M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Abraham Is Tested
22 Later God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” Abraham said, “Here I am.” 2 God said, “Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. And go to the land of Moriah. Give him as a burnt gift on the altar in worship, on one of the mountains I will show you.” 3 So Abraham got up early in the morning and got his donkey ready. He took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac. He cut wood for the burnt gift. And he went to the place where God told him to go. 4 Abraham looked up on the third day and saw the place far away. 5 He said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go to that place and worship, and return to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt gift and had Isaac carry it. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. 7 Then Isaac said to Abraham, “My father!” Abraham answered, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “See, here is the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for the burnt gift?” 8 Abraham said, “God will have for Himself a lamb ready for the burnt gift, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.
9 Then they came to the place that God told them about. Abraham built the altar there, and set the wood in place. Then he tied rope around his son Isaac, and laid him upon the wood on the altar. 10 And Abraham put out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham! Abraham!” And Abraham said, “Here I am.” 12 The angel of the Lord said, “Do not put out your hand against the boy. Do nothing to him. For now I know that you fear God. You have not kept from Me your son, your only son.” 13 Then Abraham looked and saw a ram behind him, with his horns caught in the bushes. Abraham went and took the ram, and gave him as a burnt gift instead of his son. 14 Abraham gave that place the name “The Lord will give us what we need.” And it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be given.”
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time. 16 He said, “I have promised by Myself, says the Lord, because you have done this and have not kept from Me your son, your only son, 17 I will bring good to you. I will add many to the number of your children and all who come after them, like the stars of the heavens and the sand beside the sea. They will take over the cities of those who hate them. 18 Good will come to all the nations of the earth by your children and their children’s children. Because you have obeyed My voice.” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men. And they got up and went with him to Beersheba. Abraham made his home there.
20 Later it was told to Abraham, “Milcah also has given birth to the children of your brother Nahor: 21 Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah gave birth to these eight by Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 And Reumah, the woman he kept who acted as his wife, gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
The Last Time Jesus Goes into Jerusalem (A)
21 They were near Jerusalem and had come to the town of Bethphage at the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two followers on ahead. 2 He said to them, “Go to the town over there. You will find a donkey tied and her young with her. Let them loose and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says something to you, say, ‘The Lord needs them.’ He will send them at once.”
4 It happened as the early preacher said it would happen, saying, 5 “Say to the people in Jerusalem, ‘See! Your King is coming to you. He is gentle. He is riding on a young donkey.’” (B)
6 The followers went and did as Jesus told them. 7 They brought the donkey and her young one. They put their clothes on the donkey and Jesus sat on them. 8 Many people put their coats down on the road. Other people cut branches from the trees and put them along the way. 9 The people who went in front and those who followed Jesus called out, “Greatest One! The Son of David! Great and honored is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! Greatest One in the highest heaven.”
10 When Jesus came into Jerusalem, all the people of the city were troubled. They said, “Who is this?” 11 Many people said, “This is Jesus, the One Who speaks for God from the town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee.”
Jesus Stops the Buying and the Selling in the House of God (C)
12 Then Jesus went into the house of God and made all those leave who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of the men who changed money. He turned over the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house is to be called a house of prayer.’ You have made it a place of robbers.” (D)
14 The blind and those who could not walk came to Jesus in the house of God and He healed them. 15 The religious leaders of the Jews and the teachers of the Law saw the great things He did. They heard the children calling in the house of God and saying, “Greatest One! Son of David!” The leaders were very angry. 16 They said to Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes, have you not read the writings, ‘Even little children and babies will honor Him’?” 17 Jesus left them and went out of the city to the town of Bethany. He stayed there that night.
The Fig Tree Dries Up (E)
18 In the morning as He was coming back to the city, He was hungry. 19 He saw a fig tree by the side of the road and went to it. There was nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, “No fruit will ever grow on you again.” At once the fig tree dried up. 20 The followers saw it and were surprised and wondered. They said, “How did the fig tree dry up so fast?” 21 Jesus said to them, “For sure, I tell you this: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only be able to do what was done to the fig tree. You will also be able to say to this mountain, ‘Move from here and be thrown into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 All things you ask for in prayer, you will receive if you have faith.”
They Ask Jesus Who Gave Him the Power to Do These Things (F)
23 Jesus came into the house of God. The religious leaders and the other leaders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching. They said, “By what right and power are You doing these things? Who gave You the right and the power to do them?” 24 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing also. If you tell Me, then I will tell you by what right and power I do these things. 25 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” They thought among themselves, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ then He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, because they all think John was one who spoke for God.” 27 They said to Jesus, “We do not know.” He said to them, “Then I will not tell you by what right and power I do these things.
The Picture-Story of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think about this? There was a man who had two sons. He came to the first son and said, ‘My son, go to my grape-field and work today.’ 29 He said, ‘I will go.’ But he did not go. 30 The father came to the second son and asked the same thing. The son said, ‘No, I will not go.’ Later he was sorry and went. 31 Which one of the two sons did what his father wanted?” They said to Jesus, “The second son.” Jesus said to them, “For sure, I tell you this: Tax-gatherers and women who sell the use of their bodies will get into the holy nation of heaven before you. 32 For John came to you preaching about being right with God. You did not believe him. But tax-gatherers and women who sell the use of their bodies did believe him. When you saw this, you were not sorry for your sins and did not turn from them and believe him.
The Picture-Story of the Grape-Field (G)
33 “Listen to another picture-story. A man who owned land planted grapes in a field and put a fence around it. He made a place for making wine. He built a tower to look over the grape-field. He let farmers rent it and then he went into another country. 34 The time came for gathering the grapes. He sent his servants to the farmers to get the grapes. 35 The farmers took his servants and hit one. They killed another and threw stones at another. 36 Again he sent other servants. He sent more than the first time. The farmers did the same to those servants. 37 After this he sent his son to them. He said to himself, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 When the farmers saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the one who will get everything when the owner dies. Let us kill him and we will get it all.’ 39 They took him and threw him out of the grape-field and killed him. 40 When the owner of the grape-field comes, what will he do to those farmers?” 41 They said to Him, “He will put those bad men to death. Then he will rent the grape-field to other farmers who will give him the grapes when they are ready.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you not read in the Holy Writings, ‘The Stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important Stone in the building? The Lord has done this. We think it is great!’ (H) 43 I say to you, because of this, the holy nation of God will be taken from you. It will be given to a nation that will give fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this Stone will be broken. And on the one it falls, it will make him like dust.”
45 When the religious leaders and the proud religious law-keepers heard this picture-story, they knew He spoke of them. 46 When they tried to put their hands on Him, they were afraid of the many people. The people thought He was One Who spoke for God.
The People Who Lived in Jerusalem
11 Now the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem. But the rest of the people drew names to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while nine-tenths stayed in the other cities. 2 And the people praised all the men who were willing to live in Jerusalem.
3 These are the leaders of the lands who lived in Jerusalem but in the cities of Judah every one lived on his own land there: Israel, the religious leaders, the Levites, the servants in the house of God, and the children of Solomon’s servants. 4 Some of the sons of Judah and some of the sons of Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. Of the sons of Judah there was Athaiah the son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez, 5 and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, son of Col-hozeh, son of Hazaiah, son of Adaiah, son of Joiarib, son of Zechariah, son of the Shilonite. 6 All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 able men.
7 The sons of Benjamin are Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Joed, son of Pedaiah, son of Kolaiah, son of Maaseiah, son of Ithiel, son of Jeshaiah, 8 and after him Gabbai and Sallai, 928 men. 9 Joel the son of Zichri watched over them, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second over the city.
10 Of the religious leaders there were Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, 11 Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the leader of the house of God, 12 and their brothers who did the work of the house of God, 822 men. And there was Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, 13 and his brothers, heads of family groups, 242 men. And there was Amashsai the son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer, 14 and their brothers, 128 men with strength of heart. Zabdiel, the son of Haggedolim, watched over them.
15 Of the Levites there was Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni, 16 and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the leaders of the Levites. They watched over the outside work of the house of God. 17 And there was Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who was the leader in beginning the giving of thanks at prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his brothers. And there was Abda the son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. 18 All the Levites in the holy city were 284.
19 The gate-keepers, Akkub, Talmon, and their brothers, who kept watch at the gates, were 172. 20 The rest of Israel, of the religious leaders and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each in the land he had been given. 21 But the servants of the house of God were living in Ophel. Ziha and Gishpa were over the servants of the house of God.
22 The one who watched over the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, from the sons of Asaph, the singers for the work of the house of God. 23 For the king had said that the singers must be given what they need each day. 24 Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah the son of Judah, was the king’s workman in everything to do with the people.
The People Living outside Jerusalem
25 As for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in Kiriath-arba and its villages, in Dibon and its villages, in Jekabzeel and its villages, 26 in Jeshua, Moladah, Beth-pelet, 27 Hazar-shual, Beersheba and its villages, 28 Ziklag, Meconah and its villages, 29 En-rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth, 30 Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, and Azekah and its villages. So they lived from Beersheba as far as the valley of Hinnom. 31 The sons of Benjamin lived in Geba, Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its villages, 32 Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, 33 Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, 34 Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, 35 Lod, and Ono, the valley of able workmen. 36 And certain groups of the Levites in Judah were joined to Benjamin.
Paul Goes from Miletus to Tyre
21 After we left them, we got on a ship and came straight down to the island of Cos. The next day we came to the island of Rhodes and from there to the city of Patara. 2 There we found a ship that was going over to the country of Phoenicia. We got on it and went along. 3 We saw the island of Cyprus to our left but went on to the country of Syria. We came to land at the city of Tyre. The ship was to leave its load of freight there.
4 We looked for the Christians and stayed with them seven days. The Christians had been told by the Holy Spirit to tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5 When our time was up, we left there and went on our way. All of them with their wives and children went with us out of town. They got down on their knees on the shore and prayed. 6 After we said good-bye, we got on the ship and they went back to their houses.
Paul Goes from Tyre to Jerusalem
7 The same ship took us from Tyre to the city of Ptolemais. We stayed with the Christians there one day. 8 The next day we left and came to the city of Caesarea. We went to the house of Philip and stayed with him. He was a preacher who goes from town to town and was one of the seven church leaders. 9 Philip had four daughters who were not married. They spoke the Word of God.
10 While we were there a few days, a man who speaks for God named Agabus came down from the country of Judea. 11 He came to see us. Then he took Paul’s belt and used it to tie his own feet and hands. He said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says, ‘The Jews at Jerusalem will tie the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the people who are not Jews.’”
12 When we heard this, we and all the people living there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul said, “What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready to be put in chains in Jerusalem. I am also ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 Paul would not listen to us. So we stopped begging him and said, “May whatever God wants be done.”
Paul Is in Jerusalem
15 After this, we got ready and started up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the followers in Caesarea went with us. They took us to Mnason’s house. He was one of the first followers from Cyprus. We stayed with him.
17 When we got to Jerusalem, the Christians were glad to see us. 18 The next day we went with Paul to see James. All the church leaders came also. 19 After saying hello to them, Paul told of what God had done through his work for the people who were not Jews.
20 When they heard this, they thanked the Lord. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Christians there are among the Jews. They all obey the Law of Moses. 21 They have heard about you. They have heard you teach the Jews who live among people who are not Jews. They have heard you teach them to break away from the Law of Moses. They say you are telling them not to do the religious act of becoming a Jew and not to follow old religious ways of worship. 22 What should we do about it? They will hear that you have come. 23 You must do what we tell you. We have four men with us who have made a promise to God. 24 Take these four men and go through the religious worship of washing with them. You pay to have their hair cut off. Then everybody will know what they have heard about you is not true. They will know you are careful to obey the Law of Moses. 25 As for the people who are not Jews, we wrote to them. We said that they must keep away from everything that has been given to gods. They must not eat blood or meat from animals that have been killed in ways against the Law. They must keep away from sex sins.”
26 The next day Paul took the men. He went through the religious worship of washing with them. They went into the house of God to tell when their religious worship of washing would be finished. Then the gift for each one of them would be given as an act of worship.
27 The seven days were almost finished. Jews from the countries of Asia saw Paul in the house of God. They made the people turn against him. Then they took hold of him. 28 They cried out, “You who are Jews, help us! This is the man who is teaching against our people and our Law and this house of God. Also he has brought Greek people into the house of God. This has made this holy place unclean.” 29 They had seen him before in the city with Trophimus who was from the city of Ephesus. They thought Paul had brought him into the house of God also.
30 All the people in the city were crying out with loud voices. The people pushed and moved together. They took Paul and dragged him out of the house of God. Then the doors were shut. 31 They were getting ready to kill him. The captain of the soldiers heard there was trouble over all Jerusalem. 32 At once the captain called his soldiers and they ran down to the people. When the people saw the captain and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
Paul Is Tied with Chains
33 The captain came and took hold of Paul. He told his soldiers to tie Paul with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some of the people called out one thing and some another. The captain was not able to find out what had happened. He told his men to take Paul into the soldiers’ building. 35 The people cried out so loud and pushed so hard that Paul had to be carried up the steps by the soldiers. 36 All the people kept pushing and calling out, “Kill him!”
37 Paul was brought into the soldiers’ building. He said to the captain, “May I say something to you?” The captain said, “Can you speak the Greek language? 38 Are you not the man from the country of Egypt who made trouble against our country? That man led 4,000 fighting men into the desert.” 39 Paul said, “No! I am a Jew and a citizen of a large city. I am from Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I ask you to let me speak to the people.” 40 The captain told Paul to speak. So Paul stood on the steps and held up his hand. When there was no more noise, he spoke to them in the language of the Jews.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.