M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Israel Provides Wives for the Surviving Men of Benjamin
21 The men of Israel had taken this oath in Mizpah: “None of us will ever let our daughters marry anyone from Benjamin.”
2 The people went to Bethel and sat there in the presence of Elohim until evening. They cried very loudly, 3 “Yahweh Elohim of Israel, why has this happened among us? Why should one tribe be missing today in Israel?”
4 The next day the people got up early. They built an altar there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. 5 The people asked, “Is there any family from Israel that did not take part in the assembly in the presence of Yahweh?” They had taken a solemn oath that whoever had not come into the presence of Yahweh at Mizpah must be put to death.
6 The people of Israel felt sorry for their close relatives, the men of Benjamin. They said, “Today one tribe has been excluded from Israel. 7 What will we do to provide wives for the men who are left? We swore to Yahweh that we would not let any of our daughters marry them.” 8 Then they asked, “Is there any family from Israel that did not come into the presence of Yahweh at Mizpah?” No one from Jabesh Gilead had come to the assembly in the camp. 9 So they questioned the people, and there was no one there from Jabesh Gilead.
10 The congregation sent 12,000 soldiers. They ordered them, “Go and kill the people of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and children. 11 These are your directions: Claim every female who has gone to bed with a man, and claim every male. Claim them for the Lord by destroying them.”
12 Among the people of Jabesh Gilead they found 400 unmarried women who had never gone to bed with a man. They brought them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
13 Then the whole congregation sent messengers to the men of Benjamin at Rimmon Rock and offered them peace. 14 So the men of Benjamin came back at that time. These men were given the women from Jabesh Gilead who had been kept alive. However, the congregation had not found enough women for all of them.
15 The congregation felt sorry for the people of Benjamin because Yahweh had broken the unity of the tribes of Israel. 16 The leaders of the congregation asked, “What should we do to provide wives for the men who are left, since the women in Benjamin have been killed?”
17 Some said, “Benjamin’s men who survived must be allowed to have families. No tribe of Israel should be wiped out. 18 However, we can’t give them any of our daughters as wives. The people of Israel have taken an oath that whoever gives wives to the men of Benjamin is under a curse.”
19 Others said, “Every year Yahweh’s festival is held at Shiloh. Shiloh is north of Bethel, east of the highway going from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” 20 So they told the men of Benjamin, “Hide in the vineyards and 21 watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, come out of the vineyards. Each of you catch a woman from Shiloh to be your wife. Then go back to the territory of Benjamin. 22 When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we’ll tell them, ‘Have pity on them, since we didn’t provide a wife for each man in the battle. You won’t be guilty because you didn’t give them the wives yourselves.’”
23 The men of Benjamin did just that. They captured the number of wives they needed from the women who were dancing and went home. So they rebuilt their cities and lived in them.
24 At that time the people of Israel left. Each man went to his tribe and family. They all went home.
25 In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.
Paul Makes an Appeal
25 Three days after Festus took over his duties in the province of Judea, he went from the city of Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2 The chief priests and the other important Jewish leaders informed Festus about their charges against Paul. They were urging 3 Festus to do them the favor of having Paul brought to Jerusalem. The Jews had a plan to ambush and kill Paul as he traveled to Jerusalem.
4 Festus replied that he would be returning to Caesarea soon and would keep Paul there. 5 He told them, “Have your authorities come to Caesarea with me and accuse him there if the man has done something wrong.”
6 Festus stayed in Jerusalem for eight or ten days at the most and then returned to Caesarea. The next day Festus took his place in court and summoned Paul.
7 When Paul entered the room, the Jews who had come from Jerusalem surrounded him. They made a lot of serious accusations that they couldn’t prove. 8 Paul defended himself by saying, “I haven’t broken any Jewish law or done anything against the temple or the emperor.”
9 But Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. So he asked Paul, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem to be tried there on these charges with me as your judge?”
10 Paul said, “I am standing in the emperor’s court where I must be tried. I haven’t done anything wrong to the Jews, as you know very well. 11 If I am guilty and have done something wrong for which I deserve the death penalty, I don’t reject the idea of dying. But if their accusations are untrue, no one can hand me over to them as a favor. I appeal my case to the emperor!”
12 Festus discussed the appeal with his advisers and then replied to Paul, “You have appealed your case to the emperor, so you’ll go to the emperor!”
King Agrippa Meets Paul
13 Later King Agrippa and Bernice came to the city of Caesarea to welcome Festus. 14 Since they were staying there for a number of days, Festus told the king about Paul’s case.
Festus said, “Felix left a man here in prison. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the Jewish leaders brought me some information about him and asked me to condemn him.
16 “I replied to them, ‘That’s not the Roman way of doing things. A person can’t be sentenced as a favor. Before he is sentenced, he must face his accusers and have a chance to defend himself against their accusation.’
17 “So the Jewish leaders came to Caesarea with me. The next day I immediately convened court and summoned the man. 18 When his accusers stood up, they didn’t accuse him of the crimes I was expecting. 19 They were disputing with him about their own religion and about some man named Yeshua who had died. But Paul claimed that Yeshua is alive. 20 Their debate about these things left me puzzled. So I asked Paul if he would like to go to Jerusalem to have his case heard there. 21 But Paul appealed his case. He asked to be held in prison and to have His Majesty the Emperor decide his case. So I ordered him to be held in prison until I could send him to the emperor.”
22 Agrippa told Festus, “I would like to hear the man.”
Festus replied, “You’ll hear him tomorrow.”
23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice entered the auditorium with a lot of fanfare. Roman army officers and the most important men of the city entered the auditorium with them. Festus gave the order, and Paul was brought into the auditorium.
24 Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and everyone who is present with us! All the Jews in Jerusalem and Caesarea have talked to me about this man you see in front of you. They shout that he must not be allowed to live any longer. 25 However, I don’t think that he has done anything to deserve the death penalty. But since he made an appeal to His Majesty the Emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome. 26 But I don’t have anything reliable to write our emperor about him. So I have brought him to all of you, and especially to you, King Agrippa. Then I’ll have something to write after he is cross-examined. 27 I find it ridiculous to send a prisoner to Rome when I can’t specify any charges against him.”
The Obedient Example of the Family of Rechab
35 Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah during the reign of Jehoiakim, son of King Josiah of Judah. He said, 2 “Go to the family of Rechab and talk to them. Take them into one of the side rooms in Yahweh’s temple, and offer them a drink of wine.”
3 I took Jaazaniah, who was the son of Jeremiah and the grandson of Habazziniah, and I took Jaazaniah’s brothers and all his sons—the whole family of Rechab. 4 I brought them into Yahweh’s temple, into the side room of the sons of Hanan. (He was Igdaliah’s son, the man of Elohim.) It was next to the room of the officials and above the side room of Maaseiah, Shallum’s son, the doorkeeper. 5 Then I set cups and pitchers filled with wine in front of the family of Rechab. I said to them, “Drink some wine.”
6 They answered, “We don’t drink wine, because our ancestor Jonadab, Rechab’s son, gave us this order: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. 7 Never build any houses or plant any fields or vineyards. You must never have any of these things. You must always live in tents so that you may live for a long time in the land where you are staying.’ 8 We, along with our wives, sons, and daughters, have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab, Rechab’s son, in everything he ordered us to do. We have never drunk wine, 9 built houses to live in, or owned vineyards, pastures, or grainfields. 10 We live in tents, and we have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab ordered us to do. 11 But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded this land, we said, ‘Let’s go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies.’ That’s why we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah. He said, 13 “This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: Tell the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem, ‘Won’t you ever learn your lesson and obey my words? declares Yahweh. 14 Jonadab, Rechab’s son, ordered his descendants not to drink wine. This order has been carried out. His descendants have not drunk any wine to this day, because they have obeyed their ancestor’s order. I have spoken to you again and again, but you have refused to listen to me. 15 I have sent all my servants the prophets to you again and again. They said, “Turn from your evil ways, do what is right, and don’t follow other gods in order to serve them. Then you will live in the land that I gave you and your ancestors.” However, you refused to listen to me or obey me. 16 The descendants of Jonadab, Rechab’s son, have carried out the orders of their ancestor, but you refuse to listen to me.
17 “‘This is what Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: I am going to bring on Judah and on all those who live in Jerusalem all the disasters that I threatened. I have spoken to them, but they didn’t listen. I called to them, but they didn’t answer.’”
18 Then Jeremiah said to the family of Rechab, “This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: You obeyed the order of your ancestor Jonadab, followed all his instructions, and did exactly what he told you to do. 19 So this is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: A descendant of Jonadab, Rechab’s son, will always serve me.”
Psalm 7
A shiggaion[a] by David; he sang it to Yahweh about the slanderous words of Cush, a descendant of Benjamin.
1 O Yahweh my Elohim, I have taken refuge in you.
Save me, and rescue me from all who are pursuing me.
2 Like a lion they will tear me to pieces
and drag me off with no one to rescue me.
3 O Yahweh my Elohim,
if I have done this—
if my hands are stained with injustice,
4 if I have paid back my friend with evil
or rescued someone who has no reason to attack me—[b]
5 then let the enemy chase me and catch me.
Let him trample my life into the ground.
Let him lay my honor in the dust. Selah
6 Arise in anger, O Yahweh.
Stand up against the fury of my attackers.
Wake up, my God.[c]
You have already pronounced judgment.
7 Let an assembly of people gather around you.
Take your seat high above them.
8 Yahweh judges the people of the world.
Judge me, O Yahweh,
according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity.
9 Let the evil within wicked people come to an end,
but make the righteous person secure,
O righteous Elohim who examines thoughts and emotions.
10 My Magen is Elohim above,
who saves those whose motives are decent.
11 Elohim is a fair Shophet,
an El who is angered by injustice every day.
12 If a person does not change, Elohim sharpens his sword.
By bending his bow, he makes it ready to shoot.
13 He prepares his deadly weapons
and turns them into flaming arrows.
14 See how that person conceives evil,
is pregnant with harm,
and gives birth to lies.
15 He digs a pit and shovels it out.
Then he falls into the hole that he made for others.
16 His mischief lands back on his own head.
His violence comes down on top of him.
17 I will give thanks to Yahweh for his righteousness.
I will make music to praise the name of Yahweh Elyon.
Psalm 8
For the choir director; on the gittith;[d] a psalm by David.
1 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
Your glory is sung above the heavens.[e]
2 From the mouths of little children and infants,
you have built a fortress against your opponents
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens,
the creation of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have set in place—
4 what is a mortal that you remember him
or the Son of Man that you take care of him?
5 You have made him a little lower than yourself.
You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have made him rule what your hands created.
You have put everything under his control:
7 all the sheep and cattle, the wild animals,
8 the birds, the fish,
whatever swims in the currents of the seas.
9 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.