M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Covenant Circumcision
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty.(A) Live[a] in my presence and be blameless.(B) 2 I will set up my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram;[b] your name will be Abraham,[c] for I will make you the father of many nations.(C) 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will confirm my covenant that is between me and you and your future offspring throughout their generations. It is a permanent covenant(D) to be your God and the God of your offspring after you.(E) 8 And to you and your future offspring[d](F) I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession,(G) and I will be their God.”
9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep my covenant. 10 This is my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you, which you are to keep: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.[e](H) 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you is to be circumcised(I) at eight days old—every male born in your household or purchased from any foreigner and not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or purchased, he must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as a permanent covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah[f] will be her name. 16 I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her.(J) I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed(K) and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable[g] to you!”
19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.[h] I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders,(L) and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”(M) 22 When he finished talking with him, God withdrew[i] from Abraham.(N)
23 So Abraham took his son Ishmael and those born in his household or purchased—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26 On that very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his household—whether born in his household or purchased from a foreigner—were circumcised with him.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees approached,(A) and tested him, asking him to show them a sign from heaven.(B) 2 He replied, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You[a] know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times.[b] 4 An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of[c] Jonah.”(C) Then he left them and went away.
5 The disciples reached the other shore,[d] and they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven[e] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”(D)
7 They were discussing among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith,(E) why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? 9 Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you collected?(F) 11 Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?”(G) 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to beware of the leaven in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.(H)
Peter’s Confession of the Messiah
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi,[f](I) he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”[g]
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”(J)
15 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”(K)
17 Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,[h](L) because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.(M) 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,(N) and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,(O) and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound[i] in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed[j] in heaven.” 20 Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was[k] the Messiah.(P)
His Death and Resurrection Predicted
21 From(Q) then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.(R) 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no,[l] Lord! This will never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns[m] but human concerns.”(S)
Take Up Your Cross
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.(T) 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.(U) 26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?(V) 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father,(W) and then he will reward each according to what he has done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”(X)
Attempts to Discourage the Builders
6 When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies(A) heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it(B)—though at that time I had not installed the doors in the city gates(C)— 2 Sanballat and Geshem(D) sent me a message: “Come, let’s meet together in the villages of[a] the Ono Valley.”(E) They were planning to harm me.
3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing important work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” 4 Four times they sent me the same proposal, and I gave them the same reply.
5 Sanballat(F) sent me this same message a fifth time by his aide, who had an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written:
It is reported among the nations—and Geshem[b](G) agrees—that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king 7 and have even set up the prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf, “There is a king in Judah.”(H) These rumors will be heard by the king. So come, let’s confer together.
8 Then I replied to him, “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”(I) 9 For they were all trying to intimidate(J) us, saying, “They will drop their hands from[c] the work,(K) and it will never be finished.”
But now, my God, strengthen my hands.(L)
Attempts to Intimidate Nehemiah
10 I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was restricted to his house. He said:
Let’s meet at the house of God,
inside the temple.
Let’s shut the temple doors
because they’re coming to kill you.
They’re coming to kill you tonight![d]
11 But I said, “Should a man like me run away? How can someone like me enter the temple and live?(M) I will not go.” 12 I realized that God had not sent him, because of the prophecy he spoke against me. Tobiah and Sanballat(N) had hired him. 13 He was hired, so that I would be intimidated,(O) do as he suggested, sin, and get a bad reputation, in order that they could discredit me.
14 My God, remember(P) Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also the prophetess Noadiah(Q) and the other prophets who wanted to intimidate me.
The Wall Completed
15 The wall was completed(R) in fifty-two days, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul.(S) 16 When all our enemies(T) heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated(U) and lost their confidence,[e] for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.(V)
17 During those days, the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah,(W) and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath(X) to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam(Y) son of Berechiah. 19 These nobles kept mentioning Tobiah’s good deeds to me, and they reported my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to intimidate(Z) me.
Paul Selects Timothy
16 Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy,(A) the son of a believing Jewish woman,(B) but his father was a Greek. 2 The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him.(C) 3 Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised(D) him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe.(E) 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.(F)
Evangelization of Europe
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.(G) 7 When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus(H) did not allow them. 8 Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas.(I) 9 During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” (J) 10 After(K) he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion
11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi,(L) a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. 14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.(M) 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.”(N) And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.(O) She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you[a] a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” 18 She did this for many days.
Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.(P)
19 When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas(Q) and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 20 Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews 21 and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”(R) 22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.(S) 23 After they had severely flogged them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to guard them carefully. 24 Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.(T)
A Midnight Deliverance
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.(U) 27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (V)
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”(W) 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. 33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. 34 He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.(X)
An Official Apology
35 When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, “Release those men.”
36 The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace.”(Y)
37 But Paul said to them, “They beat us in public without a trial, although we are Roman citizens, and threw us in jail. And now are they going to send us away secretly? Certainly not! On the contrary, let them come themselves and escort us out.”(Z)
38 The police reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. 39 So they came to appease them, and escorting them from prison, they urged them to leave town. 40 After leaving the jail, they came to Lydia’s house, where they saw and encouraged the brothers and sisters, and departed.(AA)
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