M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said, “I am the Mighty God. Walk faithfully with me. Live in a way that pleases me. ² I will now act on my covenant between me and you. I will greatly increase the number of your children after you.”

³ Abram fell with his face to the ground. God said to him, ⁴ “This is my covenant with you. You will be the father of many nations. ⁵ You will not be called Abram anymore. Your name will be Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will greatly increase the number of your children after you. Nations and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will make my covenant with you last forever. It will be between me and you and your family after you for all time to come. I will be your God. And I will be the God of all your family after you. ⁸ You are now living in Canaan as an outsider. But I will give you the whole land of Canaan. You will own it forever and so will all your family after you. And I will be their God.”

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “You must keep my covenant. You and your family after you must keep it for all time to come. ¹⁰ Here is my covenant that you and your family after you must keep. You and every male among you must be circumcised. ¹¹ That will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² It must be done for all time to come. Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised. That includes those who are born into your own family or outside it. It also includes those bought with money from a stranger. ¹³ So any male born into your family or bought with your money must be circumcised. My covenant will last forever. Your body will have the mark of my covenant on it. ¹⁴ Any male who has not been circumcised will be separated from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵ God also said to Abraham, “Do not continue to call your wife by the name Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will give her my blessing. You can be sure that I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell with his face to the ground. He laughed and said to himself, “Can a 100-year-old man have a son? Can Sarah have a child at the age of 90?” ¹⁸ Abraham said to God, “I really wish Ishmael could receive your blessing!”

¹⁹ Then God said, “Yes, I will bless Ishmael. But your wife Sarah will have a son by you. And you will name him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him. That covenant will last forever. It will be for Isaac and his family after him. ²⁰ I have heard what you said about Ishmael. I will surely bless him. I will make his family very large. He will be the father of 12 rulers. And I will make him into a great nation. ²¹ But I will establish my covenant with Isaac. By this time next year, Sarah will have a son by you.” ²² When God had finished speaking with Abraham, God left him.

²³ On that same day Abraham circumcised his son Ishmael. He also circumcised every male who was born into his family or bought with his money. He did exactly as God had told him. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵ His son Ishmael was 13. ²⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. ²⁷ And every male in Abraham’s household was circumcised along with him. That included those born into his family or bought from a stranger.

Jesus Is Asked for a Sign

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus. They asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

² He replied, “In the evening you look at the sky. You say, ‘It will be good weather. The sky is red.’ ³ And in the morning you say, ‘Today it will be stormy. The sky is red and cloudy.’ You know the meaning of what you see in the sky. But you can’t understand the signs of what is happening right now. ⁴ An evil and unfaithful people look for a sign. But none will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.” Then Jesus left them and went away.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵ The disciples crossed over to the other side of the lake. They had forgotten to take bread. ⁶ “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

⁷ The disciples talked about this among themselves. They said, “He must be saying this because we didn’t bring any bread.”

⁸ Jesus knew what they were saying. So he said, “Your faith is so small! Why are you talking to each other about having no bread? ⁹ Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000? Don’t you remember how many baskets of pieces you gathered? ¹⁰ Don’t you remember the seven loaves for the 4,000? Don’t you remember how many baskets of pieces you gathered? ¹¹ How can you possibly not understand? I wasn’t talking to you about bread. But watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹² Then the disciples understood that Jesus was not telling them to watch out for the yeast used in bread. He was warning them against what the Pharisees and Sadducees taught.

Peter Says That Jesus Is the Messiah

¹³ Jesus went to the area of Caesarea Philippi. There he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Still others say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah. You are the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! No mere human showed this to you. My Father in heaven showed it to you. ¹⁸ Here is what I tell you. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you lock on earth will be locked in heaven. What you unlock on earth will be unlocked in heaven.” ²⁰ Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Jesus Speaks About His Coming Death

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples what would happen to him. He told them he must go to Jerusalem. There he must suffer many things from the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. He must be killed and on the third day rise to life again.

²² Peter took Jesus to one side and began to scold him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are standing in my way. You do not have in mind the things God cares about. Instead, you only have in mind the things humans care about.”

²⁴ Then Jesus spoke to his disciples. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must say no to themselves. They must pick up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul? Or what can anyone trade for their soul? ²⁷ The Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory. His angels will come with him. And he will reward everyone in keeping with what they have done.

²⁸ “What I’m about to tell you is true. Some who are standing here will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Nehemiah’s Enemies Continue to Oppose the Rebuilding

6 Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem, the Arab, heard about what I had done. So did the rest of our enemies. All of them heard I had rebuilt the wall. In fact, they heard there weren’t any gaps left in it. But up to that time I hadn’t put up the gates at the main entrances to the city. ² Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message. They said, “Come. Let’s talk with one another. Let’s meet in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.”

But they were planning to harm me. ³ So I sent messengers to them with my answer. I replied, “I’m working on a huge project. So I can’t get away. Why should the work stop while I leave it? Why should I go down and talk with you?” ⁴ They sent me the same message four times. And I gave them the same answer each time.

⁵ Sanballat sent his helper to me a fifth time. He brought the same message. He was carrying a letter that wasn’t sealed. ⁶ It said,

“A report is going around among the nations. Geshem says it’s true. We hear that you and the other Jews are planning to turn against the Persian rulers. And that’s why you are building the wall. It’s also reported that you are about to become their king. ⁷ People say that you have even appointed prophets to make an announcement about you. In Jerusalem they are going to say, ‘Judah has a king!’ That report will get back to the king of Persia. So come. Let’s meet together.”

⁸ I sent a reply to Sanballat. I said, “What you are saying isn’t really happening. You are just making it up.”

⁹ All of them were trying to frighten us. They thought, “Their hands will get too weak to do the work. So it won’t be completed.”

But I prayed to God. I said, “Make my hands stronger.”

¹⁰ One day I went to Shemaiah’s house. He was the son of Delaiah. Delaiah was the son of Mehetabel. Shemaiah had shut himself up in his home. He said, “Let’s go to God’s house. Let’s meet inside the temple and close the doors. Some men are coming at night to kill you.”

¹¹ But I said, “Should a man like me run away? Should someone like me go into the temple just to save his life? No! I won’t go!” ¹² I realized that God hadn’t sent Shemaiah. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. That’s why he had prophesied lies about me. ¹³ They had hired him to scare me. They wanted me to commit a sin by doing what he said. That would give me a bad name in the community. People would find fault with me and my work.

¹⁴ You are my God. Remember what Tobiah and Sanballat have done. Also remember the prophet Noadiah. She and the rest of the prophets have been trying to scare me. ¹⁵ So the city wall was completed on the 25th day of the month of Elul. It was finished in 52 days.

Nehemiah’s Enemies Oppose the Completed Wall

¹⁶ All our enemies heard about it. All the nations around us became afraid. They weren’t sure of themselves anymore. They realized that our God had helped us finish the work.

¹⁷ In those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah. And replies from Tobiah came back to them. ¹⁸ Many people in Judah had promised that they would be faithful to him. That’s because he was Shekaniah’s son-in-law. Shekaniah was the son of Arah. Tobiah’s son Jehohanan had married Meshullam’s daughter. Meshullam was the son of Berekiah. ¹⁹ Tobiah’s friends kept reporting to me the good things he did. They also kept telling him what I said. And Tobiah himself sent letters to scare me.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul came to Derbe. Then he went on to Lystra. A believer named Timothy lived there. His mother was Jewish and a believer. His father was a Greek. ² The believers at Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy. ³ Paul wanted to take him along on the journey. So he circumcised Timothy because of the Jews who lived in that area. They all knew that Timothy’s father was a Greek. ⁴ Paul and his companions traveled from town to town. They reported what the apostles and elders in Jerusalem had decided. The people were supposed to obey what was in the report. ⁵ So the churches were made strong in the faith. The number of believers grew every day.

Paul’s Vision of the Man From Macedonia

⁶ Paul and his companions traveled all through the area of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit had kept them from preaching the word in Asia Minor. ⁷ They came to the border of Mysia. From there they tried to enter Bithynia. But the Spirit of Jesus would not let them. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia. Then they went down to Troas. ⁹ During the night Paul had a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia standing and begging him. “Come over to Macedonia!” the man said. “Help us!” ¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia. We decided that God had called us to preach the good news there.

Lydia Becomes a Believer in Philippi

¹¹ At Troas we got into a boat. We sailed straight for Samothrace. The next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony. It is an important city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate. We walked down to the river. There we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered together. ¹⁴ One of the women listening was from the city of Thyatira. Her name was Lydia, and her business was selling purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to accept Paul’s message. ¹⁵ She and her family were baptized. Then she invited us to her home. “Do you consider me a believer in the Lord?” she asked. “If you do, come and stay at my house.” She succeeded in getting us to go home with her.

Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison

¹⁶ One day we were going to the place of prayer. On the way we were met by a female slave. She had a spirit that helped her tell people what was going to happen. She earned a lot of money for her owners by doing this. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and the rest of us around. She shouted, “These men serve the Most High God. They are telling you how to be saved.” ¹⁸ She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became upset. Turning around, he spoke to the spirit that was in her. “In the name of Jesus Christ,” he said, “I command you to come out of her!” At that very moment the spirit left the woman.

¹⁹ Her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone. So they grabbed Paul and Silas. They dragged them into the market place to face the authorities. ²⁰ They brought them to the judges. “These men are Jews,” her owners said. “They are making trouble in our city. ²¹ They are suggesting practices that are against Roman law. These are practices we can’t accept or take part in.”

²² The crowd joined the attack against Paul and Silas. The judges ordered that Paul and Silas be stripped and beaten with rods. ²³ They were whipped without mercy. Then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴ When he received these orders, he put Paul and Silas deep inside the prison. He fastened their feet so they couldn’t get away.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying. They were also singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was a powerful earthquake. It shook the prison from top to bottom. All at once the prison doors flew open. Everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ The jailer woke up. He saw that the prison doors were open. He pulled out his sword and was going to kill himself. He thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ “Don’t harm yourself!” Paul shouted. “We are all here!”

²⁹ The jailer called out for some lights. He rushed in, shaking with fear. He fell down in front of Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them out. He asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus. Then you and everyone living in your house will be saved.” ³² They spoke the word of the Lord to him. They also spoke to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night, the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Right away he and everyone who lived with him were baptized. ³⁴ The jailer brought them into his house. He set a meal in front of them. He and everyone who lived with him were filled with joy. They had become believers in God.

³⁵ Early in the morning the judges sent their officers to the jailer. They ordered him, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ The jailer told Paul, “The judges have ordered me to set you and Silas free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”

³⁷ But Paul replied to the officers. “They beat us in public,” he said. “We weren’t given a trial. And we are Roman citizens! They threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and personally lead us out.”

³⁸ The officers reported this to the judges. When the judges heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they became afraid. ³⁹ So they came and said they were sorry. They led them out of the prison. Then they asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house. There they met with the brothers and sisters. They told them to be brave. Then they left.