M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Herod persecutes the Christians, kills James the brother of John, and puts Peter in prison, whom the Lord delivers by an angel. The shameful death of Herod.

12 In that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hand to persecute some of the congregation. ² And he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. ³ And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further and took Peter also. This was during the days of sweet bread. ⁴ And when he had caught Peter, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to be kept, intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people.

⁵ Then Peter was kept in prison. But prayer for him was made to God without ceasing by the congregation. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him out to the people, that night Peter slept between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and the guards before the door kept the prison.

⁷ And behold, the angel of the Lord was there present, and a light shone in the jail. And he struck Peter on the side and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly! And his chains fell off from his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, Gird yourself, and bind on your sandals. And so he did. And the angel said to him, Cast your mantle around you, and follow me.

⁹ And Peter came out and followed him, and did not know that it was really being done by the angel, but thought he had seen a vision. ¹⁰ When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them by its own accord. And they went out and passed down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹ And when Peter came to himself, he said, Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel, and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the Jews were waiting for. ¹² And as he considered the matter, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of one John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together in prayer.

¹³ As Peter knocked at the entry door, a maidservant named Rhoda came forth to listen. ¹⁴ And when she recognized Peter’s voice, she did not open the entry door for gladness, but ran in and said that Peter was standing before the entry. ¹⁵ And they said to her, You are mad. But she insisted that it was really so. Then they said, It is his angel. ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ And he motioned to them with his hand to hold their peace, and told them by what means the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go, and tell these things to James and to the brethren.

And he departed, and went to another place.

¹⁸ As soon as it was day, there was no little ado among the soldiers about what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ When Herod had called for him, but not found him, he examined the guards, and commanded them to depart. And he descended from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.

²⁰ Now Herod had been displeased with the people of Tyre and Sidon. And they came all at once and made intercession to Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, and requested peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king’s land. ²¹ And upon a day appointed, Herod arrayed himself in royal apparel, and sat in his seat and made a speech to them. ²² And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man!

²³ And immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the honour. And he was eaten by worms and gave up the spirit.

²⁴ And the word of God grew and multiplied. ²⁵ As for Barnabas and Paul, they went again to Jerusalem and delivered the relief, and took with them John, who was also called Mark.

The disciples eat with unwashed hands. The commandment of God is transgressed by man’s precepts. Of the woman of Syro-Phoenicia. Of the Sabbath.

7 And the Pharisees came together to him, and some of the scribes who came from Jerusalem. ² And when they saw certain of his disciples eat bread with common hands (that is to say, with unwashed hands), they complained. ³ For the Pharisees and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands often, will not eat, observing the precepts of the elders. ⁴ And when they come from the market, unless they wash, they will not eat. And there are many other things that they have taken upon themselves to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers, and of copper pots, and of tables.

⁵ Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the precepts of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands? ⁶ He answered and said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. ⁷ In vain they worship me, teaching doctrines which are nothing but the commandments of men. ⁸ For you lay the commandment of God aside, and observe the precepts of men, such as the washing of pitchers and of cups. And many other suchlike things you do.

⁹ And he said to them, All too well do you cast aside the commandment of God to maintain your own precepts. ¹⁰ For Moses said, Honour your father and your mother, and whosoever curses father or mother, let him die for it. ¹¹ But you say a man should say to father or mother, Corban, which is, What you ask me for, to help you with, is dedicated to God. ¹² And so you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, ¹³ making the word of God of no effect through your own precepts, which you have established. And many such things you do.

¹⁴ And he called all the people to him and said to them, Hearken unto me, every one of you, and understand. ¹⁵ There is nothing outside a man that can defile him when it enters into him. But those things that proceed out of him are the things that defile a man. ¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁷ And when he went indoors, away from the people, his disciples asked him about the similitude. ¹⁸ And he said to them, Are you also without understanding? Do you not yet perceive that whatever thing from without enters into a person, it cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it enters not into his heart, but into the stomach, and goes out into the drain that carries away all foods?

²⁰ And he said, What defiles a man is that which comes out of a man. ²¹ For from within, namely out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts: adultery, fornication, murder, ²² theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, uncleanness, a wicked eye, slander, pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and defile a person.

²⁴ From there he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house, and wanted no one to know. But he could not be hid. ²⁵ For a certain woman whose daughter had a foul spirit heard of him, and came and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek out of Syro-Phoenicia, and she besought him to cast the devil out of her daughter. ²⁷ And Jesus said to her, Let the children first be fed. For it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to dogs. ²⁸ She answered and said to him, Quite so, Master. Nevertheless, the dogs also eat under the table of the children’s crumbs. ²⁹ And he said to her, For this saying, go your way; the devil has gone out of your daughter. ³⁰ And when she arrived home, she found the devil departed, and her daughter lying on the bed.

³¹ And he departed again from the region of Tyre and Sidon, and went to the Sea of Galilee through the region of the Ten Cities. ³² And some people brought to him a man who was deaf and stammered in his speech, and asked him to put his hand upon him. ³³ And he took him aside from the people, and put his fingers in his ears, and spat, and touched his tongue, ³⁴ and looked up to heaven and sighed, and said to him, Ephatha; that is to say, Be opened. ³⁵ And straightaway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.

³⁶ And Jesus directed them to tell no one. But the more he forbad them, so much the more greatly they spoke of it. ³⁷ And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He has done all things well, and has made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.