M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Call of Abram

12 The Lord said to Abram:

⁴ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.^{(G) 5} He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, ⁶ Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem,^(H) at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.”^(I) So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. ⁸ From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and he called on the name of Yahweh.^{(J) 9} Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

Abram in Egypt

¹⁰ There was a famine in the land,^(K) so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. ¹¹ When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. ¹² When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live.^{(L) 13} Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” ¹⁴ When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. ¹⁶ He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.^{(M) 18} So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” ²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.

In Praise of John the Baptist

11 When Jesus had finished giving orders to His 12 disciples, He moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.^{(A) 2} When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples^{(B) 3} and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”^(C)

⁴ Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed,^[a] the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news.^{(D) 6} And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.”^(E)

⁷ As these men went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?^{(F) 8} What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Look, those who wear soft clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.^{(G) 10} This is the one it is written about:

¹¹ “I assure you: Among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared,^[d] but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence,^[e] and the violent have been seizing it by force. ¹³ For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John; ¹⁴ if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.^{(I) 15} Anyone who has ears^[f] should listen!^(J)

An Unresponsive Generation

¹⁶ “To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to each other:

¹⁸ For John did not come eating or drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’^{(K) 19} The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard,^(L) a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’^(M) Yet wisdom is vindicated^[h] by her deeds.”^[i]

²⁰ Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent: ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin!^(N) Woe to you, Bethsaida!^(O) For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,^(P) they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago! ²² But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment^(Q) than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades.^(R) For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. ²⁴ But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

The Son Gives Knowledge and Rest

²⁵ At that time Jesus said,^(S) “I praise^[j] You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants.^{(T) 26} Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure.^{[k] 27} All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows^[l] the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires^[m] to reveal Him.^(U)

²⁸ “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.^{(V) 29} All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me,^(W) because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.^{(X) 30} For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

1 The words of Nehemiah^(A) son of Hacaliah:

News from Jerusalem

During the month of Chislev^[a](B) in the twentieth year,^[b](C) when I was in the fortress city of Susa,^{(D) 2} Hanani,^(E) one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah, and I questioned them about Jerusalem and the Jewish remnant^(F) that had survived the exile.^{(G) 3} They said to me, “The remnant in the province,^(H) who survived the exile, are in great trouble and disgrace. Jerusalem’s wall has been broken down, and its gates have been burned down.”^(I)

Nehemiah’s Prayer

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept. I mourned for a number of days, fasting and praying^(J) before the God of heaven.^{(K) 5} I said,^(L)

At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.^(Y)

Gentile Salvation Defended

11 The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had welcomed God’s message also. ² When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who stressed circumcision^[a] argued with him,^{(A) 3} saying, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them!”^(B)

⁴ Peter began to explain to them in an orderly sequence, saying: ⁵ “I^(C) was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a visionary state, an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came to me. ⁶ When I looked closely and considered it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. ⁷ Then I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat!’

⁸ “‘No, Lord!’ I said. ‘For nothing common or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ ⁹ But a voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call common.’

¹⁰ “Now this happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were. ¹² Then the Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all. These six brothers accompanied me, and we went into the man’s house.^{(D) 13} He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send^[b] to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. ¹⁴ He will speak a message^[c] to you that you and all your household^(E) will be saved by.’

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning.^{(F) 16} Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’^{(G) 17} Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?”^(H)

¹⁸ When they heard this they became silent. Then they glorified God, saying, “So God has granted repentance resulting in life^[d] even to the Gentiles!”^(I)

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹ Those who had been scattered as a result of the persecution that started because of Stephen made their way as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch,^(J) speaking the message to no one except Jews. ²⁰ But there were some of them, Cypriot and Cyrenian men, who came to Antioch and began speaking to the Hellenists,^[e][f] proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.^{(K) 21} The Lord’s hand was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord.^{(L) 22} Then the report about them was heard by the church that was at Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas to travel^[g] as far as Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged all of them to remain true to the Lord with a firm resolve of the heart,^{(M) 24} for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit^(N) and of faith. And large numbers of people were added^(O) to the Lord. ²⁵ Then he^[h] went to Tarsus to search for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples^(P) were first called Christians at Antioch.^(Q)

Famine Relief

²⁷ In those days some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.^{(R) 28} Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a severe famine throughout the Roman world.^[i] This took place during the time of Claudius.^{[j](S) 29} So each of the disciples, according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea.^{(T) 30} They did this, sending it to the elders^(U) by means of Barnabas and Saul.