M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

3 These are the nations the Lord did not force to leave. He wanted to test the Israelites who had not fought in the wars to take Canaan. ² The only reason the Lord left those nations in the land was to teach the descendants of the Israelites. He wanted to teach the people who had not fought in those wars how to fight. ³ These are the nations: the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the people of Sidon and the Hivites. The Hivites lived in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. ⁴ Those nations were in the land to test the Israelites. The Lord wanted to see if Israel would obey the commands he had given to their ancestors by Moses.

⁵ The people of Israel lived with the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁶ The Israelites began to marry the daughters of those people. And the Israelites allowed their daughters to marry the sons of those people. Israel served the gods of those people.

Othniel, the First Judge

⁷ The people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. They forgot about the Lord their God. Instead, they served the idols of Baal and Asherah. ⁸ The Lord was angry with Israel. He allowed Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia to rule over the Israelites. They were under that king’s rule for eight years. ⁹ Then Israel cried to the Lord. So the Lord sent a man to save them. He was Othniel son of Kenaz. (Kenaz was Caleb’s younger brother.) Othniel saved the Israelites. ¹⁰ The Spirit of the Lord entered Othniel. And he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord helped him to defeat Cushan-Rishathaim king of Northwest Mesopotamia. ¹¹ So the land was at peace for 40 years. Then Othniel son of Kenaz died.

Ehud, the Judge

¹² Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power to defeat Israel. This was because of the evil Israel did. ¹³ Eglon got the Ammonite people and the Amalekite people to join him. Then he attacked Israel and took Jericho, the city of palm trees. ¹⁴ The people of Israel were under the rule of Eglon king of Moab for 18 years.

¹⁵ So the people cried to the Lord. And he sent a man to save them. That man was Ehud, who was left-handed. Ehud was the son of Gera from the people of Benjamin. Israel sent Ehud to give Eglon king of Moab the payment he demanded. ¹⁶ Ehud made a sword for himself. The sword had two edges and was about 18 inches long. He tied the sword to his right upper leg under his clothes. ¹⁷ So Ehud came to Eglon king of Moab and gave him the payment he demanded. Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ After he had given Eglon the payment, Ehud sent home the men who had carried it. ¹⁹ When he passed the statues near the city Gilgal, he turned around. Ehud said to Eglon, “I have a secret message for you, King Eglon.”

The king said, “Be quiet!” Then he sent all of his servants out of the room. ²⁰ Ehud went to King Eglon. Eglon was now sitting alone in the room on top of his summer palace.

Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king stood up from his chair, ²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand. He took out the sword that was tied to his right upper leg. Then he stabbed the sword deep into the king’s belly! ²² The sword went into Eglon’s belly so far that even the handle sank in. And the blade came out his back. The king’s fat covered the whole sword. So Ehud left the sword in Eglon. ²³ He went out of the room and closed and locked the doors behind him.

²⁴ The servants returned just after Ehud left. They found the doors to the room locked. So they thought the king was relieving himself. ²⁵ They waited for a long time. Finally they became worried because he still had not opened the doors. So they got the key and unlocked them. When they entered, they saw their king lying dead on the floor!

²⁶ While the servants were waiting, Ehud had escaped. He passed by the statues and went to Seirah. ²⁷ When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the mountains of Ephraim. The people of Israel heard it and went down from the hills with Ehud leading them.

²⁸ He said to them, “Follow me! The Lord has helped us to defeat our enemies, the people of Moab.” So Israel followed Ehud. They took control of the places where the Jordan River could easily be crossed. Israel did not allow the Moabites to come across the Jordan River. ²⁹ Israel killed about 10,000 strong and able men from Moab. Not one Moabite man escaped. ³⁰ So that day Moab was forced to be under the rule of Israel. And there was peace in the land for 80 years.

Shamgar, the Judge

³¹ After Ehud, another man saved Israel. His name was Shamgar son of Anath. Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with a sharp stick used to guide oxen.

Stephen’s Speech

7 The high priest said to Stephen, “Are these things true?”

² Stephen answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to Abraham, our ancestor. Abraham was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran. ³ God said to Abraham, ‘Leave your country and your relatives. Go to the land I will show you.’^{[a] 4} So Abraham left the country of Chaldea and went to live in Haran. After Abraham’s father died, God sent him to this place where you now live. ⁵ God did not give Abraham any of this land, not even a foot of it. But God promised that he would give him and his descendants this land. (This was before Abraham had any descendants.) ⁶ This is what God said to him: ‘Your descendants will be strangers in a land they don’t own. The people there will make them slaves. And they will do cruel things to them for 400 years. ⁷ But I will punish the nation where they are slaves. Then your descendants will leave that land. Then they will worship me in this place.’^{[b] 8} God made an agreement with Abraham; the sign for this agreement was circumcision. And so when Abraham had his son Isaac, Abraham circumcised him when he was eight days old. Isaac also circumcised his son Jacob. And Jacob did the same for his sons, the 12 ancestors^[c] of our people.

⁹ “These sons became jealous of Joseph. They sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him. ¹⁰ Joseph had many troubles there, but God saved him from all those troubles. The king of Egypt liked Joseph and respected him because of the wisdom that God gave him. The king made him governor of Egypt. He put Joseph in charge of all the people in his palace.

¹¹ “Then all the land of Egypt and of Canaan became so dry that nothing would grow there. This made the people suffer very much. The sons could not find anything to eat. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent his sons, our ancestors, there. This was their first trip to Egypt. ¹³ Then they went there a second time. This time, Joseph told his brothers who he was. And the king learned about Joseph’s family. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent some men to invite Jacob, his father, to come to Egypt. He also invited all his relatives (75 persons altogether). ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and his sons died. ¹⁶ Later their bodies were moved to Shechem and put in a grave there. (It was the same grave that Abraham had bought in Shechem from the sons of Hamor for a sum of money.)

¹⁷ “The number of people in Egypt grew large. There were more and more of our people there. (The promise that God made to Abraham was soon to come true.) ¹⁸ Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know who Joseph was. ¹⁹ This king tricked our people and was cruel to our ancestors. He forced them to put their babies outside to die. ²⁰ This was the time when Moses was born. He was a fine child. For three months Moses was cared for in his father’s house. ²¹ When they put Moses outside, the king’s daughter took him. She raised him as if he were her own son. ²² The Egyptians taught Moses all the things they knew. He was a powerful man in the things he said and did.

²³ “When Moses was about 40 years old, he thought it would be good to visit his brothers, the people of Israel. ²⁴ Moses saw an Egyptian doing wrong to a Jew. So he defended the Jew and punished the Egyptian for hurting him. Moses killed the Egyptian. ²⁵ Moses thought that his fellow Jews would understand that God was using him to save them. But they did not understand. ²⁶ The next day, Moses saw two Jewish men fighting. He tried to make peace between them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers! Why are you hurting each other?’ ²⁷ The man who was hurting the other man pushed Moses away. He said, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? ²⁸ Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’^{[d] 29} When Moses heard him say this, he left Egypt. He went to live in the land of Midian where he was a stranger. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons.

³⁰ “After 40 years Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai. An angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush. ³¹ When Moses saw this, he was amazed. He went near to look closer at it. Moses heard the Lord’s voice. ³² The Lord said, ‘I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’^[e] Moses began to shake with fear and was afraid to look. ³³ The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. ³⁴ I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. I have heard their cries. I have come down to save them. And now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt.’^[f]

³⁵ “This Moses was the same man the Jews said they did not want. They had said to him, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’^[g] Moses is the same man God sent to be a ruler and savior, with the help of an angel. This was the angel Moses saw in the burning bush. ³⁶ So Moses led the people out of Egypt. He worked miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for 40 years. ³⁷ This is the same Moses that said to the Jewish people: ‘God will give you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people.’^{[h] 38} This is the same Moses who was with the gathering of the Jews in the desert. He was with the angel that spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our ancestors. He received commands from God that give life, and he gave those commands to us.

³⁹ “But our fathers did not want to obey Moses. They rejected him. They wanted to go back to Egypt again. ⁴⁰ They said to Aaron, ‘Moses led us out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So make us gods who will lead us.’^{[i] 41} So the people made an idol that looked like a calf. Then they brought sacrifices to it. The people were proud of what they had made with their own hands! ⁴² But God turned against them. He did not try to stop them from worshiping the sun, moon and stars. This is what is written in the book of the prophets: God says,

⁴⁴ “The Holy Tent where God spoke to our fathers was with the Jews in the desert. God told Moses how to make this Tent. He made it like the plan God showed him. ⁴⁵ Later, Joshua led our fathers to capture the lands of the other nations. Our people went in, and God drove the other people out. When our people went into this new land, they took with them this same Tent. They received this Tent from their fathers and kept it until the time of David. ⁴⁶ God was very pleased with David. He asked God to let him build a house for him, the God of Jacob.^{[j] 47} But Solomon was the one who built the Temple.

⁴⁸ “But the Most High does not live in houses that men build with their hands. This is what the prophet says:

⁵¹ Stephen continued speaking: “You stubborn Jewish leaders! You have not given your hearts to God! You won’t listen to him! You are always against what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you. Your ancestors were like this, and you are just like them! ⁵² Your fathers tried to hurt every prophet who ever lived. Those prophets said long ago that the Righteous One would come. But your fathers killed them. And now you have turned against the Righteous One and killed him. ⁵³ You received the law of Moses, which God gave you through his angels. But you don’t obey it!”

Stephen Is Killed

⁵⁴ When the leaders heard Stephen saying all these things, they became very angry. They were so mad that they were grinding their teeth at Stephen. ⁵⁵ But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God. He saw Jesus standing at God’s right side. ⁵⁶ He said, “Look! I see heaven open. And I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right side!”

⁵⁷ Then they all shouted loudly. They covered their ears with their hands and all ran at Stephen. ⁵⁸ They took him out of the city and threw stones at him until he was dead. The men who told lies against Stephen left their coats with a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ While they were throwing stones, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰ He fell on his knees and cried in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” After Stephen said this, he died.

The Day of Disaster

16 Then the Lord spoke his word to me: ² “You must not get married. You must not have sons or daughters in this place.”

³ The Lord says this about the sons and daughters born in this land. And he says this about the mothers and fathers of those children: ⁴ “They will die of terrible diseases. No one will cry for them. No one will bury them. Their bodies will lie on the ground like dung. They will die in war, or they will starve to death. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky. And they will be food for the wild animals.”

⁵ So this is what the Lord says: “Jeremiah, do not go into a house where there is a funeral meal. Do not go there to cry for the dead or to show your sorrow. Do not do this because I have taken back my blessing, my love and my pity from these people,” says the Lord. ⁶ “Important people and common people will die in the land of Judah. No one will bury them or cry for them. No one will cut himself for them. And no one will shave his head to show sorrow for them. ⁷ No one will bring food to the people who are crying for the dead. No one will comfort one whose mother or father has died. No one will offer a drink to comfort them.

⁸ “Do not go into a house where the people are having a feast. Do not go there and sit down to eat and drink. ⁹ This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: I will soon stop the sounds of joy and gladness in this place! I will stop the happy sounds of brides and bridegrooms! This will happen during your lifetime.

¹⁰ “You will tell the people of Judah these things. And they will ask you, ‘Why has the Lord said these terrible things to us? What have we done wrong? What sin have we done against the Lord our God?’

¹¹ “Then say to them: ‘This is because your ancestors quit following me,’ says the Lord. ‘And they began to follow other gods. They served and worshiped other gods. Your ancestors left me. And they quit obeying my teaching. ¹² But you have done even more evil than your ancestors. You are very stubborn. You do only what you want to do. You have not obeyed me. ¹³ So I will throw you out of this country. You will go to a land that you and your ancestors never knew. There you can serve false gods day and night. I will not help you or show you any favors.’

¹⁴ “People say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the people of Israel out of Egypt . . .’ But the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not say this anymore. ¹⁵ They will say instead, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites from the northern land and from all the countries where he had sent them . . .’ And I will bring them back to the land I gave to their ancestors.

¹⁶ “I will soon send for many fishermen to come to this land,” says the Lord. “The fishermen will catch the people of Judah. After that, I will send for many hunters to come to this land. Those hunters will hunt the people of Judah on every mountain and hill. And they will hunt Judah in the cracks of the rocks. ¹⁷ I see everything they do. They cannot hide the things they do from me. Their sin is not hidden from my eyes! ¹⁸ I will pay back the people of Judah for the evil they have done. I will punish them two times for every one of their sins. I will do this because they have made my land unclean. They have done it with their hated idols. They have filled my country with them!”

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

2 A few days later, Jesus came back to Capernaum. The news spread that he was home. ² So many people gathered to hear him preach that the house was full. There was no place to stand, not even outside the door. Jesus was teaching them. ³ Some people came, bringing a paralyzed man to Jesus. Four of them were carrying the paralyzed man. ⁴ But they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd. So they went to the roof above Jesus and made a hole in the roof. Then they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. ⁵ Jesus saw that these men had great faith. So he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”

⁶ Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there. They saw what Jesus did, and they said to themselves, ⁷ “Why does this man say things like that? He is saying things that are against God. Only God can forgive sins.”

⁸ At once Jesus knew what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? ⁹ Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up. Take your mat and walk’? ¹⁰ But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “I tell you, stand up. Take your mat and go home.” ¹² Immediately the paralyzed man stood up. He took his mat and walked out while everyone was watching him.

The people were amazed and praised God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”

¹³ Jesus went to the lake again. A crowd followed him there, and he taught them. ¹⁴ While he was walking beside the lake, he saw a tax collector named Levi son of Alphaeus. Levi was sitting in the tax office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And Levi stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁵ Later that day, Jesus ate at Levi’s house. There were many tax collectors and “sinners” eating there with Jesus and his followers. Many people like this followed Jesus. ¹⁶ The teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with the tax collectors and “sinners.” They asked his followers, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹⁷ Jesus heard this and said to them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. It is the sick who need a doctor. I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners.”

Jesus’ Followers Are Criticized

¹⁸ One day the followers of John^[a] and the Pharisees were giving up eating.^[b] Some people came to Jesus and said, “John’s followers and the followers of the Pharisees give up eating. But your followers don’t. Why?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered, “When there is a wedding, the friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. They do not give up eating while the bridegroom is still there. ²⁰ But the time will come when the bridegroom will leave them. Then the friends will be sad and will give up eating.

²¹ “When a person sews a patch over a hole on an old coat, he never uses a piece of cloth that is not yet shrunk. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. ²² Also, no one ever pours new wine into old leather bags for holding wine. If he does, the new wine will break the bags, and the wine will be ruined along with the bags for the wine. People always put new wine into new leather bags.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

²³ On the Sabbath day, Jesus was walking through some grainfields. His followers were with him and picked some grain to eat. ²⁴ The Pharisees saw this and said to Jesus, “Why are your followers doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

²⁵ Jesus answered, “You have read what David did when he and those with him were hungry and needed food. ²⁶ It was during the time of Abiathar the high priest. David went into God’s house and ate the bread that was made holy for God. The law of Moses says that only priests may eat that bread. But David also gave some of the bread to those who were with him.”

²⁷ Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, “The Sabbath day was made to help people. They were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath day. ²⁸ The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”