M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 18
Migration of the Danites. 1 In those days there was no king in Israel.(A) In those days the tribe of the Danites were in search of a heritage to dwell in, for up to that time no heritage had been allotted[a] to them among the tribes of Israel.(B)
2 So the Danites sent from their clans five powerful men of Zorah and Eshtaol, to reconnoiter the land and scout it. “Go, scout the land,” they were told. They went into the mountain region of Ephraim, and they spent the night there. 3 While they were near the house of Micah,(C) they recognized the voice[b] of the young Levite,(D) so they turned aside. They asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? What is your interest here?” 4 “This is what Micah has done for me,” he replied to them. “He has hired me and I have become his priest.”(E) 5 They said to him, “Consult God, that we may know whether the journey we are making will lead to success.”(F) 6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace! The journey you are making is under the eye of the Lord.”
7 So the five men went on and came to Laish. They saw the people there living securely after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and trusting, with no lack of any natural resource. They were distant from the Sidonians and had no dealings with the Arameans.[c] 8 When the five returned to their kin in Zorah and Eshtaol, they were asked, “What do you have to report?” 9 They replied, “Come, let us attack them, for we have seen the land and it is very good. Are you going to hesitate? Do not be slow to go in and take possession of the land! 10 When you go you will come to a trusting people. The land stretches out in both directions, and God has indeed given it into your power—a place where no natural resource is lacking.”(G)
11 So six hundred of the clan of the Danites, men armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 They marched up into Judah and encamped near Kiriath-jearim; for this reason the place is called Mahaneh-dan[d] to this day (it lies west of Kiriath-jearim).(H)
13 From there they passed on into the mountain region of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. 14 Then the five men who had gone to reconnoiter the land spoke up and said to their kindred, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol overlaid with silver?(I) Now decide what you must do!” 15 So turning in that direction, they went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him. 16 The six hundred Danites stationed themselves at the entrance of the gate armed with weapons of war. 17 The five men who had gone to reconnoiter the land went up 18 and entered the house of Micah with the priest standing there. They took the idol, the ephod, the teraphim and the metal image. When the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” 19 they said to him, “Be still! Put your hand over your mouth! Come with us and be our father and priest.(J) Is it better for you to be priest for the family of one man or to be priest for a tribe and a clan in Israel?” 20 The priest, agreeing, took the ephod, the teraphim, and the idol, and went along with the troops. 21 As they turned to depart, they placed their little ones, their livestock, and their goods at the head of the column.
22 (K)When the Danites had gone some distance from the house of Micah, Micah and the men in the houses nearby mustered and overtook them. 23 They called to the Danites, who turned and said to Micah, “What do you want that you have called this muster?” 24 “You have taken my god, which I made for myself, and you have gone off with my priest as well,” he answered. “What is left for me? How, then, can you ask me, ‘What do you want?’” 25 The Danites said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard near us, or aggravated men will attack you, and you will have forfeited your life and the lives of your family!” 26 Then the Danites went on their way, and Micah, seeing that they were too strong for him, turned back and went home.
27 (L)Having taken what Micah had made and his priest, they marched against Laish, a quiet and trusting people; they put them to the sword and destroyed the city by fire. 28 No one came to their aid, since the city was far from Sidon and they had no dealings with the Arameans; the city was in the valley that belongs to Beth-rehob. The Danites then rebuilt the city and occupied it. 29 They named it Dan after their ancestor Dan, who was born to Israel.(M) But Laish was the name of the city formerly. 30 [e]The Danites set up the idol for themselves, and Jonathan, son of Gershom, son of Moses,(N) and his descendants were priests for the tribe of the Danites until the time the land went into captivity. 31 They maintained the idol Micah had made as long as the house of God was in Shiloh.[f]
Chapter 22
Paul’s Defense Before the Jerusalem Jews.[a] 1 “My brothers and fathers, listen to what I am about to say to you in my defense.” 2 When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew they became all the more quiet. And he continued, 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.(A) 4 I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.(B) 5 Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well.
6 “On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.(C) 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’(D) 8 I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’(E) 9 My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.(F) 10 I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’ The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.’(G) 11 Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.(H)
12 (I)“A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; 15 for you will be his witness[b] before all to what you have seen and heard. 16 Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’
17 “After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry, leave Jerusalem at once, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 But I replied, ‘Lord, they themselves know that from synagogue to synagogue I used to imprison and beat those who believed in you.(J) 20 And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself stood by giving my approval and keeping guard over the cloaks of his murderers.’(K) 21 Then he said to me,(L) ‘Go, I shall send you far away to the Gentiles.’”[c]
Paul Imprisoned. 22 (M)They listened to him until he said this, but then they raised their voices and shouted, “Take such a one as this away from the earth. It is not right that he should live.”[d] 23 And as they were yelling and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the cohort commander ordered him to be brought into the compound and gave instruction that he be interrogated under the lash to determine the reason why they were making such an outcry against him. 25 (N)But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion on duty, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and has not been tried?”[e] 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the cohort commander and reported it, saying, “What are you going to do? This man is a Roman citizen.” 27 Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered. 28 The commander replied, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” Paul said, “But I was born one.” 29 At once those who were going to interrogate him backed away from him, and the commander became alarmed when he realized that he was a Roman citizen and that he had had him bound.
Paul Before the Sanhedrin. 30 The next day, wishing to determine the truth about why he was being accused by the Jews, he freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.
Chapter 32
Pledge of Restoration.[a] 1 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah,[b] king of Judah, the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, while Jeremiah the prophet was confined to the court of the guard, in the house of the king of Judah.(A) 3 Zedekiah, king of Judah, had confined him there, saying: “How dare you prophesy: Thus says the Lord: I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon that he may capture it.(B) 4 Zedekiah, king of Judah, shall not escape the hands of the Chaldeans: he shall indeed be handed over to the king of Babylon. He shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye.(C) 5 He shall take Zedekiah to Babylon. There he shall remain, until I attend to him—oracle of the Lord. If you fight against the Chaldeans, you cannot win!”(D)
6 [c]Jeremiah said, This word came to me from the Lord: 7 Hanamel, son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you with the offer:(E) “Purchase my field in Anathoth, since you, as nearest relative, have the first right of purchase.”[d] 8 And, just as the Lord had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard and said, “Please purchase my field in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin; as nearest relative, you have the first right of possession—purchase it for yourself.” Then I knew this was the word of the Lord. 9 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, weighing out for him the silver, seventeen shekels of silver.
10 When I had written and sealed the deed, called witnesses and weighed out the silver on the scales, 11 I accepted the deed of purchase, both the sealed copy, containing title and conditions, and the open copy.[e] 12 I gave this deed of purchase to Baruch, son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and before all the Judahites sitting around in the court of the guard.(F)
13 In their presence I gave Baruch this charge: 14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds of purchase, both the sealed and the open deeds, and put them in an earthenware jar,[f] so they can last a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: They shall again purchase houses and fields and vineyards in this land.
16 After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch, son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord: 17 Ah, my Lord God! You made the heavens and the earth with your great power and your outstretched arm; nothing is too difficult for you.(G) 18 You continue your kindness through a thousand generations; but you repay the ancestors’ guilt upon their children who follow them. Great and mighty God, whose name is Lord of hosts,(H) 19 great in counsel, mighty in deed, whose eyes are fixed on all the ways of mortals, giving to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their deeds:(I) 20 you performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and to this day, in Israel and among all peoples, you have made a name for yourself as on this day.(J) 21 You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and great terror. 22 And you gave them this land, as you had sworn to their ancestors to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.(K) 23 They went in and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice. They did not live by your law; they did not do anything you commanded them to do. Then you made all this evil fall upon them.(L) 24 See, the siegeworks have arrived at this city to capture it; the city is handed over to the Chaldeans who are attacking it, with sword, starvation, and disease. What you threatened has happened—you can see it for yourself.(M) 25 Yet you told me, my Lord God: Purchase the field with silver and summon witnesses, when the city has already been handed over to the Chaldeans!
26 Then this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 I am the Lord, the God of all the living! Is anything too difficult for me? 28 Therefore the Lord says: I am handing over this city to the Chaldeans and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. 29 The Chaldeans who are attacking this city shall go in and set the city on fire, burning it and the houses, on whose roofs incense was burned to Baal and libations were poured out to other gods in order to provoke me.(N) 30 From their youth the Israelites and the Judahites have been doing only what is evil in my eyes; the Israelites have been provoking me with the works of their hands—oracle of the Lord.(O) 31 This city has so stirred my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, that I must put it out of my sight, 32 for all the evil the Israelites and Judahites have done to provoke me—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.(P) 33 They turned their backs to me, not their faces; though I taught them persistently, they would not listen or accept correction.(Q) 34 Instead they set up their abominations in the house which bears my name in order to defile it.(R) 35 They built high places to Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech;[g] I never commanded them to do this, nor did it even enter my mind that they would practice this abomination, so as to bring sin upon Judah.(S)
36 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, which you say is being handed over to the king of Babylon by means of the sword, starvation, and disease: 37 See, I am gathering them from all the lands to which I drove them in my rising fury and great anger; I will bring them back to this place and settle them here in safety.(T) 38 They shall be my people, and I will be their God.(U) 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me always, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 With them I will make an everlasting covenant, never to cease doing good to them; I will put fear of me in their hearts so that they never turn away from me.(V) 41 I will take delight in doing good to them: I will plant them firmly in this land, with all my heart and soul.(W)
42 For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so I will bring upon them all the good I have promised them.(X) 43 Fields shall be purchased in this land, about which you say, “It is a wasteland, without human beings or animals, handed over to the Chaldeans.”(Y) 44 They will purchase fields with silver, write up deeds, seal them, and have them witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah and of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah and the Negeb, when I restore their fortunes—oracle of the Lord.(Z)
First Book—Psalms 1–41
Psalm 1[a]
True Happiness in God’s Law
I
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk
in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the way[b] of sinners,
nor sit in company with scoffers.(A)
2 Rather, the law of the Lord[c] is his joy;
and on his law he meditates day and night.(B)
3 He is like a tree(C)
planted near streams of water,
that yields its fruit in season;
Its leaves never wither;
whatever he does prospers.
II
4 But not so are the wicked,[d] not so!
They are like chaff driven by the wind.(D)
5 Therefore the wicked will not arise at the judgment,
nor will sinners in the assembly of the just.
6 Because the Lord knows the way of the just,(E)
but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.
Psalm 2[e]
A Psalm for a Royal Coronation
1 Why do the nations protest
and the peoples conspire in vain?(F)
2 Kings on earth rise up
and princes plot together
against the Lord and against his anointed one:[f](G)
3 “Let us break their shackles
and cast off their chains from us!”(H)
4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord derides them,(I)
5 Then he speaks to them in his anger,
in his wrath he terrifies them:
6 “I myself have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will proclaim the decree of the Lord,
he said to me, “You are my son;
today I have begotten you.(J)
8 Ask it of me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,
and, as your possession, the ends of the earth.
9 With an iron rod you will shepherd them,
like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them.”(K)
10 And now, kings, give heed;
take warning, judges on earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear;
exult with trembling,
Accept correction
lest he become angry and you perish along the way
when his anger suddenly blazes up.(L)
Blessed are all who take refuge in him!
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.