M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
24 Now Abraham was old; and advanced in age: and the Lord had blessed him in all things.
2 And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all he had: Put thy hand under my thigh,
3 That I may make thee swear by the Lord the God of heaven and earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:
4 But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife from thence for my son Isaac.
5 The servant answered: If the woman will not come with me into this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place, from whence thou camest out?
6 And Abraham said: Beware thou never bring my son back again thither.
7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father's house, and out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying: To thy seed will I give this land: he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.
8 But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound by the oath; only bring not my son back thither again.
9 The servant therefore put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and swore to him upon this word.
10 And he took ten camels of his master's herd, and departed, carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forward and went on to Mesopotamia to the city of Nachor.
11 And when he had made the camels lie down without the town near a well of water in the evening, at the time when women are wont to come out to draw water, he said:
12 O Lord the God of my master Abraham, meet me to day, I beseech thee, and shew kindness to my master Abraham.
13 Behold I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water.
14 Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher that I may drink: and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let it be the same whom thou hast provided for thy servant Isaac: and by this I shall understand, that thou hast shewn kindness to my master.
15 He had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:
16 An exceeding comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and not known to man: and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher and was coming back.
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher.
18 And she answered: Drink, my lord. And quickly she let down the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.
19 And when he had drunk, she said: I will draw water for thy camels also, till they all drink.
20 And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to the well to draw water: and having drawn she gave to all the camels.
21 But he musing beheld her with silence, desirous to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out golden earrings, weighing two sicles: and as many bracelets of ten sicles weight.
23 And he said to her: Whose daughter art thou? tell me: is there any place in thy father's house to lodge?
24 And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.
25 And she said moreover to him: We have good store of both straw and hay, and a large place to lodge in.
26 The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,
27 Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath brought me the straight way into the house of my master's brother.
28 Then the maid ran, and told in her mother's house, all that she had heard.
29 And Rebecca had a brother named Laban, who went out in haste to the man, to the well.
30 And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his sister's hands, and had heard all that she related, saying: Thus and thus the man spoke to me: he came to the man who stood by the camels, and near to the spring of water,
31 And said to him: Come in, thou blessed of the Lord: why standest thou without? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.
32 And he brought him in into his lodging: and he unharnessed the camels and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were come with him.
33 And bread was set before him. But he said: I will not eat, till I tell my message. He answered him: Speak.
34 And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:
35 And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is become great: and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, menservants and womenservants, camels and asses.
36 And Sara my master's wife hath borne my master a son in her old age, and he hath given him all that he had.
37 And my master made me swear, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:
38 But thou shalt go to my father's house, and shalt take a wife of my own kindred for my son:
39 But I answered my master: What if the woman will not come with me?
40 The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel with thee, and will direct thy way: and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my own kindred, and of my father's house.
41 But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come to my kindred, if they will not give thee one.
42 And I came to day to the well of water, and said: O Lord God of my master Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now walk,
43 Behold I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall come out to draw water, who shall hear me say: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher:
44 And shall say to me: Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared for my master's son.
45 And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself, Rebecca appeared coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her shoulder: and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her: Give me a little to drink.
46 And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and said to me: Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink. I drank, and she watered the camels.
47 And I asked her, and said: Whose daughter art thou? And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. So I put earrings on her to adorn her face, and I put bracelets on her hands.
48 And falling down I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
49 Wherefore if you do according to mercy and truth with my master, tell me: but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also, that I may go to the right hand, or to the left.
50 And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded from the Lord, we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.
51 Behold Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and let her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath spoken.
52 Which when Abraham's servant heard, falling down to the ground he adored the Lord.
53 And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he gave them to Rebecca for a present. He offered gifts also to her brothers, and to her mother.
54 And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together, and lodged there. And in the morning, the servant arose, and said: Let me depart, that I may go to my master.
55 And her brother and mother answered: Let the maid stay at least ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.
56 Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my way: send me away, that I may go to my master.
57 And they said: Let us call the maid, and ask her will.
58 And they called her, and when she was come, they asked: Wilt thou go with this man? She said: I will go.
59 So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his company,
60 Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands, and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies.
61 So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed the man: who with speed returned to his master.
62 At the same time Isaac was walking along the way to the well which is called Of the living and the seeing: for he dwelt in the south country.
63 And he was gone forth to meditate in the field, the day being now well spent: and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels coming afar off.
64 Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,
65 And said to the servant: Who is that man who cometh towards us along the field? And he said to her: That man is my master. But she quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.
67 Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her to wife: and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow which was occasioned by his mother's death.
23 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
2 Saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses.
3 All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye not; for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men's shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them.
5 And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge their fringes.
6 And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues,
7 And salutations in the market place, and to be called by men, Rabbi.
8 But be not you called Rabbi. For one is your master; and all you are brethren.
9 And call none your father upon earth; for one is your father, who is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, Christ.
11 He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 But woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you yourselves do not enter in; and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter.
14 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: because you devour the houses of widows, praying long prayers. For this you shall receive the greater judgment.
15 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you go round about the sea and the land to make one proselyte; and when he is made, you make him the child of hell twofold more than yourselves.
16 Woe to you blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but he that shall swear by the gold of the temple, is a debtor.
17 Ye foolish and blind; for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is a debtor.
19 Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things that are upon it:
21 And whosoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth in it:
22 And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and have left the weightier things of the law; judgment, and mercy, and faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone.
24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, that the outside may become clean.
27 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all filthiness.
28 So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just; but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just,
30 And say: If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 You serpents, generation of vipers, how will you flee from the judgment of hell?
34 Therefore behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.
36 Amen I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not?
38 Behold, your house shall be left to you, desolate.
39 For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth till you say: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
13 And on that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people: and therein was found written, that the Ammonites and the Moabites should not come in to the church of God for ever:
2 Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and water: and they hired against them Balaam, to curse them, and our God turned the curse into blessing.
3 And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated every stranger from Israel.
4 And over this thing was Eliasib the priest, who was set over the treasury of the house of our God, and was near akin to Tobias.
5 And he made him a great storeroom, where before him they laid up gifts, and frankincense, and vessels, and the tithes of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the singing men, and of the porters, and the firstfruits of the priests.
6 But in all this time I was not in Jerusalem, because in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I went to the king, and after certain days I asked the king:
7 And I came to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliasib had done for Tobias, to make him a storehouse in the courts of the house of God.
8 And it seemed to me exceeding evil. And I cast forth the vessels of the house of Tobias out of the storehouse.
9 And I commanded and they cleansed the storehouses: and I brought thither again the vessels of the house of God, the sacrifice, and the frankincense.
10 And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: and that the Levites, and the singing men, and they that ministered were fled away every man to his own country:
11 And I pleaded the matter against the magistrates, and said: Why have we forsaken the house of God? And I gathered them together, and I made them to stand in their places.
12 And all Juda brought the tithe of the corn, and the wine, and the oil into the storehouses.
13 And we set over the storehouses Selemias the priest, and Sadoc the scribe, and of the Levites Phadaia, and next to them Hanan the son of Zachur, the son of Mathania: for they were approved as faithful, and to them were committed the portions of their brethren.
14 Remember me, O my God, for this thing, and wipe not out my kindnesses, which I have done relating to the house of my God and his ceremonies.
15 In those days I saw in Juda some treading the presses on the sabbath, and carrying sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and grapes, and figs, and all manner of burthens, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. And I charged them that they should sell on a day on which it was lawful to sell.
16 Some Tyrians also dwelt there, who brought fish, and all manner of wares: and they sold them on the sabbaths to the children of Juda in Jerusalem.
17 And I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day?
18 Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you bring more wrath upon Israel by violating the sabbath.
19 And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem were at rest on the sabbath day, I spoke: and they shut the gates, and I commanded that they should not open them till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that none should bring in burthens on the sabbath day.
20 So the merchants, and they that sold all kinds of wares, stayed without Jerusalem once or twice.
21 And I charged them, and I said to them: Why stay you before the wall? if you do so another time, I will lay hands on you. And from that time they came no more on the sabbath.
22 I spoke also to the Levites that they should be purified, and should come to keep the gates, and to sanctify the sabbath day: for this also remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
23 In those days also I saw Jews that married wives, women of Azotus, and of Ammon, and of Moab.
24 And their children spoke half in the speech of Azotus, and could not speak the Jews' language, but they spoke according to the language of this and that people.
25 And I chid them, and laid my curse upon them. And I beat some of them, and shaved off their hair, and made them swear by God that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for their sons, nor for themselves, saying:
26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin in this kind of thing? and surely among many nations, there was not a king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: and yet women of other countries brought even him to sin.
27 And shall we also be disobedient and do all this great evil to transgress against our God, and marry strange women?
28 And one of the sons of Joiada the son of Eliasib the high priest, was son in law to Sanaballat the Horonite, and I drove him from me.
29 Remember them, O Lord my God, that defile the priesthood, and the law of priests and Levites.
30 So I separated from them all strangers, and I appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites, every man in his ministry:
31 And for the offering of wood at times appointed, and for the firstfruits: remember me, O my God, unto good. Amen.
23 And Paul looking upon the council, said: Men, brethren, I have conversed with all good conscience before God until this present day.
2 And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
3 Then Paul said to him: God shall strike thee, thou whited wall. For sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and contrary to the law commandest me to be struck?
4 And they that stood by said: Dost thou revile the high priest of God?
5 And Paul said: I knew not, brethren, that he is the high priest. For it is written: Thou shalt not speak evil of the prince of thy people.
6 And Paul knowing that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, cried out in the council: Men, brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees: concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
7 And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the multitude was divided.
8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
9 And there arose a great cry. And some of the Pharisees rising up, strove, saying: We find no evil in this man. What if a spirit hath spoken to him, or an angel?
10 And when there arose a great dissension, the tribune fearing lest Paul should be pulled in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
11 And the night following the Lord standing by him, said: Be constant; for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
12 And when day was come, some of the Jews gathered together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying, that they would neither eat, nor drink, till they killed Paul.
13 And they were more than forty men that had made this conspiracy.
14 Who came to the chief priests and the ancients, and said: We have bound ourselves under a great curse that we will eat nothing till we have slain Paul.
15 Now therefore do you with the council signify to the tribune, that he bring him forth to you, as if you meant to know something more certain touching him. And we, before he come near, are ready to kill him.
16 Which when Paul's sister's son had heard, of their lying in wait, he came and entered into the castle and told Paul.
17 And Paul, calling to him one of the centurions, said: Bring this young man to the tribune, for he hath some thing to tell him.
18 And he taking him, brought him to the tribune, and said: Paul, the prisoner, desired me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath some thing to say to thee.
19 And the tribune taking him by the hand, went aside with him privately, and asked him: What is it that thou hast to tell me?
20 And he said: The Jews have agreed to desire thee, that thou wouldst bring forth Paul to morrow into the council, as if they meant to inquire some thing more certain touching him.
21 But do not thou give credit to them; for there lie in wait for him more than forty men of them, who have bound themselves by oath neither to eat, nor to drink, till they have killed him: and they are now ready, looking for a promise from thee.
22 The tribune therefore dismissed the young man, charging him that he should tell no man, that he had made known these things unto him.
23 Then having called two centurions, he said to them: Make ready two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen for the third hour of the night:
24 And provide beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe to Felix the governor.
25 (For he feared lest perhaps the Jews might take him away by force and kill him, and he should afterwards be slandered, as if he was to take money.) And he wrote a letter after this manner:
26 Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor, Felix, greeting.
27 This man being taken by the Jews, and ready to be killed by them, I rescued coming in with an army, understanding that he is a Roman:
28 And meaning to know the cause which they objected unto him, I brought him forth into their council.
29 Whom I found to be accused concerning questions of their law; but having nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bands.
30 And when I was told of ambushes that they had prepared for him, I sent him to thee, signifying also to his accusers to plead before thee. Farewell.
31 Then the soldiers, according as it was commanded them, taking Paul, brought him by night to Antipatris.
32 And the next day, leaving the horsemen to go with him, they returned to the castle.
33 Who, when they were come to Caesarea, and had delivered the letter to the governor, did also present Paul before him.
34 And when he had read it, and had asked of what province he was, and understood that he was of Cilicia;
35 I will hear thee, said he, when thy accusers come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.
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