M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Abrahamic Covenant
15 Some time later, a message came from the Lord to Abram in a vision. “Stop being afraid, Abram.” he said. “I myself—your shield—am your very great reward.”
2 But Abram replied, “Lord God, what can you give me since I continue to be childless, and the heir of my household is Eliezer from Damascus? 3 Look!” Abram said, “You haven’t given me any offspring, so a servant born in[a] my house is going to be my heir.”
4 A message came from the Lord to him again: “This one will not be your heir. Instead, the child who will be born to you[b] will be your heir.” 5 Then the Lord[c] took him outside. “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can!” he said. “Your descendants will be that numerous.”[d] 6 Abram believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
7 The Lord[e] spoke to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land as an inheritance.”
8 But he replied, “Lord God, how will I know that I will inherit it?”
9 The Lord responded, “Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 So Abram brought him all these animals and cut each of them in half, down the middle, placing the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11 When birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun began to set, Abram was overcome with deep sleep, and suddenly a frightening and terrifying darkness descended on him.
13 Then the Lord told Abram, “You can be certain about this: Your descendants will be foreigners in a land that isn’t theirs. They will be slaves there and will be oppressed for 400 years. 14 However, I will judge the nation that they serve, and later they will leave there with many possessions. 15 Now as for you, you’ll die peacefully, join your ancestors, and be buried at a good old age. 16 Your descendants[f] will return here in the fourth generation, since the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet run its course.”
17 When the sun had fully set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a fiery torch passed between the animal pieces.[g] 18 That very day the Lord made this covenant with Abram: “I’m giving[h] this land to your descendants, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— 19 including the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
The Death of John the Baptist(A)
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch,[a] hearing about the fame of Jesus, 2 told his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why these miracles are being done by him.” 3 Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s[b] wife.
4 John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Although Herod[c] wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, since they regarded John[d] as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests.[e] She pleased Herod 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked for. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me, right here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” 9 Under pressure because of his promises and his assembled guests, the king ordered that it be done. 10 So he sent word[f] and had John beheaded in prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. 12 When John’s[g] disciples came, they carried off the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(B)
13 When Jesus heard this, he left that place and went[h] by boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of it and followed him on foot from the neighboring[i] towns. 14 When he got out of the boat,[j] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them and healed their sick. 15 When evening had come, the disciples went to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus told them, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 They told him, “We don’t have anything here except five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them[k] to the crowds. 20 All of them ate and were filled. Then the disciples[l] picked up what was left of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 Now those who had eaten were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(C)
22 Jesus[m] immediately had the disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him, while he sent the crowds away. 23 After dismissing the crowds, he went up on a hillside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. 24 By this time the boat was in the middle of the sea[n] and was being battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Shortly before dawn,[o] Jesus[p] came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out, “It’s a ghost!” And they screamed in terror.
27 “Have courage!” Jesus immediately told them. “It’s me. Stop being afraid!”
28 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.”
29 Jesus[q] said, “Come on!” So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came[r] to Jesus.
30 But when he noticed the strong[s] wind, he was frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, save me!”
31 At once Jesus reached out his hand, caught him, and asked him, “You who have so little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 As they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing.
33 Then the men in the boat began to worship Jesus,[t] saying, “You certainly are the Son of God!”
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret(D)
34 They crossed over and came ashore at Gennesaret. 35 When the men of that place recognized Jesus,[u] they sent word[v] throughout that region and brought him everyone who was sick. 36 They kept begging him to let them touch just the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was completely healed.
Sanballat Opposes the Reconstruction
4 [a]When Sanballat heard that we were reconstructing the wall, he flew into a rage, became indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2 He addressed his allies and the Samaritan officials,[b] saying “What are these pathetic Jews doing? Are they intending to rebuild it by themselves? Do they intend to offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a single day? Can they make stones from this burned out rubble?”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite stood to the side, commenting, “If a fox were to jump onto what they’re building, it would collapse their stone wall!”
Nehemiah’s Prayer
4 “Listen, our God, because we are being mocked. Let their insults fall back on them,[c] and let them be dragged away as captives into exile. 5 Don’t atone their iniquity, and don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you, because they have demoralized the builders.”
6 So we rebuilt the wall, completing it halfway up, because the people were committed to working.
Sanballat Reacts to the Progress
7 [d]But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repair work on the Jerusalem wall was progressing and that its breaches were being repaired, they flew into a rage. 8 So they all conspired together to invade and fight against Jerusalem, creating confusion there.
Nehemiah Reacts to Sanballat
9 But we prayed to our God. We also set up guards day and night because of them.
10 Meanwhile, the people of[e] Judah said, “The builders are tired and there’s so much rubble that we can’t reconstruct the wall!”
11 Our enemies said, “Before they notice or see us, we’ll penetrate their midst, kill them, and stop the work!”
12 The Jews who lived near them kept coming to us, reporting at least[f] ten times, “They’ll attack us from every direction.” 13 So I stationed the people by families behind the wall in the lower exposed areas, equipping them with their swords, spears, and bows.
14 Looking things over, I stood up and spoke to the officials, the military leaders, and the rest of the people: “Don’t fear them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord. Fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
15 Our opponents heard that we had learned about them, that God had brought their plans to failure, and that each and every one of us had come to work on the wall. 16 From that day on, half of my helpers engaged in the work while the other half kept spears, shields, bows, and armor ready. The senior officials backed all of the Judeans 17 who worked on the wall. Those who carried building materials worked with one hand, carrying a spear in the other. 18 Each builder worked with a sword strapped to his side, while a trumpeter remained beside me to sound an alarm.[g]
19 I told the officials, rulers, and the rest of the people, “The project is large and extensive, and we are separated from each other on the wall, 20 so wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, come over to us, and our God will fight for us!” 21 So we worked hard, half of us holding spears from dawn to dusk.
22 At the same time I told the people, “Let’s have everyone sleep at night inside Jerusalem with their servants, so they can guard us at night and work during the day. 23 No one—neither I, my allies, my servants, nor the bodyguards who accompanied me—changed clothes. Everyone carried a weapon even while going for water.
Paul and Barnabas in Iconium
14 In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas[a] went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 They stayed there a considerable time and continued to speak boldly for the Lord, who kept affirming his word of grace and granting signs and wonders to be done by them. 4 But the people of the city were divided. Some were with the Jews, while others were with the apostles.
5 Now when an attempt was made by both gentiles and Jews, along with their authorities, to mistreat and stone them, 6 Paul and Barnabas[b] found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding territory. 7 There they kept talking about the good news.
Paul and Barnabas in Lystra
8 Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn’t use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul[c] watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, 10 he said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Then the man[d] jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!” 12 They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. 13 The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you’ll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.[e] 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17 yet he has not abandoned his witness: he continues to do good, to give you rain from heaven, to give you[f] fruitful seasons, and to fill you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas[g] could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.
Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria
19 But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds by persuasion. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, thinking he was dead. 20 But the disciples formed a circle around him, and he got up and went back to town. The next day, he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.
21 As they were proclaiming the good news in that city, they discipled a large number of people. Then they went back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships,” they said, “to get into the kingdom of God.” 23 Paul and Barnabas[h] appointed elders for them in each church, and with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 They spoke the word[i] in Perga and went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had completed. 27 When they arrived, they called the church together and told them everything that God had done with them and how he had opened a door so that gentiles would believe. 28 Then they spent a long time with the disciples.
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