M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
A Wife for Isaac
24 Abraham lived to be a very old man. The Lord blessed him and everything he did. 2 Abraham’s oldest servant was in charge of everything he owned. Abraham called that servant to him and said, “Put your hand under my leg.[a] 3 Now I want you to make a promise to me. Promise to me before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry a girl from Canaan. We live among these people, but don’t let him marry a Canaanite girl. 4 Go back to my country, to my own people, to find a wife for my son Isaac. Bring her here to him.”
5 The servant said to him, “Maybe this woman will not want to come back with me to this land. If that happens, should I take your son with me to your homeland?”
6 Abraham said to him, “No, don’t take my son to that place. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, brought me from my homeland to this place. That place was the home of my father and the home of my family, but he promised that this new land would belong to my family. May he send his angel before you so that you can choose a wife for my son. 8 If the girl refuses to come with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not take my son back to that place.”
9 So the servant put his hand under his master’s leg and made the promise.
The Search Begins
10 The servant took ten of Abraham’s camels and left that place. The servant carried with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Mesopotamia, to Nahor’s city. 11 In the evening, when the women come out to get water, he went to the water well outside the city. He made the camels kneel down at the well.
12 The servant said, “Lord, you are the God of my master Abraham. Please show your kindness to my master by helping me find a wife for his son Isaac. 13 Here I am, standing by this well of water, and the young women from the city are coming out to get water. 14 I will say to one of them, ‘Please put your jar down so that I can drink.’ Let her answer show whether she is the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. If she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels,’ I will know that she is the right one. It will be proof that you have shown kindness to my master.”
A Wife Is Found
15 Before the servant finished praying, a young woman named Rebekah came to the well. She was the daughter of Bethuel. (Bethuel was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother.) Rebekah came to the well with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 She was very pretty. She was a virgin; no man had ever had sexual relations with her. She went down to the well and filled her jar. 17 Then the servant ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.”
18 Rebekah quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. She said, “Drink this, sir.” 19 As soon as she finished giving him something to drink, Rebekah said, “I will also pour some water for your camels.” 20 So Rebekah quickly poured all the water from her jar into the drinking trough for the camels. Then she ran to the well to get more water, and she gave water to all the camels.
21 The servant quietly watched her. He wanted to be sure that the Lord had given him an answer and had made his trip successful. 22 After the camels finished drinking, he gave Rebekah a gold ring that weighed 1/4 ounce.[b] He also gave her two gold arm bracelets that weighed 2 ounces[c] each. 23 The servant asked, “Who is your father? And is there a place in your father’s house for me and my men to sleep?”
24 Rebekah answered, “My father is Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor.” 25 Then she said, “Yes, we have straw and other food for your camels and a place for you to sleep.”
26 The servant bowed and worshiped the Lord. 27 He said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has been kind and loyal to him by leading me to his own people.”
28 Then Rebekah ran and told her family about all these things. 29-30 She had a brother named Laban. She told him what the man had said to her. Laban was listening to her. And when he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, he ran out to the well. There the man was, standing by the camels at the well. 31 Laban said, “Sir, you are welcome to come in![d] You don’t have to stand outside here. I have prepared a room for you to sleep in and a place for your camels.”
32 So Abraham’s servant went into the house. Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed. Then he gave Abraham’s servant water so that he and the men with him could wash their feet. 33 Laban then gave him food to eat, but the servant refused to eat. He said, “I will not eat until I have told you why I came.”
So Laban said, “Then tell us.”
Bargaining for Rebekah
34 The servant said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has greatly blessed my master in everything. My master has become a great man. The Lord has given him many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. He has much silver and gold and many servants. He has many camels and donkeys. 36 Sarah was my master’s wife. When she was very old, she gave birth to a son, and my master has given everything he owns to that son. 37 My master forced me to make a promise to him. He said to me, ‘You must not allow my son to marry a girl from Canaan. We live among these people, but I don’t want him to marry one of the Canaanite girls. 38 So you must promise to go to my father’s country. Go to my family and choose a wife for my son.’ 39 I said to my master, ‘Maybe the woman will not come back to this place with me.’ 40 But my master said to me, ‘I serve the Lord, and he will send his angel with you and help you. You will find a wife for my son among my people there. 41 But if you go to my father’s country, and they refuse to give you a wife for my son, you will be free from this promise.’
42 “Today I came to this well and said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please make my trip successful. 43 I will stand by this well and wait for a young woman to come to get water. Then I will say, “Please give me water from your jar to drink.” 44 The right woman will answer in a special way. She will say, “Drink this water, and I will also get water for your camels.” That way I will know that she is the one the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished praying, Rebekah came out to the well to get water. She had her water jar on her shoulder as she went to get water from the well. I asked her to give me some water. 46 She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and poured me some water. Then she said, ‘Drink this, and I’ll get some water for your camels.’ So I drank the water, and she gave water to my camels. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Who is your father?’ She answered, ‘My father is Bethuel the son of Milcah and Nahor.’ Then I gave her the ring and bracelets for her arms. 48 I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. I thanked him for leading me straight to the granddaughter of my master’s brother. 49 Now, tell me, will you be kind and loyal to my master and give him your daughter? Or will you refuse to give her to him? Tell me so that I will know what I should do.”
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “We see that this is from the Lord, so there is nothing we can say to change it. 51 Here is Rebekah. Take her and go. Let her marry your master’s son. This is what the Lord wants.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard this, he bowed to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then he gave Rebekah the gifts he brought. He gave her beautiful clothes and gold and silver jewelry. He also gave expensive gifts to her mother and brother. 54 Then he and his men had something to eat and drink, and they spent the night there. Early the next morning they got up and the servant said, “Now we must go back to my master.”
55 Rebekah’s mother and her brother said, “Let Rebekah stay with us for a short time. Let her stay with us ten days. After that she can go.”
56 But the servant said to them, “Don’t make me wait. The Lord has made my trip successful. Now let me go back to my master.”
57 Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “We will call Rebekah and ask her what she wants to do.” 58 They called her and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man now?”
Rebekah said, “Yes, I will go.”
59 So they allowed Rebekah to go with Abraham’s servant and his men. Her nurse also went with them. 60 While Rebekah was leaving they said to her,
“Our sister, may you be
the mother of millions of people,
and may your descendants defeat
their enemies and take their cities.”
61 Then Rebekah and her nurse got on the camels and followed the servant and his men. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Isaac had left Beer Lahai Roi and was now living in the Negev. 63 One evening he went out to the field to think.[e] He looked up and saw the camels coming from far away.
64 Rebekah also looked and saw Isaac. Then she jumped down from the camel. 65 She said to the servant, “Who is that young man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “That is my master’s son.” So Rebekah covered her face with her veil.
66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. 67 Then Isaac brought the girl into his mother’s tent. Rebekah became his wife that day. Isaac loved her very much. So he was comforted after his mother’s death.
Jesus Criticizes the Religious Leaders(A)
23 Then Jesus spoke to the people and to his followers. He said, 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the Law of Moses says. 3 So you should obey them. Do everything they tell you to do. But their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they don’t do those things themselves. 4 They make strict rules that are hard for people to obey. They try to force others to obey all their rules. But they themselves will not try to follow any of those rules.
5 “The only reason they do what they do is for other people to see them. They make the little Scripture boxes[a] they wear bigger and bigger. And they make the tassels[b] on their prayer clothes long enough for people to notice them. 6 These men love to have the places of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues. 7 They love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces and to call them ‘Teacher.’
8 “But you must not be called ‘Teacher.’ You are all equal as brothers and sisters. You have only one Teacher. 9 And don’t call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ You have one Father. He is in heaven. 10 And you should not be called ‘Master.’ You have only one Master, the Messiah. 11 Whoever serves you like a servant is the greatest among you. 12 People who think they are better than others will be made humble. But people who humble themselves will be made great.
13 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the way for people to enter God’s kingdom. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop those who are trying to enter. 14 [c]
15 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites. You travel across the seas and across different countries to find one person who will follow your ways. When you find that person, you make him worse than you are. And you are so bad that you belong in hell!
16 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If anyone uses the name of the Temple to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gold that is in the Temple to make a promise must keep that promise.’ 17 You are blind fools! Can’t you see that the Temple is greater than the gold on it? It’s the Temple that makes the gold holy!
18 “And you say, ‘If anyone uses the altar to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gift on the altar to make a promise must keep that promise.’ 19 You are blind! Can’t you see that the altar is greater than any gift on it? It’s the altar that makes the gift holy! 20 Whoever uses the altar to make a promise is really using the altar and everything on the altar. 21 And anyone who uses the Temple to make a promise is really using the Temple and God, who lives in it. 22 Whoever uses heaven to make a promise is using God’s throne and the one who is seated on it.
23 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give God a tenth of the food you get, even your mint, dill, and cumin.[d] But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—being fair, showing mercy, and being faithful. These are the things you should do. And you should also continue to do those other things. 24 You guide the people, but you are blind! Think about a man picking a little fly out of his drink and then swallowing a camel! You are like that.[e]
25 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You wash clean the outside of your cups and dishes. But inside they are full of what you got by cheating others and pleasing yourselves. 26 Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean and good. Then the outside of the cup will also be clean.
27 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside they look fine, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of filth. 28 It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are godly. But on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.
29 “It will be bad for you teachers of the law and you Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets. And you show honor to the graves of the godly people who were killed. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill these prophets.’ 31 So you give proof that you are descendants of those who killed the prophets. 32 And you will finish the sin that your ancestors started!
33 “You are snakes! You are from a family of poisonous snakes! You will not escape God. You will all be judged guilty and go to hell! 34 So I tell you this: I send to you prophets and teachers who are wise and know the Scriptures. You will kill some of them. You will hang some of them on crosses. You will beat some of them in your synagogues. You will chase them from town to town.
35 “So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth. You will be guilty for the killing of that godly man Abel. And you will be guilty for the killing of Zechariah[f] son of Berachiah. He was killed between the Temple and the altar. You will be guilty for the killing of all the good people who lived between the time of Abel and the time of Zechariah. 36 Believe me when I say that all these things will happen to you people who are living now.
Jesus Warns the People of Jerusalem(B)
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You stone to death those that God has sent to you. Many, many times I wanted to help your people. I wanted to gather them together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you did not let me. 38 Now your house will be left completely empty. 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’[g]”
Nehemiah’s Last Commands
13 On that day the Book of Moses was read out loud, so that all the people could hear. They found this law written there: No Ammonite and no Moabite would be permitted to join in the meetings with God. 2 That law was written because those people didn’t give the Israelites food and water. And they had paid Balaam to say a curse against the Israelites. But our God changed that curse and made it a blessing for us. 3 So when the Israelites heard that law, they obeyed it. They separated themselves from the people who were descendants of foreigners.
4-5 But, before that happened, Eliashib had given a room in the Temple to Tobiah. Eliashib was the priest in charge of the storerooms in our God’s Temple. And he was a close friend of Tobiah. That room had been used for storing the grain offerings, incense, and the Temple dishes and things. They also kept the tenth of grain, new wine, and oil for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers in that room. And they also kept the gifts for the priests in that room. But Eliashib gave that room to Tobiah.
6 I was not in Jerusalem while all of this was happening. I had gone back to the king of Babylon. I went back to Babylon in the 32nd year that Artaxerxes was king of Babylon.[a] Later, I asked the king for permission to go back to Jerusalem. 7 So I came back to Jerusalem. There I heard about the sad thing that Eliashib had done. He had given Tobiah a room in the Temple of God! 8 I was very angry about what Eliashib had done, so I threw all of Tobiah’s things out of the room. 9 I gave commands for the rooms to be made pure and clean. Then I put the Temple dishes and things, the grain offerings, and the incense back into the rooms.
10 I also heard that the people had not given the Levites their share. So the Levites and singers had gone back to work in their own fields. 11 So I told the officials that they were wrong. I asked them, “Why didn’t you take care of God’s Temple?” Then I called all Levites together and told them to go back to their places and duties in the Temple. 12 Then everyone in Judah brought their tenth of grain, new wine, and oil to the Temple. These things were put into the storerooms.
13 I put these men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher, and a Levite named Pedaiah. And I made Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, their helper. I knew I could trust these men. They were responsible for giving the supplies to their relatives.
14 My God, please remember me for these things I have done. Don’t forget all I have faithfully done for the Temple of my God and for its services.
15 In those days in Judah, I saw people working on the Sabbath day. I saw people pressing grapes to make wine. I saw people bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys. I saw people carrying grapes, figs, and all kinds of things in the city. They were bringing all these things into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, so I warned them about this. I told them they must not sell food on the Sabbath day.
16 There were some men from the city of Tyre living in Jerusalem. They were bringing fish and all kinds of things into Jerusalem and selling them on the Sabbath day. And the Jews were buying them. 17 I told the important people of Judah that they were wrong. I said, “You are doing a very bad thing. You are ruining the Sabbath day. 18 You know that your ancestors did the same things. That is why our God brought all the troubles and disaster to us and to this city. Now you people are making it so that more of these bad things will happen to Israel. They are doing this because you are breaking the Sabbath by treating it just as if it were any other day.”
19 So this is what I did: Every Friday evening, just before dark, I commanded the gatekeepers to shut and lock the gates to Jerusalem. They were not to be opened until the Sabbath day was over. I put some of my own men at the gates. They were commanded to make sure that no load was brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day.
20 One or two times, traders and merchants had to stay the night outside Jerusalem. 21 But I warned them, “Don’t stay the night in front of the wall. If you do that again, I will arrest you.” So from that time on they didn’t come on the Sabbath day to sell their things.
22 Then I commanded the Levites to make themselves pure. After they did that, they were to go and guard the gates. This was done to make sure the Sabbath day was kept a holy day.
My God, please remember me for doing this. Be kind to me and show me your great love!
23 In those days I also noticed that some Jewish men had married women from the countries of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 And half of the children from those marriages didn’t know how to speak the Jewish language. They spoke the language of Ashdod, Ammon, or Moab. 25 So I told the men that they were wrong. I said bad things to them. I hit some of them, and I pulled out their hair. I forced them to make a promise in God’s name. I said to them, “You must not marry the daughters of these foreigners. Don’t let their daughters marry your sons, and don’t let your daughters marry the sons of these foreigners. 26 You know that marriages like this caused Solomon to sin. In all the many nations, there was not a king as great as Solomon. God loved him and made him king over the whole nation of Israel. But even Solomon was made to sin because of foreign women. 27 And now, we hear that you also are doing this terrible sin. You are not being true to our God. You are marrying foreign women.”
28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib the high priest. One of Joiada’s sons was a son-in-law of Sanballat from Horon. I forced him to leave this place. I forced him to run away.
29 My God, punish these people. They made the priesthood unclean. They treated it as if it was not important. They did not obey the agreement that you made with the priests and Levites. 30 So I made the priests and Levites clean and pure. I took away all the foreigners and the strange things they taught. And I gave the Levites and priests their own duties and responsibilities. 31 And I made sure that people will bring gifts of wood and the first part of their harvest at the right times.
My God, remember me for doing these good things.
23 Paul looked at the council members and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life in a good way before God. I have always done what I thought was right.” 2 Ananias,[a] the high priest, was there. When he heard this, he told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him in the mouth. 3 Paul said to Ananias, “God will hit you too! You are like a dirty wall that has been painted white. You sit there and judge me, using the Law of Moses. But you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law.”
4 The men standing near Paul said to him, “Are you sure you want to insult God’s high priest like that?”
5 Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. The Scriptures say, ‘You must not say bad things about a leader of your people.’[b]”
6 Paul knew that some of the men in the council meeting were Sadducees and some were Pharisees. So he shouted, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee and my father was a Pharisee! I am on trial here because I believe that people will rise from death.”
7 When Paul said this, a big argument started between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The group was divided. 8 (The Sadducees believe that after people die, they will not live again as an angel or as a spirit. But the Pharisees believe in both.) 9 All these Jews began shouting louder and louder. Some of the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, stood up and argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe an angel or a spirit really did speak to him.”
10 The argument turned into a fight, and the commander was afraid that the Jews would tear Paul to pieces. So he told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away from these Jews and put him in the army building.
11 The next night the Lord Jesus came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome.”
Some Jews Plan to Kill Paul
12 The next morning some of the Jews made a plan to kill Paul. They made a promise to themselves that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed him. 13 There were more than 40 of them who made this plan. 14 They went and talked to the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders. They said, “We have promised ourselves that we will not eat or drink until we have killed Paul. 15 So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the commander from you and the high council. Tell him you want him to bring Paul out to you. Say that you want to ask him more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”
16 But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan. He went to the army building and told Paul. 17 Then Paul called one of the army officers and said to him, “Take this young man to the commander. He has a message for him.” 18 So the army officer brought Paul’s nephew to the commander. The officer said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
19 The commander led the young man to a place where they could be alone. The commander asked, “What do you want to tell me?”
20 The young man said, “Some Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think that they plan to ask Paul more questions. 21 But don’t believe them! More than 40 of them are hiding and waiting to kill him. They have all promised not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are waiting for you to say yes.”
22 The commander sent the young man away, telling him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have told me about their plan.”
Paul Is Sent to Caesarea
23 Then the commander called two army officers. He said to them, “I need some men to go to Caesarea. Get 200 soldiers ready. Also, get 70 soldiers on horses and 200 men to carry spears. Be ready to leave at nine o’clock tonight. 24 Get some horses for Paul to ride so that he can be taken to Governor Felix safely.” 25 The commander wrote a letter that said:
26 From Claudius Lysias,
To the Most Honorable Governor Felix.
Greetings:
27 Some Jews had taken this man and planned to kill him. But I learned that he is a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and saved him. 28 I wanted to know why they were accusing him. So I brought him before their council meeting. 29 This is what I learned: The Jews said this man did some things that were wrong. But these charges were about their own Jewish laws, and there was nothing worthy of jail or death. 30 I was told that some of the Jews were making a plan to kill him. So I decided to send him to you. I also told those Jews to tell you what they have against him.
31 The soldiers did what they were told. They got Paul and took him to the city of Antipatris that night. 32 The next day the soldiers on horses went with Paul to Caesarea, but the other soldiers and the spearmen went back to the army building in Jerusalem. 33 The soldiers on horses entered Caesarea, gave the letter to Governor Felix, and then turned Paul over to him.
34 The governor read the letter and asked Paul, “What country are you from?” The governor learned that Paul was from Cilicia. 35 The governor said, “I will hear your case when the Jews who are accusing you come here too.” Then the governor gave orders for Paul to be kept in the palace built by Herod.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International