M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The descendants of Issachar
7 Issachar had four sons. They were Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron. 2 Tola's sons were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam and Samuel. They were leaders of their clans. Among Tola's descendants there were 22,600 brave soldiers when David was king. 3 Uzzi's son was Izrahiah. Izrahiah's sons were Michael, Obadiah, Joel and Isshiah. All those five men in Uzzi's family were leaders. 4 The books of their clans show that they had many wives and sons. They had 36,000 men who were ready to fight in the army. 5 The books of the clans of Issachar show that they had 87,000 brave soldiers.
The descendants of Benjamin
6 Benjamin had three sons. They were Bela, Becher and Jediael. 7 Bela had five sons. They were Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth and Iri. They were leaders of their clans. The books of their ancestors show that they had 22,034 brave soldiers. 8 Becher's sons were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth and Alemeth. All those men were sons of Becher. 9 The books of their ancestors include a list of those clan leaders. Also the books show that they had 22,200 brave soldiers. 10 Jediael's son was Bilhan. Bilhan's sons were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Kenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish and Ahishahar. 11 All those sons of Jediael were leaders of their clans. They had 17,200 brave soldiers who were ready to fight in the army. 12 Shuppim and Huppim were descendants of Ir. The people called the Hushim were descendants of Aher.
The descendants of Naphtali
13 Naphtali's sons were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shallum. They were Bilhah's grandsons.
The half tribe of Manasseh in the west
14 These are Manasseh's descendants. Manasseh had a woman that he lived with. She was from the country called Syria. She was the mother of Asriel and Makir. Makir was Gilead's father. 15 Makir's wife was one of the Huppim and Shuppim people. His sister's name was Maakah. Zelophehad was another descendant of Makir. Zelophehad had only daughters. 16 Makir's wife Maakah had a son and she called him Peresh. Peresh's brother was Sheresh and Sheresh's sons were Ulam and Rekem. 17 Ulam's son was Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Makir and Makir was Manasseh's son. 18 Hammoleketh was Gilead's sister. And she had sons called Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah. 19 The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi and Aniam.
The descendants of Ephraim
20 These are the names of Ephraim's descendants. Ephraim's son was Shuthelah. Shuthelah's son was Bered and Bered's son was Tahath. Tahath's son was Eleadah and Eleadah's son was Tahath. 21 Tahath's son was Zabad and Zabad's son was Shuthelah.
Ezer and Elead were also sons of Ephraim. They went to Gath and they tried to take some cows and sheep from there. So some men who were born in that city killed them. 22 Their father Ephraim cried for them and he was sad for many days. And his family came to help him. 23 Then Ephraim had sex with his wife and they had another son. Ephraim called him Beriah. That name means ‘trouble’. Ephraim chose that name because of his family's troubles. 24 Beriah's daughter was Sheerah. She built Lower and Higher Beth-Horon. And she built Uzzen-Sheerah.
25 And Beriah's son was Rephah. And Rephah's son was Resheph. Resheph's son was Telah and Telah's son was Tahan. 26 Tahan's son was Ladan. Ladan's son was Ammihud and Ammihud's son was Elishama. 27 Elishama's son was Nun and Joshua was the son of Nun.[a]
28 Ephraim's descendants lived in Bethel and in the villages near it. And they had land there. Also they lived in Naaran in the east. And they lived in Gezer and in the villages near it. Those places were in the west. Also, they lived in Shechem and in the villages near it. And they lived in Ayyah and in the villages near it. 29 Along the borders of the land which belonged to Manasseh's descendants were other towns. They included Beth-Shan and the villages near it and Taanach and its villages. They also included Megiddo and its villages and Dor and its villages. The descendants of Joseph (son of Israel) lived in those towns and villages.
The descendants of Asher
30 Asher's sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah and their sister was Serah. 31 Beriah's sons were Heber and Malkiel and Malkiel was Birzaith's father. 32 Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham and their sister Shua. 33 Japhlet's sons were Pasach, Bimhal and Ashvath. They were Japhlet's sons. 34 Shemer's sons were Ahi, Rohgah, Hubbah and Aram. 35 Shemer's brother was Helem and Helem's sons were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh and Amal. 36-37 Zophah's sons were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran and Beera. 38 Jether's sons were Jephunneh, Pispah and Ara. 39 Ulla's sons were Arah, Hanniel and Rizia.
40 All those men were descendants of Asher. They were leaders of their clans. They were great and brave soldiers and great leaders. They had 26,000 men ready to fight in the army. There were lists that showed those men's names with their clans.
The descendants of Benjamin
8 Benjamin became the father of Bela, his firstborn son. Ashbel was his second son. Aharah was his third son. 2 Nohah was his fourth son. Rapha was his fifth son.
3 Bela's sons were: Addar, Gera, Abihud, 4 Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, 5 Gera, Shephuphan and Huram.
6 Here is a list of the descendants of Ehud who were the leaders of their clans.[b] They were living in Geba, but they had to leave there and move to Manahath. 7 Ehud's descendants were: Naaman, Ahijah and Gera. It was Gera who led them to Manahath. He became the father of Uzza and Ahihud.
8-11 Shaharaim and his wife Hushim had sons called Abitub and Elpaal. In Moab, Shaharaim sent away his two wives, Hushim and Baara. After that, Shaharaim married Hodesh. They had sons called Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sakia and Mirmah. They were leaders of their clans.
12-13 Elpaal's sons were: Eber, Misham, Shemed, Beriah and Shema. Shemed built the towns of Ono and Lod, and the villages around them. Beriah and Shema were leaders of the clans that lived in Aijalon city. They chased the people of Gath out of their city.
14 Beriah's descendants were: Ahio, Shashak, Jeremoth, 15 Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, 16 Michael, Ishpah and Joha.
17 Elpaal's descendants were: Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, 18 Ishmerai, Izliah and Jobab. 19 Shimei's descendants were: Jakim, Zikri, Zabdi, 20 Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, 21 Adaiah, Beraiah and Shimrath.
22 Shashak's descendants were: Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, 23 Abdon, Zikri, Hanan, 24 Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, 25 Iphdeiah and Penuel.
26 Jeroham's descendants were: Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, 27 Jaareshiah, Elijah and Zikri.
28 The history books show that all those men were leaders of their clans. They lived in Jerusalem.
Saul's family
29 Gibeon's father lived in Gibeon town. His wife's name was Maakah. 30 His firstborn son was Abdon. His other sons were Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, 31 Gedor, Ahio, Zeker and Mikloth.[c]
32 Mikloth became the father of Shimeah. They lived near their relatives in Jerusalem.
33 Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal.
34 Jonathan's son was Merib-Baal. Merib-Baal became the father of Micah.
35 Micah's sons were: Pithon, Melech, Tarea and Ahaz.
36 Ahaz became the father of Jehoaddah. Jehoaddah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri. Zimri became the father of Moza. 37 Moza became the father of Binea. Binea's son was Raphah. Raphah's son was Eleasah. Eleasah's son was Azel.
38 Azel had six sons: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. That is the list of Azel's sons.
39 Azel's brother was Eshek. Eshek's sons were: Ulam, his firstborn son, then Jeush and then Eliphelet.
40 Ulam's sons were brave soldiers. They could shoot arrows very well. They had 150 sons and grandsons.
All those men were descendants of Benjamin.
What it means to trust God
11 This is what it means to trust God: We will be sure about the things that we hope for. We will be sure in our minds about things that we cannot even see. 2 It was because of their faith that God said good things about the people of long ago. 3 Because of faith, we understand about how God made the universe. He spoke his word to make it happen. In that way, God made all the things that we can see. He made them from things that nobody could see.
4 Abel believed God. So he offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain did. And because of Abel's faith, God accepted him as right with him. God said that he was happy with Abel's gifts. Because Abel trusted God, we can still learn from his faith. Abel died long ago, but it is like he is still speaking to us.[a]
5 Enoch also believed God. Because of Enoch's faith, God took him away to heaven. He did not die like other people. As a result, nobody could ever find him, because God had taken him away. Before God took him away, it was clear that Enoch had made God happy.[b]
6 Unless we trust God, it is impossible for us to make God happy. Anyone who comes to God must believe that God is there. They must also believe that God helps everyone who wants to know him.
7 Noah believed God too. God told Noah about bad things that would happen. Nobody could see what would happen, but Noah believed God's message. He was careful to do exactly what God told him. He built a large ship to save his family. As a result of his faith, Noah showed that everyone else in the world was wrong. Noah himself became one of those people that God accepted as right with him. They are right with God because they trust him.[c]
8 Abraham also believed God. When God told him to leave his home, he obeyed God. He left his home to go to another country, but he did not know where he was going. It was the place that God had promised to give to Abraham. 9 Because of his faith, Abraham went to live like a stranger in that foreign country. God had promised to give that country to him, but Abraham lived there in tents. Isaac and Jacob also lived there in tents like strangers. God had also promised them that the land would belong to them one day.[d] 10 We see that Abraham was waiting to live in God's special place. That is the city that God himself has built. God has made it very strong so that it will be there for ever.[e]
11 Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were too old to have children. But Abraham believed God's promise that they would have children. He trusted God to do what he had promised. As a result of his faith, God made it possible for him and Sarah to have a baby.[f] 12 Abraham was so old that he was almost like a dead man. But from this one man there came very many grandchildren. His family became so large that nobody could count them. They were like the number of stars in the sky. They were as many as the bits of sand on the shore of the sea.[g]
13 All these people continued to believe God until they died. But they did not receive all the things that God had promised to give them. They were like people who saw those things far away. That made them happy. These people understood that they lived as strangers and travellers on the earth. 14 People who live in that way show that they expect to live somewhere else one day. That is the place where they will really be at home. 15 They were not thinking about the country that they had left. They could have gone back there if they really wanted to. 16 No, they wanted very much to go to a better place, in heaven. For that reason, God is not ashamed for them to call him their God. He has already prepared a city for them to live in.
17 Here is another example of Abraham's faith. God wanted to see whether Abraham really trusted him. Because Abraham believed God, he offered his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. God had promised Abraham that he would have many grandchildren. But Abraham was still ready to offer his only son as a sacrifice. 18 God had said to Abraham, ‘It is through Isaac that your family will continue.’ 19 But Abraham was sure that, if Isaac died, God could raise Isaac to life again. We could even say that is a picture of what really happened. It was like Abraham did receive Isaac back from death.[h]
20 Isaac himself also believed God. As a result of his faith, he asked God to bless his sons, Jacob and Esau. He trusted that God would help them in the future time.[i]
21 Jacob believed God. As a result of his faith, he asked God to bless each of Joseph's sons. Jacob did that when he was dying. At that time, he used his stick to hold himself up while he worshipped God.[j]
22 Joseph also believed God. At the end of his life, he spoke about what would happen to the family of Israel's people after his death. He understood that they would leave Egypt one day. As a result of his faith, he told his family where they should bury his bones.[k]
23 Moses' parents believed God. When Moses was born, they hid him for three months. They saw that he was a very special child. As a result of their faith, they did not obey Egypt's king. They were not afraid to do that.[l]
24 Moses himself also believed God. When he became a man, he refused to be called the son of the king's daughter. 25 Instead, Moses chose to join with God's people. He chose to receive trouble and pain together with them. He did not want to live in the king's house and do wrong things. He would only be happy for a short time there.[m] 26 Moses could have been very rich in Egypt. But instead, he let people insult him. He chose to receive trouble because of God's special Messiah. He thought that was worth more than if he had a lot of money. He thought carefully about what God would give him at a future time.[n] 27 As a result of his faith, Moses left Egypt. He knew that the king would be angry, but Moses was not afraid of him. Instead, he continued strongly to trust God. Nobody can see God, but Moses lived like someone who could see God.[o]
28 As a result of his faith, Moses told Israel's people to prepare the first Passover meal. He told them to put blood from the sacrifice round their doors. Then the angel who destroyed people came to every home. When he saw the blood, he did not kill the oldest sons in the families of Israel's people.[p]
29 Because of their faith, Israel's people walked across the Red Sea. They walked through there as if they were walking on dry land. But when the soldiers from Egypt tried to cross the same place, they drowned.[q]
30 Because of their faith, Israel's people marched round Jericho city for seven days. Then the city's walls fell down.[r]
31 Rahab, who had been a prostitute in Jericho, also trusted God. She helped the men from Israel who had come to that city earlier. They wanted to discover how to attack the city. Rahab was kind to them. As a result of her faith, she did not die with all the other people in Jericho who did not obey God.[s]
32 I could say even more about other people who trusted God. But there is not enough time to talk about all of them. I could tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and all the prophets.[t] 33 As a result of their faith, they did great things. Some of them won wars against other countries. Others ruled in a way that is right and fair. They received the good things that God had promised. Some of them caused lions to shut their mouths.[u] 34 Some of them put out fires that were burning very strongly. Some of them got away from people who wanted to kill them with a sword. Other people who were weak became strong. They became powerful to fight wars. They won against foreign armies so that those armies ran away.[v]
35 Some women who trusted God received their friends and family back from death. God raised those people who had died to become alive again. Other people refused to turn against God so that their enemies would not hurt them. As a result, their enemies killed them. These people agreed to die because they were sure that they would live again with God. They knew that would be better for them.
36 Other people who trusted God received insults. Some of them were hit with whips. Enemies of God tied these people up and they put them in prison. 37 Some of them died when people killed them with stones. Some of them died when people cut them into two pieces. Some of them died when people killed them with swords. Some of these people wore the skins of sheep and goats while they travelled about. They were very poor and they had a lot of trouble. People did bad things to them. 38 These people who trusted God were too good for this world. Some of them had to travel about in the wilderness and on the hills. Some had to live in holes in the rocks and in the ground.
39 God said good things about all these people because they trusted him. But they still did not receive everything that God had promised to give to them.[w] 40 God had already decided to prepare something better for all of us. As a result, those people did not receive everything until we could join with them.[x]
Amos is sad
5 You people of Israel's family, listen to the sad song that I will sing about you:
2 ‘You are like a young woman that died young, without children. Now you have fallen down and you will not rise up again. You lie there on the ground. There is nobody there to help you to get up.’
3 This is what the Lord God says to you: ‘1,000 soldiers will go out from a city to fight, but only 100 soldiers will come back. From another city, 100 soldiers will go out to fight, but only ten will come back.’
4 To the people of Israel's family, the Lord says, ‘Come back to me and you will live. 5 Do not go to Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. Do not try to find me there, because I am not there. I will send enemies to destroy those places. They will take the people away as slaves.’
6 Return to the Lord and you will live. If you do not do that, he will come like fire to punish you. He will completely destroy Joseph's descendants. Bethel and all its people will burn. Nobody will be able to stop the fire. 7 You people change what is right and true to make lies. You are not fair or honest.
8 The Lord made the groups of stars called Pleiades and Orion. The Lord changes the night into dawn, and he changes the day back to night again. He takes the water in the sea, and he pours it out as rain on the earth. The Lord is his name!
9 He quickly destroys strong people. He knocks down their strong buildings and their walls.
10 ‘You Israelites hate honest judges. You laugh at anyone who speaks the truth. 11 You cheat poor people so that they pay too much tax. You take away their food for yourselves. Because of that, you will not live in the beautiful houses that you have built for yourselves. You will not drink wine from the vines that you have planted.
12 I, the Lord, know all the wrong things that you have done. They are very many and they are very bad. You are cruel to good people. You take bribes to tell lies. Sometimes a person gives money to you to make you tell lies. As a result, poor people do not receive justice. 13 This is such an evil time that clever people say nothing. That is how they keep themselves safe.’
14 You say that the Lord God Almighty is with you. Stop doing evil things. Do good things, so that you will live. Then the Lord God Almighty will really be with you, as you say. 15 Hate evil things and love good things. When you judge people, be fair and honest. Then maybe the Lord God Almighty will be kind to those of his people who still remain, Joseph's descendants.
16 The Lord, the Lord God Almighty says, ‘All the people will be sad. They will weep and cry loudly in all the streets. They will tell the farmers to weep with them. They will tell the singers to sing sad songs for them. 17 In every field and garden, people will be weeping, because I will come to punish them all.’ That is what the Lord says.
The special day of the Lord
18 You want the special day of the Lord to come. But it will be very bad for you! You think that God will punish your enemies on that day. But that day will not bring light to you, it will bring darkness. 19 Nobody will escape! It will be like a man who runs away from a lion, but then he meets a bear! When he goes into his house to be safe, he puts his hand on a wall and a snake bites him!
20 Know this: The day of the Lord will be dark, not light. It will bring trouble, not joy.
21 The Lord says, ‘When you have your festivals, I hate them! When you meet to worship me, it does not make me happy! 22 When you bring burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, they do not please me. I will not accept your friendship offerings of fat animals. 23 When you sing songs to worship me, I will not listen. They are just noise! I do not want to hear the music of your harps.
24 What I do want to see is justice! I want to see that you always do what is right. Those good things should never stop, like a river that always runs with water.
25 You people of Israel's family, listen to me! I led you through the wilderness for 40 years. During that time, did you worship me with sacrifices and offerings? No!
26 Instead, you have idols that you have made for yourselves. You have the idol of Sakkuth, your king. You have the idol of Kaiwan, your star god. Now you will have to carry them with you. 27 I will send you away as prisoners. Your enemies will take you beyond Damascus.’
That is what the Lord says, and he is God Almighty.
Luke writes the facts about Jesus
1 Many people have written about the things that have happened in our country. 2 Some people were present when these things started to happen. They saw everything that happened and they told us about it. They are the people who wrote down the Good News for us. 3 I have checked the facts about what really happened. So now, I know about all the things that happened from the beginning. I am writing to make the facts clear to you, my important friend Theophilus. 4 People have already taught you about these things. Now you can be sure that they are true.
What happened before John the Baptist was born
5 There was a man whose name was Zechariah. He lived when Herod was king of Judea.[a] Zechariah was a priest and he belonged to a group of priests from the family of Abijah. He had a wife called Elizabeth. She also was from the family of the priest called Aaron.[b]
6 Zechariah and Elizabeth obeyed God's commands and rules. God saw that they were righteous people. They did not do wrong things. 7 But they had no children. Elizabeth could not give birth and they were both getting old.[c]
8 One day, Zechariah's group of priests was working at the temple. He had a special job to do there. 9 The priests chose one of their group to go into the holy place in the temple. This time they chose Zechariah.[d] His job was to burn incense there.
10 While Zechariah was burning incense in the special room, many men were outside in the yard.[e] They were praying to God.
11 The incense was burning on a special altar, when one of God's angels appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right hand side of the altar.[f]
12 When Zechariah saw the angel, he was very surprised and very afraid. 13 The angel said to him, ‘Zechariah, do not be afraid. God has heard what you prayed. He will give you what you asked for. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a baby boy. You will give him the name “John”. 14-15 He will be very important to the Lord God. So he will make you very happy. Many other people will also be very happy because he has been born. He must never drink anything with alcohol in it. From the time that he is born, the Holy Spirit will live inside him.
16 He will teach many people in Israel.[g] Then they will turn their lives back to the Lord their God and they will obey God again. 17 John will prepare the people for the Lord to come to them. The Holy Spirit will lead John as he led Elijah.[h] John will do powerful things as Elijah did. He will help fathers to love their children. He will teach people who do not obey God. Then they will know what things are right. And they will do them. Then they will be ready when the Lord comes.’
18 Zechariah asked the angel, ‘How can I be sure about this? You know that I am an old man. My wife is also old.’
19 The angel answered, ‘I am called Gabriel. My place is to stand in front of God. I am always ready to work for God. He has sent me to speak to you. He told me that I should tell you this good news. 20 Now listen to me. Because you did not believe my message, you will not be able to speak. You will not speak again until the time that your son is born. My message will really become true at the right time.’
21 While this was happening, the people outside were waiting for Zechariah. They were thinking, ‘Why has Zechariah stayed for such a long time in the special room? Why has he not come out yet?’ 22 When he did come out, he tried to talk to them. But he could not speak. So they knew that God had showed him something special in the room. He was moving his head and his hands about, to tell them what had happened. But still he could not speak.
23 When Zechariah had finished his work in the temple, he returned home. 24 Soon, a baby was growing inside his wife Elizabeth. She stayed in her house for five months. 25 ‘The Lord has now given me a baby,’ she said. ‘He has been kind to me. Because of this, other people cannot say bad things about me now.’
What happened before Jesus was born
26 When Elizabeth's baby had grown inside her for nearly six months, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth. Nazareth is a town in Galilee. 27 Gabriel went there to visit a young woman. Her name was Mary. She had never had sex with anyone. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. He belonged to the family of King David.[i]
28 Gabriel went to Mary and said, ‘Hello, Mary. The Lord God loves you very much. He is very near to you.’
29 Mary had a lot of problems in her mind about Gabriel's message. She did not understand what he meant. 30 Then Gabriel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary. God has been kind to you. 31 Listen! A baby boy will grow inside you. When he is born, you will call him Jesus. 32 He will be great. People will call him the Son of the powerful God who is over all. The Lord God will make him king. He will rule as his ancestor King David ruled.[j] 33 He will rule over the family of Jacob for all time.[k] He will be king for all time, without end.’
34 Mary asked, ‘How can this happen? I have never had sex with anyone.’ 35 Gabriel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of God who is over all will cover you like a shadow. So your child will be special to God. He will be completely good. He will be called God's Son. 36 Another thing! Your cousin, Elizabeth, is very old. People said that she could not have a baby. Listen! She also will have a son. The baby has grown inside her now for nearly six months. 37 There is nothing that God cannot do.’
38 Mary answered, ‘I am the servant of the Lord. I have heard what you have said. I want it to happen to me just like that.’ Then the angel left her.
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