M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Call of Abram

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.^{(A) 2} I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.^{(B) 3} I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”^[a](C)

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.^{(D) 5} Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan,^{(E) 6} Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak^[b] of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.^{(F) 7} Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.^{(G) 8} From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord.^{(H) 9} And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.^{(I) 13} Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you and that my life may be spared on your account.”^{(J) 14} When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.^{(K) 16} And for her sake he dealt well with Abram, and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels.^(L)

¹⁷ But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.^{(M) 18} So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?^{(N) 19} Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.” ²⁰ And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him, and they set him on the way with his wife and all that he had.^(O)

11 Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.

Messengers from John the Baptist

² When John heard in prison what the Messiah^[a] was doing, he sent word by his^[b] disciples^{(A) 3} and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”^{(B) 4} Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.^{(C) 6} And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”^(D)

Jesus Praises John the Baptist

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?^{(E) 8} What, then, did you go out to see? Someone^[c] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹ What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet?^[d] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.^{(F) 10} This is the one about whom it is written,

¹¹ “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[e] and violent people take it by force.^{(H) 13} For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John came, ¹⁴ and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.^{(I) 15} Let anyone with ears^[f] listen!^(J)

¹⁶ “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

¹⁸ “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹ the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”^[g](K)

Woes to Unrepentant Cities

²⁰ Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done because they did not repent. ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.^{(L) 22} But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you.^{(M) 23} And you, Capernaum,

“For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.^{(N) 24} But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”^(O)

Jesus Thanks His Father

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I thank^[h] you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;^{(P) 26} yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.^{[i] 27} All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.^(Q)

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.^{(R) 29} Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.^{(S) 30} For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Nehemiah Prays for His People

1 The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. In the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa,^{(A) 2} one of my brothers, Hanani, came with certain men from Judah, and I asked them about the Jews who escaped, those who had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ³ They replied, “The remnant there in the province who escaped captivity are in great trouble and shame; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire.”^(B)

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.^{(C) 5} I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,^{(D) 6} let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for your servants, the Israelites, confessing the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against you. Both I and my family have sinned.^{(E) 7} We have offended you deeply, failing to keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances that you commanded Moses your servant.^{(F) 8} Remember the word that you commanded Moses your servant, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples,^{(G) 9} but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are under the farthest skies, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my name.’^{(H) 10} They are your servants and your people whom you redeemed by your great power and your strong hand.^{(I) 11} O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man!”

At the time, I was cupbearer to the king.^(J)

Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and the brothers and sisters who were in Judea heard that the gentiles had also accepted the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers^[a] criticized him,^{(A) 3} saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”^{(B) 4} Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners, and it came close to me.^{(C) 6} As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. ⁷ I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.^[b] These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house.^{(D) 13} He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter;^{(E) 14} he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.^{(F) 16} And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’^{(G) 17} If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”^{(H) 18} When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”^(I)

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹ Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that took place over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, and they spoke the word to no one except Jews.^{(J) 20} But among them were some men of Cyprus and Cyrene who, on coming to Antioch, spoke to the Hellenists^[c] also, proclaiming the Lord Jesus.^{(K) 21} The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number became believers and turned to the Lord.^{(L) 22} News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast devotion,^{(M) 24} for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord.^{(N) 25} Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,^{(O) 26} and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians.”^(P)

²⁷ At that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.^{(Q) 28} One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine over all the world, and this took place during the reign of Claudius.^{(R) 29} The disciples determined that, according to their ability, each would send relief to the brothers and sisters living in Judea;^{(S) 30} this they did, sending it to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.^(T)