M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

23 Then David was eld and full of days, and he ordained Solomon, his son, king upon Israel.

² And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the priests, and deacons; (And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites;)

³ and the deacons were numbered from twenty years and above, and eight and thirty thousand of men were found of them. (and the Levites twenty years of age and older were counted, and thirty-eight thousand men were found of them.)

⁴ And four and twenty thousand men were chosen of them, and were parted into the service of the house of the Lord; and of sovereigns, and judges, six thousand; (And twenty-four thousand men were chosen from them, and were put in service in the House of the Lord; and six thousand were overseers, or officers, and judges, or magistrates;)

⁵ and four thousand that were porters of gates and doors, and so many singers, singing to the Lord in organs, which David had made for to sing with. (and four thousand were made the guards, or the doorkeepers, of the gates and the doors, and as many singers sang to the Lord with the instruments which David had made to sing with.)

⁶ And David parted them by the whiles of the sons of Levi, that is, of Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. (And David divided them into three groups, or divisions, by the families of the Levites, that is, of Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.)

⁷ And the sons of Gershon were Laadan and Shimei.

⁸ The sons of Laadan were three; the prince Jehiel (the leader was Jehiel), and Zetham, and Joel.

⁹ The sons of Shimei were three, Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran; these were the princes of the families of Laadan (these were the leaders of the families of Laadan).

¹⁰ And the sons of Shimei were Jahath, and Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei.

¹¹ And Jahath was the former, and Zizah, the second; and Jeush and Beriah had not full many sons, and therefore they were reckoned in one family, and in one house. (And Jahath was the first-born son, and Zizah, the second; and Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, and so they were reckoned as one family, and one house.)

¹² The sons of Kohath were four, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.

¹³ The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should minister in the holy of holy things, he and his sons without end, and to burn incense to the Lord by his custom, and to bless his name without end. (The sons of Amram were Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was set apart, so that he could be in charge of the holy things, he and his sons forevermore, and to burn incense to the Lord as by its custom, and to bless his name forevermore.)

¹⁴ Also the sons of Moses, the man of God, were numbered in the lineage of Levi. (But the sons of Moses, the man of God, were counted in the tribe of Levi.)

¹⁵ The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer.

¹⁶ The sons of Gershom; Shebuel the first (son).

¹⁷ And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the first (son), and other sons were not to Eliezer; forsooth the sons of Rehabiah were multiplied full much.

¹⁸ The sons of Izhar; Shelomith the first (son).

¹⁹ The sons of Hebron; Jeriah the first (son), Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth.

²⁰ The sons of Uzziel; Micah the first (son), Jesiah the second.

²¹ The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar, and Kish.

²² And Eleazar was dead, and had not sons, but daughters; and the sons of Kish, the brethren of them, that is, (the) cousins-german, wedded them. (And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but only daughters; and the sons of Kish, their kinsmen, that is, their first cousins, wedded them.)

²³ The sons of Mushi were three, Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth.

²⁴ These were the sons of Levi in their kindreds and families, and they were princes by whiles, and the number of all the heads, that did the travail of the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years and above. (These were the Levites in their kindreds and families, and the list of all their leaders, yea, those who did the work in the service of the House of the Lord, from twenty years of age and older.)

²⁵ For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest to his people, and a dwelling in Jerusalem into without end; (For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest to his people, and shall make his dwelling place in Jerusalem forevermore;)

²⁶ and it shall not be the office of (the) deacons for to bear [any] more the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof for to minister therein. (and it shall not be the duty of the Levites to carry about the Tabernacle any more, or any of the vessels for its service.)

²⁷ Also by the last behests of David the number of the sons of Levi shall be reckoned from twenty years and above; (And by the last commands of David the number of the Levites shall be reckoned from twenty years of age and above;)

²⁸ and they shall be under the hand of the sons of Aaron, into the worship of the house of the Lord, in porches, and in chambers, and in the place of cleansing, and in the saintuary, and in all works of the service of the temple of the Lord. (and they shall be under the power of the sons of Aaron in the service of the House of the Lord, yea, in the courtyards, and in the rooms, and in the cleansing of all the holy things, and in all the works in the service of the Temple of the Lord.)

²⁹ And [the] priests shall be over the loaves of proposition, that is, (the loaves of) setting forth, and to the sacrifice of [tried] flour, and to the pastes sodden in water, and to the therf loaves, and to the frying pan, and to [the] hot flour, and to singe, and over all weight and measure. (And the priests shall be in charge of the loaves of proposition, that is, the loaves of setting forth, and the sacrifice of fine flour, and the pastries boiled in water, and the unleavened bread, and the frying pan, and the hot flour, and the singeing, and over all the weights and measures.)

³⁰ And the deacons shall be, that they stand early, for to acknowledge and sing to the Lord, and in like manner at eventide, (And every morning, the Levites shall be on duty to give thanks and to sing to the Lord, and in like manner every evening,)

³¹ as well in the offering of burnt sacrifices of the Lord, as in sabbaths, and calends, and other solemnities, by the number and ceremonies of each thing, continually before the Lord; (as well as at the offering of burnt sacrifices to the Lord, on sabbaths, and calends, and the other Feast Days, by their prescribed number, continually before the Lord;)

³² and that they keep the observances of the tabernacle of the bond of peace of the Lord, and the custom of the saintuary, and the observance of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, that they minister in the house of the Lord. (and that they keep the observances of the Tabernacle of the Covenant of the Lord, that is, the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, and the customs of the sanctuary, and the observances of the sons of Aaron, their kinsmen, and so serve in the House of the Lord.)

4 Therefore for Christ suffered in flesh, be ye also armed by the same thinking; for he that suffered in flesh ceased from sins,

² that that is left now of time in flesh live not now to the desires of men, but to the will of God. [that he live not now to the desires of men, but to the will of God, that that is more of time in flesh.]

³ For the time that is passed [Soothly the time passed] is enough to the will of heathen men to be ended, which walked in lecheries, and lusts, in much drinking of wine, in unmeasurable eatings [in oft eatings], and drinkings, and unleaveful worshipping of maumets [and unleaveful worshippings of idols].

⁴ In which now they be astonished, in which thing they wonder, for ye run not together into the same confusion of lechery, and blaspheme [blaspheming].

⁵ And they shall give reason to him, that is ready to deem the quick and the dead.

⁶ For why for this thing it is preached also to dead men, that they be deemed by men in flesh, and that they live by God in spirit.^[a]

⁷ For the end of all things shall approach [Forsooth the end of all things shall nigh]. Therefore be ye prudent, and wake ye in prayers;

⁸ before all things have ye charity each to other in yourselves always [all-gates] lasting; for charity covereth the multitude of sins.

⁹ Hold ye hospitality together without grudging [without grutching];

¹⁰ each man as he hath received grace, ministering it into each other [ministering each to other], as good dispensers of the manifold grace of God.

¹¹ If any man speaketh, speak he as the words of God; if any man ministereth, as of the virtue which God ministereth; that God be honoured in all things by Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory and lordship into worlds of worlds. Amen.

¹² Most dear brethren, do not ye go in pilgrimage in fervor, that is made to you to temptation [Most dear, do not ye go in pilgrimage in fervor, that is made to you into temptation], as if any new thing befall to you;

¹³ but commune ye with the passions of Christ, and have ye joy, that also ye be glad, and have joy in the revelation of his glory. [but ye communing to the passions of Christ, have joy, that and ye gladding withoutforth, have joy in the revelation of his glory.]

¹⁴ If ye be despised for the name of Christ, ye shall be blessed; for that that is of the honour, and of the glory, and of the virtue of God, and the Spirit that is his, shall rest on you [for that that is of the glory and virtue of God, and the Spirit that is his, resteth on you].

¹⁵ But no man of you suffer as a manslayer, either a thief, either curser, either a desirer of other men's goods; [Forsooth no man of you suffer as a manslayer, or a thief, or curser, or desirer of other men's things;]

¹⁶ but if he suffer as a christian man, shame he not, but glorify he God in this name.

¹⁷ For time is, that doom begin at God's house [For time is, that doom begin of God's house]; and if it begin first at us, what end shall be of them, that believe not to the gospel?

¹⁸ And if a just man scarcely shall be saved, where shall the unfaithful man and the sinner appear [where shall the unpious man and sinner appear]?

¹⁹ Therefore and they that suffer by the will of God [And so, and they that suffer after the will of God], betake their souls in good deeds to the faithful maker of nought.

2 Woe to you, that think unprofitable thing, and work evil in your beds; in the morrowtide light they do it, for the hand of them is against God. (Woe to you, who think up unprofitable things, and work out evil plots in your beds; then in the morning light they do it, for they have the power in their hands.)

² They coveted fields, and took violently; and ravished houses, and falsely challenged a man and his house, a man and his heritage. (They coveted fields, and violently took them; and they robbed houses, and oppressed a man and his house, yea, every man and his inheritance.)

³ Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I think on this family evil, from which ye shall not take away your necks; and ye shall not walk proud, for the worst time is. (And so the Lord saith these things, Lo! I think evil against this family, from which ye shall not be able to take away your necks, or be able to escape; and ye shall not walk proudly, for this shall be the worst time for you.)

⁴ In that day a parable shall be taken on you, and a song shall be sung with sweetness of men, saying, By robbing we be destroyed; a part of my people is changed; how shall he go away from me, when he turneth again that shall part your countries? (On that day a parable shall be made about you, and a song shall be sung with sadness by people, saying, We be destroyed by robbing; a part, or a portion, of my people hath been taken away; he hath divided up our countryside unto those who took us captive.)

⁵ For this thing, none shall be to thee sending a little cord of lot, in company of the Lord. (And because of this, no one shall be casting for thee a little cord by lot, in the congregation of the Lord.)

⁶ A! thou Israel, speak ye not speaking; it shall not drop (a word) on these men, confusion shall not catch, (O! thou Israel, thou saith to me, Speak ye not! ye shall not drop a word upon us, for shame shall not catch us!)

⁷ saith the house of Jacob. Whether the Spirit of the Lord is abridged, either such be the thoughts of him? Whether my words be not good, with him that goeth rightly? (O house of Jacob, is the Spirit of the Lord abridged, that is, is his patience at an end, or do such things be his thoughts? Be my words not good, to him who goeth uprightly?)

⁸ And on the contrary, my people rose together into an adversary; ye took away the mantle above the coat, and ye turned into battle them that went simply. (But on the contrary, my people altogether rose up like an adversary; ye took away the cloak over the coat, from those who returned from battle, and thought themselves safe.)

⁹ Ye casted the women of my people out of the house of their delights; from the little children of them ye took away my praising without end. (Ye threw the women of my people out of their happy homes; and took away my blessings, or my glory, from their little children forever.)

¹⁰ Rise ye, and go, for here ye have no rest; for the uncleanness thereof it shall be corrupted with the worst rot.

¹¹ I would that I were not a man having spirit, and rather that I spake a leasing. I shall drop (a word) to thee into wine, and into drunkenness; and this people shall be, on whom it is dropped. (I wish that I did not have God’s spirit, but rather that I spoke lies. And then I would drop a word to thee about wine, and about drunkenness; and this people shall be, on whom it is dropped.)

¹² With gathering I shall gather Jacob; I shall lead together thee all into one, the remnants of Israel. I shall put him together, as a flock in the fold; as sheep in the middle of folds they shall make noise, (by reason) of multitude of men. (With gathering I shall gather Jacob; I shall lead thee, the remnants of Israel, all together into one. I shall put them like a flock in the fold; and like sheep in the middle of the fold they shall make noise, because of the multitude of the people.)

¹³ For he shall go up showing (the) way before them; they shall depart, and pass the gate, and shall go out thereby; and the king of them shall pass before them, and the Lord in the head of them (and their king shall go before them, and the Lord shall be at their head).

11 And it was done, when he was praying in a place [when he was praying in some place], as he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as [and] John taught his disciples.

² And he said to them, When ye pray, say ye, Father [Father ours], hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come to; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

³ Give to us to day our each day's bread.

⁴ And forgive to us our sins, as [and] we forgive to each man that oweth to us [as and we forgive to each owing to us]. And lead us not into temptation.

⁵ And he said to them, Who of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him, Friend, lend to me three loaves;

⁶ for my friend cometh to me from the way [for my friend cometh to me of the way], and I have not what I shall set before him.

⁷ And he withinforth answer and say, Do not thou be heavy to me; the door is now shut, and my children be with me in bed; I may not rise, and give to thee.

⁸ And if he shall dwell still knocking, I say to you, though he shall not rise, and give to him, for that that he is his friend, nevertheless for his continual asking he shall rise, and give to him [And if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, though he shall not give to him, for he is his friend, nevertheless for his improbity, or continual asking, he shall rise, and give to him], as many as he hath need to.

⁹ And I say to you, ask ye, and it shall be given to you; seek ye, and ye shall find; knock ye, and it shall be opened to you.

¹⁰ For each that asketh, taketh, and he that seeketh, findeth; and to a man that knocketh, it shall be opened.

¹¹ Therefore who of you asketh his father bread, whether he shall give him a stone? or if he asketh fish, whether he shall give him a serpent for the fish?

¹² or if he asketh an egg [or if he shall ask an egg], whether he shall areach him a scorpion?

¹³ Therefore if ye, when ye be evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father of heaven shall give a good Spirit to men that ask him.

¹⁴ And Jesus was casting out a fiend [And he was casting out a fiend], and it was dumb. And when he had cast out the fiend, the dumb man spake; and the people wondered.

¹⁵ And some of them said, In Beelzebub, prince of devils, he casteth out devils.

¹⁶ And others tempting asked of him a token from heaven.

¹⁷ And as he saw the thoughts of them, he said to them, Every realm parted against itself, shall be desolate, and an house shall fall on an house.^[a]

¹⁸ And if Satan be parted against himself, how shall his realm stand? For ye say, that I cast out fiends in Beelzebub.

¹⁹ And if I in Beelzebub cast out fiends, in whom cast out your sons [in whom your sons cast out]? Therefore they shall be your doomsmen.

²⁰ But if I cast out fiends in the finger of God, then [soothly] the realm of God is come among you.

²¹ When a strong, armed man keepeth his house, all things that he wieldeth be in peace.

²² But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him, he shall take away all his armour, in which he trusted, and shall deal abroad his robberies [and shall deal abroad his spoils, or robberies].

²³ He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not together with me, scattereth abroad.

²⁴ When an unclean spirit goeth out of a man, he wandereth by dry places, and seeketh rest [When an unclean spirit hath gone out of a man, he wandereth by dry places, seeking rest]; and he finding none, saith, I shall turn again into mine house, from whence I came out.

²⁵ And when he cometh, he findeth it cleansed with besoms, and fair arrayed [and adorned].

²⁶ Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits worse than himself, and they enter [in], and dwell there. And the last things of that man be made worse than the former.

²⁷ And it was done, when he had said these things, a woman of the company raised [up] her voice, and said to him, Blessed be the womb that bare thee, and blessed be the teats that thou hast sucked.^[b]

²⁸ And he said, But yea blessed be they [And he said, Rather, blessed be they], that hear the word of God, and keep it.

²⁹ And when the people ran together, he began to say, This generation is a wayward generation; it seeketh a token, and a token shall not be given to it, but the token of Jonas, the prophet.

³⁰ For as Jonas was a token to men of Nineve, so man's Son shall be to this generation.

³¹ The queen of the south shall rise in doom with men of this generation, and shall condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and lo! here is a greater than Solomon.

³² Men of Nineve shall rise in [the] doom with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they did penance in the preaching of Jonas [for they did penance at the preaching of Jonas], and lo! here is a greater than Jonas.

³³ No man tendeth a lantern, and putteth it in huddles^[c], neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they that go in, see light.

³⁴ The lantern of thy body is thine eye; if thine eye be simple, all thy body shall be light[-full]; but if it be wayward, all thy body shall be dark-full.

³⁵ Therefore see thou, lest the light that is in thee [lest the light which is in thee], be darknesses.

³⁶ Therefore if all thy body be bright, and have no part of darknesses, it shall be all bright, and as a lantern of brightness it shall give light to thee. [Therefore if all thy body shall be light-full, not having any part of darknesses, it shall be all light-full, and as a lantern of brightness, or shining, it shall give light to thee.]

³⁷ And when he spake, a Pharisee prayed him [some Pharisee prayed], that he should eat with him. And he entered, and sat to meat [And he gone in, sat at the meat].

³⁸ And the Pharisee began to say, guessing within himself, why he was not washed before [the] meat.

³⁹ And the Lord said to him, Now ye Pharisees cleanse that that is withoutforth of the cup and the platter; but that thing that is within of you [but that thing of you that is within], is full of raven and wickedness.

⁴⁰ Fools, whether he that made that that is withoutforth, made not also that that is within?

⁴¹ Nevertheless that that is over-plus [Nevertheless that thing that is over, or superfluous], give ye alms, and lo! all things be clean to you.

⁴² But woe to you, Pharisees, that tithe mint, and rue, and each herb, and leave doom and the charity of God [that tithe mint, and rue, and all wort, or herb, and pass doom and the charity of God]. For it behooved to do these things, and not to leave those.

⁴³ Woe to you, Pharisees, that love the first chairs in synagogues, and salutations in market [and salutations in markets].

⁴⁴ Woe to you, that be as sepulchres, that be not seen [which appear not], and men walking above know not.

⁴⁵ But one of the wise men of the law answered, and said to him, Master, thou saying these things, also to us doest despite. [Forsooth one of the wise men of law answering, said to him, Master, thou saying these things, doest despite also to us.]

⁴⁶ And he said, Also woe to you, wise men of [the] law, for ye charge men with burdens which they be not able to bear [for ye charge men with burdens which they may not bear], and ye yourselves with your one finger touch not the heavinesses.

⁴⁷ Woe to you, that build tombs of prophets [Woe to you, that build burials, or tombs, of prophets]; and your fathers slew them.

⁴⁸ Truly ye witness, that ye consent to the works of your fathers; for [soothly] they slew them, but ye build their sepulchres.

⁴⁹ Therefore [and] the wisdom of God said, I shall send to them prophets and apostles, and of them they shall slay and pursue,

⁵⁰ that the blood of all [the] prophets, that was shed from the making of the world [that was shed out from the beginning of the world], be sought of this generation;

⁵¹ from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zacharias that was slain betwixt the altar and the house^[d]. So I say to you, it shall be sought of this generation.

⁵² Woe to you, wise men of the law [wise men of law], for ye have taken away the key of knowing; and ye yourselves entered not [ye yourselves entered not in], and ye have forbidden them that entered.

⁵³ And when he said these things to them, the Pharisees and wise men of the law [wise men of law] began grievously to against-stand [him], and [to] stop his mouth of many things,

⁵⁴ ambushing him, and seeking to take something of his mouth, to accuse him [that they should accuse him].