M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Corruption of Mankind
6 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were [a]beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “(A)My Spirit shall not [b]strive with man forever, [c](B)because he also is flesh; [d]nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 The (C)Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that (D)every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 (E)The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was (F)grieved [e]in His heart. 7 The Lord said, “(G)I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the [f]sky; for (H)I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But (I)Noah (J)found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a (K)righteous man, [g](L)blameless in his [h]time; Noah (M)walked with God. 10 Noah [i]became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was (N)corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was (O)filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for (P)all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “(Q)The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall [j]cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred [k]cubits, its breadth fifty [l]cubits, and its height thirty [m]cubits. 16 You shall make a [n]window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from [o]the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 Behold, (R)I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 But I will establish (S)My covenant with you; and (T)you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 (U)And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 (V)Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 As for you, take for yourself some of all (W)food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.” 22 (X)Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
Giving to the Poor and Prayer
6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men (A)to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
2 “So when you [a]give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they (B)may be honored by men. (C)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But when you [b]give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your [c]giving will be in secret; and (D)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to (E)stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners [d](F)so that they may be seen by men. (G)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But you, when you pray, (H)go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and (I)your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their (J)many words. 8 So do not be like them; for (K)your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
9 “(L)Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘(M)Your kingdom come.
(N)Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘(O)Give us this day [e]our daily bread.
12 ‘And (P)forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but (Q)deliver us from [f](R)evil. [g][For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]
14 (S)For if you forgive [h]others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But (T)if you do not forgive [i]others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Fasting; The True Treasure; Wealth (Mammon)
16 “(U)Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they [j]neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. (V)Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But you, when you fast, (W)anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your (X)Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
19 “(Y)Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves (Z)treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for (AA)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “(AB)The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is [k]clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if (AC)your eye is [l]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “(AD)No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [m](AE)wealth.
The Cure for Anxiety
25 “(AF)For this reason I say to you, [n]do not be (AG)worried about your [o]life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 (AH)Look at the birds of the [p]air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being (AI)worried can (AJ)add a single [q]hour to his [r]life? 28 And why are you (AK)worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even (AL)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the (AM)grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? (AN)You of little faith! 31 Do not (AO)worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for (AP)your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But [s]seek first [t]His kingdom and His righteousness, and (AQ)all these things will be [u]added to you.
34 “So do not (AR)worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will [v]care for itself. [w]Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Darius Finds Cyrus’s Decree
6 Then King Darius issued a decree, and (A)search was made in the [a]archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon. 2 In [b]Ecbatana in the fortress, which is (B)in the province of Media, a scroll was found and there was written in it as follows: “Memorandum— 3 (C)In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the [c]temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be [d]retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; 4 (D)with three layers of huge stones and [e]one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the [f]royal treasury. 5 Also let (E)the gold and silver utensils of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be returned and [g]brought to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; and you shall put them in the house of God.’
6 “Now therefore, (F)Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the [h]River, Shethar-bozenai and [i]your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the [j]River, [k]keep away from there. 7 Leave this work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. 8 Moreover, (G)I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of this house of God: the full cost is to be paid to these people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the River, and that without delay. 9 Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail, 10 that they may offer [l]acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and (H)pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11 And I issued a decree that (I)any man who violates this edict, a timber shall be drawn from his house and he shall be impaled on it and (J)his house shall be made a refuse heap on account of this. 12 May the God who (K)has caused His name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who [m]attempts to change it, so as to destroy this house of God in Jerusalem. I, Darius, have issued this decree, let it be carried out with all diligence!”
The Temple Completed and Dedicated
13 Then (L)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues carried out the decree with all diligence, just as King Darius had sent. 14 And (M)the elders of the Jews [n]were successful in building through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And [o]they finished building according to the command of the God of Israel and the decree (N)of Cyrus, (O)Darius, and (P)Artaxerxes king of Persia. 15 This [p]temple was completed [q]on the third day of the (Q)month Adar; it was the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
16 And the sons of Israel, the priests, the Levites and the rest of the [r]exiles, (R)celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered for the dedication of this temple of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel (S)12 male goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 Then they appointed the priests to (T)their divisions and the Levites in (U)their orders for the service of God [s]in Jerusalem, (V)as it is written in the book of Moses.
The Passover Observed
19 (W)The exiles observed the Passover on (X)the fourteenth of the first month. 20 (Y)For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were pure. Then (Z)they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, both for their brothers the priests and for themselves. 21 The sons of Israel who returned from exile and (AA)all those who had separated themselves from (AB)the impurity of the nations of the land to join them, to seek the Lord God of Israel, ate the Passover. 22 And (AC)they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had caused them to rejoice, and (AD)had turned the heart of (AE)the king of Assyria toward them to [t]encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
Choosing of the Seven
6 Now [a]at this time while the (A)disciples were (B)increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the [b](C)Hellenistic Jews against the native (D)Hebrews, because their (E)widows were being overlooked in (F)the daily serving of food. 2 So the twelve summoned the [c]congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 Therefore, (G)brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, (H)full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4 But we will (I)devote ourselves to prayer and to the [d]ministry of the word.” 5 The statement found approval with the whole [e]congregation; and they chose (J)Stephen, a man (K)full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and (L)Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and [f]Nicolas, a [g](M)proselyte from (N)Antioch. 6 And these they brought before the apostles; and after (O)praying, they (P)laid their hands on them.
7 (Q)The word of God kept on spreading; and (R)the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to (S)the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great (T)wonders and [h]signs among the people. 9 But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both (U)Cyrenians and (V)Alexandrians, and some from (W)Cilicia and [i](X)Asia, rose up and argued with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.” 12 And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they (Y)came up to him and dragged him away and brought him [j]before (Z)the [k]Council. 13 They put forward (AA)false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this (AB)holy place and the Law; 14 for we have heard him say that (AC)this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter (AD)the customs which Moses handed down to us.” 15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the [l](AE)Council saw his face like the face of an angel.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.