, I will deliver Judah’s King Zedekiah, his servants, and those in this city who have survived plague, war, and famine to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar^[c] and to their enemies who seek to do them harm. He will put them to the sword without pity, mercy, or compassion.

⁸ This is what you should tell this people: The Lord says: I’m setting before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ Whoever stays in the city will die by the sword, famine, and disease. But whoever leaves the city and surrenders to the Babylonians^[d] will live; yes, their lives will be spared. ¹⁰ I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord; it will be delivered to the king of Babylon, who will set it on fire.

Judah: Hear the Lord’s word

What contaminates a life?

7 The Pharisees and some legal experts from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. ² They saw some of his disciples eating food with unclean hands. (They were eating without first ritually purifying their hands through washing. ³ The Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat without first washing their hands carefully. This is a way of observing the rules handed down by the elders. ⁴ Upon returning from the marketplace, they don’t eat without first immersing themselves. They observe many other rules that have been handed down, such as the washing of cups, jugs, pans, and sleeping mats.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and legal experts asked Jesus, “Why are your disciples not living according to the rules handed down by the elders but instead eat food with ritually unclean hands?”

⁶ He replied, “Isaiah really knew what he was talking about when he prophesied about you hypocrites. He wrote,

⁸ You ignore God’s commandment while holding on to rules created by humans and handed down to you.” ⁹ Jesus continued, “Clearly, you are experts at rejecting God’s commandment in order to establish these rules. ¹⁰ Moses said, Honor your father and your mother,^[b] and The person who speaks against father or mother will certainly be put to death.^{[c] 11} But you say, ‘If you tell your father or mother, “Everything I’m expected to contribute to you is corban(that is, a gift I’m giving to God),” ¹² then you are no longer required to care for your father or mother.’ ¹³ In this way you do away with God’s word in favor of the rules handed down to you, which you pass on to others. And you do a lot of other things just like that.”

¹⁴ Then Jesus called the crowd again and said, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. ¹⁵ Nothing outside of a person can enter and contaminate a person in God’s sight; rather, the things that come out of a person contaminate the person.”^[d]

¹⁷ After leaving the crowd, he entered a house where his disciples asked him about that riddle. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Don’t you understand either? Don’t you know that nothing from the outside that enters a person has the power to contaminate? ¹⁹ That’s because it doesn’t enter into the heart but into the stomach, and it goes out into the sewer.” By saying this, Jesus declared that no food could contaminate a person in God’s sight. ²⁰ “It’s what comes out of a person that contaminates someone in God’s sight,” he said. ²¹ “It’s from the inside, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come: sexual sins, thefts, murders, ²² adultery, greed, evil actions, deceit, unrestrained immorality, envy, insults, arrogance, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from the inside and contaminate a person in God’s sight.”

An immigrant’s daughter is delivered

²⁴ Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had entered a house, but he couldn’t hide. ²⁵ In fact, a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him right away. She came and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She begged Jesus to throw the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ He responded, “The children have to be fed first. It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

²⁸ But she answered, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ “Good answer!” he said. “Go on home. The demon has already left your daughter.” ³⁰ When she returned to her house, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

A deaf man is healed

³¹ After leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus went through Sidon toward the Galilee Sea through the region of the Ten Cities. ³² Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged him to place his hand on the man for healing. ³³ Jesus took him away from the crowd by himself and put his fingers in the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Looking into heaven, Jesus sighed deeply and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up.” ³⁵ At once, his ears opened, his twisted tongue was released, and he began to speak clearly.

³⁶ Jesus gave the people strict orders not to tell anyone. But the more he tried to silence them, the more eagerly they shared the news. ³⁷ People were overcome with wonder, saying, “He does everything well! He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who can’t speak.”