M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
A Levite and his slave wife
19 At that time, Israel had no king to rule over them. There was a Levite who was living in the hill country of Ephraim, far away from any towns. He took a woman from Bethlehem in Judah to be his slave wife. 2 But she became angry with him. She left him and she returned to her father's house in Bethlehem. After she had been there four months, 3 her husband went to find her. He wanted to ask her to return home with him. He took his servant and two donkeys with him. When he arrived, she took him into her father's house. Her father was happy to see him. 4 He asked the Levite to stay there with them, and he stayed for three days. They ate food and they drank wine together. The Levite slept there.
5 On the fourth day they got up early. The Levite was ready to leave with his wife. But the woman's father said to the Levite, ‘Eat some food so that you are strong for your journey. Then you may go.’ 6 So the two men sat down and they ate a meal together. Then the woman's father said to the Levite, ‘Stay here one more night. Then we can continue to be happy together.’ 7 The Levite got up to go, but his wife's father made him stay. 8 The Levite got up early in the morning of the fifth day. He was ready to leave. But the woman's father said, ‘Make yourself strong with some food. Wait until this afternoon and then you can go.’ So the two of them ate a meal together.
9 The Levite prepared to leave with his wife and his male servant. Then her father said, ‘Look! It is nearly evening already. Sleep here tonight. The day is almost over. Stay one more night and enjoy yourself. Early tomorrow morning you can leave on your journey to go home.’ 10 But the Levite did not want to stay there for another night. So he left with his two donkeys and his wife. They travelled as far as Jebus, which is now called Jerusalem.
11 When they arrived near to Jebus, it was getting dark. The servant said to his master, ‘Let us stay in this city of the Jebusites. We can sleep here for the night.’
12 The Levite replied, ‘No, we should not stay in a foreign city. The people who live here are not Israelites. We will go on to Gibeah.’ 13 He said to his servant, ‘Let us try to reach Gibeah or Ramah. Then we can stay in one of those places for the night.’
14 So they continued on their journey. It was sunset when they came near to Gibeah, in Benjamin's land. 15 They decided to stay there for the night. They went into the city. They sat down in the public place in the middle of the city. But no one took them in to their home to sleep for the night.
16 That evening, there was an old man who was returning home from his work in the fields. He was from the hill country of Ephraim but he was living in Gibeah at that time. 17 He saw the Levite traveller in the public place. He asked, ‘Where are you travelling to? Where have you come from?’
18 The Levite answered, ‘We are travelling from Bethlehem in Judah to the hill country of Ephraim, far from other towns. That is where I live. I needed to go to Bethlehem and now I am returning home.[a] But no one has taken me into his house to sleep. 19 We have straw and food for our donkeys. We have food and wine for myself, my wife and my servant. We have everything that we need.’ 20 The old man said, ‘Do not worry. I will take care of you. Please come into my house, but do not stay for the night in this public place.’
21 So the old man took the Levite into his house, and he fed the donkeys. When they had washed their feet, they ate a meal.
22 They were enjoying their time together. Suddenly, some wicked men who lived in the city came to the house. They stood all around it and they hit the door hard. They shouted to the old man who lived there, ‘Bring out the man who came to visit you. We want to have sex with him.’
23 The old man went outside to them. He said to them, ‘Friends, do not try to do this very evil thing! This man is a visitor in my house. Do not do such a wicked thing. 24 Look! Here is my daughter. She has never had sex with anyone before. Here is my visitor's slave wife too. I will bring them outside to you. Then you can do whatever cruel things you want to do to them. But do not do such a terrible thing to this man.’
25 But the men would not agree to this. So the Levite took hold of his slave wife and he pushed her outside. They made her have sex with them all night and they were very cruel to her. At dawn, they let her go. 26 She went back to the house where her master was staying. She fell down at the door and she lay there until it became light.
27 When her master got up in the morning, he opened the door. He was ready to continue his journey. He saw the woman who was his wife lying on the ground outside the door. She was trying to reach the door with her hands.
28 He said to her, ‘Get up. It is time to go!’ But she did not answer. Then he put her on his donkey and he started on his way home.
29 When he arrived home, he picked up a knife. He cut his slave wife's body into 12 pieces. Then he sent them to each of Israel's 12 tribes. 30 Everyone who saw what he had done said, ‘In all the time since the Israelites left Egypt, nothing as bad as this has ever happened before. We have never seen anything like it. Think carefully about it. We must decide what to do!’
Paul speaks to the meeting of Jewish leaders
23 Paul looked at the group of Jewish leaders and he said to them, ‘My Jewish friends, God knows that I have nothing to be ashamed about today. I have always respected God's Laws.’ 2 The most important priest, who was called Ananias, heard Paul's words. He said to the men who were near Paul, ‘Hit that man on his mouth!’ 3 Paul said to him, ‘God will certainly hit you! You are a hypocrite![a] You are sitting there and you are judging me. You are asking if I obey the Law of God. But you yourself do not obey the Law! You should not have said, “Hit that man!” ’
4 The men who were standing near Paul said to him, ‘You must not say bad things against our most important priest!’
5 Paul replied, ‘My brothers, I did not know that this man is the most important priest.[b] Our Jewish law says, “Do not say bad things against the man who rules your people.” So I should not have said anything bad against him.’
6 Then Paul saw that there were some Sadducees and also some Pharisees in the meeting. So he shouted out to the whole group of Jewish leaders, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee! My father was also a Pharisee. I believe that dead people will certainly rise and they will live again. That is the reason why you are judging me today.’
7 As soon as Paul said that, the Pharisees and Sadducees began to argue with each other. People in the group thought different things about Paul. 8 (The Sadducees do not believe that dead people will live again. They do not believe that there are angels or spirits. But the Pharisees believe in all these things.)
9 The Sadducees and the Pharisees began to shout louder and louder against each other. There were some teachers of God's Law who were in the group of Pharisees. They stood up in the meeting and they said, ‘We do not believe that this man has done anything wrong. What he says may be true. A spirit or an angel may have spoken to him.’
10 The two groups argued more and more strongly. The leader of the soldiers thought that the people there might hurt Paul badly. So he said to his soldiers, ‘Go down into the group and take Paul away from them. Take him back with you into our strong building.’
11 The next night, the Lord Jesus came and he stood near Paul. He said to Paul, ‘Do not be afraid! You have told people here in Jerusalem about me. You must also do the same thing in Rome.’
The Jews in Jerusalem decide to kill Paul
12 The next morning, a group of Jews talked together about how they might kill Paul. They agreed to make a promise to God. They would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. 13 More than 40 men were in the group that decided this. 14 They went to the leaders of the priests and the important Jews. They said to them, ‘We have agreed together to make a serious promise to God. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul. 15 So now we want you and the group of Jewish leaders to send a message to the leader of the Roman soldiers. Ask him, “Please bring Paul to the meeting of the Jewish leaders. We want to know more about the wrong things that he has done.” That will be the message. But, we will wait for Paul and we will be ready to kill him. We will do this before he arrives here at the meeting.’
16 But the son of Paul's sister heard what the Jews had decided to do. He went into the soldiers' building and he told Paul about it.
17 So Paul asked one of the soldiers' officers to come to him. He said, ‘Please take this young man to your leader. He has something important to tell him.’ 18 Then the officer led the young man to the soldiers' leader. He said to him, ‘Paul, who is here in the prison, spoke to me. He asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.’
19 The leader of the soldiers held the young man's hand and he led him to another place. When they were alone, he asked the young man, ‘What do you want to tell me?’
20 The young man said, ‘Some Jewish men have agreed together to send a message to you. They will ask you to take Paul down to the meeting of the Jewish leaders tomorrow. They will say that they want to ask him more questions. But that is not true. 21 Do not agree to do what they want. There are more than 40 men who will be hiding somewhere. They are waiting for Paul. They have made a serious promise to God. They will not eat or drink anything until they have killed Paul. They are now ready to do this. They will be waiting to hear your answer.’
22 The leader of the soldiers said to him, ‘Do not tell anyone that you told me about this.’ Then he sent the young man away.
The soldiers' leader sends Paul to Felix
23 Then the soldiers' leader told two of his officers to come to him. He said to them, ‘Tell 200 of our soldiers to prepare themselves. They must go to Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight. 70 soldiers who ride on horses must also go. There must also be another 200 soldiers with their weapons. 24 Take some horses for Paul to ride on. Take him to Felix the Roman ruler, and keep him safe on the journey.’
25 Then the soldiers' leader wrote a letter to Felix. He sent this message:
26 ‘I, Claudius Lysias, write this letter. I say “hello” to you, Felix, our great ruler.
27 I am sending this man to you. The Jews took hold of him and they wanted to kill him. I found out that he is a citizen of Rome. Because of that, I took my soldiers and I saved him from them. 28 The Jews said that he had done some wrong things. I wanted to know what was really true, so I took him to a meeting of their leaders. 29 The Jewish leaders said that he had not obeyed their own laws. But that was all. We could not put him in prison or kill him because of these things. That would not be right. 30 But a group of Jews decided to kill him. Someone told me about this, so I decided to send him to you immediately. I have told the Jewish leaders also to come to you in Caesarea. They can then tell you why they say that this man has done bad things.’
31 The soldiers did what their leader had told them to do. They took Paul out from the prison in their building. That night, they took him as far as Antipatris. 32 The next day, the soldiers who had walked returned to their building in Jerusalem. But the soldiers who rode horses continued to travel with Paul.[c]
33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they gave the letter to Felix, the ruler. They also brought Paul to him. 34 Felix read the letter and he asked Paul, ‘Which Roman region are you from?’ Paul answered, ‘I am from Cilicia.’ 35 Felix said, ‘When the Jews arrive, they will tell me about you. I will also listen to you. I will decide what is right.’
Felix then said to his soldiers, ‘Put this man in the prison in Herod's house. Guard him carefully!’
God's promises to his people
33 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah a second time while he was in prison in the yard of the palace. 2 He said, ‘I am the Lord who made the earth. I gave a shape to it and I put it in its place. The Lord is my name. I say this to you: 3 “Call out to me and I will answer you. I will tell you about great things. They are secret things that you do not yet know.” 4 The Lord, Israel's God, has a message about the houses in this city and about the royal palaces of Judah's kings. The people have knocked down the city's buildings. They have used the stones to make the city's walls stronger, 5 to fight against Babylon's army. The Lord says, “The city's houses will be full of dead bodies. I am very angry with the people in the city and I will kill them. I will refuse to help this city because of the wicked things that its people have done.
6 But listen to me! I will bring health again to the people of this city. I will make my people well again. They will live safely in peace. 7 I will bring back the people of Judah and Israel from foreign lands. I will make them a strong nation, as they were before. 8 They have done bad things and they have turned against me. But I will forgive all their sins that they have done against me. 9 Then this city will cause the people of all the nations on the earth to give me honour. They will praise me and make me happy. They will hear about all the good things that I am doing for Jerusalem. They will see that I have caused its people to have health and peace. Because of that, they will respect me and they will shake with fear.”
10 The Lord says, “You say that this place is like a desert, and no people or animals live here. But I tell you that people will return to live here. You will hear the voices of people in the streets of Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah that are now empty. 11 You will hear the sounds of happy people. You will hear the songs of men and women at their weddings. You will hear the voices of people as they bring gifts to the Lord's temple to thank him. They will say,
‘We thank the Lord Almighty,
because he is good.
His faithful love continues for ever.’
Yes, I will make the land successful again, as it was before.” That is what the Lord says.
12 The Lord Almighty says, “This place will become a heap of stones. No people or animals will live here. But I will put fields of grass around the towns again. There will be places for shepherds to rest with their sheep. 13 Shepherds will count their sheep again, one by one. They will do that in the towns of the hill country, in the low hills in the west and in the Negev region in the south. They will do it in the land that belongs to Benjamin's tribe, in the villages around Jerusalem and in all the towns of Judah.” That is what the Lord says.
14 The Lord also says, “A time will soon come when I do good things for the nations of Israel and Judah. I will do what I have promised to do for them. 15 At that time, I will cause a descendant of David to be born. He will be righteous. He will grow like a branch on the tree of David's family. He will do what is right and fair in the land.[a] 16 When he rules, the people of Judah will be safe. Jerusalem's people will live in peace. People will give this name to the city: ‘The Lord is our righteous Saviour.’ ”
17 The Lord says, “One of David's descendants will always rule as king over the nation of Israel. 18 There will always be priests who are descendants of Levi. They will serve me in my temple. They will always be there to offer burnt offerings, grain offerings and other sacrifices to me.” ’
19 The Lord also said this to Jeremiah: 20 ‘I, the Lord, say to you, “The day and the night will always come at their proper times. I have made that agreement with them, and nobody can stop it. 21 In the same way, nobody can stop the covenant that I have made with my servant David, and with the Levites. I promise you that there will always be a descendant of King David who rules as king. I also promise that there will always be descendants of Levi to serve me as priests. 22 I promise that my servant David will always have many descendants. There will also be very many Levites to serve me as priests. You will not be able to count them. They will be more than the stars in the sky and more than the sand on the shore of the sea.” ’
23 The Lord also said to Jeremiah, 24 ‘Some people are saying, “The Lord chose the two nations of Israel and Judah to be his special people. But now he has turned away from them.” You have heard people say those things. They do not think that my people will ever be a nation again. 25 But I promise you this: Nobody can stop the agreement that I have made with the day and the night. I have also commanded the earth and the sky to obey certain laws. 26 In the same way, I will never change my promise to the descendants of Jacob and to my servant David. I will always choose one of David's descendants to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.[b] I will bring them back to their own land. I will be kind to them and forgive them.’
This is a song that David wrote when he ran away from his son, Absalom.[a]
A morning song
3 Lord, every day I have more enemies.
Many people fight against me.
2 They say about me,
‘God will not save him.’
Selah.
3 But Lord, you are like a shield for me.[b]
You are the one who gives me honour.
You lift my head up high.
4 I called aloud to the Lord.
He answered me from his holy mountain.
Selah.
5 I lie down and I sleep.
Then I wake up, because the Lord takes care of me.
6 Even if 10,000 enemies are all around me to attack me,
I will not be afraid of them.
7 Lord, stand up! My God, save me from my enemies!
Hit all my enemies in the face.
Break the teeth of those bad people.
8 Lord, it is you that saves us.
You bless your people.
Selah.
This is a song that David wrote.
Tell the music leader to use stringed instruments.
An evening song
4 God, please answer me when I call aloud for help.
You are the one who shows that I am right.
Help me in my trouble.
Show me that you are kind.
Listen to me when I pray.
2 Tell me this, you people:
How long will you refuse to respect me?
How long will you love stupid ideas?
How long will you agree with lies?
Selah.
3 The Lord is very kind to those who serve him.
He has chosen them to belong to himself.
So he listens when I pray to him.
4 Shake with fear and stop doing wrong things!
Lie on your bed and think quietly about your life.
Selah.
5 Offer the right sacrifices to the Lord.
Continue to trust in him.
6 Many people say, ‘Will anyone do a good thing for us?’
Lord, let your face smile on us.
7 You have made me very happy.
I am happier than anyone who has lots of food and wine.
8 I will lie down and I will sleep in peace.
You, Lord, are the one who takes care of me,
and you keep me safe.
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