M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Wives for the Men of Benjamin
21 At Mizpah the men of Israel had made a promise. This was their promise: “Not one of us will let his daughter marry a man from the tribe of Benjamin.”
2 The people went to the city of Bethel. There they sat before God until evening, crying loudly. 3 They said, “Lord, you are the God of Israel. Why has this terrible thing happened to us? Why has one tribe of Israel been taken away?”
4 Early the next day the people built an altar. They put burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to God on it.
5 Then the Israelites asked, “Did any tribe of Israel not come here to meet with us before the Lord?” They asked this question because they had made a great promise. They had promised that anyone who did not meet with them at Mizpah would be killed.
6 The Israelites felt sorry for their relatives, the Benjaminites. They said, “Today one tribe has been separated from Israel. 7 We made a promise before the Lord. We will not allow our daughters to marry a Benjaminite. How can we make sure that the men of Benjamin will have wives?” 8 Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel did not come here to Mizpah?” They found that no one from the city of Jabesh Gilead was there. 9 The people of Israel counted everyone, but no one from Jabesh Gilead was there.
10 So the whole group of Israelites sent 12,000 soldiers to Jabesh Gilead. They told the soldiers to kill the people in Jabesh Gilead with their swords. Even the women and children were to be killed.
11 “This is what you must do: Kill every man in Jabesh Gilead. Also kill every woman who is not a virgin.” 12 The soldiers found 400 young women in Jabesh Gilead who were virgins. They brought these women to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.
13 Then the whole group of Israelites sent a message to the men of Benjamin. They offered to make peace with them. The men of Benjamin were at the rock of Rimmon. 14 So the men of Benjamin came back at that time. The Israelites gave them the women from Jabesh Gilead who had not been killed. But there were not enough women for all of them.
15 The people of Israel felt sorry for the Benjaminites. This was because the Lord had separated the tribes of Israel. 16 The elders of the Israelites spoke. They said, “The women of Benjamin have been killed. Where can we get wives for the men of Benjamin who are still alive? 17 These men must have children to continue their families. This is so a tribe in Israel will not die out. 18 But we cannot allow our daughters to marry them. We have made this promise: ‘Anyone who gives a wife to a man of Benjamin is cursed.’ 19 We have an idea! There is a yearly festival of the Lord at Shiloh. Shiloh is north of the city of Bethel. It is east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. And it is south of the city of Lebonah.”
20 So the elders told the men of Benjamin about their idea. They said, “Go and hide in the vineyards. 21 Watch for the young women from Shiloh to come out. They will come to join the dancing. Then run out from the vineyards. Each of you take one of the young Shiloh women and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 The fathers or brothers of those young women will come to us. They will complain, but we will say: ‘Be kind to the men of Benjamin. We did not get wives for Benjamin during the war. And you did not give the women to the men from Benjamin. So you are not guilty.’”
23 So that is what the Benjaminites did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one of them. They took them away and married them. Then they went back to the land God had given them. They rebuilt their cities and lived there.
24 Then the Israelites went home. They went to their own tribes and family groups. They went to their own land that God had given them.
25 In those days the Israelites did not have a king. Everyone did what he thought was right.
Paul Asks to See Caesar
25 Three days after Festus became governor, he went from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2 There the leading priests and the important Jewish leaders made charges against Paul before Festus. 3 They asked Festus to do something for them; they wanted him to send Paul back to Jerusalem. (They had a plan to kill Paul on the way.) 4 But Festus answered, “No! Paul will be kept in Caesarea. I will return there soon myself. 5 Some of your leaders should go with me. They can accuse the man there in Caesarea, if he has really done something wrong.”
6 Festus stayed in Jerusalem another eight or ten days. Then he went back to Caesarea. The next day he told the soldiers to bring Paul before him. Festus was seated on the judge’s seat 7 when Paul came into the room. The Jews who had come from Jerusalem stood around him. They started making serious charges against Paul. But they could not prove any of them. 8 This is what Paul said to defend himself: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law, against the Temple, or against Caesar!”
9 But Festus wanted to please the Jews. So he asked Paul, “Do you want to go to Jerusalem? Do you want me to judge you there on these charges?”
10 Paul said, “I am standing at Caesar’s judgment seat now. This is where I should be judged! I have done nothing wrong to the Jews; you know this is true. 11 If I have done something wrong and the law says I must die, I do not ask to be saved from death. But if these charges are not true, then no one can give me to them. No! I want Caesar to hear my case!”
12 Festus talked about this with the people who advised him. Then he said, “You have asked to see Caesar; so you will go to Caesar!”
Paul Before King Agrippa
13 A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to visit Festus. 14 They stayed there for some time, and Festus told the king about Paul’s case. Festus said, “There is a man that Felix left in prison. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the leading priests and the Jewish elders there made charges against him. They wanted me to sentence him to death. 16 But I answered, ‘When a man is accused of a crime, Romans do not hand him over just to please someone. The man must be allowed to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.’ 17 So these Jews came here to Caesarea for the trial. And I did not waste time. The next day I sat on the judge’s seat and commanded that the man be brought in. 18 The Jews stood up and accused him. But they did not accuse him of any serious crime as I thought they would. 19 The things they said were about their own religion and about a man named Jesus. Jesus died, but Paul said that he is still alive. 20 I did not know much about these things; so I did not ask questions. But I asked Paul, ‘Do you want to go to Jerusalem and be judged there?’ 21 But he asked to be kept in Caesarea. He wants a decision from the Emperor.[a] So I ordered that Paul be held until I could send him to Caesar in Rome.”
22 Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man, too.”
Festus said, “Tomorrow you will hear him!”
23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice appeared. They dressed and acted like very important people. Agrippa and Bernice, the army leaders, and the important men of Caesarea went into the judgment room. Then Festus ordered the soldiers to bring Paul in. 24 Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are gathered here with us, you see this man. All the Jewish people, here and in Jerusalem, have complained to me about him. They shout that he should not live any longer. 25 When I judged him, I could find nothing wrong. I found no reason to order his death. But he asked to be judged by Caesar. So I decided to send him. 26 But I have nothing definite to write the Emperor about him. So I have brought him before all of you—especially you, King Agrippa. I hope that you can question him and give me something to write. 27 I think it is foolish to send a prisoner to Caesar without telling what the charges are against him.”
The Recabite Family
35 When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. This was his message: 2 “Jeremiah, go to the family of Recab. Invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the Temple of the Lord. Offer them wine to drink.”
3 So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah.[a] Jeremiah was the son of Habazziniah. And I gathered all of Jaazaniah’s brothers and sons. I gathered the whole family of the Recabites together. 4 Then I brought them into the Temple of the Lord. We went into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah. Hanan was a man of God. The room was next to the one where the officers stay. It was over the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum. Maaseiah was the doorkeeper in the Temple. 5 Then I put some bowls full of wine and some cups before the Recabite family. And I said to them, “Drink some wine.”
6 But the Recabite people answered, “We never drink wine. It is because of our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab. He gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. 7 Also you must never build houses, plant seeds or plant vineyards. You must never do any of those things. You must live only in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are a wanderer.’ 8 So we Recabites have obeyed everything Jonadab our ancestor commanded us. We never drink wine. And our wives, sons and daughters never drink wine. 9 We never build houses in which to live. And we never own fields or vineyards. And we never plant crops. 10 We have lived in tents. And we have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 But Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the country of Judah. We said to each other, ‘Come, we must enter Jerusalem. This is so we can escape the Babylonian army and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Jeremiah, go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: ‘You should learn a lesson and obey my message,’ says the Lord. 14 ‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine. And that command has been obeyed. Until today the descendants of Jonadab obeyed their ancestor’s command. They do not drink wine. But I am the Lord. I have given you messages again and again. But you did not obey me. 15 I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again. They said to you, “Each of you must stop doing evil. You must change and be good. Do not follow other gods to serve them. If you obey me, you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not listened or paid attention to my message. 16 The descendants of Jonadab obeyed the commands that their ancestor gave them. But the people of Judah have not obeyed me.’
17 “So the Lord God of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I said many disasters would come to Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem. I will soon bring every one of those disasters on them. I spoke to those people, but they refused to listen. I called out to them, but they did not answer me.’”
18 Then Jeremiah said to the Recabites, “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands of your ancestor Jonadab. You have followed all of Jonadab’s teachings. You have done everything he commanded.’ 19 So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab to serve me.’”
A Prayer for Fairness
A shiggaion of David which he sang to the Lord about Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I trust in you for protection.
Save me and rescue me
from those who are chasing me.
2 Otherwise, they will tear me apart like a lion.
They will rip me to pieces, and no one can save me.
3 Lord my God, what have I done?
Have my hands done something wrong?
4 Have I done wrong to my friend?
Have I stolen from my enemy?
5 If I have, let my enemy chase me and capture me.
Let him trample me into the dust.
Let him bury me in the ground. Selah
6 Lord, rise up in your anger.
Stand up against my enemies’ anger.
Get up and demand fairness.
7 Gather the nations around you,
and rule them from above.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, defend me.
Prove that I am right.
Show that I have done no wrong, God Most High.
9 God, you do what is right.
You know our thoughts and feelings.
Stop those wicked actions done by evil people.
And help those who do what is right.
10 God Most High protects me like a shield.
He saves those whose hearts are right.
11 God judges by what is right.
And God is always ready to punish the wicked.
12 If they do not change their lives,
God will sharpen his sword.
He will string his bow and take aim.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons.
He has made his flaming arrows.
14 There are people who think up evil.
They plan trouble and tell lies.
15 They dig a hole to trap other people.
But they will fall into it themselves.
16 They themselves will get into trouble.
The violence they cause will hurt only themselves.
17 I praise the Lord because he does what is right.
I sing praises to the name of the Lord Most High.
God’s Greatness and Man’s Worth
For the director of music. By the gittith. A song of David.
8 Lord our Master,
your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!
It brings you praise in heaven above.
2 You have taught children and babies
to sing praises to you.
This is because of your enemies.
And so you silence your enemies
and destroy those who try to get even.
3 I look at the heavens,
which you made with your hands.
I see the moon and stars,
which you created.
4 But why is man important to you?
Why do you take care of human beings?
5 You made man a little lower than the angels.
And you crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You put him in charge of everything you made.
You put all things under his control:
7 all the sheep, the cattle
and the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky,
the fish in the sea,
and everything that lives under water.
9 Lord our Master,
your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.