M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

3 Now these are the nations which Jehovah left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; ² only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as beforetime knew nothing thereof: ³ namely, the five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baal-hermon unto the entrance of Hamath. ⁴ And they were left, to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah, which he commanded their fathers by Moses. ⁵ And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: ⁶ and they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons and served their gods.

⁷ And the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and forgat Jehovah their God, and served the Baalim and the Asheroth. ⁸ Therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of ^[a]Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. ⁹ And when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised up a saviour to the children of Israel, who saved them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. ¹⁰ And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him, and he judged Israel; and he went out to war, and Jehovah delivered Cushan-rishathaim king of ^[b]Mesopotamia into his hand: and his hand prevailed against Cushan-rishathaim. ¹¹ And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

¹² And the children of Israel again did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah: and Jehovah strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. ¹³ And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and smote Israel, and they possessed the city of palm-trees. ¹⁴ And the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years.

¹⁵ But when the children of Israel cried unto Jehovah, Jehovah raised them up a saviour, Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a man left-handed. And the children of Israel sent tribute by him unto Eglon the king of Moab. ¹⁶ And Ehud made him a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he girded it under his raiment upon his right thigh. ¹⁷ And he offered the tribute unto Eglon king of Moab: now Eglon was a very fat man. ¹⁸ And when he had made an end of offering the tribute, he sent away the people that bare the tribute. ¹⁹ But he himself turned back from the ^[c]quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king. And he said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him. ²⁰ And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. ²¹ And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body: ²² and the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, for he drew not the sword out of his body; and ^[d]it came out behind. ²³ Then Ehud went forth into the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room upon him, and locked them.

²⁴ Now when he was gone out, his servants came; and they saw, and, behold, the doors of the upper room were locked; and they said, Surely he is covering his feet in the upper chamber. ²⁵ And they tarried till they were ashamed; and, behold, he opened not the doors of the upper room: therefore they took the key, and opened them; and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth.

²⁶ And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the ^[e]quarries, and escaped unto Seirah. ²⁷ And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill-country, and he before them. ²⁸ And he said unto them, Follow after me; for Jehovah hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of the Jordan ^[f]against the Moabites, and suffered not a man to pass over. ²⁹ And they smote of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, every lusty man, and every man of valor; and there escaped not a man. ³⁰ So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

³¹ And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who smote of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad: and he also saved Israel.

7 And the high priest said, Are these things so? ² And he said,

Brethren and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, ³ and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. ⁴ Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Haran: and from thence, when his father was dead, God removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell: ⁵ and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: and he promised that he would give it to him in possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. ⁶ And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill, four hundred years. ⁷ And the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. ⁸ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. ⁹ And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him, ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ¹¹ Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. ¹² But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time. ¹³ And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s race became manifest unto Pharaoh. ¹⁴ And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. ¹⁵ And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, himself and our fathers; ¹⁶ and they were carried over unto Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of ^[a]Hamor in Shechem. ¹⁷ But as the time of the promise drew nigh which God vouchsafed unto Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, ¹⁸ till there arose another king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. ¹⁹ The same dealt craftily with our race, and ill-treated our fathers, that ^[b]they should cast out their babes to the end they might not ^[c]live. ²⁰ At which season Moses was born, and was ^[d]exceeding fair; and he was nourished three months in his father’s house: ²¹ and when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. ²² And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and works. ²³ But when he was well-nigh forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, smiting the Egyptian: ²⁵ and he supposed that his brethren understood that God by his hand was giving them ^[e]deliverance; but they understood not. ²⁶ And the day following he appeared unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? ²⁷ But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Wouldest thou kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian yesterday? ²⁹ And Moses fled at this saying, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. ³⁰ And when forty years were fulfilled, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. ³¹ And when Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold, there came a voice of the Lord, ³² I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. And Moses trembled, and durst not behold. ³³ And the Lord said unto him, Loose the shoes from thy feet: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. ³⁴ I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I am come down to deliver them: and now come, I will send thee into Egypt. ³⁵ This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a ^[f]deliverer with the hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. ³⁷ This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, ^[g]A prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, ^[h]like unto me. ³⁸ This is he that was in the ^[i]church in the wilderness with the angel that spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who received living oracles to give unto us: ³⁹ to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: for as for this Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. ⁴¹ And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. ⁴² But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets,

⁴⁴ Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen. ⁴⁵ Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with ^[k]Joshua when they entered on the possession of the ^[l]nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; ⁴⁶ who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷ But Solomon built him a house. ⁴⁸ Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet,

⁵¹ Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. ⁵² Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers; ⁵³ ye who received the law ^[n]as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.

⁵⁴ Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. ⁵⁵ But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, ⁵⁶ and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. ⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; ⁵⁸ and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ⁶⁰ And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

16 The word of Jehovah came also unto me, saying, ² Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters, in this place. ³ For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land: ⁴ They shall die ^[a]grievous deaths: they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the ground; and they shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.

⁵ For thus saith Jehovah, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament, neither bemoan them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith Jehovah, even lovingkindness and tender mercies. ⁶ Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them; ⁷ neither shall men break bread for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother. ⁸ And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink. ⁹ For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

¹⁰ And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath Jehovah pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against Jehovah our God? ¹¹ then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith Jehovah, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law; ¹² and ye have done evil more than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, so that ye hearken not unto me: ¹³ therefore will I cast you forth out of this land into the land that ye have not known, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; ^[b]for I will show you no favor.

¹⁴ Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; ¹⁵ but, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries whither he had driven them. And I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.

¹⁶ Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith Jehovah, and they shall fish them up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. ¹⁷ For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity concealed from mine eyes. ¹⁸ And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, ^[c]because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled mine inheritance with their abominations.

¹⁹ O Jehovah, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, unto thee shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Our fathers have inherited nought but lies, even vanity and things wherein there is no profit. ²⁰ Shall a man make unto himself gods, which yet are no gods?

²¹ Therefore, behold, I will cause them to know, this once will I cause them to know my hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is Jehovah.

2 And when he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was noised that he was ^[a]in the house. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, no, not even about the door: and he spake the word unto them. ³ And they come, bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, borne of four. ⁴ And when they could not ^[b]come nigh unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the ^[c]bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay. ⁵ And Jesus seeing their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, ^[d]Son, thy sins are forgiven. ⁶ But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, ⁷ Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, even God? ⁸ And straightway Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up thy ^[e]bed, and walk? ¹⁰ But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy), ¹¹ I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy ^[f]bed, and go unto thy house. ¹² And he arose, and straightway took up the ^[g]bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

¹³ And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the place of toll, and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, that he was sitting at meat in his house, and many ^[h]publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. ¹⁶ And the scribes ^[i]of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with the sinners and ^[j]publicans, said unto his disciples, ^[k]How is it that he eateth ^[l]and drinketh with ^[m]publicans and sinners? ¹⁷ And when Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are ^[n]whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

¹⁸ And John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting: and they come and say unto him, Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? ¹⁹ And Jesus said unto them, Can the ^[o]sons of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ²⁰ But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast in that day. ²¹ No man seweth a piece of undressed cloth on an old garment: else that which should fill it up taketh from it, the new from the old, and a worse rent is made. ²² And no man putteth new wine into old ^[p]wine-skins; else the wine will burst the skins, and the wine perisheth, and the skins: but they put new wine into fresh wine-skins.

²³ And it came to pass, that he was going on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and his disciples ^[q]began, as they went, to pluck the ears. ²⁴ And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? ²⁵ And he said unto them, ^[r]Did ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry, he, and they that were with him? ²⁶ How he entered into the house of God ^[s]when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful to eat save for the priests, and gave also to them that were with him? ²⁷ And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: ²⁸ so that the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.