M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
13 Once again, though, the Israelites did evil according to the Eternal God, and He gave the Philistines power over them for 40 years. 2 During that time, a man of Zorah named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, was married to a wife who could bear him no children.
Messenger of the Eternal One (appearing to Manoah’s wife): 3 You are barren and have no children, but all of that is about to change. You will conceive and have a son. 4 Be careful that you don’t drink wine or any other spirits (strong drink), and don’t eat anything that is ritually impure, 5 for you are going to become pregnant and have a son. Don’t ever use a razor on his head, because you will raise this boy as a Nazirite, dedicated to the True God from his conception, and he will be the one to begin delivering Israel from the Philistines.
Manoah’s Wife (to her husband): 6 A man of the True God visited me. He looked like a messenger of God, awe-inspiring. I didn’t ask where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name, 7 but he told me that I was going to become pregnant and bear a son. He told me not to drink wine or other spirits or to eat anything ritually unclean because our boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart for God from the day he is conceived until the day he dies.
Manoah (to the Lord): 8 Eternal One, please let the man of God whom you sent visit us again and teach us what to do with the boy You are giving us.
9 The True God heard Manoah and sent His messenger to visit the woman one day while she was in the fields. Manoah was not with her, 10 so she ran to tell him.
Manoah’s Wife: Look, the man who spoke to me the other day is here again!
11 Manoah got up, followed his wife, and came to where the man was.
Manoah (to the messenger): Are you the one who spoke to my wife the other day?
Messenger of the Eternal One: I am.
Manoah: 12 When your words come true, what rules should we apply to the boy? What is his mission in life?
Messenger of the Eternal One: 13 Your wife should do as I told her on my first visit. 14 She must not eat or drink of the vine, she must not drink any other strong drink, and she must not eat foods that are ritually impure. She must do all that I have commanded.
Manoah: 15 If you will wait, we would like to prepare a young goat for you to eat.
Messenger of the Eternal One: 16 Even if you try to detain me, I will not eat your food. If you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Eternal.
Manoah had not realized that he was speaking to the Eternal’s messenger. 17 That is why he asked the Eternal’s messenger a question.
Manoah: What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words become truth?
Messenger of the Eternal One: 18 Why do you ask my name? It is incomprehensible, beyond human understanding.
19 Manoah took the young goat, together with the offering of grain, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Eternal, to the wonder-working God. While Manoah and his wife watched 20 the flame going up toward heaven from the altar, the Eternal’s messenger rose up to heaven in the flames, and Manoah and his wife put their faces to the ground. 21 When he did not reappear, Manoah realized that they had seen the Eternal’s messenger.
Manoah (to his wife): 22 We are most certainly going to die, for we have seen the True God!
Manoah’s Wife: 23 If the Eternal had desired to kill us, then He would not have accepted the grain and burnt offerings from us or shown us these wonders or brought these announcements at this time.
24 In due time, the woman did bear a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew, the Eternal God blessed him, 25 and the Spirit of the Eternal One began to move in him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
Paul and Silas are keeping a low profile in order to advance the cause of Jesus. Paul’s first miracle in the area is to cast out an evil spirit from a girl. This sets off an unexpected chain of events bringing the men into the city court to be beaten before the crowds. This sounds like the start of a very bad day. Silas must wonder, “Paul, what were you doing? Is your aggravation with this wandering girl worth all this trouble?” But they neither fight nor despair; instead, they sing, pray to God, and love their captors. Paul and Silas demonstrate that believers are not easily distracted or depressed as long as serving God is their priority.
17 After leaving Philippi and passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica. There was a Jewish synagogue there. 2-3 As he had done in other cities, Paul attended the synagogue and presented arguments, based on the Hebrew Scriptures, that the Anointed had to suffer and rise from the dead.
Paul: Who is this suffering and rising Anointed One I am proclaiming to you? He is Jesus.
He came back the next two Sabbaths—repeating the same pattern. 4 Some of the ethnically Jewish people from the synagogue were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas. Even more devout Greeks who had affiliated with Judaism came to believe—along with quite a few of the city’s leading women. 5-6 Seeing this movement growing, the unconvinced Jewish people became protective and angry. They found some ruffians hanging out in the marketplaces and convinced them to help start a riot. Soon a mob formed, and the whole city was seething with tension. The mob was going street by street, looking for Paul and Silas—who were nowhere to be found. Frustrated, when the mob came to the house of a man named Jason, now known as a believer, they grabbed him and some other believers they found there and dragged them to the city officials.
Mob: These people—they’re political agitators turning the world upside down! They’ve come here to our fine city, 7 and this man, Jason, has given them sanctuary and made his house a base for their operations. We want to expose their real intent: they are trying to overturn Caesar’s sensible decrees. They’re saying that Jesus is king, not Caesar!
8 Of course, this disturbed the crowd at large and the city officials especially, 9 so they demanded bail from Jason and the others before releasing them.
10 The believers waited until dark and then sent Paul and Silas off to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue.
Though Paul is known as the Emissary to the Gentiles, wherever he goes he proclaims Jesus to the Jews in the synagogue from the Hebrew Scriptures first.
11 The Jewish people here were more receptive than they had been in Thessalonica. They warmly and enthusiastically welcomed the message and then, day by day, would check for themselves to see if what they heard from Paul and Silas was truly in harmony with the Hebrew Scriptures. 12 Many of them were convinced, and the new believers included—as in Thessalonica—quite a few of the city’s leading Greek women and important men also. 13 Reports got back to Thessalonica that Paul and Silas were now spreading God’s message in Berea; the Jewish people who had incited the riot in Thessalonica quickly came to Berea to do the same once again. 14-15 The believers sent Paul away. A small group escorted him, first to the coast, and then all the way to Athens. Silas and Timothy, however, remained in Berea. Later they received instructions from Paul to join him in Athens as soon as possible.
16 So Paul found himself alone for some time in Athens. He would walk through the city, feeling deeply frustrated about the abundance of idols there. 17 As in the previous cities, he went to the synagogue. Once again, he engaged in debate about Jesus with both ethnic Jews and devout Greek-born converts to Judaism. He would even wander around in the marketplace, speaking with anyone he happened to meet. 18 Eventually he got into a debate with some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Some were dismissive from the start.
Philosophers: What’s this fast-talker trying to pitch?
Others: He seems to be advocating the gods of distant lands.
They said this because of what Paul had been preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.
The philosophers misunderstand Paul’s message. They think he is talking about two deities: Jesus and Anastasis (the Greek word for “resurrection”).
19-21 This stirred their curiosity, because the favorite pastime of Athenians (including foreigners who had settled there) was conversation about new and unusual ideas. So they brought him to the rock outcropping known as the Areopagus, where Athens’ intellectuals regularly gathered for debate, and they invited him to speak.
Athenians: May we understand this new teaching of yours? It is intriguingly unusual. We would love to know its meaning.
Paul: 22 Athenians, as I have walked your streets, I have observed your strong and diverse religious ethos. You truly are a religious people. 23 I have stopped again and again to examine carefully the religious statues and inscriptions that fill your city. On one such altar, I read this inscription: “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” I am not here to tell you about a strange foreign deity, but about this One whom you already worship, though without full knowledge. 24 This is the God who made the universe and all it contains, the God who is the King of all heaven and all earth. It would be illogical to assume that a God of this magnitude could possibly be contained in any man-made structure, no matter how majestic. 25 Nor would it be logical to think that this God would need human beings to provide Him with food and shelter—after all, He Himself would have given to humans everything they need—life, breath, food, shelter, and so on.
This is the only universal God, the One who makes all people whatever their nationality or culture or religion.
26 This God made us in all our diversity from one original person, allowing each culture to have its own time to develop, giving each its own place to live and thrive in its distinct ways. 27 His purpose in all this was that people of every culture and religion would search for this ultimate God, grope for Him in the darkness, as it were, hoping to find Him. Yet, in truth, God is not far from any of us. 28 For you know the saying, “We live in God; we move in God; we exist in God.” And still another said, “We are indeed God’s children.” 29 Since this is true, since we are indeed offspring of God’s creative act, we shouldn’t think of the Deity as our own artifact, something made by our own hands—as if this great, universal, ultimate Creator were simply a combination of elements like gold, silver, and stone. 30 No, God has patiently tolerated this kind of ignorance in the past, but now God says it is time to rethink our lives and reject these unenlightened assumptions. 31 He has fixed a day of accountability, when the whole world will be justly evaluated by a new, higher standard: not by a statue, but by a living man. God selected this man and made Him credible to all by raising Him from the dead.
32 When they heard that last phrase about resurrection from the dead, some shook their heads and scoffed, but others were even more curious.
Others: We would like you to come and speak to us again.
33 Paul left at that point, 34 but some people followed him and came to faith, including one from Areopagus named Dionysius, a prominent woman named Damaris, and others.
26 The word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah not long after Jehoiakim (son of Josiah) began his reign as king of Judah.
Eternal One: 2 Stand in the court of My temple, and speak to the crowds who have come to worship from all the towns of Judah. Give them all of My words, Jeremiah; don’t leave out a single one. 3 Maybe they will listen this time, and each one of them will stop the evil actions and return to My path. Then I, too, will stop the impending disaster I have planned for them because of all the evil things they do. 4 Tell them what the Eternal says: “If you will not listen to Me or obey My law that I have already given you, 5 and if you will not listen to what My servants the prophets have to say even after I’ve sent them to you again and again, 6 then I will deal with this temple as I did Shiloh. But this time I will also make this very city a curse for all the nations of the earth.”
7 The priests and the so-called prophets and the crowds heard the message Jeremiah delivered in the temple of the Eternal. 8 As soon as Jeremiah finished saying all the Eternal directed him to say, the priests, the prophets, and those who stopped to listen grabbed him and began to shout.
Temple Audience: You deserve to die! 9 Why have you uttered such prophecies in the name of the Eternal declaring that this temple will be destroyed like Shiloh and Jerusalem will be empty and lifeless?
Jeremiah has a lot of nerve. To speak against Jerusalem and the temple—God’s holy place on earth—is tantamount to blasphemy, and blasphemers deserve death.
At this point, a large mob of people gathered around Jeremiah in the Eternal’s temple.
10 When some officials of Judah heard what was happening, they left the palace and hurried to take their seats at the entryway of the new gate leading to the Eternal’s temple. 11 The priests and so-called prophets brought charges against Jeremiah to these officials as the crowd looked on.
Priests and Prophets: This man should be sentenced to death! You heard with your own ears how he prophesied against our city.
Jeremiah (to the officials and the crowd): 12 The Eternal sent me to prophesy against the temple and this city—every word you heard came from Him. 13 If you stop your evil actions and obey the Eternal your God, then He will stop the impending disaster He has planned for you. 14 As for me, my fate is in your hands. Do with me what you think is right and fair. 15 But know this: if you execute me, innocent blood will be on your hands and on this city and on all who live here, because the Eternal truly did send me to speak each and every word you heard.
Officials and the Crowd (to the priests and prophets): 16 This man should not be sentenced to death because he has spoken to us in the name of the Eternal our God.
17 At this point, some of the elders, who were leaders of other communities, stood and supported the verdict, speaking to the entire crowd.
Elders: 18 Remember the prophet Micah of Moresheth in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah. It was he who said to the people of Judah, “This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say:
Zion will be plowed under like a field,
Jerusalem will be left in ruins,
And the hill on which the temple stands
will be overgrown like a forest.”[a]
19 As difficult as those words were to hear, did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah demand Micah’s death? No, he humbly worshiped the Eternal and asked for mercy, and what happened then? The Eternal stopped the impending disaster he had planned for them and turned back the Assyrian army. Now it is our turn to listen to the prophet of God, but instead, we are about to bring this terrible disaster upon ourselves by ignoring Him again!
20 Uriah (son of Shemaiah) from Kiriath-jearim had prophesied in the name of the Eternal with essentially the same message as Jeremiah against this city and nation. 21 When King Jehoiakim, his soldiers, and his officials heard what Uriah had been saying, they decided to kill him. When Uriah became aware of these plans, he was afraid and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan (son of Achbor) to Egypt along with others to bring Uriah back. 23 Once they found him, they brought him back from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him executed by a sword and then buried in a commoner’s grave.
24 Ahikam (son of Shaphan) used his influence to help Jeremiah. As a result, the prophet was not handed over to the people to be put to death.
The religious leaders ask Jesus where His authority comes from. What gives Him the right to heal people on the Sabbath, teach about God, do miracles, and cast out demons? Who exactly does He think He is—and where does His authority come from? This question is a trap: if He claims His authority is from God, then they can argue that God does not endorse someone who breaks His laws; but if He says His authority is His own, then He will be in trouble with the crowds and perhaps even with the Roman governor.
Jesus, however, issues a challenge: I’ll tell you what you want to know if you’ll answer My question first. But He asks them an impossible question—impossible not because they don’t know the answer, but because they cannot say the answer.
12 Then He told a story.
Jesus: There was a man who established a vineyard. He put up a wall around it to fence it in; he dug a pit for a winepress; he built a watchtower. When he had finished this work, he leased the vineyard to some tenant farmers and went away to a distant land.
2 When the grapes were in season, he sent a slave to the vineyard to collect his rent—his share of the fruit. 3 But the farmers grabbed the slave, beat him, and sent him back to his master empty-handed. 4 The owner sent another slave, and this slave the farmers beat over the head and sent away dishonored. 5 A third slave, the farmers killed. This went on for some time, with the farmers beating some of the messengers and killing others until the owner had lost all patience. 6 He had a son whom he loved above all things, and he said to himself, “When these thugs see my son, they’ll know he carries my authority. They’ll have to respect him.”
7 But when the tenant farmers saw the owner’s son coming, they said among themselves, “Look at this! It’s the son, the heir to this vineyard. If we kill him, then the land will be ours!” 8 So they seized him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 Now what do you suppose the owner will do when he hears of this? He’ll come and destroy these farmers, and he’ll give the land to others.
10 Haven’t you read the Scriptures? As the psalmist says,
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very stone that holds together the entire foundation.
11 This is the work of the Eternal One,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.[a]
12 The priests, scribes, temple leaders, and elders knew the story was directed against them. They couldn’t figure out how to lay their hands on Jesus then because they were afraid the people would rise up against them. So they left Him alone, and they went away furious.
The leaders are stunned to learn they will face judgment themselves. It goes against everything they believe about themselves and about God.
13 Then some Pharisees and some of Herod’s supporters banded together to try to entrap Jesus. 14 They came to Him and complimented Him.
Pharisees: Teacher, we know You are truthful in what You say and that You don’t play favorites. You’re not worried about what anyone thinks of You, so You teach with total honesty what God would have us do. So tell us: is it lawful that we Jews should pay taxes to the Roman emperor or not? 15 Should we give or not?
Jesus (seeing through their ruse): Why do you test Me like this? Listen, bring Me a coin[b] so that I can take a look at it.
16 When they had brought it to Him, He asked them another question.
Jesus: Tell Me, whose picture is on this coin? And of whom does this inscription speak?
Pharisees: Caesar, of course.
Jesus: 17 Then give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor. And give to God what belongs to God.
They could not think of anything to say to His response.
Jesus turns the question back on them. It isn’t about taxes. It is about knowing and being faithful to the one true God.
18 Later a group of Sadducees, Jewish religious leaders who didn’t believe the dead would be resurrected, came to test Jesus.
Sadducees: 19 Teacher, the law of Moses tells us, “If a man’s brother dies, leaving a widow without sons, then the man should marry his sister-in-law and try to have children with her in his brother’s name.”[c]
20 Now here’s the situation: there were seven brothers. The oldest took a wife and left her a widow with no children. 21 So the next oldest married her, left her a widow, and again there were no children. So the next brother married her and died, and the next, and the next. 22 Finally all seven brothers had married her, but none of them had conceived children with her, and at last she died also.
23 Tell us then, in the resurrection [when humans rise from the dead],[d] whose wife will she be? For all seven of them married her.
Jesus: 24 You can’t see the truth because you don’t know the Scriptures well and because you don’t really believe that God is powerful. 25 The answer is this: when the dead rise, they won’t be married or given in marriage. They’ll be like the messengers in heaven, who are not united with one another in marriage. 26 But how can you fail to see the truth of resurrection? Don’t you remember in the Book of Moses how God talked to Moses out of a burning bush and what God said to him then? “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”[e] “I am,” God said. Not “I was.” 27 So God is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are sadly mistaken.
28 One of the scribes who studied and copied the Hebrew Scriptures overheard this conversation and was impressed by the way Jesus had answered.
Scribe: Tell me, Teacher. What is the most important thing that God commands in the law?
Jesus: 29 The most important commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Eternal One is our God, and the Eternal One is the only God. 30 You should love the Eternal, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”[f] 31 The second great commandment is this: “Love others in the same way you love yourself.”[g] There are no commandments more important than these.
Although Jesus is asked for only the single most important commandment, He answers by naming two commands: love God and love others. He includes both because these two teachings can never be really separated from each other. Some people think they can love God and ignore the people around them, but Jesus frequently makes it clear that loving God apart from loving His people is impossible.
Scribe: 32 Teacher, You have spoken the truth. For there is one God and only one God, 33 and to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves are more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice we could ever give.
34 Jesus heard that the man had spoken with wisdom.
Jesus: Well said; if you understand that, then the kingdom of God is closer than you think.
Nobody asked Jesus any more questions after that.
35 Later Jesus was teaching in the temple.
Jesus: Why do the scribes say that the Anointed One is the son of David? 36 In the psalms, David himself was led by the Holy Spirit to sing,
The Master said to my master,
“Sit at My right hand,
in the place of power and honor,
And I will gather Your enemies together,
lead them in on hands and knees,
and You will rest Your feet on their backs.”[h]
37 If David calls Him “Master,” how can He be his son?
The crowd listened to Him with delight.
Jesus: 38 Watch out for the scribes who act so religious—who like to be seen in pious clothes and to be spoken to respectfully in the marketplace, 39 who take the best seats in the synagogues and the place of honor at every dinner, 40 who spend widows’ inheritances and pray long prayers to impress others. These are the kind of people who will be condemned above all others.
41 Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, where people came to bring their offerings, and He watched as they came and went. Many rich people threw in large sums of money, 42 but a poor widow came and put in only two small coins[i] worth only a fraction of a cent.[j]
Jesus (calling His disciples together): 43 Truly this widow has given a greater gift than any other contribution. 44 All the others gave a little out of their great abundance, but this poor woman has given God everything she has.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.