M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 14
Marriage of Samson. 1 Samson went down to Timnah where he saw one of the Philistine women. 2 On his return he told his father and mother, “I saw in Timnah a woman, a Philistine. Get her for me as a wife.” 3 (A)His father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among your kinsfolk or among all your people, that you must go and take a woman from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson answered his father, “Get her for me, for she is the one I want.” 4 (B)Now his father and mother did not know that this had been brought about by the Lord, who was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines;[a] for at that time they ruled over Israel.(C)
5 So Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. When he turned aside to the vineyards of Timnah, a young lion came roaring out toward him. 6 (D)But the spirit of the Lord rushed upon Samson, and he tore the lion apart barehanded,(E) as one tears a young goat. Without telling his father or mother what he had done, 7 he went down and spoke to the woman. He liked her. 8 Later, when he came back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the remains of the lion, and there was a swarm of bees in the lion’s carcass, and honey. 9 So he scooped the honey out into his hands and ate it as he went along. When he came to his father and mother, he gave them some to eat, but he did not tell them that he had scooped the honey from the lion’s carcass.
10 His father also went down to the woman, and Samson gave a feast there, since it was customary for the young men to do this. 11 Out of their fear of him, they brought thirty men to be his companions. 12 Samson said to them, “Let me propose a riddle to you. If within the seven days of the feast you solve it for me, I will give you thirty linen tunics and thirty sets of garments. 13 But if you cannot answer it for me, you must give me thirty tunics and thirty sets of garments.” “Propose your riddle,” they responded, “and we will listen to it.” 14 So he said to them,
“Out of the eater came food,
out of the strong came sweetness.”
For three days they were unable to answer the riddle, 15 and on the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife,(F) “Trick your husband into solving the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your family.(G) Did you invite us here to reduce us to poverty?” 16 [b](H)So Samson’s wife wept at his side and said, “You just hate me! You do not love me! You proposed a riddle to my people, but did not tell me the answer.” He said to her, “If I did not tell even my father or my mother, must I tell you?” 17 But she wept beside him during the seven days the feast lasted, and on the seventh day, he told her the answer, because she pressed him, and she explained the riddle to her people.(I)
18 On the seventh day, before the sun set, the men of the city said to him,
“What is sweeter than honey,
what is stronger than a lion?”
He replied to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
you would not have solved my riddle.”
19 (J)The spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, where he killed thirty of their men and stripped them; he gave their garments to those who had answered the riddle. Then he went off to his own family in anger, 20 and Samson’s wife was married to the companion who had been his best man.(K)
Chapter 18
Paul in Corinth. 1 After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila,(A) a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla[a] because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. He went to visit them 3 and, because he practiced the same trade, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 Every sabbath, he entered into discussions in the synagogue, attempting to convince both Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. 6 When they opposed him and reviled him, he shook out his garments[b] and said to them, “Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”(B) 7 So he left there and went to a house belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God;[c] his house was next to a synagogue.(C) 8 Crispus,[d] the synagogue official,(D) came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized. 9 (E)One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 He settled there for a year and a half and taught the word of God among them.
Accusations Before Gallio. 12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,[e] the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him to the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.”[f] 14 When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud, I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews; 15 but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.” 16 And he drove them away from the tribunal. 17 They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official, and beat him in full view of the tribunal. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.
Return to Syrian Antioch. 18 Paul remained for quite some time, and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut(F) because he had taken a vow.[g] 19 When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, while he entered the synagogue and held discussions with the Jews. 20 Although they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, 21 but as he said farewell he promised, “I shall come back to you again, God willing.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 Upon landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church[h] and then went down to Antioch. 23 [i]After staying there some time, he left and traveled in orderly sequence through the Galatian country and Phrygia, bringing strength to all the disciples.
Apollos. 24 A Jew named Apollos,(G) a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, arrived in Ephesus. He was an authority on the scriptures.[j] 25 He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and, with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way [of God][k] more accurately. 27 And when he wanted to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. After his arrival he gave great assistance to those who had come to believe through grace. 28 He vigorously refuted the Jews in public, establishing from the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.
V. Controversies with the False Prophets[a]
Chapter 27
Serve Babylon or Perish. 1 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah,[b] son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 The Lord said to me: Make for yourself thongs and yoke bars and put them on your shoulders. 3 Send them to the kings of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Tyre, and Sidon, through the ambassadors who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah, king of Judah,[c] 4 and command them to tell their lords: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall you say to your lords: 5 It was I who made the earth, human being and beast on the face of the earth, by my great power, with my outstretched arm; and I can give them to whomever I think fit.(A) 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant; even the wild animals I have given him to serve him.(B) 7 All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time comes for him and his land; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.(C) 8 Meanwhile, the nation or the kingdom that will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, or bend its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with sword, famine, and pestilence—oracle of the Lord—until I finish them by his hand.(D)
9 You, however, must not listen to your prophets,[d] to your diviners and dreamers, to your soothsayers and sorcerers, who say to you, “Do not serve the king of Babylon.”(E) 10 For they prophesy lies to you, so as to drive you far from your land, making me banish you so that you perish.(F) 11 The people that bends the neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon to serve him, I will leave in peace on its own land—oracle of the Lord—to cultivate it and dwell on it.(G)
12 To Zedekiah, king of Judah, I spoke the same words: Bend your necks to the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, so that you may live.(H) 13 Why should you and your people die by sword, famine, and pestilence, in accordance with the word the Lord has spoken to the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?(I) 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who say to you, “Do not serve the king of Babylon.” They prophesy lies to you!(J) 15 I did not send them—oracle of the Lord—but they prophesy falsely in my name. As a result I must banish you, and you will perish, you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.(K)
16 (L)To the priests and to all the people I said: Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you: “The vessels of the house of the Lord will soon be brought back from Babylon,” for they prophesy lies to you. 17 Do not listen to them! Serve the king of Babylon that you may live. Why should this city become rubble? 18 If they were prophets, if the word of the Lord were with them, then they would intercede with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels remaining in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah and in Jerusalem should not also go to Babylon. 19 For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels remaining in this city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not take when he exiled Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels remaining in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:(M) 22 To Babylon they shall go, and there they shall remain, until the day I look for them—oracle of the Lord; then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.
Chapter 13
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold.[a] 1 As he was making his way out of the temple area one of his disciples said to him, “Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!”(A) 2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be one stone left upon another that will not be thrown down.”
The Signs of the End. 3 [b]As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple area, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,(B) 4 “Tell us, when will this happen, and what sign will there be when all these things are about to come to an end?” 5 Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one deceives you.(C) 6 Many will come in my name saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and reports of wars do not be alarmed; such things must happen, but it will not yet be the end. 8 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes from place to place and there will be famines. These are the beginnings of the labor pains.
The Coming Persecution. 9 (D)“Watch out for yourselves. They will hand you over to the courts. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will be arraigned before governors and kings because of me, as a witness before them. 10 But the gospel must first be preached to all nations.[c] 11 When they lead you away and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say.(E) But say whatever will be given to you at that hour. For it will not be you who are speaking but the holy Spirit. 12 Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 13 You will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
The Great Tribulation. 14 (F)“When you see the desolating abomination standing[d] where he should not (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains,(G) 15 [and] a person on a housetop must not go down or enter to get anything out of his house,(H) 16 and a person in a field must not return to get his cloak. 17 Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days. 18 Pray that this does not happen in winter. 19 For those times will have tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of God’s creation until now, nor ever will be.(I) 20 If the Lord had not shortened those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect whom he chose, he did shorten the days. 21 If anyone says to you then, ‘Look, here is the Messiah! Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 False messiahs and false prophets will arise and will perform signs and wonders in order to mislead, if that were possible, the elect. 23 Be watchful! I have told it all to you beforehand.
The Coming of the Son of Man. 24 (J)“But in those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,(K)
25 and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26 [e](L)And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, 27 and then he will send out the angels and gather [his] elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree. 28 (M)“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. 30 Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Need for Watchfulness. 32 “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 (N)Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.(O) 35 Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. 36 May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.