M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Levites
23 Now David was old and full of days when he made Solomon his son king over Israel. 2 So he gathered together all the leaders of Israel with the priests and the Levites.
3 The Levites from thirty years old and up were counted, and their head count of men was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Twenty-four thousand of these, David said, “shall have charge of the work in the house of the Lord; six thousand shall be officers and judges, 5 four thousand shall be gatekeepers, and four thousand shall offer praises to the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praise.”
6 David assigned them to divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Gershonites
7 From the Gershonites:
Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan were
first Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel, three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei were
Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran, three.
These were the heads of the fathers’ houses of Ladan.
10 The sons of Shimei were
Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah.
These four were the sons of Shimei.
11 Now Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were counted as one unit for their father’s house.
Kohathites
12 The sons of Kohath were
Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four in all.
13 The sons of Amram were
Aaron and Moses,
but Aaron was set apart to consecrate the most holy things, he and his sons forever, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister to Him, and to bless in His name forever. 14 As for Moses, the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses were
Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The son of Gershom was
Shubael the chief.
17 The son of Eliezer was
Rehabiah the chief.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
18 The son of Izhar was
Shelomith the chief.
19 The sons of Hebron were
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel were
Micah the first and Ishiah the second.
Merarites
21 The sons of Merari were
Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli were
Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died having no sons, but only daughters, so the sons of Kish, their brothers, took them as wives.
23 The sons of Mushi were
Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth, three.
24 These were the sons of Levi according to their fathers’ houses, the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were registered by the number of their names according to their head count, those doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and up.
25 For David said, “The Lord, the God of Israel, has given rest to His people, and He dwells in Jerusalem forever. 26 And so the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle and all its implements for its service.” 27 For by the last words of David, the sons of Levi were numbered from twenty years old and up; 28 because their duty was to help the sons of Aaron in the service of the house of the Lord, in the courts and in the chambers, with the purifying of all holy things, even the work of service of the house of God, 29 and with the showbread, the fine flour for a grain offering, the wafers of unleavened bread, the baked offering, the offering mixed with oil, and all measures of quantity and size, 30 to stand morning by morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise in the evening, 31 and to offer up all burnt offerings to the Lord, for Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, by number as the judgment concerning them, continually before the Lord, 32 and that they should keep charge of the tent of meeting and the sanctuary and attend to the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the Lord.
Good Stewards of God’s Grace
4 Therefore, since Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh serving human desires, but the will of God. 3 For in earlier times of our lives it may have sufficed us to do what the Gentiles like to do, when we walked in immorality: lusts, drunkenness, carousing, debauchery, and abominable idolatries. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in the same excess of wild living, and so they speak evil of you. 5 They will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, so that even though they might be judged according to men in the flesh, they might live according to God in the spirit.
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be solemn and sober so you can pray. 8 Above all things, have unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10 As everyone has received a gift, even so serve one another with it, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone serves, let him serve with the strength that God supplies, so that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Suffering as a Christian
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though some strange thing happened to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, so that you may rejoice and be glad also in the revelation of His glory. 14 If you are reproached because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or even as a busybody. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God because of it. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins first with us, what shall the end be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And
“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”[a]
19 So then, let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.
Woe to the Wicked
2 Woe to those who conceive wickedness,
to those who devise evil on their beds!
At morning’s light they execute it,
because it is in the power of their hand.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses and take them.
They defraud a man of his house,
and a fellow man of his inheritance.
3 Therefore, thus says the Lord:
I am devising disaster against this family,
from which you cannot remove your necks;
and you will not walk haughtily,
for it will be a time of calamity.
4 In that day they will take up a taunt against you,
and they will wail a wailing lament, and say:
“We are totally ruined!
He diminishes the portion of my people;
how He removes it from me!
To a traitor He reassigns our fields!”
5 Therefore you will not have anyone to apportion the land by lot
in the assembly of the Lord.
Prophets of Deceit
6 “Do not prophesy,” they say.
“One should not prophesy about these things.
Disgrace will not overtake us.”
7 Should it be said, O house of Jacob,
“Is the Spirit of the Lord impatient?
Are these His deeds?”
Do not My words benefit
him who walks uprightly?
8 But lately My people rise up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by trustingly,
like men returning from war.
9 The women of My people you drive out
from their delightful homes;
from their children
you take My adornment forever.
10 Get up and go,
for this is not the resting place,
because uncleanness ruins,
and ruin sickens.
11 If a man, going about vapidly and deceitfully, lies,
“I will preach for you wine and beer,”
he would be just the preacher for this people.
The Restoration of Israel
12 I will indeed assemble Jacob—all of you;
I will indeed gather the remnant of Israel.
I will place them together like sheep in a fold,
like a herd in its pasture—
thronging with people.
13 He who breaks through has gone up before them;
they will break through and pass the gate and go out by it.
Then their king will pass on before them,
the Lord at their head.
Teaching About Prayer(A)
11 He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Our Father, who is in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come;
Your will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
5 Then He said to them, “Which of you has a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine on his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give you anything’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as much as he needs.
9 “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 “If a son asks for bread from any of you who is a father, will you give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will you offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
Jesus and Beelzebub(B)
14 He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowd marveled. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out demons through Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others, testing Him, asked Him for a sign from heaven.
17 But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate. And a house divided against itself falls. 18 If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons through Beelzebub. 19 Now if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, no doubt the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are peacefully kept. 22 But when a stronger man than he attacks and overpowers him, he seizes all the armor in which the man trusted and divides his spoils.
23 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
The Return of the Unclean Spirit(C)
24 “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it goes through dry places seeking rest. Finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house, from which I came.’ 25 When it comes, it finds it swept and furnished. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
True Blessedness
27 As He spoke these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the woman who gave You birth and nursed You.”
28 But He said, “Indeed, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
The Demand for a Sign(D)
29 When the crowds pressed upon Him, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It looks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And now one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And now one greater than Jonah is here.
The Light of the Body(E)
33 “No one, when he has lit a candle, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a candlestick, that those who come in may see the light. 34 The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Take heed therefore lest the light which is in you is darkness. 36 If your whole body, then, is full of light, no part being dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the shining candle gives you light.”
The Denouncing of the Pharisees and Lawyers(F)
37 As He spoke, a Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish. But inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give alms from what is within. And then all things are clean to you.
42 “Woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb and pass over justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
43 “Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the prominent seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like unseen graves, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”
45 One of the lawyers answered, “Teacher, by saying these things You insult us also.”
46 He said, “Woe to you also, you lawyers! For you load men with burdens difficult to carry, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and entirely approve the deeds of your fathers, because they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the beginning of the world, may be required from this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be required from this generation.
52 “Woe to you, lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”
53 As He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to incite Him vehemently and angrily draw Him out concerning many things, 54 lying in wait for Him and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.