M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
A Wife for Isaac
24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 Abraham said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of everything he owned, “Put your hand under my leg.[a] 3 Make a promise to me before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Don’t get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here. 4 Instead, go back to my country, to the land of my relatives, and get a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant said to him, “What if this woman does not want to return with me to this land? Then, should I take your son with me back to your homeland?”
6 Abraham said to him, “No! Don’t take my son back there. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and the land of my relatives. And he promised me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ The Lord will send his angel before you to help you get a wife for my son there. 8 If the girl won’t come back with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under his master’s leg and made a promise to Abraham about this.
10 The servant took ten of Abraham’s camels and left, carrying with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Northwest Mesopotamia to Nahor’s city. 11 In the evening, when the women come out to get water, he made the camels kneel down at the well outside the city.
12 The servant said, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, allow me to find a wife for his son today. Please show this kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Here I am, standing by the spring, and the girls from the city are coming out to get water. 14 I will say to one of them, ‘Please put your jar down so I can drink.’ Then let her say, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels.’ If that happens, I will know she is the right one for your servant Isaac and that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, came out of the city. (Bethuel was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother.) Rebekah was carrying her water jar on her shoulder. 16 She was very pretty, a virgin; she had never had sexual relations with a man. She went down to the spring and filled her jar, then came back up. 17 The servant ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 Rebekah said, “Drink, sir.” She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. 19 After he finished drinking, Rebekah said, “I will also pour some water for your camels.” 20 So she quickly poured all the water from her jar into the drinking trough for the camels. Then she kept running to the well until she had given all the camels enough to drink.
21 The servant quietly watched her. He wanted to be sure the Lord had made his trip successful. 22 After the camels had finished drinking, he gave Rebekah a gold ring weighing one-fifth of an ounce and two gold arm bracelets weighing about four ounces each. 23 He asked, “Who is your father? Is there a place in his house for me and my men to spend the night?”
24 Rebekah answered, “My father is Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor.” 25 Then she said, “And, yes, we have straw for your camels and a place for you to spend the night.”
26 The servant bowed and worshiped the Lord 27 and said, “Blessed is the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has been kind and truthful to him and has led me to my master’s relatives.”
28 Then Rebekah ran and told her mother’s family about all these things. 29 She had a brother named Laban, who ran out to Abraham’s servant, who was still at the spring. 30 Laban had heard what she had said and had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms. So he ran out to the well, and there was the man standing by the camels at the spring. 31 Laban said, “Sir, you are welcome to come in; you don’t have to stand outside. I have prepared the house for you and also a place for your camels.”
32 So Abraham’s servant went into the house. After Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and food, he gave water to Abraham’s servant so he and the men with him could wash their feet. 33 Then Laban gave the servant food, but the servant said, “I will not eat until I have told you why I came.”
So Laban said, “Then tell us.”
34 He said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has greatly blessed my master in everything, and he has become a rich man. The Lord has given him many flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels, and horses. 36 Sarah, my master’s wife, gave birth to a son when she was old, and my master has given everything he owns to that son. 37 My master had me make a promise to him and said, ‘Don’t get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here. 38 Instead, you must go to my father’s people and to my family. There you must get a wife for my son.’ 39 I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’ 40 But he said, ‘I serve the Lord, who will send his angel with you and will help you. You will get a wife for my son from my family and my father’s people. 41 Then you will be free from the promise. But if they will not give you a wife for my son, you will be free from this promise.’
42 “Today I came to this spring. I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please make my trip successful. 43 I am standing by this spring. I will wait for a young woman to come out to get water, and I will say, “Please give me water from your jar to drink.” 44 Then let her say, “Drink this water, and I will also get water for your camels.” By this I will know the Lord has chosen her for my master’s son.’
45 “Before I finished my silent prayer, Rebekah came out of the city with her water jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and got water. I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ 46 She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink this. I will also get water for your camels.’ So I drank, and she gave water to my camels too. 47 When I asked her, ‘Who is your father?’ she answered, ‘My father is Bethuel son of Milcah and Nahor.’ Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms, 48 and I bowed my head and thanked the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, because he led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now, tell me, will you be kind and truthful to my master? And if not, tell me so. Then I will know what I should do.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is clearly from the Lord, and we cannot change what must happen. 51 Rebekah is yours. Take her and go. Let her marry your master’s son as the Lord has commanded.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard these words, he bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord. 53 Then he gave Rebekah gold and silver jewelry and clothes. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and mother. 54 The servant and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, the servant said, “Now let me go back to my master.”
55 Rebekah’s mother and her brother said, “Let Rebekah stay with us at least ten days. After that she may go.”
56 But the servant said to them, “Do not make me wait, because the Lord has made my trip successful. Now let me go back to my master.”
57 Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “We will call Rebekah and ask her what she wants to do.” 58 They called her and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man now?”
She said, “Yes, I do.”
59 So they allowed Rebekah and her nurse to go with Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 They blessed Rebekah and said,
“Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of people,
and may your descendants capture the cities of their enemies.”
61 Then Rebekah and her servant girls got on the camels and followed the servant and his men. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 At this time Isaac had left Beer Lahai Roi and was living in southern Canaan. 63 One evening when he went out to the field to think, he looked up and saw camels coming. 64 Rebekah also looked and saw Isaac. Then she jumped down from the camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant answered, “That is my master.” So Rebekah covered her face with her veil.
66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. 67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of Sarah, his mother, and she became his wife. Isaac loved her very much, and so he was comforted after his mother’s death.
Jesus Accuses Some Leaders
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his followers, 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says. 3 So you should obey and follow whatever they tell you, but their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they themselves don’t do them. 4 They make strict rules and try to force people to obey them, but they are unwilling to help those who struggle under the weight of their rules.
5 “They do good things so that other people will see them. They enlarge the little boxes[a] holding Scriptures that they wear, and they make their special prayer clothes very long. 6 Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the most important seats at feasts and in the synagogues. 7 They love people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces, and they love to have people call them ‘Teacher.’
8 “But you must not be called ‘Teacher,’ because you have only one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters together. 9 And don’t call any person on earth ‘Father,’ because you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 And you should not be called ‘Master,’ because you have only one Master, the Christ. 11 Whoever is your servant is the greatest among you. 12 Whoever makes himself great will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be made great.
13 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You close the door for people to enter the kingdom of heaven. You yourselves don’t enter, and you stop others who are trying to enter. [ 14 How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites. You take away widows’ houses, and you say long prayers so that people will notice you. So you will have a worse punishment.][b]
15 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You travel across land and sea to find one person who will change to your ways. When you find that person, you make him more fit for hell than you are.
16 “How terrible for you! You guide the people, but you are blind. You say, ‘If people swear by the Temple when they make a promise, that means nothing. But if they swear by the gold that is in the Temple, they must keep that promise.’ 17 You are blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the Temple that makes that gold holy? 18 And you say, ‘If people swear by the altar when they make a promise, that means nothing. But if they swear by the gift on the altar, they must keep that promise.’ 19 You are blind! Which is greater: the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 The person who swears by the altar is really using the altar and also everything on the altar. 21 And the person who swears by the Temple is really using the Temple and also everything in the Temple. 22 The person who swears by heaven is also using God’s throne and the One who sits on that throne.
23 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You give to God one-tenth of everything you earn—even your mint, dill, and cumin.[c] But you don’t obey the really important teachings of the law—justice, mercy, and being loyal. These are the things you should do, as well as those other things. 24 You guide the people, but you are blind! You are like a person who picks a fly out of a drink and then swallows a camel![d]
25 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You wash the outside of your cups and dishes, but inside they are full of things you got by cheating others and by pleasing only yourselves. 26 Pharisees, you are blind! First make the inside of the cup clean, and then the outside of the cup can be truly clean.
27 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside, those tombs look fine, but inside, they are full of the bones of dead people and all kinds of unclean things. 28 It is the same with you. People look at you and think you are good, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and evil.
29 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and you show honor to the graves of those who lived good lives. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill the prophets.’ 31 But you give proof that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 And you will complete the sin that your ancestors started.
33 “You are snakes! A family of poisonous snakes! How are you going to escape God’s judgment? 34 So I tell you this: I am sending to you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Some of them you will beat in your synagogues and chase from town to town. 35 So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth—from the murder of that good man Abel to the murder of Zechariah[e] son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all of these things will happen to you people who are living now.
Jesus Feels Sorry for Jerusalem
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone to death those who are sent to you. Many times I wanted to gather your people as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you did not let me. 38 Now your house will be left completely empty. 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord.’”[f]
Foreign People Are Sent Away
13 On that day they read the Book of Moses to the people, and they found that it said no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be allowed in the meeting to worship. 2 The Ammonites and Moabites had not welcomed the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they had hired Balaam to put a curse on Israel. (But our God turned the curse into a blessing.) 3 When the people heard this teaching, they separated all foreigners from Israel.
Nehemiah Returns to Jerusalem
4 Before that happened, Eliashib the priest, who was in charge of the Temple storerooms, was friendly with Tobiah. 5 Eliashib let Tobiah use one of the large storerooms. Earlier it had been used for grain offerings, incense, the utensils, and the tenth offerings of grain, new wine, and olive oil that belonged to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers. It had also been used for gifts for the priests.
6 I was not in Jerusalem when this happened. I had gone back to Artaxerxes king of Babylon in the thirty-second year he was king. Finally I asked the king to let me leave. 7 When I returned to Jerusalem, I found out the evil Eliashib had done by letting Tobiah have a room in the Temple courtyard. 8 I was very upset at this, so I threw all of Tobiah’s goods out of the room. 9 I ordered the rooms to be purified, and I brought back the utensils for God’s Temple, the grain offerings, and the incense.
10 Then I found out the people were not giving the Levites their shares. So the Levites and singers who served had gone back to their own farms. 11 I argued with the officers, saying, “Why haven’t you taken care of the Temple?” Then I gathered the Levites and singers and put them back at their places.
12 All the people of Judah then brought to the storerooms a tenth of their crops, new wine, and olive oil. 13 I put these men in charge of the storerooms: Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the teacher, and Pedaiah a Levite. I made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, their helper. Everyone knew they were honest. They gave out the portions that went to their relatives.
14 Remember me, my God, for this. Do not ignore my love for the Temple and its service.
15 In those days I saw people in Judah working in the winepresses on the Sabbath day. They were bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys. And they were bringing loads of wine, grapes, and figs into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them about selling food on that day. 16 People from the city of Tyre who were living in Jerusalem brought in fish and other things and sold them there on the Sabbath day to the people of Judah. 17 I argued with the important men of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing you are doing? You are ruining the Sabbath day. 18 This is just what your ancestors did. So our God did terrible things to us and this city. Now you are making him even more angry at Israel by ruining the Sabbath day.”
19 So I ordered that the doors be shut at sunset before the Sabbath and not be opened until the Sabbath was over. I put my servants at the gates so no load could come in on the Sabbath. 20 Once or twice traders and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. 21 So I warned them, “Why are you spending the night by the wall? If you do it again, I will force you away.” After that, they did not come back on the Sabbath. 22 Then I ordered the Levites to purify themselves and to guard the city gates to make sure the Sabbath remained holy.
Remember me, my God, for this. Have mercy on me because of your great love.
23 In those days I saw men of Judah who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half their children were speaking the language of Ashdod or some other place, and they couldn’t speak the language of Judah. 25 I argued with those people, put curses on them, hit some of them, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to make a promise to God, saying, “Do not let your daughters marry the sons of foreigners, and do not take the daughters of foreigners as wives for your sons or yourselves. 26 Foreign women made King Solomon of Israel sin. There was never a king like him in any of the nations. God loved Solomon and made him king over all Israel, but foreign women made him sin. 27 And now you are not obedient when you do this evil thing. You are unfaithful to our God when you marry foreign wives.”
28 Joiada was the son of Eliashib the high priest. One of Joiada’s sons married a daughter of Sanballat the Horonite, so I sent him away from me.
29 Remember them, my God, because they made the priesthood unclean and the agreement of the priests and Levites unclean.
30 So I purified them of everything that was foreign. I appointed duties for the priests and Levites, giving each man his own job. 31 I also made sure wood was brought for the altar at regular times and that the firstfruits were brought.
Remember me, my God; be kind to me.
23 Paul looked at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life without guilt feelings before God up to this day.” 2 Ananias,[a] the high priest, heard this and told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth. 3 Paul said to Ananias, “God will hit you, too! You are like a wall that has been painted white. You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses, but you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law.”
4 The men standing near Paul said to him, “You cannot insult God’s high priest like that!”
5 Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must not curse a leader of your people.’”[b]
6 Some of the men in the meeting were Sadducees, and others were Pharisees. Knowing this, Paul shouted to them, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, and my father was a Pharisee. I am on trial here because I believe that people will rise from the dead.”
7 When Paul said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the group was divided. 8 (The Sadducees do not believe in angels or spirits or that people will rise from the dead. But the Pharisees believe in them all.) 9 So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, stood up and argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe an angel or a spirit did speak to him.”
10 The argument was beginning to turn into such a fight that the commander was afraid some evil people would tear Paul to pieces. So he told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away and put him in the army building.
11 The next night the Lord came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome.”
12 In the morning some evil people made a plan to kill Paul, and they took an oath not to eat or drink anything until they had killed him. 13 There were more than forty men who made this plan. 14 They went to the leading priests and the elders and said, “We have taken an oath not to eat or drink until we have killed Paul. 15 So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the commander to bring Paul out to you as though you want to ask him more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”
16 But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan and went to the army building and told Paul. 17 Then Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has a message for him.”
18 So the officer brought Paul’s nephew to the commander and said, “The prisoner, Paul, asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to tell you something.”
19 The commander took the young man’s hand and led him to a place where they could be alone. He asked, “What do you want to tell me?”
20 The young man said, “The Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think they are going to ask him more questions. 21 But don’t believe them! More than forty men are hiding and waiting to kill Paul. They have all taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are waiting for you to agree.”
22 The commander sent the young man away, ordering him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have told me about their plan.”
Paul Is Sent to Caesarea
23 Then the commander called two officers and said, “I need some men to go to Caesarea. Get two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred men with spears ready to leave at nine o’clock tonight. 24 Get some horses for Paul to ride so he can be taken to Governor Felix safely.” 25 And he wrote a letter that said:
26 From Claudius Lysias.
To the Most Excellent Governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 Some of the Jews had taken this man and planned to kill him. But I learned that he is a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and saved him. 28 I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him before their council meeting. 29 I learned that these people said Paul did some things that were wrong by their own laws, but no charge was worthy of jail or death. 30 When I was told that some of them were planning to kill Paul, I sent him to you at once. I also told them to tell you what they have against him.
31 So the soldiers did what they were told and took Paul and brought him to the city of Antipatris that night. 32 The next day the horsemen went with Paul to Caesarea, but the other soldiers went back to the army building in Jerusalem. 33 When the horsemen came to Caesarea and gave the letter to the governor, they turned Paul over to him. 34 The governor read the letter and asked Paul, “What area are you from?” When he learned that Paul was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will hear your case when those who are against you come here, too.” Then the governor gave orders for Paul to be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.