M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
9 One day Gideon’s son Abimelech visited his uncles—his mother’s brothers—in Shechem.
2 “Go and talk to the leaders of Shechem,” he requested, “and ask them whether they want to be ruled by seventy kings—Gideon’s seventy sons—or by one man—meaning me, your own flesh and blood!”[a]
3 So his uncles went to the leaders of the city and proposed Abimelech’s scheme; and they decided that since his mother was a native of their town they would go along with it. 4 They gave him money from the temple offerings of the idol Baal-berith, which he used to hire some worthless loafers who agreed to do whatever he told them to. 5 He took them to his father’s home at Ophrah and there, upon one stone, they slaughtered all seventy of his half brothers, except for the youngest, Jotham, who escaped and hid. 6 Then the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting under the oak beside the garrison at Shechem, and Abimelech was acclaimed king of Israel.
7 When Jotham heard about this, he stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted across to the men of Shechem, “If you want God’s blessing, listen to me! 8 Once upon a time the trees decided to elect a king. First they asked the olive tree, 9 but it refused.
“‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses God and man, just to wave to and fro over the other trees?’ it asked.
10 “Then they said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!’
11 “But the fig tree also refused. ‘Should I quit producing sweetness and fruit just to lift my head above all the other trees?’ it asked.
12 “Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You reign over us!’
13 “But the grapevine replied, ‘Shall I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and man, just to be mightier than all the other trees?’
14 “Then all the trees finally turned to the thorn bush. ‘You be our king!’ they exclaimed.
15 “And the thorn bush replied, ‘If you really want me, come and humble yourselves beneath my shade! If you refuse, let fire flame forth from me and burn down the great cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now make sure that you have done the right thing in making Abimelech your king, that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. 17 For my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the Midianites, 18 yet you have revolted against him and killed his seventy sons upon one stone. And now you have chosen his slave girl’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative. 19 If you are sure that you have done right by Gideon and his descendants, then may you and Abimelech have a long and happy life together. 20 But if you have not been fair to Gideon, then may Abimelech destroy the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may they destroy Abimelech!”
21 Then Jotham escaped and lived in Beer for fear of his brother, Abimelech. 22-23 Three years later God stirred up trouble between King Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, and they revolted. 24 In the events that followed, both Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem who aided him in butchering Gideon’s seventy sons were given their just punishment for these murders. 25 For the men of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech along the trail at the top of the mountain. (While they were waiting for him to come along, they robbed everyone else who passed that way.) But someone warned Abimelech about their plot.
26 At that time Gaal (the son of Ebed) moved to Shechem with his brothers, and he became one of the leading citizens. 27 During the harvest feast at Shechem that year, held in the temple of the local god, the wine flowed freely and everyone began cursing Abimelech.
28 “Who is Abimelech,” Gaal shouted, “and why should he be our king? Why should we be his servants? He and his friend Zebul should be our servants. Down with Abimelech! 29 Make me your king and you’ll soon see what happens to Abimelech! I’ll tell Abimelech, ‘Get up an army and come on out and fight!’”
30 But when Zebul, the mayor of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious. 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah telling him, “Gaal, son of Ebed, and his relatives have come to live in Shechem, and now they are arousing the city to rebellion against you. 32 Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields; 33 and in the morning, as soon as it is daylight, storm the city. When he and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish!”
34 So Abimelech and his men marched through the night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around the city. 35 The next morning as Gaal sat at the city gates, discussing various issues with the local leaders, Abimelech and his men began their march upon the city.
36 When Gaal saw them, he exclaimed to Zebul, “Look over at that mountain! Doesn’t it look like people coming down?”
“No!” Zebul said. “You’re just seeing shadows that look like men!”
37 “No, look over there,” Gaal said. “I’m sure I see people coming toward us. And look! There are others coming along the road past the oak of Meonenim!”
38 Then Zebul turned on him triumphantly. “Now where is that big mouth of yours?” he demanded. “Who was it who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and why should he be our king?’ The men you taunted and cursed are right outside the city! Go on out and fight!”
39 So Gaal led the men of Shechem into the battle and fought with Abimelech, 40 but was defeated, and many of the men of Shechem were left wounded all the way to the city gate. 41 Abimelech was living at Arumah at this time, and Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem and wouldn’t let them live there any longer.
42 The next day the men of Shechem went out to battle again. However, someone had told Abimelech about their plans, 43 so he had divided his men into three groups hiding in the fields. And when the men of the city went out to attack, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and began killing them. 44 Abimelech stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while his other two groups cut them down in the fields. 45 The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city, killed its people, and leveled it to the ground. 46 The people at the nearby town of Migdal saw what was happening and took refuge in the fort next to the temple of Baal-berith.
47-48 When Abimelech learned of this, he led his forces to Mount Zalmon where he began chopping a bundle of firewood, and placed it upon his shoulder. “Do as I have done,” he told his men. 49 So each of them quickly cut a bundle and carried it back to the town where, following Abimelech’s example, the bundles were piled against the walls of the fort and set on fire. So all the people inside died, about a thousand men and women.
50 Abimelech next attacked the city of Thebez, and captured it. 51 However, there was a fort inside the city and the entire population fled into it, barricaded the gates, and climbed to the top of the roof to watch. 52 But as Abimelech was preparing to burn it, 53 a woman on the roof threw down a millstone. It landed on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull.
54 “Kill me!” he groaned to his youthful armor bearer. “Never let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!”
So the young man pierced him with his sword, and he died. 55 When his men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes. 56-57 Thus God punished both Abimelech and the men of Shechem for their sin of murdering Gideon’s seventy sons. So the curse of Jotham, Gideon’s son, came true.
13 Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch were Barnabas and Symeon (also called “The Black Man”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the foster-brother of King Herod), and Paul. 2 One day as these men were worshiping and fasting the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Paul for a special job I have for them.” 3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them—and sent them on their way.
4 Directed by the Holy Spirit they went to Seleucia and then sailed for Cyprus. 5 There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogue and preached. (John Mark went with them as their assistant.)
6-7 Afterwards they preached from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a fake prophet named Bar-Jesus. He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, a man of considerable insight and understanding. The governor invited Barnabas and Paul to visit him, for he wanted to hear their message from God. 8 But the sorcerer, Elymas (his name in Greek), interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Paul and Barnabas said, trying to keep him from trusting the Lord.
9 Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, glared angrily at the sorcerer and said, 10 “You son of the devil, full of every sort of trickery and villainy, enemy of all that is good, will you never end your opposition to the Lord? 11 And now God has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be stricken awhile with blindness.”
Instantly mist and darkness fell upon him, and he began wandering around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him. 12 When the governor saw what happened, he believed and was astonished at the power of God’s message.
13 Now Paul and those with him left Paphos by ship for Turkey,[a] landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark deserted them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But Barnabas and Paul went on to Antioch, a city in the province of Pisidia.
On the Sabbath they went into the synagogue for the services. 15 After the usual readings from the Books of Moses and from the Prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of instruction for us come and give it!”
16 So Paul stood, waved a greeting to them[b] and began. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and all others here who reverence God, let me begin my remarks with a bit of history.
17 “The God of this nation Israel chose our ancestors and honored them in Egypt by gloriously leading them out of their slavery. 18 And he nursed them through forty years of wandering around in the wilderness. 19-20 Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave Israel their land as an inheritance. Judges ruled for about four hundred and fifty years and were followed by Samuel the prophet.
21 “Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul (son of Kish), a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. 22 But God removed him and replaced him with David as king, a man about whom God said, ‘David (son of Jesse) is a man after my own heart, for he will obey me.’ 23 And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel!
24 “But before he came, John the Baptist preached the need for everyone in Israel to turn from sin to God. 25 As John was finishing his work he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No! But he is coming soon—and in comparison with him, I am utterly worthless.’
26 “Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also all of you Gentiles here who reverence God—this salvation is for all of us! 27 The Jews in Jerusalem and their leaders fulfilled prophecy by killing Jesus; for they didn’t recognize him or realize that he is the one the prophets had written about, though they heard the prophets’ words read every Sabbath. 28 They found no just cause to execute him, but asked Pilate to have him killed anyway. 29 When they had fulfilled all the prophecies concerning his death, he was taken from the cross and placed in a tomb.
30 “But God brought him back to life again! 31 And he was seen many times during the next few days by the men who had accompanied him to Jerusalem from Galilee—these men have constantly testified to this in public witness.
32-33 “And now Barnabas and I are here to bring you this Good News—that God’s promise to our ancestors has come true in our own time, in that God brought Jesus back to life again. This is what the second Psalm is talking about when it says concerning Jesus, ‘Today I have honored you as my Son.’[c]
34 “For God had promised to bring him back to life again, no more to die. This is stated in the Scripture that says, ‘I will do for you the wonderful thing I promised David.’ 35 In another Psalm he explained more fully, saying, ‘God will not let his Holy One decay.’ 36 This was not a reference to David, for after David had served his generation according to the will of God, he died and was buried, and his body decayed. 37 No, it was a reference to another[d]—someone God brought back to life, whose body was not touched at all by the ravages of death.
38 “Brothers! Listen! In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins! 39 Everyone who trusts in him is freed from all guilt and declared righteous—something the Jewish law could never do. 40 Oh, be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said, 41 ‘Look and perish, you despisers of the truth,[e] for I am doing something in your day—something that you won’t believe when you hear it announced.’”
42 As the people left the synagogue that day, they asked Paul to return and speak to them again the next week. 43 And many Jews and godly Gentiles who worshiped at the synagogue followed Paul and Barnabas down the street as the two men urged them to accept the mercies God was offering. 44 The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the Word of God.
45 But when the Jewish leaders[f] saw the crowds, they were jealous, and cursed and argued against whatever Paul said.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that this Good News from God should be given first to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and shown yourselves unworthy of eternal life—well, we will offer it to Gentiles. 47 For this is as the Lord commanded when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to lead them from the farthest corners of the earth to my salvation.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and rejoiced in Paul’s message; and as many as wanted[g] eternal life, believed. 49 So God’s message spread all through that region.
50 Then the Jewish leaders stirred up both the godly women and the civic leaders of the city and incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas, and ran them out of town. 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against the town and went on to the city of Iconium. 52 And their converts[h] were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
22 Then the Lord said to me: Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah and say, 2 Listen to this message from God, O king of Judah, sitting on David’s throne; and let your servants and your people listen too.
3 The Lord says: Be fair-minded. Do what is right! Help those in need of justice! Quit your evil deeds! Protect the rights of aliens and immigrants, orphans and widows; stop murdering the innocent! 4 If you put an end to all these terrible deeds you are doing, then I will deliver this nation and once more give kings to sit on David’s throne, and there shall be prosperity for all. 5 But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the Lord, that this palace shall become a shambles.
6 For this is the Lord’s message concerning the palace: You are as beloved to me as fruitful Gilead and the green forests of Lebanon; but I will destroy you and leave you deserted and uninhabited. 7 I will call for a wrecking crew to bring out its tools to dismantle you. They will tear out all of your fine cedar beams and throw them on the fire. 8 Men from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, “Why did the Lord do it? Why did he destroy such a great city?” 9 And the answer will be, “Because the people living here forgot the Lord their God and violated his agreement with them, for they worshiped idols.”
10 Don’t weep for the dead! Instead weep for the captives led away! For they will never return to see their native land again. 11 For the Lord says this about Jehoahaz who succeeded his father[a] King Josiah and was taken away as a captive: 12 He shall die in a distant land[b] and never again see his own country.
13 And woe to you, King Jehoiakim,[c] for you are building your great palace with forced labor. By not paying wages you are building injustice into its walls and oppression into its doorframes and ceilings. 14 You say, “I will build a magnificent palace with huge rooms and many windows, paneled throughout with fragrant cedar and painted a lovely red.” 15 But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did your father Josiah reign so long? Because he was just and fair in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. 16 He saw to it that justice and help were given the poor and the needy and all went well for him. This is how a man lives close to God. 17 But you! You are full of selfish greed and all dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and reign with ruthlessness.
18 Therefore this is God’s decree of punishment against King Jehoiakim, who succeeded his father Josiah on the throne: His family will not weep for him when he dies. His subjects will not even care that he is dead. 19 He shall be buried like a dead donkey—dragged out of Jerusalem and thrown on the garbage dump beyond the gate! 20 Weep, for your allies are gone. Search for them in Lebanon; shout for them at Bashan; seek them at the fording points of Jordan. See, they are all destroyed. Not one is left to help you! 21 When you were prosperous, I warned you, but you replied, “Don’t bother me.” Since childhood you have been that way—you just won’t listen! 22 And now all your allies have disappeared with a puff of wind; all your friends are taken off as slaves. Surely at last you will see your wickedness and be ashamed. 23 It’s very nice to live graciously in a beautiful palace among the cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will cry and groan in anguish—anguish as of a woman in labor.
24-25 And as for you, Coniah,[d] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah—even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off and give you to those who seek to kill you, of whom you are so desperately afraid—to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his mighty army. 26 I will throw you and your mother out of this country, and you shall die in a foreign land. 27 You will never again return to the land of your desire. 28 This man Coniah is like a discarded, broken dish. He and his children will be exiled to distant lands.
29 O earth, earth, earth! Hear the word of the Lord! 30 The Lord says: Record this man Coniah as childless, for none of his children shall ever sit upon the throne of David or rule in Judah.[e] His life will amount to nothing.
8 1-2 One day about this time as another great crowd gathered, the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples to discuss the situation.
“I pity these people,” he said, “for they have been here three days and have nothing left to eat. 3 And if I send them home without feeding them, they will faint along the road! For some of them have come a long distance.”
4 “Are we supposed to find food for them here in the desert?” his disciples scoffed.
5 “How many loaves of bread do you have?” he asked.
“Seven,” they replied. 6 So he told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces and passed them to his disciples; and the disciples placed them before the people. 7 A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to serve them.
8-9 And the whole crowd ate until they were full, and afterwards he sent them home. There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day and when the scraps were picked up after the meal, there were seven very large basketfuls left over!
10 Immediately after this he got into a boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 When the local Jewish leaders learned of his arrival, they came to argue with him.[a]
“Do a miracle for us,” they said. “Make something happen in the sky. Then we will believe in you.”
12 He sighed deeply when he heard this and he said, “Certainly not. How many more miracles do you people need?”[b]
13 So he got back into the boat and left them, and crossed to the other side of the lake. 14 But the disciples had forgotten to stock up on food before they left and had only one loaf of bread in the boat.
15 As they were crossing, Jesus said to them very solemnly, “Beware of the yeast of King Herod and of the Pharisees.”
16 “What does he mean?” the disciples asked each other. They finally decided that he must be talking about their forgetting to bring bread.
17 Jesus realized what they were discussing and said, “No, that isn’t it at all! Can’t you understand? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18 ‘Your eyes are to see with—why don’t you look? Why don’t you open your ears and listen?’ Don’t you remember anything at all?
19 “What about the 5,000 men I fed with five loaves of bread? How many basketfuls of scraps did you pick up afterwards?”
“Twelve,” they said.
20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how much was left?”
“Seven basketfuls,” they said.
21 “And yet you think I’m worried that we have no bread?”[c]
22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and spat upon his eyes, and laid his hands over them.
“Can you see anything now?” Jesus asked him.
24 The man looked around. “Yes!” he said, “I see men! But I can’t see them very clearly; they look like tree trunks walking around!”
25 Then Jesus placed his hands over the man’s eyes again and as the man stared intently, his sight was completely restored, and he saw everything clearly, drinking in the sights around him.
26 Jesus sent him home to his family. “Don’t even go back to the village first,” he said.
27 Jesus and his disciples now left Galilee and went out to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along he asked them, “Who do the people think I am? What are they saying about me?”
28 “Some of them think you are John the Baptist,” the disciples replied, “and others say you are Elijah or some other ancient prophet come back to life again.”
29 Then he asked, “Who do you think I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” 30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone!
31 Then he began to tell them about the terrible things he would suffer,[d] and that he would be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the other Jewish leaders—and be killed, and that he would rise again three days afterwards. 32 He talked about it quite frankly with them, so Peter took him aside and chided him.[e] “You shouldn’t say things like that,” he told Jesus.
33 Jesus turned and looked at his disciples and then said to Peter very sternly, “Satan, get behind me! You are looking at this only from a human point of view and not from God’s.”
34 Then he called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. “If any of you wants to be my follower,” he told them, “you must put aside your own pleasures and shoulder your cross, and follow me closely. 35 If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.
36 “And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? 37 For is anything worth more than his soul? 38 And anyone who is ashamed of me and my message in these days of unbelief and sin, I, the Messiah,[f] will be ashamed of him when I return in the glory of my Father, with the holy angels.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.