M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Parashat Chayei Sarah
Abraham Purchases Machpelah
23 Now Sarah’s life was 127 years—the years of Sarah’s life. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.
3 Then Abraham rose from before his dead one and spoke to the sons of Heth saying, 4 “I am an outsider and a sojourner among you. Give me a gravesite among you so that I may bury my dead from before my presence.”
5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our graves. None among us will withhold his grave from you, to bury your dead one.”
7 Then Abraham got up and bowed down to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth, 8 and spoke with them saying, “If you are of a mind to let me bury my dead from before my presence, listen to me. Plead with Ephron son of Zophar on my behalf, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him, that is at the end of his field. At the full price let him give it to me in your midst for a gravesite.”
10 Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the ears of the sons of Heth, all those who enter the gate of his city, saying, 11 “No, my lord, listen to me. The field—I hereby give it to you. Also the cave that is in it—I hereby give it to you. In the eyes of the sons of my people, I hereby give it to you. Bury your dead one.”
12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land, 13 and spoke to Ephron in the ears of the people of the land saying, “But if only you would please listen to me. I hereby give the price of the field. Accept it from me that I may bury my dead one there.”
14 So Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me. A land worth 400 shekels of silver—what is that between me and you? Bury your dead one.”
16 Abraham heard Ephron. So Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had spoken of in the ears of the sons of Heth—400 shekels of silver at the merchant’s rate. 17 Now Ephron’s field that is in Machpelah next to Mamre—the field and the cave that is in it, and all the trees that are in the field in all its surrounding territory—was handed over 18 to Abraham as a purchased possession in the eyes of the sons of Heth, before all those who enter the gate of his city.
19 Afterward, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave that was in it were handed over to Abraham as a gravesite from the sons of Heth.
Invitation to the Wedding Feast
22 Yeshua answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who made a wedding feast for his son. 3 He sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they wouldn’t come. 4 Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who were invited, “Look, I’ve prepared my meal. My oxen and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast!”’
5 “But paying no attention, they went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest grabbed his servants, humiliated them, and killed them. 7 Now the king became furious! Sending his troops, he destroyed those murderers and set fire to their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. 9 So go into the highways and byways, and invite everyone you find to the wedding feast.’ 10 And those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look over the guests, he saw a man there who wasn’t dressed in wedding clothes. 12 ‘Friend,’ he said to him, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was silent. 13 Then the king said to his servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”
A Trap about Paying Taxes
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might trap Him with a word. 16 And they sent to Him some of their disciples, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are honest and teach the way of God in truth. And what others think doesn’t concern You, for You do not look at men’s appearance. 17 Tell us therefore, what do You think? Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
18 But Yeshua, knowing their wickedness, said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the tax money.”
So they brought Him a denarius.
20 And He said to them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they said to Him.
Then He said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 22 And hearing this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.
Religious Leaders Ask a Tricky Question
23 On that day, Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Yeshua and questioned Him, saying, 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If someone dies having no children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his widow and father children for his brother.’ [a] 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died; and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26 In the same way also the second, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 So in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”
29 But answering, Yeshua said to them, “You’ve gone astray, because you don’t understand the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven’t you read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living!” [b] 33 When the crowds heard this, they were astounded at His teaching.
The Greatest Mitzvot
34 But the Pharisees, when they heard that Yeshua had silenced the Sadducees, gathered together in one place. 35 And testing Him, one of them, a lawyer, asked, 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Torah?”
37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ [c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ [d] 40 The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Yeshua Overturns the Arguments
41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Yeshua asked them a question, 42 saying, “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose Son is He?”[e]
“David’s,” they say to Him.
43 “Then how is it,” He says to them, “that David by the Ruach calls him ‘Lord’?
44 For he says, ‘Adonai said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’[f]
45 If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to answer Him a word. Nor did anyone dare from that day on to question Him any longer.
Identifying the Kohanim and Levites
12 Now these are the kohanim and the Levites who returned with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, 2 Amariah, Malluch, Hattush, 3 Shecaniah, Rehum, Meremot, 4 Iddo, Ginnethoi, Abijah, 5 Mijamin, Maadiah, Bilgah, 6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah, 7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah. These were the leaders of the kohanim and their brothers in the days of Jeshua.
8 The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and also Mattaniah—he and his brothers conducted the songs of praise— 9 and Bakbukiah and Unni, their brothers, were opposite them in ranks. 10 Jeshua fathered Joiakim, Joiakim fathered Eliashib, Eliashib fathered Joiada, 11 Joiada fathered Jonathan, and Jonathan fathered Jaddua.
12 In the days of Joiakim, the family leaders of the kohanim were: Meraiah for Seraiah, Hananiah for Jeremiah, 13 Meshullam for Ezra, Jehohanan for Amariah, 14 Jonathan for Melicu, Joseph for Shebaniah, 15 Adna for Harim, Helkai for Meraiot, 16 Zechariah for Iddo, Meshullam for Ginnethon, 17 Zichri for Abijah, Piltai for Miniamin and Moadiah, 18 Shammua for Bilgah, Jehonathan for Shemaiah, 19 Mattenai for Joiarib, Uzzi for Jedaiah, 20 Kallai for Sallai, Eber for Amok, 21 Hashabiah for Hilkiah, and Nethanel for Jedaiah.
22 The family heads of the Levites were recorded in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, and Johanan, and Jaddua, as well as for the kohanim, up until the reign of Darius the Persian. 23 The family leaders among the sons of Levi were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib.
24 So the leaders of the Levites were: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, with their brothers facing them, to give praise and thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, one section responding to the other. 25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers guarding the storehouses at the gates. 26 These served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, son of Jozadak, in the days of Nehemiah the governor, and of Ezra the kohen-scribe.
Dedicating the Wall
27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out Levites from all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with joy and thanksgiving, and songs with cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The companies of singers were also assembled from the district around Jerusalem and from the Netophathite villages, 29 and from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmavet, for the singers had built communities for themselves round about Jerusalem.
30 After the kohanim and the Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall. 31 Then I led the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great choirs to give thanks. One of the processions went to the right on the wall toward the Dung Gate, 32 and going after them, Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah— 33 Azariah, Ezra, and Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah and Jeremiah, 35 some of the kohanim with trumpets, Zechariah son of Jonathan, son of Shemaiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micaiah, son of Zaccur, son of Asaph, 36 and his brothers, Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—all with the musical instruments of David the man of God—and Ezra the scribe was ahead of them. 37 They went over the Fountain Gate and continued up the stairs of the city of David at the ascent to the wall, and passed, above the house of David all the way to the Water Gate toward the east.
38 The second thanksgiving choir proceeded to the left. I followed them, along with half of the people on the wall above the Tower of the Furnaces as far as the Broad Wall, 39 over the Ephraim Gate, the gate of the old city, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped at the Gate of the Guard.
40 So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the House of God. 41 So did I along with half the officials with me, and the kohanim—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah with their trumpets— 42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam and Ezer. The singers sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. 43 On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The joy in Jerusalem could be heard from far off.
44 On that day men were appointed over the storehouses for the offerings, firstfruits and tithes. They were to gather into them the portions from the fields of the cities required by the Torah for the kohanim and the Levites. For Judah delighted in the kohanim and in the Levites who were ministering. 45 They kept the ceremonial functions of their God and the ceremony of the purification according to the command of David and of Solomon his son. 46 For of old, in the days of David and Asaph, there were leaders of the singers who sang songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel gave daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers. They also set apart the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the portion for the sons of Aaron.
Paul’s Testimony on the Temple Stairs
22 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense which I now present to you.” 2 When they heard that Paul was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet. Then he said, 3 “I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, trained strictly according to the Torah of our fathers, being zealous for God just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prisons— 5 as the kohen gadol and all the council of elders can testify about me. I also received letters from them to the brothers, and I went to Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem even those who were there in chains—to be punished.
6 “But it happened that as I was traveling and drawing near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly flashed all around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’
8 “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“He said to me, ‘I am Yeshua ha-Natzrati, whom you are persecuting.’
9 “Now those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’
“And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up, and go to Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’
11 “But since I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus. 12 Then a certain Ananias—a devout man according to the Torah, well spoken of by all the Jewish people living there— 13 came to me. Standing before me, he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, look up!’ In that very moment, I looked and saw him!
14 “And he said, ‘The God of our fathers handpicked you to know His will—to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why are you waiting? Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on His Name.’
17 “It happened that when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance; 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’
19 “And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another, I was imprisoning and beating those trusting in You. 20 Even when the blood of Your witness Stephen was spilled, I too was standing by and approving, and guarding the clothing of those who were killing him.’
21 “And he said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 Up to this statement they listened to him. Then they raised their voices, saying, “Away from the earth with this fellow! For he’s not fit to live!”
The Romans Intervene
23 As they were crying out and flinging off their cloaks and throwing dust into the air, [a] 24 the commander ordered Paul to be brought into headquarters. He said Paul should be examined by lashing, so that he might find out why they were shouting against him so. 25 But when they stretched him out with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen without due process?”
26 Now when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is Roman.”
27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you Roman?”
And he said, “Yes.”
28 The commander answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.”
Paul said, “But I was born so.”
29 Therefore, those who were about to interrogate him instantly drew back from him. And the commander also was afraid when he found out that Paul was a Roman and that he had bound him.
Delivered to the Council
30 But on the next day, desiring to know exactly why Paul had been accused by the Judeans, he released him and commanded the ruling kohanim and all the Sanhedrin to meet together. And he brought Paul and set him before them.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.