M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

13 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South. ² And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. ³ And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai, ⁴ unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah. ⁵ And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. ⁶ And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. ⁷ And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. ⁸ And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we are brethren. ⁹ Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left. ¹⁰ And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the ^[a]Plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar. ¹¹ So Lot chose him all the Plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. ¹² Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³ Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly.

¹⁴ And Jehovah said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward: ¹⁵ for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. ¹⁶ And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then may thy seed also be numbered. ¹⁷ Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it. ¹⁸ And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the ^[b]oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto Jehovah.

12 At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears and to eat. ² But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath. ³ But he said unto them, ^[a]Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him; ⁴ how he entered into the house of God, and ^[b]ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have ye not read in the law, ^[c]that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless? ⁶ But I say unto you, that ^[d]one greater than the temple is here. ⁷ But if ye had known what this meaneth, ^[e]I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of man is lord of the sabbath.

⁹ And he departed thence, and went into their synagogue: ¹⁰ and behold, a man having a withered hand. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? that they might accuse him. ¹¹ And he said unto them, What man shall there be of you, that shall have one sheep, and if this fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? ¹² How much then is a man of more value than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the sabbath day. ¹³ Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, as the other. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out, and took counsel against him, how they might destroy him.

¹⁵ And Jesus perceiving it withdrew from thence: and many followed him; and he healed them all, ¹⁶ and charged them that they should not make him known: ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

²² Then was brought unto him ^[j]one possessed with a demon, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David? ²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out demons, but ^[k]by ^[l]Beelzebub the prince of the demons. ²⁵ And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: ²⁶ and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I ^[m]by ^[n]Beelzebub cast out demons, ^[o]by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. ²⁸ But if I ^[p]by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. ²⁹ Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. ³⁰ He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. ³¹ Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ³² And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this ^[q]world, nor in that which is to come. ³³ Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. ³⁵ The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. ³⁶ And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

³⁸ Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from thee. ³⁹ But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet: ⁴⁰ for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the ^[r]whale; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹ The men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, ^[s]a greater than Jonah is here. ⁴² The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, ^[t]a greater than Solomon is here. ⁴³ But the unclean spirit, when ^[u]he is gone out of the man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. ⁴⁴ Then ^[v]he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when ^[w]he is come, ^[x]he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. ⁴⁵ Then goeth ^[y]he, and taketh with ^[z]himself seven other spirits more evil than ^[aa]himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.

⁴⁶ While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, seeking to speak to him. ^47 [ab]And one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, seeking to speak to thee. ⁴⁸ But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? ⁴⁹ And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold, my mother and my brethren! ⁵⁰ For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.

2 ¹ And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. ² And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid. ³ And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? ⁴ Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it. ⁶ And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him), For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. ⁷ Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through till I come unto Judah; ⁸ and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s ^[a]forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

⁹ Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and horsemen. ¹⁰ And when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, for that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. ¹¹ So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. ¹² And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem; neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. ¹³ And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackal’s well, and to the dung gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. ¹⁴ Then I went on to the fountain gate and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. ¹⁵ Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned. ¹⁶ And the ^[b]rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the ^[c]rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.

¹⁷ Then said I unto them, Ye see the evil case that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. ¹⁸ And I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me, as also of the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. ¹⁹ But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? ²⁰ Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

12 Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the church. ² And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. ³ And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. And those were the days of unleavened bread. ⁴ And when he had taken him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people. ⁵ Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and guards before the door kept the prison. ⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shined in the cell: and he smote Peter on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. ⁸ And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And he did so. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. ⁹ And he went out, and followed; and he knew not that it was true which was done ^[a]by the angel, but thought he saw a vision. ¹⁰ And when they were past the first and the second guard, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth into the city; which opened to them of its own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and straightway the angel departed from him. ¹¹ And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a truth, that the Lord hath sent forth his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews. ¹² And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together and were praying. ¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a maid came to answer, named Rhoda. ¹⁴ And when she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate for joy, but ran in, and told that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵ And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she confidently affirmed that it was even so. And they said, It is his angel. ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened, they saw him, and were amazed. ¹⁷ But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him forth out of the prison. And he said, Tell these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went to another place. ¹⁸ Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. ¹⁹ And when Herod had sought for him, and found him not, he examined the guards, and commanded that they should be ^[b]put to death. And he went down from Judaea to Caesarea, and tarried there.

²⁰ Now he was highly displeased with them of Tyre and Sidon: and they came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus the king’s chamberlain their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was fed from the king’s country. ²¹ And upon a set day Herod arrayed himself in royal apparel, and sat on the ^[c]throne, and made an oration unto them. ²² And the people shouted, saying, The voice of a god, and not of a man. ²³ And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

²⁴ But the word of God grew and multiplied.

²⁵ And Barnabas and Saul returned ^[d]from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministration, taking with them John whose surname was Mark.