M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
1 A long time ago, when judges still ruled over Israel and the land was dried up with famine, a man from Bethlehem, which ironically means “place of bread,” left his home in Judah to live as a foreigner in the land of Moab. He traveled with his wife and their two sons. 2 His name was Elimelech, and his wife was Naomi; their two sons were called Mahlon and Chilion. They were descendants of Ephraim’s tribe from Bethlehem in Judah. They had settled and made lives for themselves in Moab, 3 but soon after, Elimelech died leaving Naomi in the care of her sons. 4 Each son married a woman from Moab—one was named Orpah, the other Ruth—and they lived together for 10 years 5 before Mahlon and Chilion died also. Naomi was left alone, without her husband and two sons.
6-7 Word had reached Moab that the Eternal One had once again brought life back to the land of Israel and blessed His people with food. Naomi prepared to return with her daughters-in-law. With Orpah and Ruth at her side, she began her journey back to Judah, leaving the place where she had lived.
Naomi (to Orpah and Ruth): 8 You have accompanied me far enough; you must both return to Moab. Go home to your mothers’ care and your people. May the Eternal show His loyal love to you just as you demonstrated it to my dead sons and me. 9 I hope He will bring you new husbands and that you will find the rest you deserve in their homes.
She drew close, kissed them, and turned to go on her way, alone. But Orpah and Ruth wailed and sobbed, crying out to her.
Orpah and Ruth: 10 Do not leave us! We insist you take us with you to live with you and your people.
Naomi: 11 Go back to your homes, my daughters. What possible reason would you have for returning with me? Do you think there are more sons inside of me? Will you marry these unborn sons? 12 Listen to me, daughters, and go back. I am too old; I will not marry again because I cannot conceive. But even if I could—if I still believed there was hope for me, or if I had a husband and conceived sons tonight— 13 would you waste a lifetime waiting for them to grow up? Would you let this hope for the future keep you from remarrying now? Of course not, my dear daughters. It is obvious that the Eternal has acted against me. My life is much too bitter for you to share with me.
14 At this Orpah and Ruth wailed and wept again. Then Orpah kissed Naomi, said goodbye, and returned the way she had come. Yet Ruth refused to let go of Naomi.
Naomi: 15 Look at your sister-in-law. She has returned to live with her people and to worship her gods; go and follow her.
16 Ruth: Stop pushing me away,
insisting that I stop following you!
Wherever you go, I will go.
Wherever you live, I will live.
Your people will be my people.
Your God will be my God.
17 Wherever you die, I will also die
and be buried there near you.
May the Eternal One punish me—
and even more so—
if anything besides death comes between us.
18 When Naomi heard this and saw Ruth’s resolve, she stopped trying to talk her out of returning to Judah. 19 The two women went on together to Bethlehem.
News of their arrival spread throughout Bethlehem. In fact, the whole community was humming with the report, with the women exclaiming, “Could it really be the same Naomi who left us so long ago?”
20 Naomi: Do not call me Naomi ever again, for I am no longer pleasant.
Call me Mara instead, for I am filled with bitterness
because the Highest One[a] has treated me bitterly.
There is a Hebrew wordplay here from Naomi, “pleasant,” to Mara, “bitterness.” Even Orpah (“neck”) turns her back on Naomi.
21 I left this place full, in spite of the famine,
but the Eternal has brought me back empty from a plentiful land.
Why would you call me “Pleasant”
when the Eternal has testified against me,
and the Highest One has brought disaster upon me?
Naomi’s story is similar to the story of Job. God tests them, as Job and Naomi have full lives. Then they go from emptiness to vindication, and finally to redemption.
22 This was how Naomi came into Bethlehem with her daughter-in-law, Ruth, from Moab. It was at the beginning of the barley harvest when they returned to the land.
26 Agrippa (to Paul): Go ahead. You may speak for yourself.
Paul (extending his hand): 2 I am indeed fortunate to be standing before you, King Agrippa, to humbly defend myself against accusations from my Jewish opponents. 3 You are extraordinarily familiar with Jewish customs and controversies, so I beg your patience as I begin. 4 My way of life is well known to the whole Jewish community, how I have lived in the Jewish community abroad and in Jerusalem. 5 If they are willing to speak, they themselves will tell you something they have long known—that I was a member of the strictest sect of our religion and lived for many years as a Pharisee. 6 But now I am on trial here for this simple reason: I have hope. I have hope rooted in a promise God made to our ancestors. 7 All our twelve tribes have hope in this promise—they express their hope as they worship day and night. How strange it is, then, Your Excellency, that I am accused by the Jews of having hope! 8 Why would any of you think it is absurd to have hope that God raises the dead? 9 As you know, we’re talking specifically about Jesus of Nazareth. For a long time, I was convinced that I should work against that name. 10 I opposed it in Jerusalem. I received authorization from the chief priests to lock many of His followers in prison. When they were threatened with execution, I voted against them. 11 I would find them in synagogues across Jerusalem and try to force them to blaspheme. My fury drove me to pursue them to foreign cities as well.
The importance of Paul’s conversion experience on the way to Damascus is highlighted as he recounts it in his defense.
12 On one occasion, I was traveling to Damascus, authorized and commissioned by the chief priests to find and imprison more of His followers. 13 It was about midday, Your Excellency, when I saw a light from heaven—brighter than the noonday sun—shining around my companions and me. 14 We all fell to the ground in fear, and I then heard a voice. The words were in Aramaic: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? When you kick against the cattle prods, you’re only hurting yourself.” 15 I asked, “Lord, who are You?” and the Lord answered, “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting. 16 Get up now, and stand upright on your feet. I have appeared to you for a reason. I am appointing you to serve Me. You are to tell My story and how you have now seen Me, and you are to continue to tell the story in the future. 17 I will rescue you from your Jewish opponents and from the outsiders—for it is to the outsiders I am sending you. 18 It will be your mission to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God. This is so that they may receive forgiveness of all their sins and have a place among those who are set apart for a holy purpose through having faith in Me.”
19 King Agrippa, I did not disobey this vision from heaven. 20 I began in Damascus, then continued in Jerusalem, then throughout the Judean countryside, then among the outsiders—telling everyone they must turn from their past and toward God and align their deeds and way of life with this new direction. 21 So then, this is my crime. This is why my Jewish opponents seized me that day in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 God has helped me right up to this very moment, so I can stand here telling my story to both the humble and the powerful alike. I only say what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Anointed One must suffer, and then, by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to both Jews and outsiders.
Festus (interrupting): 24 You’ve gone crazy, Paul! You’ve read one book too many and have gone insane!
Paul: 25 No, most excellent Festus, I am not insane. I am telling the sane and sober truth. 26 The king understands what I’m talking about, which is why I could speak so freely to him. None of these things have been covered up and hidden away in a corner, so I’m sure none of these things have escaped his notice. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you must believe.
Agrippa: 28 Paul, have you so quickly moved on from defending yourself to trying to persuade me to become a Christian?
Paul: 29 Whether I have done so quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also everyone who is listening to me today might become what I am—minus these chains.
30 The king stood to leave at this point, along with Festus, Bernice, and all those who had been seated; 31 and as they left, everyone was saying the same thing: “This man isn’t doing anything deserving death—he shouldn’t even be in prison.”
Agrippa (to Festus): 32 This man could have been released completely if he had not appealed to the emperor.
36 When Jehoiakim (son of Josiah) was in his fourth year as king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Eternal.
Though prophecy is primarily oral, eventually Jeremiah’s companion, Baruch, records Jeremiah’s sermons and actions on a scroll that in turn becomes critical.
Eternal One (to Jeremiah): 2 Write down on a scroll all that I have told you over the years about Israel, Judah, and the surrounding nations. Start with the first words I gave you when Josiah was king, and include every message up to the present. 3 Maybe when the people of Judah hear all of it together—every disaster that I will bring upon them—maybe then they will turn from their wicked ways so that I can forgive their sins and wrongdoings.
4 So Jeremiah called for Baruch (son of Neriah) to help him. Jeremiah then dictated the messages and prophecies the Eternal had given him while Baruch wrote it all down on a scroll.
Jeremiah (to Baruch): 5 Since I am prohibited from going to the Eternal’s temple, 6 you must go for me. Go to the temple on a fasting day; and once you are there, read the Eternal’s words from the scroll just as I dictated them to you. That way, people from all the towns of Judah who have gathered for the holiday will hear this message from Him. 7 Maybe they will turn from their wicked ways and seek the Eternal’s forgiveness, because they will realize His great anger and wrath are coming their way.
It is 605 b.c., many years before the siege and fall of Jerusalem. But the increasing power of Babylon is casting its shadow across the region. Egypt has been defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at the battle of Carchemish. The warning signs are clear—Judah is at risk and must heed the words of God’s prophet while there is still time. The following is an account that takes place during this pivotal time, when Judah still has hope. But the reaction of King Jehoiakim—perhaps the fiercest opponent to Jeremiah’s ministry—begins to seal not only his own fate but also his people’s. If they had hope, it quickly fades with his arrogant and outrageous actions. The lesson for this evil king and his people is clear: The power of God’s word always prevails, even when others attempt to destroy it.
8 Baruch (son of Neriah) did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do; he went to the Eternal’s temple, stood among the crowds there, and read from the scroll the words of the Eternal.
9 This took place on a day of fasting in the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim (son of Josiah). Just as Jeremiah had hoped, people had come from all over Judah for the holiday. 10 Baruch positioned himself in the room of Gemariah (son of Shaphan) who was secretary at the temple. This room was in the upper courtyard of the temple, near the new gate. From here, all the people who had gathered at the temple could listen as Baruch read the fateful words of Jeremiah from the scroll.
11 When Micaiah (son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan) heard the words of the Eternal that were written on the scroll, 12 he immediately went to the palace, to the secretary’s room where all the officials were meeting. Elishama the secretary, Delaiah (son of Shemaiah), Elnathan (son of Achbor), Gemariah (son of Shaphan), and Zedekiah (son of Hananiah) were among the officials who were there. 13 Micaiah reported to them everything he heard Baruch read to the people from the scroll. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi (son of Nethaniah and grandson of Shelemiah and great-grandson of Cushi) with a message for Baruch.
Jehudi: Bring the scroll you have read to the people and come to the palace.
So Baruch (son of Neriah), with the scroll in hand, made his way to the palace and entered this room where some of Judah’s most influential leaders were waiting.
Officials (to Baruch): 15-16 Please sit down and read this scroll to us.
Baruch then read the entire scroll to them. When they heard it, they were visibly upset. They began to look around the room at each other, each one afraid but knowing what must happen next.
Officials (to Baruch): We must report to the king all we have heard, but first we must ask you some questions. 17 Tell us how you wrote all of this? Did Jeremiah dictate this to you?
Baruch: 18 Yes. He dictated each and every word to me. I simply wrote down his words with ink on this scroll.
Officials: 19 Before we take this to the king, you and Jeremiah should go into hiding. For your own safety, don’t tell anyone where you are!
20 After the officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, they approached the king in the palace and told him everything they had heard. But the king was not satisfied. 21 So he ordered Jehudi to go and get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king and all his officials as they stood around him. 22 Since it was the ninth month and the colder winter weather had set in, the king had moved to a more sheltered apartment in the palace where he could stay warm by the fire. 23 The king listened as Jehudi read column after column of the scroll. As soon as he finished reading three or four columns, Jehoiakim would take a knife, cut that section out of the scroll, and then throw it on the fire. This happened again and again until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. 24 Neither the king nor his advisors seemed to be concerned about what they had just heard. They weren’t afraid. They didn’t tear their clothes in remorse and repentance.
The king shows everyone, including his advisors, exactly what he thinks of God’s message written on the scroll.
25 Even when Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he ignored them. 26 Instead, he ordered his son, Jerahmeel, along with Seraiah (son of Azriel) and Shelemiah (son of Abdeel), to arrest Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Eternal had already hidden them.
27 After the king burned the scroll containing Jeremiah’s prophecies, which Baruch had carefully recorded, the word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah.
Eternal One: 28 Take another scroll and write down all the words that were on the first one King Jehoiakim destroyed in the fire. 29 As for Jehoiakim king of Judah, this is what I want you to say: “You burned this scroll and asked, ‘Why have you written that the king of Babylon is coming to destroy this land and will leave it a lifeless wasteland?’” 30 That is why I, the Eternal now declare this about Jehoiakim, king of Judah: His reign will soon end, and none of his descendants will sit upon the throne of David. His dead body will be tossed out and exposed to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31 I will punish him, his children, and his advisors for their wickedness. Because they did not listen to My word, I will bring about every disaster I predicted against them, the citizens of Jerusalem, and all the people of Judah.
32 Jeremiah did just as God instructed—he took another scroll, gave it to Baruch (son of Neraiah) the secretary, and dictated everything that was on the first scroll. This new scroll had all the words that Jehoiakim, king of Judah, had burned in the fire, plus many more prophecies.
To the very end, Jeremiah speaks out against the injustices and infidelities of his countrymen who keep turning to other gods. His words are strong, and Jeremiah lives to see many of his painful prophecies come true. What remains in the following chapters are words surely spoken before the prophet was an old man in Egypt: first is a brief message for his scribe Baruch in the heartbreaking aftermath of the burning of the scroll (36:1–8) and the terrible judgment then declared on Judah; second is a series of declarations or oracles against the various nations surrounding Judah in these historic times.
45 This is the message the prophet Jeremiah gave to his secretary, Baruch (son of Neriah) when he had written on a scroll all the words Jeremiah dictated to him. It took place when Jehoiakim (son of Josiah) had been king of Judah for four years.
Jeremiah (to Baruch): 2 The Eternal, the God of Israel, has given me a message for you, Baruch. 3 He heard you when you cried out, “Oh my, what pain I am in! As if I weren’t hurting enough, the Eternal has piled on even more sorrow. I am so tired from groaning; I can find no rest.” 4 And so the Eternal has given me this message for you: “Hear Me, Baruch, for I tell you I am about to upend what I have built and uproot what I have planted in this land, in the whole land. 5 Should you worry about achieving personal greatness? No, do not chase after such a dream! But take comfort that when I bring this disaster on all people, I will reward you by sparing your life. I promise to protect you wherever you go.
Psalm 9[a]
For the worship leader. A song of David to the tune “Death of a Son.”[b]
In the Hebrew manuscripts, Psalms 9 and 10 work as a unit because together they form an acrostic poem, meaning each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This literary device has several functions. First, it provides a mnemonic device for easier memorization. Second, it is inherently beautiful; the rigid structure is a showcase for the author’s literary talents. Finally, it conveys the idea of completion by describing the reasons God is to be praised “from A to Z.” Psalm 9 offers David’s thanks and praise to God for defeating his enemies. Psalm 10, on the other hand, is a lament complaining that God is far off while the poor and helpless suffer.
1 All my heart will give thanks to You, Eternal One.
I will tell others about Your amazing works.
2 I will be glad and celebrate You!
I will praise You, O Most High!
3 When my adversaries turned and fled,
they fell and died right in front of You,
4 For You supported my just cause.
From Your throne, You have judged wisely.
5 You confronted the nations; You have destroyed the wicked.
You have erased their names from history.
6 The enemy is finished, their time is up;
their cities will lie in ruin forever;
all memory of them is gone.
7 Still the Eternal remains and will reign forever;
He has taken His place on His throne for judgment.
8 So He will judge the world rightly.
He shall execute that judgment equally on all people.
9 For the Eternal will be a shelter for those who know misery,
a refuge during troubling times.
10 Those who know Your name will rely on You,
for You, O Eternal One, have not abandoned those who search for You.
11 Praise Him who lives on Zion’s holy hill.
Tell the story of His great acts among the people!
12 For He remembers the victims of violence and avenges their blood;
He does not turn a deaf ear to the cry of the needy.
13 Be gracious to me, O Eternal One.
Notice the harm I have suffered because of my enemies,
You who carry me safely away from death’s door,
14 So that I may rehearse Your deeds, declare Your praise,
and rejoice in Your rescue
when I take my stand in the gates of Zion.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others,
their own feet caught, snared by the net they hid.
16 The Eternal is well known, for He has taken action and secured justice;
He has trapped the wicked through the work of their own hands.
[pause with music][c]
17 The wicked are headed for death and the grave;
all the nations who forget the True God will share a similar fate.
18 For those in need shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor will never die.
19 Eternal One, arise! Do not allow mere mortals to win the day.
Judge the nations Yourself.
20 Put the fear of God in them, Eternal One!
Remind the nations they are mere men, not gods.
[pause][d]
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.