M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
19 At this time before Israel had a king, there was a man of the tribe of Levi living on the far side of the hill country of Ephraim, who brought home a girl from Bethlehem in Judah to be his concubine. 2 But she became angry with him and ran away, and returned to her father’s home in Bethlehem, and was there about four months. 3 Then her husband, taking along a servant and an extra donkey, went to see her to try to win her back again. When he arrived at her home, she let him in and introduced him to her father, who was delighted to meet him. 4 Her father urged him to stay awhile, so he stayed three days, and they all had a very pleasant time.
5 On the fourth day they were up early, ready to leave, but the girl’s father insisted on their having breakfast first. 6 Then he pleaded with him to stay one more day, as they were having such a good time. 7 At first the man refused, but his father-in-law kept urging him until finally he gave in. 8 The next morning they were up early again, and again the girl’s father pleaded, “Stay just today and leave sometime this evening.” So they had another day of feasting.
9 That afternoon as he and his wife and servant were preparing to leave, his father-in-law said, “Look, it’s getting late. Stay just tonight, and we will have a pleasant evening together and tomorrow you can get up early and be on your way.”
10 But this time the man was adamant, so they left, getting as far as Jerusalem (also called Jebus) before dark.
11 His servant said to him, “It’s getting too late to travel; let’s stay here tonight.”
12-13 “No,” his master said, “we can’t stay in this heathen city where there are no Israelites—we will go on to Gibeah, or possibly Ramah.”
14 So they went on. The sun was setting just as they came to Gibeah, a village of the tribe of Benjamin, 15 so they went there for the night. But as no one invited them in, they camped in the village square. 16 Just then an old man came by on his way home from his work in the fields. (He was originally from the hill country of Ephraim, but was living now in Gibeah, even though it was in the territory of Benjamin.) 17 When he saw the travelers camped in the square, he asked them where they were from and where they were going.
18 “We’re on the way home from Bethlehem, in Judah,” the man replied. “I live on the far edge of the Ephraim hill country, near Shiloh. But no one has taken us in for the night, 19 even though we have fodder for our donkeys and plenty of food and wine for ourselves.”
20 “Don’t worry,” the old man said, “be my guests; for you mustn’t stay here in the square. It’s too dangerous.”
21 So he took them home with him. He fed their donkeys while they rested, and afterward they had supper together. 22 Just as they were beginning to warm to the occasion, a gang of sex perverts gathered around the house and began beating at the door and yelling at the old man to bring out the man who was staying with him, so they could rape him. 23 The old man stepped outside to talk to them.
“No, my brothers, don’t do such a dastardly act,” he begged, “for he is my guest. 24 Here, take my virgin daughter and this man’s wife. I’ll bring them out and you can do whatever you like to them—but don’t do such a thing to this man.”
25 But they wouldn’t listen to him. Then the girl’s husband pushed her out to them, and they abused her all night, taking turns raping her until morning. Finally, just at dawn, they let her go. 26 She fell down at the door of the house and lay there until it was light. 27 When her husband opened the door to be on his way, he found her there, fallen down in front of the door with her hands digging into the threshold.
28 “Well, come on,” he said. “Let’s get going.”
But there was no answer, for she was dead; so he threw her across the donkey’s back and took her home. 29 When he got there he took a knife and cut her body into twelve parts and sent one piece to each tribe of Israel. 30 Then the entire nation was roused to action against the men of Benjamin because of this awful deed.
“There hasn’t been such a horrible crime since Israel left Egypt,” everyone said. “We’ve got to do something about it.”
23 Gazing intently at the Council, Paul began:
“Brothers, I have always lived before God in all good conscience!”
2 Instantly Ananias the High Priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth.
3 Paul said to him, “God shall slap you, you whitewashed pigpen.[a] What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”
4 Those standing near Paul said to him, “Is that the way to talk to God’s High Priest?”
5 “I didn’t realize he was the High Priest, brothers,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘Never speak evil of any of your rulers.’”
6 Then Paul thought of something! Part of the Council were Sadducees, and part were Pharisees! So he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were all my ancestors! And I am being tried here today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!”
7 This divided the Council right down the middle—the Pharisees against the Sadducees— 8 for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or even eternal spirit within us,[b] but the Pharisees believe in all of these.
9 So a great clamor arose. Some of the Jewish leaders[c] jumped up to argue that Paul was all right. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or angel spoke to him there on the Damascus road.”
10 The shouting grew louder and louder, and the men were tugging at Paul from both sides, pulling him this way and that. Finally the commander, fearing they would tear him apart, ordered his soldiers to take him away from them by force and bring him back to the armory.
11 That night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, “Don’t worry, Paul; just as you have told the people about me here in Jerusalem, so you must also in Rome.”
12-13 The next morning some forty or more of the Jews got together and bound themselves by a curse neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul! 14 Then they went to the chief priests and elders and told them what they had done. 15 “Ask the commander to bring Paul back to the Council again,” they requested. “Pretend you want to ask a few more questions. We will kill him on the way.”
16 But Paul’s nephew got wind of their plan and came to the armory and told Paul.
17 Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this boy to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”
18 So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you to tell you something.”
19 The commander took the boy by the hand, and leading him aside asked, “What is it you want to tell me, lad?”
20 “Tomorrow,” he told him, “the Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the Council again, pretending they want to get some more information. 21 But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the road ready to jump him and kill him. They have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor drink till he is dead. They are out there now, expecting you to agree to their request.”
22 “Don’t let a soul know you told me this,” the commander warned the boy as he left. 23-24 Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight! Take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted cavalry. Give Paul a horse to ride and get him safely to Governor Felix.”
25 Then he wrote this letter to the governor:
26 “From: Claudius Lysias
“To: His Excellency, Governor Felix.
“Greetings!
27 “This man was seized by the Jews, and they were killing him when I sent the soldiers to rescue him, for I learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 Then I took him to their Council to try to find out what he had done. 29 I soon discovered it was something about their Jewish beliefs, certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death. 30 But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I decided to send him on to you and will tell his accusers to bring their charges before you.”
31 So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul to Antipatris. 32 They returned to the armory the next morning, leaving him with the cavalry to take him on to Caesarea.
33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to the governor. 34 He read it and then asked Paul where he was from.
“Cilicia,” Paul answered.
35 “I will hear your case fully when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him, and ordered him kept in the prison at King Herod’s palace.
33 While Jeremiah was still in jail, the Lord sent him this second message:
2 The Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth—Jehovah is his name—says this: 3 Ask me and I will tell you some remarkable secrets about what is going to happen here. 4 For though you have torn down the houses of this city, and the king’s palace too, for materials to strengthen the walls against the siege weapons of the enemy, 5 yet the Babylonians will enter, and the men of this city are already as good as dead, for I have determined to destroy them in my furious anger. I have abandoned them because of all their wickedness, and I will not pity them when they cry for help.
6 Nevertheless the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s damage and give her prosperity and peace. 7 I will rebuild the cities of both Judah and Israel and restore their fortunes. 8 And I will cleanse away all their sins against me and pardon them. 9 Then this city will be an honor to me, and it will give me joy and be a source of praise and glory to me before all the nations of the earth! The people of the world will see the good I do for my people and will tremble with awe!
10-11 The Lord declares that the happy voices of bridegrooms and of brides and the joyous song of those bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord will be heard again in this doomed land. The people will sing: “Praise the Lord! For he is good and his mercy endures forever!” For I will make this land happier and more prosperous than it has ever been before. 12 This land—though every man and animal and city is doomed—will once more see shepherds leading sheep and lambs. 13 Once again their flocks will prosper in the mountain villages and in the cities east of the Philistine Plain, in all the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and in all the cities of Judah. 14 Yes, the day will come, says the Lord, when I will do for Israel and Judah all the good I promised them.
15 At that time I will bring to the throne the true Son of David,[a] and he shall rule justly. 16 In that day the people of Judah and Jerusalem shall live in safety and their motto will be, “The Lord is our righteousness!” 17 For the Lord declares that from then on, David shall forever have an heir sitting on the throne of Israel. 18 And there shall always be Levites to offer burnt offerings and meal offerings and sacrifices to the Lord.
19 Then this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 20-21 If you can break my covenant with the day and with the night so that day and night don’t come on their usual schedule, only then will my covenant with David, my servant, be broken so that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne; and my covenant with the Levite priests, my ministers, is noncancelable. 22 And as the stars cannot be counted nor the sand upon the seashores measured, so the descendants of David my servant and the line of the Levites who minister to me will be multiplied.
23 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah again and said: 24 Have you heard what people are saying?—that the Lord chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them! They are sneering and saying that Israel isn’t worthy to be counted as a nation. 25-26 But this is the Lord’s reply: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws of night and day, of earth and sky. I will never abandon the Jews, or David my servant, or change the plan that his child will someday rule these descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead I will restore their prosperity and have mercy on them.
3 A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom
O Lord, so many are against me. So many seek to harm me. I have so many enemies. 2 So many say that God will never help me. 3 But Lord, you are my shield, my glory, and my only hope. You alone can lift my head, now bowed in shame.[a]
4 I cried out to the Lord, and he heard me from his Temple in Jerusalem.[b] 5 Then I lay down and slept in peace and woke up safely, for the Lord was watching over me. 6 And now, although ten thousand enemies surround me on every side, I am not afraid. 7 I will cry to him, “Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God!” And he will slap them in the face, insulting them and breaking off their teeth.[c]
8 For salvation comes from God. What joys he gives to all his people.
4 O God, you have declared me perfect in your eyes;[d] you have always cared for me in my distress; now hear me as I call again. Have mercy on me. Hear my prayer.
2 The Lord God asks, “Sons of men, will you forever turn my glory into shame by worshiping these silly idols, when every claim that’s made for them is false?”
3 Mark this well: The Lord has set apart the redeemed for himself. Therefore he will listen to me and answer when I call to him. 4 Stand before the Lord in awe,[e] and do not sin against him. Lie quietly upon your bed in silent meditation. 5 Put your trust in the Lord, and offer him pleasing sacrifices.
6 Many say that God will never help us. Prove them wrong,[f] O Lord, by letting the light of your face shine down upon us. 7 Yes, the gladness you have given me is far greater than their joys at harvest time as they gaze at their bountiful crops. 8 I will lie down in peace and sleep, for though I am alone, O Lord, you will keep me safe.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.