M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Abimelech Becomes King
9 Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal, also called Gideon, went to his uncles. They lived in the city of Shechem. He said to his uncles and all of his mother’s family group, 2 “Ask the leaders of Shechem this question: ‘Is it better for you to be ruled by the 70 sons of Jerub-Baal or to be ruled by only 1 man?’ Remember, I am your relative.”
3 Abimelech’s uncles spoke to all the leaders of Shechem. They asked them that question. All the leaders decided to follow Abimelech. They said, “He is our brother.” 4 So the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech about one and three-fourths pounds of silver. The silver was from the temple of the god Baal-of-the-Agreement. Abimelech used the silver to hire some worthless, reckless men. They followed Abimelech wherever he went. 5 Abimelech went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father. There Abimelech murdered his 70 brothers. They were the sons of Abimelech’s father, Gideon. He killed them all on one stone. But Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped. 6 Then all of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo came together. They gathered beside the great tree at the stone pillar in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king.
Jotham’s Story
7 When Jotham heard this, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. Jotham shouted to the people: “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem. Then God may listen to you! 8 One day the trees decided to appoint a king to rule over them. They said to the olive tree, ‘You be king over us!’
9 “But the olive tree said, ‘Men and gods are honored by my oil. Should I stop making it just to go and sway over the other trees?’
10 “Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king!’
11 “But the fig tree answered, ‘Should I stop making my sweet and good fruit? Should I stop just to go and sway over the other trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king!’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘My wine makes men and gods happy. Should I stop making it just to go and sway over the trees?’
14 “Then all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “But the thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to appoint me king over you, come and find shelter in my shade! But if you do not want to do this, let fire come out of the thornbush. Let the fire burn up the cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now, were you completely honest and sincere when you made Abimelech king? Have you been fair to Gideon and his family? Have you treated Gideon as you should? 17 Remember, my father fought for you. He risked his life to save you from the power of the Midianites. 18 But now you have turned against my father’s family. You have killed my father’s 70 sons on one stone. You have made Abimelech king over the people of Shechem. He is the son of my father’s slave girl! You have made Abimelech king just because he is your relative. 19 So then, if you have been honest and sincere to Gideon and his family today, be happy with Abimelech as your king. And may he be happy with you! 20 But if you have not acted right, may fire come out of Abimelech! May that fire completely burn you leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! Also may fire come out of the leaders of Shechem and burn up Abimelech!”
21 Then Jotham ran away. He escaped to the city of Beer. He lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
Abimelech Fights Against Shechem
22 Abimelech ruled Israel for three years. 23 Then God sent an evil spirit to make trouble between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. So the leaders of Shechem turned against him. 24 Abimelech had killed Gideon’s 70 sons. They were Abimelech’s own brothers. And the leaders of Shechem had helped him kill them. So God sent the evil spirit to punish them. 25 The leaders of Shechem were against Abimelech then. They put men on the hilltops. These men attacked and robbed everyone who went by. Abimelech was told about these attacks.
26 A man named Gaal and his brothers moved into Shechem. He was the son of Ebed. The leaders of Shechem decided to trust and follow Gaal. 27 The people of Shechem went out to the vineyards to pick grapes. They walked on the grapes to make wine. Then they had a feast in the temple of their god. The people ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “We are the men of Shechem. Why should we obey Abimelech? Who does he think he is? Isn’t Abimelech one of Gideon’s sons? Didn’t Abimelech make Zebul his officer? We should not obey Abimelech! We should obey the men of Hamor, Shechem’s father. Why should we obey Abimelech? 29 If you made me commander of these people, I would get rid of Abimelech! I would say to him, ‘Get your army ready and come out to battle!’”
30 Now Zebul was the ruler of Shechem. He heard what Gaal son of Ebed said. And Zebul became very angry. 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech in the city of Arumah. The message said, “Gaal son of Ebed and Gaal’s brothers have come to Shechem. Gaal is turning the city against you! 32 So now you and your men should get up in the night. Then go lie in the fields outside the city. 33 When the sun comes up in the morning, attack the city. Gaal and his men will come out to fight you. Then do what you can to them.”
34 So Abimelech and all his soldiers got up during the night. They went near Shechem and separated into four groups. There they hid. 35 Gaal son of Ebed went out and was standing at the entrance to the city gate. As he was standing there, Abimelech and his soldiers came out of their hiding places.
36 When Gaal saw the soldiers, he said to Zebul, “Look! There are people coming down from the mountains!”
But Zebul said, “You are seeing the shadows of the mountains. The shadows just look like people.”
37 But again Gaal said, “Look, there are people coming down from the center of the land. And there is a group coming from the fortune-tellers’ tree!”
38 Zebul said to Gaal, “Where is your bragging now? You said, ‘Who is Abimelech? Why should we obey him?’ You made fun of these men. Now go out and fight them.”
39 So Gaal led the men of Shechem out to fight Abimelech. 40 Abimelech and his men chased them. Many of Gaal’s men were killed before they could get back to the city gate. 41 Then Abimelech stayed at Arumah. Zebul forced Gaal and his brothers to leave Shechem.
42 The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields. Abimelech was told about it. 43 So he separated his men into three groups. And he hid them in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he jumped up and attacked them. 44 Abimelech and his group ran to the entrance gate to the city. The other two groups ran out to the people in the fields and killed them. 45 Abimelech and his men fought the city of Shechem all day. They captured it and killed its people. Then Abimelech tore down the city. And he threw salt[a] over the ruins so nothing would ever grow there.
The Tower of Shechem
46 The people who lived at the nearby Tower of Shechem heard what had happened to Shechem. So the leaders gathered in the safest room of the temple of the god Baal-of-the-Agreement. 47 Abimelech heard that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem had gathered there. 48 So he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon, near Shechem. Abimelech took an ax and cut some branches. Then he put them on his shoulders. He said to all his men with him, “Hurry! Do what I have done!” 49 So all those men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled the branches against the safest room of the temple. Then they set them on fire and burned the people in the room. So all the people who lived at the Tower of Shechem also died. There were about 1,000 men and women.
Abimelech’s Death
50 Then Abimelech went to the city of Thebez. He surrounded the city, attacked it and captured it. 51 But inside the city was a strong tower. All the men and women of that city ran to the tower. When they got inside, they locked the door behind them. Then they climbed up to the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech came to the tower and attacked it. He went up to the door of the tower to set it on fire. 53 As Abimelech came near, a woman dropped a large stone for grinding grain on his head. The stone crushed Abimelech’s skull.
54 He quickly called to the officer who carried his armor. He said, “Take out your sword and kill me. I don’t want people to say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech.’” So the officer stabbed Abimelech, and he died. 55 When the people of Israel saw Abimelech was dead, they all returned home.
56 In that way God punished Abimelech for all the evil he had done. Abimelech had sinned against his own father by killing his 70 brothers. 57 God also punished the men of Shechem for the evil they had done. So the curse Jotham had spoken came true. (Jotham was the youngest son of Gideon.)
Barnabas and Saul Are Chosen
13 In the church at Antioch there were these prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (also called Niger), Lucius (from the city of Cyrene), Manaen (who had grown up with Herod, the ruler) and Saul. 2 They were all worshiping the Lord and giving up eating.[a] The Holy Spirit said to them, “Give Barnabas and Saul to me to do a special work. I have chosen them for it.”
3 So they gave up eating and prayed. They laid their hands on[b] Barnabas and Saul and sent them out.
Barnabas and Saul in Cyprus
4 Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went to the city of Seleucia. From there they sailed to the island of Cyprus. 5 When they came to Salamis, they preached the Good News of God in the Jewish synagogues. John Mark was with them to help.
6 They went across the whole island to Paphos. In Paphos they met a Jew who was a magician. His name was Bar-Jesus. He was a false prophet, 7 who always stayed close to Sergius Paulus, the governor. Sergius Paulus was a smart man. He asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him, because he wanted to hear the message of God. 8 But Elymas, the magician (that is what his name means), was against them. He tried to stop the governor from believing in Jesus. 9 But Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit. (Saul’s other name was Paul.) He looked straight at Elymas 10 and said, “You son of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of evil tricks and lies. You are always trying to change the Lord’s truths into lies! 11 Now the Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun.”
Then everything became dark for Elymas. He walked around, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the governor saw this, he believed. He was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas Leave Cyprus
13 Paul and those with him sailed away from Paphos. They came to Perga, in Pamphylia. But John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 They continued their trip from Perga and went to Antioch, a city in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 The law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were read. Then the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas: “Brothers, if you have any message that will encourage the people, please speak!”
16 Paul stood up. He raised his hand and said, “Men of Israel and you other people who worship God, please listen! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors. He made the people great during the time they lived in Egypt. He brought them out of that country with great power. 18 And he was patient with them[c] for 40 years in the desert. 19 God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to his people. 20 All this happened in about 450 years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king. God gave them Saul son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was king for 40 years. 22 After God took him away, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse. He is the kind of man I want. He will do all that I want him to do.’ 23 So God has brought one of David’s descendants to Israel to be their Savior. That descendant is Jesus. And God promised to do this. 24 Before Jesus came, John[d] preached to all the people of Israel. He told them about a baptism of changed hearts and lives. 25 When he was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. He is coming later. I am not worthy to untie his sandals.’
26 “Brothers, sons in the family of Abraham, and you non-Jews who worship God, listen! The news about this salvation has been sent to us. 27 Those who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not realize that Jesus was the Savior. They did not understand the words that the prophets wrote, which are read every Sabbath day. But they made them come true when they said Jesus was guilty. 28 They could not find any real reason for Jesus to die, but they asked Pilate to have him killed. 29 They did to him all that the Scriptures had said. Then they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him up from death! 31 After this, for many days, the people who had gone with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him. They are now his witnesses to the people. 32 We tell you the Good News about the promise God made to our ancestors. 33 We are their children, and God has made this promise come true for us. God did this by raising Jesus from death. We read about this also in Psalm 2:
‘You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.’ Psalm 2:7
34 God raised Jesus from death. He will never go back to the grave and become dust. So God said:
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings
that I promised to David.’ Isaiah 55:3
35 But in another place God says:
‘You will not let your Holy One
rot in the grave.’ Psalm 16:10
36 David did God’s will during his lifetime. Then he died and was buried with his fathers. And his body did rot in the grave! 37 But the One God raised from death did not rot in the grave. 38-39 Brothers, you must understand what we are telling you: You can have forgiveness of your sins through Jesus. The law of Moses could not free you from your sins. But everyone who believes is free from all sins through him. 40 Be careful! Don’t let what the prophets said happen to you:
41 ‘Listen, you people who doubt!
You can wonder, and then die.
I will do something in your lifetime that will amaze you.
You won’t believe it even when you are told about it!’” Habakkuk 1:5
42 While Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people asked them to tell them more about these things on the next Sabbath. 43 After the meeting, many Jews followed Paul and Barnabas from that place. With the Jews there were many who had changed to the Jewish religion and worshiped God. Paul and Barnabas were persuading them to continue trusting in God’s kindness.
44 On the next Sabbath day, almost all the people in the city came to hear the word of the Lord. 45 Seeing the crowd, the Jews became very jealous. They said insulting things and argued against what Paul said. 46 But Paul and Barnabas spoke very boldly. They said, “We must speak the message of God to you first. But you refuse to listen. You are judging yourselves not worthy of having eternal life! So we will now go to the people of other nations! 47 This is what the Lord told us to do. The Lord said:
‘I have made you a light for the non-Jewish nations.
You will show people all over the world the way to be saved.’” Isaiah 49:6
48 When the non-Jewish people heard Paul say this, they were happy. They gave honor to the message of the Lord. And many of the people believed the message. They were the ones chosen to have life forever.
49 And so the message of the Lord was spreading through the whole country. 50 But the Jews stirred up some of the important religious women and the leaders of the city against Paul and Barnabas. They started trouble against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their area. 51 So Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet[e] and went to Iconium. 52 But the followers were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
Judgment Against Evil Kings
22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah. Prophesy this message there: 2 ‘Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah. You rule from David’s throne. You and your officers, listen well! All of your people who come through these gates, listen! 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is fair and right. Protect those who have been robbed from those who robbed them. Don’t do any wrong to the orphans or widows. Don’t hurt them. Don’t kill innocent people here. 4 If you carefully obey these commands, this is what will happen: Kings who sit on David’s throne will come through the gates of this palace. They will come with their officers and people. They will all come riding in chariots and on horses. 5 But if you don’t obey these commands, this is what the Lord says: I promise in my own name that this king’s palace will become a ruin.’”
6 This is what the Lord says about the palace where the king of Judah lives:
“This palace is tall like the forests of Gilead.
It is high like the mountains of Lebanon.
But I will truly make it like a desert.
It will be empty like towns where no one lives.
7 I will send men to destroy the palace.
Each man will have his weapons with him.
They will cut up your strong, beautiful cedar beams.
And they will throw them into the fire.
8 “People from many nations will pass by this city. They will ask each other, ‘Why has the Lord done such a terrible thing to Jerusalem? This was such a great city.’ 9 And the answer will be: ‘It was because the people of Judah quit following the agreement with the Lord their God. They worshiped and served other gods.’”
Judgment Against Jehoahaz
10 Don’t cry for the king who has died. Don’t cry loudly for him.
But cry painfully for the king who is being taken away from here.
Cry for him because he will never come back again.
He will never see his homeland again.
11 This is what the Lord says about Jehoahaz son of Josiah. Jehoahaz became king of Judah after his father died. He has left this place. The Lord says, “He will never come back again. 12 He will die where those who captured him have taken him. He will not see this land again.”
Judgment Against Jehoiakim
13 “How terrible it will be for him who builds his palace by doing evil.
He cheats people so he can build its upper rooms.
He is making his own people work for nothing.
He is not paying them for their work.
14 He says, ‘I will build a great palace for myself.
I will have large upper rooms.’
So he builds the palace with large windows.
He uses cedar wood for the walls.
And he paints it red.
15 “Does having a lot of cedar in your house
make you a great king?
Your father was satisfied to have food and drink.
He did what was right and fair.
So everything went well for him.
16 He helped those who were poor and needy.
So everything went well for him.
That’s what it means to know God,” says the Lord.
17 “But your eyes only look for what you can get dishonestly.
You are always thinking about getting more for yourself.
You are even willing to kill innocent people to get it.
You are making it hard for people.
You even steal things from them.”
18 So this is what the Lord says to Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
“The people of Judah will not cry loudly when Jehoiakim dies.
They will not say, ‘Oh, my brother, I am so sad!
Oh, my sister, I am so sad!’
The people of Judah will not cry for him, saying:
‘Oh, master, oh, my king.’
19 The people of Jerusalem will bury him like a donkey.
They will just drag his body away.
Then they will throw it outside the gates of Jerusalem.
20 “Judah, go up to Lebanon and cry out.
Let your voice be heard in Bashan.
Cry out from Abarim.
All your friends are destroyed!
21 Judah, when you were successful, I warned you.
But you refused to listen.
You have acted like this since you were young.
You have not obeyed me.
22 My punishment will come like a storm.
And it will blow all your shepherds away.
Your friends will be taken away as captives.
Then you will really be ashamed.
You will be disgraced because of all the wicked things you did.
23 King, you live in your palace.
You are cozy in your rooms of cedar.
But you will groan when your punishment comes.
You will hurt like a woman giving birth to a baby!
Judgment upon Jehoiachin
24 “As surely as I live,” says the Lord, “I will do this to you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah: Even if you were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 Jehoiachin, I will give you to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And I will hand you over to the Babylonians. Those are the people you are afraid of because they want to kill you. 26 I will throw you and your mother into another country. Neither of you was born there. But both of you will die there. 27 You will want to come back. But you will never be able to return.”
28 Jehoiachin is like a broken pot someone threw away.
He is like something no one wants.
Why will Jehoiachin and his children be thrown out?
Why will they be thrown into a foreign land?
29 Land, land, land of Judah,
hear the word of the Lord!
30 This is what the Lord says:
“Write this down about Jehoiachin:
He is a man who is to have no children.
He will not be successful in his lifetime.
And none of his children will be successful.
None of his children will sit on the throne of David.
They will not rule in Judah.”
More Than 4,000 People Fed
8 Another time there was a great crowd with Jesus. They had nothing to eat. So Jesus called his followers to him. He said, 2 “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me for three days, and now they have nothing to eat. 3 I cannot send them home hungry. If they leave without eating, they will faint on the way home. Some of them live a long way from here.”
4 Jesus’ followers answered, “But we are far away from any towns. Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people?”
5 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “We have seven loaves.”
6 Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God. Jesus divided the bread and gave the pieces to his followers. He told them to pass out the bread to the people, and they did so. 7 The followers also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for the fish and told his followers to give the fish to the people. 8 All the people ate and were satisfied. Then the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 9 There were about 4,000 men who ate. After they had eaten, Jesus told them to go home. 10 Then he went in a boat with his followers to the area of Dalmanutha.
The Leaders Ask for a Miracle
11 The Pharisees came to Jesus and asked him questions. They wanted to trap him. So they asked Jesus to do a miracle to show that he was from God. 12 Jesus sighed deeply. He said, “Why do you people ask for a miracle as proof? I tell you the truth. No miracle will be given to you.” 13 Then Jesus left the Pharisees. He went in the boat to the other side of the lake.
Guard Against Wrong Teachings
14 The followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. They had forgotten to bring more bread. 15 Jesus warned them, “Be careful! Guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 Among themselves, his disciples discussed the meaning of this. They said, “He said this because we have no bread.”
17 Jesus knew what his followers were talking about. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? You still don’t see or understand? Are your minds closed? 18 You have eyes, but you don’t really see. You have ears, but you don’t really listen. Remember what I did before, when we did not have enough bread? 19 I divided five loaves of bread for 5,000 people. Remember how many baskets you filled with pieces of food that were not eaten?”
They answered, “We filled 12 baskets.”
20 “And remember that I divided seven loaves of bread for 4,000 people. Remember how many baskets you filled with pieces of food that were not eaten?”
They answered, “We filled 7 baskets.”
21 Then Jesus said to them, “You remember these things I did, but you still don’t understand?”
Jesus Heals a Blind Man
22 Jesus and his followers came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch the man. 23 So Jesus took the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village. Then he spit on the man’s eyes. He put his hands on the blind man and asked, “Can you see now?”
24 The man looked up and said, “Yes, I see people, but they look like trees walking around.”
25 Again Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then the man opened his eyes wide. His eyes were healed, and he was able to see everything clearly. 26 Jesus told him to go home, saying, “Don’t go into the town.”[a]
Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ
27 Jesus and his followers went to the towns around Caesarea Philippi. While they were traveling, Jesus asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah.[b] And others say that you are one of the prophets.”
29 Then Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
30 Jesus ordered his followers, “Don’t tell anyone who I am.”
31 Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He taught that the Son of Man would not be accepted by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He taught that the Son of Man must be killed and then rise from death after three days. 32 Jesus told them plainly what would happen. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to criticize him. 33 But Jesus turned and looked at his followers. Then he criticized Peter and said, “Go away from me, Satan![c] You don’t care about the things of God. You care only about things men think are important.”
34 Then Jesus called the crowd to him, along with his followers. He said, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say ‘no’ to the things he wants. He must be willing to die on a cross, and he must follow me. 35 Whoever wants to save his life will give up true life. But whoever gives up his life for me and for the Good News will have true life forever. 36 It is worth nothing for a person to have the whole world, if he loses his soul. 37 A person could never pay enough to buy back his soul. 38 The people who live now are living in a sinful and evil time. If anyone is ashamed of me and my teaching, then I will be ashamed of him. I will be ashamed of him when I come with the glory of my Father and the holy angels.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.