M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Deborah
4 After Ehud died, the Israelites again did things that the Lord saw were evil. 2 So the Lord put them under the power of King Jabin. He was a Canaanite king who ruled in Hazor.[a] The leader of Jabin's army was called Sisera. Sisera lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 He had 900 iron chariots for his army. He used his power to be cruel to the Israelites for 20 years. So they called out to the Lord for help.
4 At that time, Lappidoth's wife Deborah was leading the Israelites. She was a prophetess. 5 She would sit under a palm tree between Ramah and Bethel to judge people's problems. That was in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites would come to her when they had arguments. She would decide who was right.
6 One day, Deborah told Abinoam's son Barak to come to her. He lived in Kedesh, a town in Naphtali. She said to Barak, ‘The Lord, Israel's God, has given you this command: “March to Mount Tabor with 10,000 men who belong to the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun.[b] 7 I will deceive Sisera, the leader of King Jabin's army. He will go to the Kishon river with his great army and all their chariots. I will put them all under your power.” ’
8 Barak said to Deborah, ‘I will go if you will come with me. But if you do not agree to go, I will not go either.’ 9 Deborah said, ‘Yes, I will go with you. But you will not receive honour for the battle. Instead, the Lord will put Sisera under the power of a woman.’
So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak told the men from Zebulun and Naphtali to go with him to Kedesh. 10,000 men came to follow him. Deborah also went with him.
11 A certain Kenite man called Heber, did not live with the other Kenites. They were descendants of Hobab, the father of Moses' wife. Heber was living in a tent beside the big tree in Zaanannim, near Kedesh.
12 Sisera heard news that Abinoam's son Barak had gone up to Mount Tabor. 13 So he gave a command to all his soldiers. He told them to go with him from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon river. They had 900 iron chariots. 14 Then Deborah said to Barak, ‘Get ready! This is the day that the Lord will put Sisera under your power! The Lord will lead you into battle!’
So Barak led his 10,000 soldiers down from Mount Tabor. 15 When they started to attack, the Lord caused Sisera and all his army with their chariots to have great trouble. The Israelites chased them with their swords. Sisera jumped off his chariot and he ran away. 16 Barak and his soldiers chased after Sisera's army and their chariots. They chased them to Harosheth Haggoyim. They killed Sisera's whole army. Not one of their soldiers was still alive!
17 Sisera himself ran to hide in the tent of Heber's wife, Jael. He did that because King Jabin of Hazor had agreed to be friends with Heber's family. 18 Jael came out of her tent to say ‘hello’ to Sisera. She said to him, ‘Please come into my tent, sir. You can rest safely here. Do not be afraid.’ So Sisera went into her tent to rest. Jael put a cloth over him. 19 Sisera said to her, ‘I am thirsty. Please give me some water to drink.’ She gave him some milk from a leather bottle. Then she covered him again with the cloth. 20 Sisera said to her, ‘Stand at the door of your tent and watch. If someone comes to ask if anyone is here, say, “No.” ’
21 But Heber's wife Jael got a tent peg and a hammer.[c] Sisera was very tired and he was asleep. Jael used the hammer to hit the peg into the side of Sisera's head. The peg went through his head into the ground. Sisera died. 22 Barak had been chasing Sisera. Jael went out of her tent to say ‘hello’ to him. She said to Barak, ‘Come here! I will show you the man that you are looking for.’ Barak went with her into the tent. He saw Sisera there. He was lying on the ground and he was dead. Barak saw the peg that had gone through Sisera's head.
23 On that day, God caused King Jabin of Canaan to be very ashamed because the Israelites had won against his army. 24 From that time, the Israelite army became stronger, and King Jabin became weaker. Finally, the Israelites destroyed him.
8 Saul was standing there while the Jewish leaders killed Stephen. He agreed with what they did.
Saul puts many believers in prison
On the same day that Stephen died, the group of believers who lived in Jerusalem began to have great trouble. People did bad things to them. All the believers left Jerusalem and went to other places in Judea and Samaria. Only Jesus' 12 apostles stayed in Jerusalem.
2 Some good men who loved God buried Stephen's dead body. They were very sad and they cried with loud voices. 3 But Saul brought great trouble to the believers. He wanted to destroy their whole group. So he went to all their houses. He took hold of the believers and he put them into prison. He did that to both men and women.
People in Samaria hear God's good news
4 The believers who had left Jerusalem went to many different towns. In each place, they told the people the message about Jesus. 5 One of them who was called Philip went to a city in Samaria. There he told the people the message about Jesus Christ, God's Messiah.
6 Crowds of people came together to hear Philip speak. They saw him do many miracles which showed that God was with him. So they listened carefully to his message.[a] 7 Many people there had bad spirits, which were living in them. Philip sent the bad spirits out of those people. As the spirits came out, they shouted loudly. Some other people had weak arms or legs, and some people could not walk well. Philip caused many of them to become well again. 8 As a result, the people in that city were very happy.
9 A man called Simon lived in that city. For a long time, he had used magic to do great things. All the people who lived in Samaria were very surprised at what he did. Simon told everyone that he was a very important person. 10 All the people in the city watched Simon carefully. This included the people who were important and all the other people too. Everyone said, ‘This man has great power that comes from God.’ 11 Simon had used his magic for a long time and he had surprised them all very much. Because of that, they listened to him carefully. 12 But then Philip told them the good news about the kingdom of God. He told them the message about God's Messiah, Jesus. Many men and women believed Philip's message, so he baptized them. 13 Simon also believed and Philip baptized him too. After this, Simon stayed near to Philip. He was very surprised at the powerful miracles which Philip did.
14 The apostles who were in Jerusalem heard about all this. They heard that many people in Samaria had believed God's word. So they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When these two apostles arrived in Samaria, they prayed for the people who now believed in Jesus. They asked God to give the new believers the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come to any of these people. When Philip had baptized them, he had just used the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 So Peter and John put their hands on the head of each believer, and they each received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that God gave the Holy Spirit to people when the apostles put their hands on them. So he said to Peter and John, ‘Here is some money for you. 19 Please give me this same power. I want to put my hands on other people, so that they will receive the Holy Spirit.’
20 Peter answered Simon, ‘I pray that God will destroy you and your money! You think that you can buy this gift with your money! It is very wrong for you to think that. It is God who gives that gift. 21 You cannot do the work which we are doing. God knows that you are not thinking the right things. 22 You must turn away from those very bad thoughts. Turn to the Lord and pray that he will forgive you. Then perhaps he will forgive you for these bad thoughts. 23 You are very upset because you are jealous. I can see that sin rules your life.’
24 Then Simon said to Peter and John, ‘Please, pray to the Lord God for me. Then none of these bad things that you have spoken about will happen to me.’
25 Peter and John told the people about the Lord Jesus and they spoke God's message to them. Then they returned to Jerusalem. On their way, they went through many villages in Samaria and they told the people the good news about Jesus.
Philip meets a man from Ethiopia
26 Then an angel of the Lord God came to Philip. He said, ‘Philip, go south to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza which goes through the wilderness.’[b]
27 So Philip started on his journey. While he was going along this road, he met an important officer from Ethiopia. This man had authority over the queen of Ethiopia's money. The queen was called Candace. The officer was travelling home from Jerusalem. He had been there to worship God.[c]
28 Now the man was travelling home again in his chariot. He was reading something from the book that God's prophet Isaiah wrote. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and walk beside it.’
30 So Philip ran to the cart as it went along. The officer was reading aloud from the prophet Isaiah's book and Philip heard him. So Philip asked the man, ‘Do you understand the things that you are reading about?’
31 The man answered, ‘I cannot understand it. I need someone to explain it to me.’ Then he said to Philip, ‘Come up here and sit with me in the cart.’
32 The officer was reading these words from the book of Isaiah:
‘He was like a sheep that people were leading away to kill.
He was like a lamb when they are cutting off its wool,
but it makes no noise.
In the same way, he did not say anything.
33 People did not respect him at all.
They refused to judge him in a fair way.
Nobody can say anything about his descendants,
because his life on earth came to an end.’[d]
34 The officer said to Philip, ‘Please tell me who the prophet Isaiah wrote about. Was he writing about himself or about another person?’ 35 Then Philip explained to the man the words that Isaiah had written. Then he went on to tell him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were travelling along the road, they came to a place with some water. The man said to Philip, ‘Look! There is some water here. Please will you baptize me? Is there anything to stop you?’
[37 Philip said to him, ‘I can baptize you if you really believe in Jesus.’ The man said to Philip, ‘I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’][e]
38 The officer said to the man who was driving the chariot, ‘Stop the chariot!’ Then he went down with Philip into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 They both came up out of the water again. Immediately the Lord's Holy Spirit took Philip away from that place. The officer did not see Philip again. He continued his journey and he was very happy.
40 Philip saw that he was now in Azotus.[f] From there, he visited many towns and he told people the good news about Jesus. He did this as he went all the way to Caesarea.[g]
17 ‘The people of Judah love to do bad things.[a]
Their sins are deep inside them.
It is like they are written on their hearts
and on the horns of their altars.
They are written with an iron pen.
Nobody can remove the list of their sins.
2 Even their children always think about their altars
where they worship false gods.
They have put up their Asherah poles
under the big trees and on the high hills.
3 They also worship their false gods
on the mountains and in the fields.
So I will cause enemies to take all your valuable things.
They will take your riches for themselves.
That will be the price that you pay for your sins.
You have done evil things everywhere in the land.
4 I gave you this land to be your home for ever.
But it will no longer belong to you.
Your enemies will take you to a land that you do not know.
You will be their slaves.
You have made me very angry,
like a fire that nobody can stop.’
Trust in the Lord
5 The Lord says,
‘I will curse those who only trust people to help them.
They think that human strength will save them,
and they turn away from me, the Lord.
6 They will be like a bush that grows in the desert.
It grows in a place where nobody can live.
The ground is very dry and is spoiled by salt.
Even when good times come,
those people will not receive any good thing.
7 The Lord blesses people who trust in him.
They know that the Lord will help them.
8 They will be like trees that grow beside a river.
Their roots reach into the water.
When the sun is hot, they are not afraid.
Their leaves continue to be green.
They give fruit each year,
even when there is no rain.
9 A person's own mind deceives him,
more than anything else does.
Nobody can change it to be better.
Nobody completely understands it.
10 But I, the Lord, look inside a person's mind.
I see what he thinks and what he feels.
I see how everyone lives,
and I see the things that they do.
I give to each one what he deserves.
11 Someone may get rich because he cheats other people.
He is like a bird that sits on eggs
that it has taken from another nest.
He will lose his riches before he is old.
At the end of his life, he will die as a fool.’
Jeremiah's prayer
12 Lord, your beautiful throne is high above.
You have ruled there from the beginning.
That is where we worship you.[b]
13 You are the one that the Israelites hope in.
Everyone who turns away from you will be ashamed.
They will disappear,
as if their names are written in the dust.
Lord, you give life to your people,
like a spring of fresh water.
But they have turned against you.
14 Lord, please make me well again.
Then I will be completely well.
Rescue me so that I am completely safe.
You are the one that I praise!
15 People are asking me questions.
They say, ‘Nothing has happened to us yet!
When will the Lord's message become true?’
16 Lord, I have not stopped taking care of your people.
I have never asked you to destroy them on one final day.
You know that,
and you know everything that I have said.
17 Please do not make me afraid!
When I am in trouble,
I run to you to be safe.
18 Please bring shame on those who want to hurt me.
Do not make me ashamed.
Make those people afraid,
but do not make me afraid.
Destroy them with a time of great trouble.
Punish them completely!
Rules for Sabbath days
19 The Lord said to me, ‘Go and stand at the gate of the city that is called “The People's Gate”. That is the gate that the kings of Judah use to go in and out of the city. Then go and stand at the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Stand in those places and say, “Listen, you kings of Judah, everyone who lives in Jerusalem and all the people of Judah. Hear this message from the Lord. 21 This is what the Lord says:
Be careful to obey these rules if you want to continue to live! On a Sabbath day, do not carry any loads in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not carry any loads out of your houses. Do not do any work on a Sabbath day. You must keep the Sabbath day as a special day for me. That is what I commanded your ancestors to do.[c] 23 But they did not listen to me and they did not obey me. They refused to accept the rules that I gave to them. When I warned them, they would not change.”
24 The Lord says, “But you must be careful to obey me. Do not carry any loads through the gates of this city on a Sabbath day. You must keep the Sabbath day as a special day for me. Do not do any work on a Sabbath day. 25 If you obey me, kings from David's family will continue to rule. Kings and their officers will pass through these gates, together with the people of Jerusalem and all Judah. They will ride on horses and in chariots. Many people will always live in this city. 26 People will come here from everywhere in Judah. They will bring offerings to the Lord's temple. They will come from Judah's towns and from the villages around Jerusalem. They will come from the land that belongs to Benjamin's tribe. They will come from the low hills in the west and from the hill country and the wilderness in the south. They will bring burnt offerings, grain offerings, other sacrifices and incense. They will offer sacrifices to the Lord to thank him.
27 But you must remember to obey me. You must keep the Sabbath day as a special day for me. You must not carry any loads in through Jerusalem's gates on a Sabbath day. If you do not obey this rule, I will burn Jerusalem's gates with fire. The fire will destroy all the strong buildings in Jerusalem. Nobody will be able to stop that fire.” ’
Jesus makes a man well
3 Another time, Jesus went into the Jewish meeting place. A man was there. His hand was very small and weak, so he could not use it. 2 Some Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully. They wanted to find a reason to say that Jesus was doing wrong things. It was the Jewish day of rest. So the Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would make the man well on this day. 3 Jesus said to the man, ‘Stand here in front of everyone.’
4 Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘Is it right for us to do good things on our day of rest? Or should we do bad things? Should we save a person's life? Or should we kill people?’
Nobody said anything.
5 Jesus looked round at everybody. He felt angry with them. He also felt sad because they did not want to learn. Then he said to the man, ‘Lift up your hand.’ The man lifted his hand and it became well. He could use it again. 6 The Pharisees left the meeting place immediately. They went to meet with some other people who were friends with the ruler, Herod.[a] The Pharisees talked with them about how they could kill Jesus.
Crowds follow Jesus
7 Jesus left that place and he went away to Lake Galilee with his disciples. A large crowd of people from Galilee followed them. 8 Many people also came to him from Judea, from Jerusalem and from a region of Israel called Idumea. They also came from places on the other side of the Jordan River, and from the towns called Tyre and Sidon. Many people had heard about the things that Jesus was doing. That is why all these people came to him. 9 The crowd was very large. So Jesus asked his disciples to prepare a small boat for him. They did this so that the people would not push against him. 10 Sick people were pushing to the front, because they were trying to touch him. They knew that he had made many people well. 11 Often, a person with a bad spirit saw Jesus. Then, the spirit caused the person to fall down on the ground in front of Jesus. The spirit caused that person to shout out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ 12 Jesus often had to say to the bad spirits, ‘You must not tell anyone who I am.’
Jesus chooses 12 apostles
13 Jesus went up a mountain. He chose some men and he asked them to go there with him. So they met together with him there. 14 He chose a group of 12 men. He called them his apostles.[b] He wanted them to be with him. And he would send them to teach people about God. 15 He gave these men authority to cause bad spirits to leave people. 16 These are the names of the 12 apostles:
Simon, (Jesus called him Peter).
17 James and John who were the sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them ‘Boanerges’. It means ‘men who are like thunder’.
18 Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,[c]
Thomas,
James, who was the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,[d]
Simon the Zealot
19 and Judas Iscariot, who later gave Jesus to his enemies.
Jesus talks about Satan
20 Then Jesus went into a house. A crowd of people came together there again. There were so many people that Jesus and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 People told his family what was happening. So they went to take him away with them. They thought that Jesus was crazy.[e]
22 Some teachers of God's Law came from Jerusalem. They said, ‘Jesus has a bad spirit called Beelzebul in him. That is Satan, the one who rules all the bad spirits. This man can send bad spirits out of people because Satan gives him authority.’[f]
23 So Jesus spoke to the teachers of God's Law. He said, ‘Come here and listen to me.’ He used stories to explain to them, ‘Satan would not fight against himself! 24 If armies in the same country start to fight each other, then they will destroy their own country. 25 And if the people in one family start to fight against each other, they will destroy their own family. 26 So Satan would not attack himself. If he did that, he would destroy his own power. That would be the end of him. 27 Nobody can easily go into the house of a strong man to rob him. To do that, he must first tie up the strong man. Then he can take away all that man's valuable things. 28 I tell you this: God can forgive all the wrong things that people do. He can also forgive people who say bad things against him. 29 But God will never forgive people who say bad things against the Holy Spirit. Those people will always be guilty of a terrible sin.’
30 Jesus said that to the teachers of God's Law, because they had said, ‘Jesus has a bad spirit in him.’
Jesus' mother and his brothers come to look for him
31 Then, Jesus' mother and his brothers arrived and they stood outside the house. They sent someone into the house with a message. They wanted Jesus to come out to speak to them. 32 A crowd of people was sitting around Jesus. Somebody said to him, ‘Look! Your mother and brothers are outside. They are looking for you.’
33 Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers really are.’
34 Then he looked at the people who were sitting around him. He said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 My brothers and sisters and my mother are the people who do what God wants.’[g]
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