M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Gideon Assuages the Anger of Ephraim
8 Later on, the descendants of Ephraim spoke to Gideon.[a] They argued vehemently, “What are you doing to us? You never called us! But you went out to fight Midian!”
2 “What have I accomplished compared to you?” he responded. “Isn’t what’s left from Ephraim’s harvest better than the best vintage of Abiezer? 3 God gave Oreb and Zeeb, the leaders of Midian, into your control. What was I able to do compared to you?” When he said this, their anger calmed down.
4 Meanwhile, Gideon and the 300 soldiers with him came to the Jordan, exhausted but continuing their pursuit. 5 He told the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the soldiers who are following behind me. They’re tired, and I’m pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”
6 But the officials of Succoth replied, “Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody[b] already, so that we should give food to your army?”
7 So Gideon responded, “Very well then, but when the Lord has turned over Zebah and Zalmunna into my control, I’m going to whip you with thorns and briers from the desert!”
8 Then he left there to go to Penuel and asked the same thing from them, but the men of Penuel responded the same way the men of Succoth did. 9 So he responded the same way to the men of Penuel, “When I come back safely,[c] I’m going to tear down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, along with their armies, about 15,000 men who survived from the entire army of the group from[d] the east, since 120,000 swordsmen had already fallen. 11 Gideon went up by a caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked their encampment when they were off guard. 12 When Zebah and Zalmunna escaped, he pursued them, captured those two kings of Midian,[e] and threw the entire army into a panic.
13 Then Joash’s son Gideon returned from the battle along the Heres Ascent. 14 He caught a young man from Succoth and interrogated him. He wrote out for Gideon[f] a list of the 77 officials of Succoth, including its elders. 15 Then Gideon[g] approached the men of Succoth and announced, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna. You criticized me about them when you said, ‘Do you have Zebah and Zalmunna in custody[h] already, so that we should give food to your weary army?’” 16 So he took the elders of the city and disciplined the men of Succoth with thorns and briers from the desert. 17 He also demolished the tower in Penuel and killed the men of the city.
18 Afterwards, he asked Zebah and Zalmunna, “What were the men like whom you killed at Tabor?”
They answered, “Like you, each one like the son of a king…”
19 Gideon replied, “They were my brothers—sons from my own mother. As the Lord lives, if you had let them live, I wouldn’t be killing you.” 20 Then he told his firstborn son Jether, “Get up and kill them!” But he was afraid, since he was still only a youngster.
21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna responded, “Get up and attack us yourself, since a man’s valor is only as good as the man himself.” So Gideon got up, killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and took away the crescent-shaped necklaces that adorned the necks of their camels.
22 Then the men of Israel asked Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandsons—because you have delivered us from Midian’s domination.”
23 But Gideon told them, “I won’t rule over you and my son won’t rule over you. The Lord will rule you.”
Gideon Falls into Idolatry
24 But Gideon also added, “I would like to ask that each of you give me a ring from his war booty” because, as Ishmaelites, the Midianites[i] had been wearing gold rings.
25 They responded, “We’ll be happy to give them.” So they laid out a garment, and each of them contributed a ring from his war booty. 26 The weight of the rings that he had asked for was 1,700 gold coins,[j] not counting the crescent-shaped necklaces, pendants, and purple garments worn by the Midian kings, and also not counting the bands adorning the necks of their camels.
27 Gideon crafted the booty into an ephod[k] and enshrined it in his home town of Ophrah. Then all of Israel committed spiritual adultery with it there, and it became a snare for Gideon and his household.
Gideon Dies
28 Midian remained subjugated to the Israelis, and they didn’t so much as raise their heads anymore, so the land was peaceful for 40 years during the lifetime of Gideon. 29 Afterwards, Joash’s son Jerubbaal went home and retired.[l] 30 Gideon raised 70 sons as his direct descendants, since he had many wives. 31 His mistress[m] in Shechem bore him a son whom he named Abimelech.[n] 32 Later, Joash’s son Gideon died at a ripe[o] old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah, which belonged to the descendants of Abiezer.
33 Later on, as soon as Gideon was dead, the Israelis again committed spiritual adultery with various Canaanite deities[p] and appointed Baal-berith[q] to be their god. 34 The Israelis did not remember the Lord their God, who continually delivered them from the domination of their enemies who surrounded them on every side. 35 And they showed no gracious love to the household of Jerubbaal—also known as Gideon—despite all the good that he had done for Israel.
An Angel Frees Peter from Prison
12 About that time, Herod arrested some people who belonged to the church and mistreated them. 2 He even had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword. 3 When he saw how this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter, too. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 When he arrested Peter, Herod[a] put him in prison and turned him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, planning to bring him out to the people after Passover season.[b] 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God for him was being offered by the assembly.[c]
6 That very night, before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, and guards in front of the door were watching the prisoners. 7 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on his side, woke him up, and said, “Get up quickly!” His chains fell from his wrists. 8 Then the angel told him, “Tuck in your shirt and put on your sandals!” He did this. Then the angel[d] told him, “Put on your coat and follow me!” 9 So Peter[e] went out and began to follow him, not realizing that what was being done by the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened by itself for them, and they went outside and proceeded one block when the angel suddenly left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I’m sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from[f] Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting!”
12 When Peter[g] realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a large number of people had gathered and were praying. 13 When he knocked at the outer gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. 14 On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she didn’t open the gate but ran back inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 The other people[h] told her, “You’re out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. Then they said, “It’s his angel.”
16 Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking and knocking. When they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. 17 He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, “Tell this to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went somewhere else. 18 When morning came, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 Herod searched for him but didn’t find him, so he questioned the guards and ordered them to be executed. Then he left Judea, went down to Caesarea, and stayed there for a while.
The Death of Herod
20 Now Herod had been in a violent quarrel with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they came to him as a group. After they had won over Blastus, who oversaw security[i] for the king’s sleeping quarters, they asked for a peace agreement because their country depended on the king’s country for food. 21 Therefore, at a set time Herod put on his royal robes, sat down on the royal seat, and made a speech to them. 22 The people kept shouting, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man!” 23 Immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24 But the word of God continued to grow and spread.
25 When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission, they returned from[j] Jerusalem, bringing with them John (who was also called Mark).
Zedekiah’s Request for a Miracle
21 The message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Malchijah’s son Pashhur and Maaseiah’s son Zephaniah the priest: 2 “Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is fighting against us. Perhaps the Lord will do some of his miraculous acts[a] for us, and Nebuchadnezzar[b] will depart from us.”
3 Jeremiah told them, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “I’m about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. I’ll gather them into the center of this city. 5 Because of my anger, wrath, and great fury, I’ll fight against you myself with an outstretched hand and a strong arm. 6 I’ll strike down the residents of this city, both people and animals, and they’ll die from a terrible plague. 7 Afterwards,” declares the Lord, “I’ll give King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials,[c] and the people—those who are left in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine—into the control of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, right into the hand of their enemies and the hand of those who want to kill them. He’ll execute them with swords and won’t pity them. He won’t spare them, nor will he have compassion on them.”’
8 “You are to say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I’m about to set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, by famine, and by the plague. But whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live. He will save his life as a spoil of war.[d] 10 Indeed, I’m firmly decided—I’m sending calamity to this city, not good,” declares the Lord. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will set it on fire.”’
The Guilt of Judah’s King
11 “To the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear this message from the Lord.
12 This is what the Lord says, house of David:
“Judge appropriately every morning,
and deliver those who have been robbed
from the oppressor,
so my anger does not break out like fire
and burn with no one to put it out
because of your evil deeds.
13 “Look, I’m against you,
city dwelling in the valley,
rock of the plain,”
declares the Lord,
“those of you who say, ‘Who can come down against us
and who can enter our habitations?’
14 But I’ll punish you according to
what you have done,”[e]
declares the Lord.
“I’ll start a fire in her forest,
and it will consume everything around her.”’”
Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders(A)
7 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.[a] 2 They noticed that some of his disciples were eating[b] with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (The Pharisees—and indeed all the Jewish people—don’t eat unless they wash their hands properly,[c] following the tradition of their elders. 4 They don’t eat anything from the marketplace unless they dip it in water. They also observe many other traditions, such as the proper washing of washing cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.)[d] 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus,[e] “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat[f] with unclean hands.”
6 He told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship of me is worthless,
because they teach human rules as doctrines.’[g]
8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
9 Then he told them, “You have such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition! 10 Because Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[h] and, ‘Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.’[i] 11 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me is Corban,”’ (that is, an offering to God) 12 ‘you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.’ 13 You are destroying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things like that.”
14 Then he called to the crowd again and told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand! 15 Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!”[j]
17 When he had left the crowd and gone home, his disciples began asking him about the parable. 18 He asked them, “Are you so ignorant? Don’t you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean? 19 Because it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then into the sewer,[k] thereby expelling[l] all foods.” 20 Then he continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean, 21 because it’s from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander,[m] arrogance, and foolishness. 23 All these things come from inside and make a person unclean.”
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(B)
24 Jesus[n] left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon.[o] He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. 25 In fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
28 But she answered him, “Yes,[p] Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment
31 Then Jesus[q] left the territory of Tyre and passed through Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the territory of the Decapolis.[r] 32 Some people[s] brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 Jesus[t] took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. Putting his fingers into the man’s[u] ears, he touched the man’s[v] tongue with saliva.
34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and told him, “Ephphatha,”[w] that is, “Be opened!” 35 The man’s[x] hearing and speech were restored at once, and he began to talk normally. 36 Jesus[y] ordered the people[z] not to tell anyone, but the more he kept ordering them, the more they kept spreading the news.
37 Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, “He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!”
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