◀ All Reading Plans / M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan / Family: Deuteronomy 26; Psalms 117–118. Secret: Isaiah 53; Matthew 1. (New American Bible (Revised Edition))

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M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The classic M'Cheyne plan--read the Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms or Gospels every day.

Duration: 365 days

Deuteronomy 26

Chapter 26

Thanksgiving for the Harvest. ¹^(A)When you have come into the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage, and have taken possession and settled in it, ²you shall take some first fruits^(B) of the various products of the soil which you harvest from the land the Lord, your God, is giving you; put them in a basket and go to the place which the Lord, your God, will choose as the dwelling place for his name. ³There you shall go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “Today I acknowledge to the Lord, my God, that I have indeed come into the land which the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.”^(C) ⁴The priest shall then take the basket from your hands and set it in front of the altar of the Lord, your God. ⁵Then you shall declare in the presence of the Lord, your God, “My father was a refugee Aramean^[a] who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as a resident alien.^(D) But there he became a nation great, strong and numerous. ⁶^(E)When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us, imposing harsh servitude upon us, ⁷we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression. ⁸Then the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders,^(F) ⁹and brought us to this place, and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.^(G) ¹⁰Now, therefore, I have brought the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, Lord, have given me.” You shall set them before the Lord, your God, and you shall bow down before the Lord, your God. ¹¹Then you and your household, together with the Levite and the resident aliens who live among you, shall celebrate with all these good things which the Lord, your God, has given you.^(H)

Declaration Concerning Tithes. ¹²When you have finished setting aside all the tithes of your produce in the third year,^(I) the year of the tithes, and have given them to the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan and the widow, that they may eat and be satisfied in your own communities, ¹³you shall declare before the Lord, your God, “I have purged my house of the sacred portion and I have given it to the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan and the widow, just as you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor forgotten any. ¹⁴^[b]I have not eaten any of the tithe while in mourning; I have not brought any of it while unclean; I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have thus obeyed the voice of the Lord, my God, and done just as you have commanded me.^(J) ¹⁵Look down, then, from heaven, your holy abode, and bless your people Israel and the fields you have given us, as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”^(K)

The Covenant. ¹⁶^(L)This day the Lord, your God, is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances. Be careful, then, to observe them with your whole heart and with your whole being. ¹⁷Today you have accepted the Lord’s agreement: he will be your God, and you will walk in his ways, observe his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey his voice. ¹⁸And today the Lord has accepted your agreement: you will be a people specially his own, as he promised you, you will keep all his commandments, ¹⁹and he will set you high in praise and renown and glory above all nations he has made, and you will be a people holy to the Lord, your God, as he promised.

Psalm 117-118

Psalm 117^[a]

The Nations Called to Praise

¹Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!^(A)
²His mercy for us is strong;
the faithfulness of the Lord is forever.
Hallelujah!

Psalm 118^[b]

Hymn of Thanksgiving

I

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,^(B)
    his mercy endures forever.
²Let Israel say:
    his mercy endures forever.
³Let the house of Aaron say,
    his mercy endures forever.
⁴Let those who fear the Lord say,^(C)
    his mercy endures forever.

II

⁵In danger I called on the Lord;
    the Lord answered me and set me free.
⁶The Lord is with me; I am not afraid;
    what can mortals do against me?^(D)
⁷The Lord is with me as my helper;
    I shall look in triumph on my foes.
⁸Better to take refuge in the Lord^(E)
    than to put one’s trust in mortals.
⁹Better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to put one’s trust in princes.

III

¹⁰All the nations surrounded me;
    in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
¹¹They surrounded me on every side;
    in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
¹²They surrounded me like bees;^(F)
    they burned up like fire among thorns;
    in the Lord’s name I cut them off.
¹³I was hard pressed and falling,
    but the Lord came to my help.^(G)
¹⁴The Lord, my strength and might,
    has become my savior.^(H)

IV

¹⁵The joyful shout of deliverance
    is heard in the tents of the righteous:
“The Lord’s right hand works valiantly;
¹⁶    the Lord’s right hand is raised;
    the Lord’s right hand works valiantly.”
¹⁷I shall not die but live
    and declare the deeds of the Lord.
¹⁸The Lord chastised me harshly,
    but did not hand me over to death.

V

¹⁹Open the gates of righteousness;
    I will enter and thank the Lord.^(I)
²⁰This is the Lord’s own gate,
    through it the righteous enter.
²¹I thank you for you answered me;
    you have been my savior.
²²^[c]The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone.^(J)
²³By the Lord has this been done;
    it is wonderful in our eyes.
²⁴This is the day the Lord has made;
    let us rejoice in it and be glad.
²⁵Lord, grant salvation!^[d]
    Lord, grant good fortune!

VI

²⁶Blessed is he
    who comes in the name of the Lord.^(K)
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
²⁷    The Lord is God and has enlightened us.
Join in procession with leafy branches
    up to the horns of the altar.

VII

²⁸You are my God, I give you thanks;
my God, I offer you praise.
²⁹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
his mercy endures forever.

Isaiah 53

Chapter 53

¹Who would believe what we have heard?^[a]
    To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?^(A)
²He grew up like a sapling before him,^(B)
    like a shoot from the parched earth;
He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye,
    no beauty to draw us to him.
³He was spurned and avoided by men,
    a man of suffering, knowing pain,
Like one from whom you turn your face,
    spurned, and we held him in no esteem.^(C)

⁴Yet it was our pain that he bore,
    our sufferings he endured.
We thought of him as stricken,
    struck down by God^[b] and afflicted,^(D)
⁵But he was pierced for our sins,
    crushed for our iniquity.
He bore the punishment that makes us whole,
    by his wounds we were healed.^(E)
⁶We had all gone astray like sheep,
    all following our own way;
But the Lord laid upon him^[c]
    the guilt of us all.^(F)

⁷Though harshly treated, he submitted
    and did not open his mouth;
Like a lamb led to slaughter
    or a sheep silent before shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.^(G)
⁸Seized and condemned, he was taken away.
    Who would have thought any more of his destiny?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
    struck for the sins of his people.
⁹He was given a grave among the wicked,
    a burial place with evildoers,
Though he had done no wrong,
    nor was deceit found in his mouth.^(H)
¹⁰But it was the Lord’s will to crush him with pain.
By making his life as a reparation offering,^[d]
    he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days,
    and the Lord’s will shall be accomplished through him.
¹¹Because of his anguish he shall see the light;
    because of his knowledge he shall be content;
My servant, the just one, shall justify the many,
    their iniquity he shall bear.
¹²Therefore I will give him his portion among the many,
    and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty,
Because he surrendered himself to death,
    was counted among the transgressors,
Bore the sins of many,
    and interceded for the transgressors.^(I)

Matthew 1

I. The Infancy Narrative

Chapter 1

The Genealogy of Jesus.^[a] ¹^(A)The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.^[b]

²^(B)Abraham became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.^(C) ³Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.^(D) Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, ⁴^(E)Ram the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, ⁵^(F)Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse, ⁶^(G)Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had been the wife of Uriah. ⁷^[c]^(H)Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. ⁸Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. ⁹Uzziah became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. ¹⁰Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos,^[d] Amos the father of Josiah. ¹¹Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the Babylonian exile.

¹²^(I)After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, ¹³Zerubbabel the father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of Azor, ¹⁴Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud, ¹⁵Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, ¹⁶Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah.

¹⁷Thus the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen generations.^[e]

The Birth of Jesus.^[f] ¹⁸Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,^[g] but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. ¹⁹Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,^[h] yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. ²⁰^(J)Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord^[i] appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. ²¹She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,^[j] because he will save his people from their sins.” ²²All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

²³^[k]^(K)“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”

which means “God is with us.” ²⁴When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. ²⁵He had no relations with her until she bore a son,^[l] and he named him Jesus.^(L)

Footnotes

1:1–2:23
The infancy narrative forms the prologue of the gospel. Consisting of a genealogy and five stories, it presents the coming of Jesus as the climax of Israel’s history, and the events of his conception, birth, and early childhood as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The genealogy is probably traditional material that Matthew edited. In its first two sections (Mt 1:2–11) it was drawn from Ru 4:18–22; 1 Chr 1–3. Except for Jechoniah, Shealtiel, and Zerubbabel, none of the names in the third section (Mt 1:12–16) is found in any Old Testament genealogy. While the genealogy shows the continuity of God’s providential plan from Abraham on, discontinuity is also present. The women Tamar (Mt 1:3), Rahab and Ruth (Mt 1:5), and the wife of Uriah, Bathsheba (Mt 1:6), bore their sons through unions that were in varying degrees strange and unexpected. These “irregularities” culminate in the supreme “irregularity” of the Messiah’s birth of a virgin mother; the age of fulfillment is inaugurated by a creative act of God.
Drawing upon both biblical tradition and Jewish stories, Matthew portrays Jesus as reliving the Exodus experience of Israel and the persecutions of Moses. His rejection by his own people and his passion are foreshadowed by the troubled reaction of “all Jerusalem” to the question of the magi who are seeking the “newborn king of the Jews” (Mt 2:2–3), and by Herod’s attempt to have him killed. The magi who do him homage prefigure the Gentiles who will accept the preaching of the gospel. The infancy narrative proclaims who Jesus is, the savior of his people from their sins (Mt 1:21), Emmanuel in whom “God is with us” (Mt 1:23), and the Son of God (Mt 2:15).
1:1 The Son of David, the son of Abraham: two links of the genealogical chain are singled out. Although the later, David is placed first in order to emphasize that Jesus is the royal Messiah. The mention of Abraham may be due not only to his being the father of the nation Israel but to Matthew’s interest in the universal scope of Jesus’ mission; cf. Gn 22:18 “…. in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing.”
1:7 The successor of Abijah was not Asaph but Asa (see 1 Chr 3:10). Some textual witnesses read the latter name; however, Asaph is better attested. Matthew may have deliberately introduced the psalmist Asaph into the genealogy (and in Mt 1:10 the prophet Amos) in order to show that Jesus is the fulfillment not only of the promises made to David (see 2 Sm 7) but of all the Old Testament.
1:10 Amos: some textual witnesses read Amon, who was the actual successor of Manasseh (see 1 Chr 3:14).
1:17 Matthew is concerned with fourteen generations, probably because fourteen is the numerical value of the Hebrew letters forming the name of David. In the second section of the genealogy (Mt 1:6b–11), three kings of Judah, Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah, have been omitted (see 1 Chr 3:11–12), so that there are fourteen generations in that section. Yet the third (Mt 1:12–16) apparently has only thirteen. Since Matthew here emphasizes that each section has fourteen, it is unlikely that the thirteen of the last was due to his oversight. Some scholars suggest that Jesus who is called the Messiah (Mt 1:16b) doubles the final member of the chain: Jesus, born within the family of David, opens up the new age as Messiah, so that in fact there are fourteen generations in the third section. This is perhaps too subtle, and the hypothesis of a slip not on the part of Matthew but of a later scribe seems likely. On Messiah, see note on Lk 2:11.
1:18–25 This first story of the infancy narrative spells out what is summarily indicated in Mt 1:16. The virginal conception of Jesus is the work of the Spirit of God. Joseph’s decision to divorce Mary is overcome by the heavenly command that he take her into his home and accept the child as his own. The natural genealogical line is broken but the promises to David are fulfilled; through Joseph’s adoption the child belongs to the family of David. Matthew sees the virginal conception as the fulfillment of Is 7:14.
1:18 Betrothed to Joseph: betrothal was the first part of the marriage, constituting a man and woman as husband and wife. Subsequent infidelity was considered adultery. The betrothal was followed some months later by the husband’s taking his wife into his home, at which time normal married life began.
1:19 A righteous man: as a devout observer of the Mosaic law, Joseph wished to break his union with someone whom he suspected of gross violation of the law. It is commonly said that the law required him to do so, but the texts usually given in support of that view, e.g., Dt 22:20–21 do not clearly pertain to Joseph’s situation. Unwilling to expose her to shame: the penalty for proved adultery was death by stoning; cf. Dt 22:21–23.
1:20 The angel of the Lord: in the Old Testament a common designation of God in communication with a human being. In a dream: see Mt 2:13, 19, 22. These dreams may be meant to recall the dreams of Joseph, son of Jacob the patriarch (Gn 37:5–11, 19). A closer parallel is the dream of Amram, father of Moses, related by Josephus (Antiquities 2:212, 215–16).
1:21 Jesus: in first-century Judaism the Hebrew name Joshua (Greek Iēsous) meaning “Yahweh helps” was interpreted as “Yahweh saves.”
1:23 God is with us: God’s promise of deliverance to Judah in Isaiah’s time is seen by Matthew as fulfilled in the birth of Jesus, in whom God is with his people. The name Emmanuel is alluded to at the end of the gospel where the risen Jesus assures his disciples of his continued presence, “…I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).
1:25 Until she bore a son: the evangelist is concerned to emphasize that Joseph was not responsible for the conception of Jesus. The Greek word translated “until” does not imply normal marital conduct after Jesus’ birth, nor does it exclude it.

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 26

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Psalm 117^[a]

The Nations Called to Praise

Psalm 118^[b]

Hymn of Thanksgiving

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

Footnotes

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Chapter 53

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I. The Infancy Narrative

Chapter 1

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M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 26

Footnotes

Cross references

Psalm 117[a]

The Nations Called to Praise

Psalm 118[b]

Hymn of Thanksgiving

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

Footnotes

Cross references

Chapter 53

Footnotes

Cross references

I. The Infancy Narrative

Chapter 1

Footnotes

Cross references

Psalm 117^[a]

Psalm 118^[b]