M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

18 ¶ In those days there was no king in Israel, and in those days the tribe of the Dan sought a possession for themselves to dwell in, for unto that day their lot had not fallen unto them among the tribes of Israel for an inheritance.

² And the sons of Dan sent five men from their family of their borders, men of valour, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it, and they said unto them, Go, search the land. These came unto Mount Ephraim to the house of Micah, and they lodged there.

³ When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the accent of the voice of the young man the Levite, and they turned in there and said unto him, Who brought thee here? And what doest thou in this place? And what hast thou here?

⁴ And he said unto them, Thus and thus Micah has done with me and has hired me that I may be his priest.

⁵ And they said unto him, Ask counsel now, therefore, of God, that we may know whether he shall prosper our journey which we do.

⁶ And the priest replied unto them, Go in peace. Your journey which ye do is before the LORD.

⁷ ¶ Then the five men departed and came to Laish and saw that the people that dwelt there were secure, idle, and confident after the manner of the Zidonians; and there was no one in that land that might hinder them in any way from possessing that land; furthermore they were far from the Zidonians and had no business with anyone.

⁸ And they returned unto their brethren in Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brethren said unto them, What say ye?

⁹ And they said, Arise, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good; and are ye to remain still? Do not be slothful to go and to enter to possess the land.

¹⁰ When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure and to a large land, for God has given it into your hands, a place where there is no want of any thing that is in the earth.

¹¹ And there went from there of the family of Dan, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war.

¹² And they went up and pitched camp in Kirjathjearim in Judah; therefore, they called that place the camp of Dan unto this day; it is behind Kirjathjearim.

¹³ And they passed from there unto Mount Ephraim and came unto the house of Micah.

¹⁴ ¶ Then the five men that had gone to spy out the land of Laish said unto their brethren, Do ye know that there is in these houses an ephod and teraphim and a graven image and a molten image? Now, therefore, consider what ye have to do.

¹⁵ And they turned in there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, even unto the house of Micah, and greeted him. {Heb. asked him of peace}

¹⁶ And the six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the sons of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate.

¹⁷ And the five men that went to spy out the land went up and went in there and took the graven image and the ephod, and the teraphim and the molten image while the priest stood in the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men that were armed with weapons of war.

¹⁸ So they entered into Micah’s house and took the graven image the ephod and the teraphim and the molten image. Then the priest said unto them, What are you doing?

¹⁹ And they said unto him, Silence, lay thy hand upon thy mouth and go with us to be our father and priest; is it better for thee to be a priest unto the house of one man or that thou be a priest unto a tribe and a family of Israel?

²⁰ And the priest’s heart was glad, and he took the ephod and the teraphim and the graven image and went in the midst of the people.

²¹ So they turned and departed and put the little ones and the cattle and the baggage before them.

²² And when they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men that were in the houses near to Micah’s house were gathered together and overtook the sons of Dan.

²³ And they cried unto the sons of Dan. And these turned their faces and said unto Micah, What ails thee that thou dost come with such a company?

²⁴ And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made and the priest, and ye are gone away; and what is left to me? And why do ye say unto me, What ails thee?

²⁵ And the sons of Dan said unto him, Let not thy voice be heard among us lest peradventure angry fellows run upon thee and thou lose thy life with the lives of thy household.

²⁶ And the sons of Dan went their way, and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back unto his house.

²⁷ ¶ And they took the things which Micah had made together with the priest which he had and came unto Laish unto a people that were at quiet and secure, and they smote them with the edge of the sword and burnt the city with fire.

²⁸ And there was no deliverer because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with anyone; and it was in the valley that lies by Bethrehob. Then they rebuilt the city and dwelt therein.

²⁹ And they called the name of the city Dan after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel; however, the name of the city was Laish at the first.

³⁰ And the sons of Dan set up the graven image; and Jonathan, the son of Gershon, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.

³¹ And they set up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

22 ¶ Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.

² (And when they heard that he spoke in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence, and he said,)

³ ¶ I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

⁴ And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

⁵ As also the prince of the priests bears me witness, and all the estate of the elders, from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring those who were bound there unto Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ And it came to pass that, as I made my journey and was come near unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

⁷ And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?

⁸ And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I Am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou dost persecute.

⁹ And those that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him that spoke to me.

¹⁰ And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

¹¹ And when I could not see for the clarity of that light, being led by the hand of those that were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹² And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good witness of all the Jews who dwelt there,

¹³ came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

¹⁴ And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou should know his will and see that Just One and should hear the voice of his mouth.

¹⁵ For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

¹⁶ And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

¹⁷ And it came to pass that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a rapture of understanding

¹⁸ and saw him saying unto me, Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

¹⁹ And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and in every synagogue beat those that believed on thee;

²⁰ and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of those that slew him.

²¹ And he said unto me, Depart, for I will send thee far from here unto the Gentiles.

²² ¶ And they gave him audience unto this word and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live.

²³ And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air,

²⁴ the tribunal commanded him to be brought into the fortress and bade that he should be examined by scourging that he might know why they cried out so against him.

²⁵ And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?

²⁶ When the centurion heard that, he went and told the tribunal, saying, Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman.

²⁷ Then the tribunal came and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yes.

²⁸ And the tribunal answered, With a great sum I obtained this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.

²⁹ Then straightway those who should have tormented him departed from him, and the tribunal was also afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman and because he had bound him.

³⁰ On the next day, because he wanted to know of certainty the cause for which he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands and commanded the princes of the priests and all their council to appear and brought Paul down and set him before them.

32 ¶ The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar;

² for then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah’s house.

³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Why dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus hath the LORD said, Behold, I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it?

⁴ And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;

⁵ and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, said the LORD; if ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper?

⁶ And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

⁷ Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle comes unto thee, saying, Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.

⁸ So Hanameel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the LORD and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.

⁹ And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰ And I subscribed the evidence and sealed it and took witnesses and weighed him the money in the balances.

¹¹ So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open.

¹² And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel my uncle’s son and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase before all the Jews that were in the court of the guard.

¹³ And I charged Baruch before them, saying,

¹⁴ Thus hath the LORD of the hosts, the God of Israel, said: Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both that which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel that they may continue many days.

¹⁵ For thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: Houses and fields and vineyards shall be bought and sold again in this land.

¹⁶ ¶ Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,

¹⁷ Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing hidden from thee;

¹⁸ that thou dost show mercy in thousands and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them, the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of the hosts, is his name,

¹⁹ great in counsel and magnificent in works: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men to give unto each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings;

²⁰ who hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and in the man, and hast made thee a name, as at this day;

²¹ and hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with a stretched out arm and with great terror;

²² and hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

²³ and they came in and possessed it; but they did not hear thy voice, neither did they walk in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou didst command them to do, therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them.

²⁴ Behold the siege engines are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans that fight against it because of the sword and of the famine and of the pestilence, and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou dost see it.

²⁵ And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy the field for money and take witnesses; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

²⁶ ¶ Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

²⁷ Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: peradventure shall any thing be covered unto me?

²⁸ Therefore thus hath the LORD said; Behold, I give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

²⁹ and the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.

³⁰ For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have done only evil before me from their youth: for the sons of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, said the LORD.

³¹ For this city has been unto me as a provocation of my anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face

³² because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and of the sons of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

³³ And they have turned unto me the back and not the face: when I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they did not hearken to receive chastisement;

³⁴ but they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.

³⁵ And they built altars unto Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I did not command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

³⁶ And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto this city, of which ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine and by the pestilence;

³⁷ behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in my anger, in my fury and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:

³⁸ and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

³⁹ and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever for the good of them and of their sons after them:

⁴⁰ and I will make an eternal covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good, and I will put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me.

⁴¹ And, I will rejoice with them doing them good, and I will plant them in this land with truth, with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

⁴² For thus hath the LORD said; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I speak regarding them.

⁴³ And they shall possess inheritance in this land, of which ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.

⁴⁴ Men shall buy fields for money and subscribe evidences and seal them and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin and in the places about Jerusalem and in the cities of Judah and in the cities of the mountains and in the cities of the valley and in the cities of the south; for I will cause their captivity to turn, saith the LORD.

¹ ¶ Blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful.

² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law he meditates day and night.

³ And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

⁴ ¶ The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

¹ ¶ Why do the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine a vain thing?

² The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,

³ let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.

⁴ He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

⁵ Then he shall speak unto them in his wrath and trouble them in his sore displeasure.

⁶ Yet I have set my king upon Zion, the mountain of my holiness.

⁷ ¶ I will declare the decree; the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day I have begotten thee.

⁸ Ask of me, and I shall give thee the Gentiles for thine inheritance and unto the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

⁹ Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

¹⁰ ¶ Understand now therefore, O ye kings: receive chastening, ye judges of the earth.

¹¹ Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

¹² Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled in a little while. Blessed are all those that put their trust in him.