M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The parables of the seed, of the tares, of the mustard seed, of the leaven, of the treasure hid in the field, of the pearls, and of the net.

13 The same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side. ² And crowds of people gathered to him, so greatly that he went and sat in a boat, and all the people stood on the shore. ³ And he spoke many things to them in similitudes, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured it up. ⁵ Some fell on stony ground where it had not much earth, and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of earth; ⁶ and when the sun was up, it caught heat, and for lack of rooting withered away. ⁷ Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it. ⁸ But part fell in good ground and brought forth good fruit: some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. ⁹ Whosoever has ears to hear, let him hear!

¹⁰ And the disciples came and asked him, Why do you speak to them in parables? ¹¹ He answered and said to them, It is given to you to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. ¹² For whosoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance. But whosoever has not, from him shall be taken away even what he has. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in similitudes. For though they see, they see not. And hearing, they hear not, neither understand. ¹⁴ And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which prophecy says: With the ears you will hear, but will not understand, and with the eyes you will see, and will not perceive. ¹⁵ For the hearts of this people have grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts, and should turn, so that I might heal them.

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷ Truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things that you hear, and have not heard them.

¹⁸ Hear therefore the similitude of the sower. ¹⁹ Whosoever hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, there comes the evil one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart; and this is he who received the seed by the wayside. ²⁰ But he who received the seed in the stony ground is the person who hears the word of God, and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ Yet he has no roots in himself, and therefore endures but a season, for as soon as tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, at once he falls. ²² He who received the seed among thorns is the person who hears the word of God, but the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and so he is made unfruitful. ²³ But he who receives the seed in good ground is the person who hears the word and understands it; who also bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.

²⁴ Another similitude he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. ²⁶ When the blade had sprung up and had brought forth fruit, then the tares appeared also. ²⁷ Then the servants went to the householder and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did the tares come from? ²⁸ He said to them, The envious man has done this. Then the servants said to him, Do you want us then to go and weed them out? ²⁹ But he said, Nay, lest while you go about to weed out the tares, you pluck up also with them the wheat by the roots. ³⁰ Let both grow together till harvest comes. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather the tares first, and bind them in sheaves to be burned; but gather the wheat into my barn.

³¹ Another parable he put forth to them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man takes and sows in his field, ³² which is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among shrubs; and it is a tree, so that the birds of the air come and build in its branches.

³³ He told them another similitude: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman takes and hides in three measures of meal, till all is leavened.

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the people by similitudes. And he spoke nothing to them without similitudes, ³⁵ to fulfil that which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in similitudes, and will speak forth things which have been kept secret from the beginning of the world.

³⁶ Then Jesus sent the people away and went indoors. And his disciples came to him, saying, Explain to us the similitude of the tares of the field. ³⁷ Then he answered and said to them, He who sows the good seed is the Son of man. ³⁸ And the field is the world. And the children of the kingdom, they are the good seed. And the tares are the children of the wicked one: ³⁹ the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰ For even as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. ⁴¹ The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all injurious things, and those who do iniquity, ⁴² and will cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then shall the just shine as bright as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!

⁴⁴ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hid in a field, which a person finds and hides, and for the joy of it goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant who seeks good pearls, ⁴⁶ who, when he found one precious pearl, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea, which gathers in all kinds of fishes. ⁴⁸ When it is full, men draw it to land, and sit and gather the good into vessels, and cast the bad away. ⁴⁹ So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels will come out and separate the bad from the good, ⁵⁰ and will cast them into a furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ Jesus asked them, Do you understand all these things? They said, Yes, Lord. ⁵² Then he said to them, Therefore every scribe who is instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth out of his treasure things both new and old.

⁵³ And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these similitudes, that he departed from there, ⁵⁴ and went into his own country. And he taught the people in their synagogues, insomuch that they were astonished and said, Whence comes all this wisdom and power to him? ⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is his mother not called Mary? and his brethren James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ Are his sisters not all here with us? Where does he have all these things from? ⁵⁷ And they were offended by him.

Then Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and among his own kin.

⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

Paul and Barnabas are called to preach among the heathen. Of Sergius Paulus and Elymas the magician. Paul preaches at Antioch.

13 There were in the congregation at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, such as Barnabas, and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they worshipped the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. ³ Then they fasted and prayed, and put their hands on them, and let them go. ⁴ And they, after they were sent by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to the island of Cyprus. ⁵ And when they had come to Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John Mark to assist them.

⁶ When they had gone throughout the isle to the city of Paphos, they found a certain magician, a false prophet who was a Jew named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with the proconsul of the province, one Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. This man called to him Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for so was his name by translation) withstood them, and sought to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

⁹ Then Saul, who also is called Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, set his eyes on him ¹⁰ and said, O full of all subtlety and deceitfulness, child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you cease not to pervert the straight ways of the Lord. ¹¹ And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a season.

And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul, when he saw what had happened, believed, and wondered at the doctrine of the Lord.

¹³ When those who were with Paul departed from Paphos by ship, they went to Perga, a city of Pamphylia; but there John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But they wandered through the districts from Perga to Antioch, a city of the province of Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. ¹⁵ And after the law and the prophets were read, the leaders of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any sermon to exhort the people, do speak.

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up and beckoned with his hand and said, Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with a mighty arm brought them out of it. ¹⁸ And for the time of about forty years he suffered their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, and divided their land to them by lot. ²⁰ And afterward he gave them judges for about 450 years, until the time of Samuel the prophet. ²¹ And after that they desired a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. ²² And after he had put him down, he set up David to be their king, of whom he reported, saying: I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart. He will fulfil all my will.

²³ From this man’s seed, God (according to his promise) brought forth to the people of Israel a saviour, one Jesus, ²⁴ when John, before his coming, had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel. ²⁵ And when John was finishing his course, he said, He whom you think that I am, I am not. But behold, there comes one after me, the shoes of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.  

²⁶ Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whoever among you fears God, to you is this word of salvation sent. ²⁷ The inhabiters of Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor yet the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath day, have fulfilled the prophets in condemning him. ²⁸ And when they found no cause of death in him, yet they asked Pilate to kill him. ²⁹ And when they had fulfilled all the things that were written of him, they took him down from the tree and put him in a sepulchre. ³⁰ But God raised him again from death, ³¹ and he was seen during many days by those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.

³² And we declare to you that the promise made to the fathers, ³³ God has fulfilled unto us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus again, even as it is written in the second psalm: You are my Son; this same day I have begotten you. ³⁴ As concerning that he raised him up from death, now no more to return to corruption, he said thus: The holy promises made to David, I will give faithfully to you. ³⁵ Therefore he says also in another place: You shall not suffer your Holy One to see corruption. ³⁶ However David, after he had in his time fulfilled the will of God, slept, and was laid with his fathers, and saw corruption. ³⁷ But he whom God raised again saw no corruption.

³⁸ Be it known to you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man the forgiveness of sins is preached to you, ³⁹ and that by him all who believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware, therefore, lest that fall on you which is spoken of in the prophets: ⁴¹ Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish! For I do a work in your days that you will not believe, though a man were to declare it to you.

⁴² When they came out of the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles urged them to preach the word to them between the Sabbath days. ⁴³ When the congregation broke up, many of the Jews and virtuous converts followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them, and exhorted them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ And the next Sabbath day, almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

⁴⁵ When the Jews saw the people, they were full of indignation and spoke against those things that were said by Paul, contradicting and railing on it. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas were bold and said, It was fitting that the word of God should first have been preached to you. But seeing you put it from you, and think yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so has the Lord commanded us: I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to be salvation to the end of the world.

⁴⁸ The Gentiles heard and were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord and believed – even as many as were appointed to eternal life. ⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord went abroad throughout all the region.

⁵⁰ But the Jews moved the devout and honourable women and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their district. ⁵¹ And they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.