M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Abraham dies

25 Abraham then married another woman. Her name was Keturah. ² She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. ³ Jokshan later became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. ⁴ Midian had sons who were called Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All those were descendants of Abraham's wife, Keturah. ⁵ When Abraham died, he left everything that belonged to him to Isaac. ⁶ But while he was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of his slave wives. He sent these sons away to the land of the east. He wanted to keep them far away from Isaac.

⁷ Abraham lived for 175 years. ⁸ He died after a good and long life, when he was very old. He joined his ancestors who had died before him. ⁹ His sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried his body in the cave of Machpelah. That was near Mamre. The cave is in the field that belonged to Zohar's son, Ephron. He was a Hittite. ¹⁰ Abraham had bought the field from the Hittites.

So they buried Abraham there. It was in the cave where his wife, Sarah, had also been buried.

¹¹ After Abraham's death, God blessed his son, Isaac. Isaac was living near Beer Lahai Roi.

Ishmael's family

¹² This is the report about Abraham's son, Ishmael, and his family.

Sarah's female servant gave birth to Ishmael. Her name was Hagar. She was from Egypt. ¹³ These are the names of Ishmael's sons. The list starts from the firstborn son and ends with the last son. Nebaioth was the first son of Ishmael. Then there were Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were all Ishmael's sons. Their names became the names of 12 groups of people. They separated and lived in their own lands. Ishmael's sons ruled over the 12 groups of people. ¹⁷ Ishmael lived for 137 years then he died. He joined his ancestors who had died before him. ¹⁸ Ishmael's descendants lived in the lands from Havilah to Shur. These are near Egypt, towards Asshur. They were always at war with each other.^[a]

Jacob and Esau

¹⁹ This is the report about Abraham's son, Isaac, and his family.

Abraham became the father of Isaac. ²⁰ When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was an Aramean from Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Rebekah could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for Rebekah. The Lord did as Isaac asked. And Isaac's wife, Rebekah, became pregnant. ²² The babies inside her were fighting with each other. Rebekah said, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So Rebekah went to ask the Lord. ²³ The Lord said to Rebekah, ‘The two children who are in your body will become two separate nations of people. One group will be stronger than the other. The older son will become a servant to the younger son.’^[b]

²⁴ The time came for Rebekah to give birth. There were two babies inside her. ²⁵ The first baby to come out had a red body. Hair covered the whole of his body. They called him Esau. ²⁶ After this, his brother came out. His hand was holding the back of Esau's foot. They called him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

²⁷ Time passed and the boys grew. Esau became a good hunter, out in the fields. Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed near to the tents. ²⁸ Isaac liked to eat the meat from the animals that Esau killed. So he loved Esau. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ One day, Jacob was cooking a meal. Esau came back from the country. He was very hungry. ³⁰ He said to Jacob ‘Quick, let me have some of that red food! I am very hungry.’ (That is why he was also called Edom.)^{[c] 31} Jacob said, ‘You must first sell me your birthright.’^[d]

³² Esau said, ‘Look, I am so hungry that I will die. Then my birthright will not help me at all!’

³³ Jacob said, ‘First, make a serious promise to me.’ So Esau promised to sell his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and the soup made from grains. Esau ate the food and he drank. Then he got up and he left.

In that way, Esau showed that he did not think that his birthright was important.^[e]

Jesus talks about the temple

24 Jesus left the temple. While he was leaving, his disciples came to him. They began to talk to him about the buildings of the temple. ² So Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, you can see all these beautiful buildings now. But I tell you this: Enemies will completely destroy them.^[a] Not even one stone will remain on top of another stone.’

³ After that, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. While he was alone, his disciples came to him. They said to him, ‘Please tell us when all these things will happen. Also tell us what will show us that you will soon return? What will show us that the world will soon end?’

⁴ Jesus said, ‘You must be careful! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe them. ⁵ Many people will say that they have come on my behalf. They will say, “I am the Messiah.” Many people will believe their false words. ⁶ You will hear about wars. You will hear reports about wars in other places. But you must not be afraid. Those things must happen first, but it is not yet the end of everything. ⁷ People in one country will attack the people in another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies. In some places, people will be hungry, with no food. The ground will shake in many different places. ⁸ All those things will be like the first pains that a mother has before her baby is born.

⁹ Then people will take hold of you and they will give you pain. They will even kill some of you. People in every country will hate you because you are my disciples. ¹⁰ At that time, many people who believe in me will stop believing. They will put some of my disciples in the power of their rulers. They will hate each other. ¹¹ Also at that time, many people will say that they are prophets from God. Their message is false, but many people will believe them. ¹² More and more people everywhere will be doing very bad things. Because of this, many people will no longer love each other in the way that they did before. ¹³ But God will save the person who remains strong until the end. ¹⁴ People will tell the good news about God's kingdom to people all over the world. People in every country will hear the true message from God. Then God will cause the world to come to an end.

¹⁵ Long ago, God's prophet Daniel wrote in the Bible about something that would happen. He said that one day people would put a disgusting thing that causes trouble in the temple. You will see it in the holy place. (When you read this, you must understand what it means.) ¹⁶ At that time, people in Judea must run away to the hills to hide.

¹⁷ A person who is on the roof of his house must not go down into his house.^[b] He must not stop to get anything from his home to take with him. ¹⁸ People who are outside in their fields must not go back to their homes. They must not even go to fetch their coats. ¹⁹ That will be a bad time for women who are soon to have a baby! It will also be a bad time for those women who have little babies! ²⁰ You must pray to God about this time when you have to run away quickly. Pray that this time of trouble will not happen in winter. Pray that it will not happen on your day of rest. ²¹ Great troubles will happen to people at that time. Nothing as bad has ever happened before, since the beginning of the world. Nothing as bad will ever happen again. ²² God will cause those days of great trouble to be not so many. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. But God will cause those days to come to an end. He will do that to help the people that he has chosen. ²³ At that time, someone may say to you, “Look, here is the Messiah.” Or they may say, “There he is!” When they say that, do not believe them. ²⁴ Some people will say to you, “I am the Messiah!” Other people will say, “I am a prophet from God.” But their words will be false. They will do strange and powerful things for people to see. If possible, they would even deceive the people that God has chosen. ²⁵ So be careful! I have told you about these things before they happen.

²⁶ Some people may say to you, “Look, the Messiah is out there in the wilderness.” But do not go out to see who is there. Some people may say to you, “Look, the Messiah is hiding in that secret room.” You must not believe these people. ²⁷ Lightning shines quickly and it lights up the whole of the sky from one side to the other. It will be like that when the Son of Man returns. ²⁸ If the dead body of an animal is lying somewhere, vultures will come together in that place.^[c]

²⁹ Then after all these bad things have happened,

³⁰ Then people will see a powerful thing in the sky. This will show them that the Son of Man is coming. All the families of people in the world will cry because they are very sad. Then they will see the Son of Man. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky. He will have great power and bright glory. ³¹ People will hear the sound of a loud trumpet. The Son of Man will send out his angels. They will go in every direction. They will bring together all the people that God has chosen from every part of the earth and from every part of the sky.’

Jesus tells a story about a fig tree

³² ‘Here is a lesson for you to learn about the fig tree. When the new branches on the tree start to grow, the leaves appear. Then you know that the summer will come soon. ³³ In the same way, you will see all these strange things happening. Then you will know that the Son of Man will come very soon. He will be like someone at the door who is ready to come in. ³⁴ I tell you this: The people who are alive now will not all die until all these things happen. ³⁵ One day, the earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will be there for ever.’

Nobody will know when the Son of Man will return

³⁶ Jesus then said, ‘Nobody knows the day or the hour when all these things will happen. Only God the Father knows when they will happen. The angels who are in heaven do not know. Even the Son does not know. ³⁷ Remember what happened when Noah was alive.^[e] It will be like that when the Son of Man returns to the earth. ³⁸ In Noah's time, in the days before the flood, people were eating their meals every day. Men married women and women married men. They continued to do all these things until the day that Noah went into his big boat. ³⁹ The people did not know what would happen. Then rain fell for a long time and all these people died in the deep water. When the Son of Man returns, it will happen quickly in the same way. ⁴⁰ At that time, it will be like this: Two men will be working in a field. God will take one man away, but he will leave the other man behind. ⁴¹ Two women will be preparing food together in the same place. God will take one of them away, but he will leave the other woman behind.

⁴² So you must watch carefully! You do not know the day when your Master will come back. ⁴³ You can be sure about this. The master of a house does not know at what time of night a man would come to rob him. If he knew the time, he would watch his house more carefully. He would not let the robber come into his house and take away his things. ⁴⁴ So you must also be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you are not thinking about it.’

Jesus tells a story about two servants

⁴⁵ Jesus then said, ‘You should be like a wise servant. Be someone that the master can trust. The master will choose a man like that. He will say to him, “Rule over my house and all my other servants. Give everyone their food to eat at the right time.” ⁴⁶ That servant will be very happy when his master comes home. His master will see that he has done everything well. ⁴⁷ Yes, I tell you this: The master will give that servant authority to rule over everything in his house. ⁴⁸ But another servant might be bad. He might say to himself, “My master will not come yet.” ⁴⁹ Then he begins to hit the other servants. He eats too much and he drinks too much. He meets with other people who become drunk. ⁵⁰ Then the master of that servant will come home and he will surprise the servant. He did not think that his master would come home on that day or at that time. ⁵¹ Then the master will punish him a lot. He will put the servant with those people who do not obey him. The people in that place will cry and they will bite their teeth together.’

Queen Vashti does not obey the king

1 These things happened when King Xerxes ruled. He was the king who ruled over 127 regions, from India to Ethiopia. ² King Xerxes lived in the capital, the city of Susa. ³ During the third year that he ruled, he gave a big feast for his leaders and officers. The soldiers from the army of Persia and Media came to the feast. The rulers and leaders of the regions in the kingdom also came.

⁴ The feast continued for 180 days. King Xerxes wanted to show everyone how rich and powerful he was. He wanted to show that he was a great king. ⁵ When this feast finished, he gave another feast for everyone who lived in Susa. It was for people who were important, and for ordinary people as well. The feast continued for seven days. It was in part of the garden of the king's palace. ⁶ The gardens had curtains made of expensive white linen and purple material. They hung from silver rings on white stone pillars. White and purple strings held the curtains. There were seats made from gold and silver. The floor had many kinds of valuable stones to make it beautiful.

⁷ People at the feast drank from gold cups. Each cup was different. The king gave plenty of his own wine to everyone to drink. ⁸ Everyone could drink as much wine as they wanted. The king told his officers to give each person what they wanted, no more and no less.

⁹ At the same time, the king's wife, Queen Vashti, gave a feast for all the women in the palace.^[a]

¹⁰ On the seventh day of the feast, King Xerxes was feeling happy, because he had drunk so much wine. He had seven eunuchs who served him in the palace. Their names were Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas. ¹¹ He told them to bring Queen Vashti to him. He said that she must wear her royal crown. He wanted to show everyone at his feast how beautiful his queen was. She was a very beautiful woman. ¹² The eunuchs told Queen Vashti what the king had commanded. But she refused to go to him. This made the king very angry.

¹³ The king spoke to his wise advisors about what had happened. These men understood the laws and customs of Persia. When something like this happened, the king would ask them what he should do. ¹⁴ The seven advisors who were often with the king were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan. These men were the most important officers in the kingdom.

¹⁵ The king asked them, ‘What should we do with Queen Vashti? What does our law say about this? The eunuchs took my message to her, but she did not obey my command. And I am the king!’

¹⁶ One of the advisors, Memukan, replied to the king and the other officers. He said, ‘Queen Vashti has not only done something wrong against you, the king. She has also done a wrong thing against all the officers and all the people too. That is all the men who live in your kingdom. ¹⁷ When other women hear about this, they will not obey their own husbands. All the women will say, “Queen Vashti did not obey her husband, King Xerxes. When he told her to come to him, she refused to do it!” ¹⁸ Everywhere in Persia and Media, the wives of the king's officers will know what Queen Vashti has done. From today, they will refuse to obey their husbands. They will no longer respect their husbands, and the men will be very angry.

¹⁹ So we suggest this, if you agree as king. You should give a royal command. It should become one of the laws of Persia and Media, so that nobody can change it. This law must say that Vashti must never see you again. Then you should find a woman who deserves to be queen more than Vashti. ²⁰ You must send this command to everyone in your great kingdom. When people know about this law, all the women will respect their husbands. They will obey them, whether they are important people or ordinary people.’

²¹ The king and his officers liked this idea. So the king did as Memukan had said. ²² He sent letters to all the regions of his kingdom. The letters were in the language of each region, so that all the people could read and understand the law. The law said that every man should be the ruler of his family and he should speak the language of his people.

The Jews say bad things about Paul

24 Five days after that, Ananias, the leader of the priests, went to Caesarea. Some important Jews went with him. A man called Tertullus also went with them. He was a lawyer. All these people went to meet with Felix, the ruler. They told Felix what Paul had done. Felix would judge who was right. ² Felix told a soldier to bring Paul to the meeting. Then Tertullus began to speak against Paul. He said, ‘Sir, you have ruled us well for many years. Because of you, our country has had no wars for a long time. You have made new laws that are good for our country. You have thought well about how you should lead us. ³ Everywhere, the people are happy about what you have done. So we want to thank you very much for all these good things. ⁴ I do not want you to sit here for a long time. So I will speak for a short time about our problem. Please be kind to us and listen to me.

⁵ We know that this man brings trouble everywhere. Anywhere in the world that Jewish people live, he makes them angry. Then they all fight each other. He is the leader of a group called the Nazarenes.’^[a]

⁶ ‘He also did bad things in the temple that are against our laws. So we took hold of him.^[b] [We wanted to judge him by what our own law says. ⁷ But Lysias, the leader of the soldiers, came to us. He attacked us and he took Paul away from us. ⁸ Then he told us to come and to speak to you about it.] You should ask this man some questions about what he has done. You will find out that what we say against him is true.’

⁹ The other Jews that were there also spoke against Paul. They said, ‘All these things that Tertullus has said are true.’

Paul tells Felix his own story

¹⁰ Then Felix raised his hand towards Paul to show that he should speak. So Paul said to Felix, ‘I know that you have judged the people in this region for many years. So now I am happy to tell you everything. ¹¹ I went to Jerusalem less than 12 days ago. You can check that that is true. I went there to worship God. ¹² When the Jews saw me in the temple, I was not arguing with anyone. I was not causing trouble among Jewish people in their meeting places. Nor did I cause problems in any other places in Jerusalem. ¹³ They have said bad things against me. But they cannot show you that these things are true. ¹⁴ What I do agree is this: I worship the same God that our Jewish ancestors worshipped. But I do this in the Way that Jesus has taught us. These men say that this is not the right way. But I believe in all God's Law that Moses wrote for us. I also believe in the messages that God's prophets have written in the Bible. ¹⁵ I also trust God like these men do. Like them, I believe that people will become alive again after death. God will do this for all people, both good people and bad people. ¹⁶ Because of that, I always try to do what is right. I do not want to do anything bad against God or against other people.

¹⁷ I had not been to Jerusalem for several years. Now I returned there with a gift of some money. I brought it to give to poor people who are Jews, like me. I also wanted to offer sacrifices to God. ¹⁸ I was doing this in the yard of the temple when these men found me. I had obeyed all the rules to make myself clean in front of God. There was no crowd with me. Nobody was arguing or fighting because of me. ¹⁹ But there were some Jews there who had come from Asia. They are the people who caused the trouble. Maybe they have something bad to say against me. They themselves should come here to speak to you about it. ²⁰ Or these men here should tell you what wrong thing I have done. I stood in front of the meeting of the Jewish leaders and they asked me questions. ²¹ When I stood there, I shouted, “I believe that dead people will rise and they will live again. That is the reason why you are judging me today.” They may think that is a wrong thing that I did.’

²² Felix knew much about the Way of the Lord Jesus. He now said that the meeting had finished. He said to Paul, ‘Soon Lysias, the leader of the soldiers, will arrive here. Then I will decide what to do with you.’ ²³ He said to the officer who was holding Paul, ‘Continue to guard this man carefully. But his friends can come and see him. They can help him and they can bring things for him.’

Felix and Drusilla listen to Paul

²⁴ After some days, Felix came with Drusilla, his Jewish wife. He told his soldiers to bring Paul to them. Paul talked to them, and they listened to everything that he said. Paul spoke about how people believed in Jesus, the Messiah. ²⁵ Paul continued to speak for some time. He said, ‘People need to do what is right. They need to stop themselves doing wrong things. One day, God will judge people for how they have lived.’

While Paul talked about these things, Felix became afraid. He said to Paul, ‘You can leave us now. At some time I may want to listen to you again. Then I will ask you to come to me again.’ ²⁶ But Felix also hoped that Paul would give him some money.^[c] For that reason he often met with Paul and they talked together.

²⁷ This happened for two years. Felix left Paul in the prison, because he wanted to make the Jewish leaders happy. Then Porcius Festus became the ruler instead of Felix.