M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 8
1 God remembered Noah and all the animals, wild and tame, that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind sweep over the earth, and the waters began to subside. 2 The fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the downpour from the sky was held back. 3 Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished 4 that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.[a] 5 The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch of the ark that he had made, 7 [b]and he released a raven. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth. 8 Then he released a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. 9 But the dove could find no place to perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water over all the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark. 10 He waited yet seven days more and again released the dove from the ark. 11 In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had diminished on the earth. 12 He waited yet another seven days and then released the dove; but this time it did not come back.
13 [c]In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground had dried. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
15 Then God said to Noah: 16 Go out of the ark, together with your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you—all creatures, be they birds or animals or crawling things that crawl on the earth—and let them abound on the earth, and be fertile and multiply on it.(A) 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives; 19 and all the animals, all the birds, and all the crawling creatures that crawl on the earth went out of the ark by families.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the sweet odor, the Lord said to himself: Never again will I curse the ground because of human beings, since the desires of the human heart are evil from youth; nor will I ever again strike down every living being, as I have done.(B)
22 All the days of the earth,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
and day and night
shall not cease.(C)
III. Ministry and Mission in Galilee[a]
Chapter 8
The Cleansing of a Leper. 1 (A)When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And then a leper[b] approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. 4 [c]Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;(B) that will be proof for them.”
The Healing of a Centurion’s Servant.[d] 5 (C)When he entered Capernaum,[e] a centurion approached him and appealed to him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” 7 He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion said in reply,[f] “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel[g] have I found such faith. 11 (D)I say to you,[h] many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, 12 but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed.
The Cure of Peter’s Mother-in-Law.[i] 14 (E)Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.(F)
Other Healings. 16 When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word[j] and cured all the sick, 17 to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:[k](G)
“He took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
The Would-be Followers of Jesus.[l] 18 (H)When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side.[m] 19 (I)A scribe approached and said to him, “Teacher,[n] I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man[o] has nowhere to rest his head.” 21 Another of [his] disciples said to him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” 22 [p]But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”
The Calming of the Storm at Sea. 23 [q](J)He got into a boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a violent storm[r] came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. 25 (K)They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us![s] We are perishing!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”[t] Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. 27 The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
The Healing of the Gadarene Demoniacs. 28 (L)When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes,[u] two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. 29 They cried out, “What have you to do with us,[v] Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” 30 Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.[w] 31 The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.”(M) 32 And he said to them, “Go then!” They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. 33 The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
Chapter 8
Ezra’s Caravan. 1 These are the heads of the ancestral houses and the genealogies of those who returned with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
2 Of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershon; of the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; of the descendants of David, Hattush, 3 son of Shecaniah; of the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him one hundred and fifty males were enrolled; 4 of the descendants of Pahath-moab, Eliehoenai, son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males; 5 of the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah, son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males; 6 of the descendants of Adin, Ebed, son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males; 7 of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah, son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males; 8 of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah, son of Michael, and with him eighty males; 9 of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah, son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males; 10 of the descendants of Bani, Shelomoth, son of Josiphiah, and with him one hundred and sixty males; 11 of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah, son of Bebai, and with him twenty-eight males; 12 of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan, son of Hakkatan, and with him one hundred and ten males; 13 of the descendants of Adonikam, younger sons, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them sixty males; 14 of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai, son of Zakkur, and with him seventy males.
Final Preparations for the Journey. 15 I assembled them by the river that flows toward Ahava,[a] where we camped for three days. There I perceived that both laymen and priests were present, but I could not discover a single Levite. 16 So I sent for discerning leaders, Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah, and Meshullam, 17 with a command for Iddo, the leader in the place Casiphia, instructing them what to say to Iddo and his kinsmen, and to the temple servants in Casiphia, in order to procure for us ministers for the house of our God. 18 (A)Since the favoring hand of our God was over us, they sent to us a well-instructed man, one of the descendants of Mahli, son of Levi, son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and kinsmen, eighteen men. 19 They also sent us Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah, descendants of Merari, and their kinsmen and their sons, twenty men. 20 (B)Of the temple servants, those whom David and the princes appointed to serve the Levites, there were two hundred and twenty. All these were enrolled by name.
21 Then I proclaimed a fast, there by the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions. 22 (C)For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horsemen to protect us against enemies along the way, since we had said to the king, “The favoring hand of our God is over all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted, seeking this from our God, and it was granted. 24 Next I selected twelve of the priestly leaders along with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen, 25 and I weighed out before them the silver and the gold and the vessels offered for the house of our God by the king, his counselors, his officials, and all the Israelites of that region. 26 I weighed out into their hands these amounts: silver, six hundred and fifty talents; silver vessels, one hundred; gold, one hundred talents; 27 twenty golden bowls valued at a thousand darics; two vases of excellent polished bronze, as precious as gold. 28 I addressed them in these words: “You are consecrated to the Lord, and the vessels are also consecrated; the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 Watch over them carefully until you weigh them out in Jerusalem in the presence of the chief priests and Levites and the leaders of ancestral houses of Israel, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” 30 The priests and the Levites then took over the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
Arrival in Jerusalem. 31 We set out from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God remained over us, and he protected us from enemies and robbers along the way. 32 We arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days. 33 On the fourth day, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed out in the house of our God and given to the priest Meremoth, son of Uriah, with whom was Eleazar, son of Phinehas; they were assisted by the Levites Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui. 34 Everything was in order as to number and weight, and the total weight was registered. At that same time, 35 those who had returned from the captivity, the exiles, offered as burnt offerings to the God of Israel twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve goats as sin offerings: all these as a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 [b]Finally, the orders of the king were presented to the king’s satraps and to the governors in West-of-Euphrates, who gave their support to the people and to the house of God.
Chapter 8
1 Now Saul was consenting to his execution.(A)
Persecution of the Church. On that day, there broke out a severe persecution[a] of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.[b] 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. 3 Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church;[c] entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment.(B)
III. The Mission in Judea and Samaria
Philip in Samaria. 4 Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.(C) 5 Thus Philip went down to [the] city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.(D) 6 With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.(E) 8 There was great joy in that city.
Simon the Magician. 9 A man named Simon used to practice magic[d] in the city and astounded the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 10 All of them, from the least to the greatest, paid attention to him, saying, “This man is the ‘Power of God’ that is called ‘Great.’” 11 They paid attention to him because he had astounded them by his magic for a long time, 12 but once they began to believe Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women alike were baptized.(F) 13 Even Simon himself believed and, after being baptized, became devoted to Philip; and when he saw the signs and mighty deeds that were occurring, he was astounded.
14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the holy Spirit, 16 for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.[e] 17 Then they laid hands on them and they received the holy Spirit.(G)
18 [f]When Simon saw that the Spirit was conferred by the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me this power too, so that anyone upon whom I lay my hands may receive the holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your money perish with you, because you thought that you could buy the gift of God with money. 21 You have no share or lot in this matter, for your heart is not upright before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your intention may be forgiven. 23 For I see that you are filled with bitter gall and are in the bonds of iniquity.” 24 Simon said in reply, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25 So when they had testified and proclaimed the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem and preached the good news to many Samaritan villages.
Philip and the Ethiopian.[g] 26 Then the angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” 27 So he got up and set out. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace,[h] that is, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury, who had come to Jerusalem to worship,(H) 28 and was returning home. Seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and join up with that chariot.” 30 [i]Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him.(I) 32 This was the scripture passage he was reading:(J)
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
33 In (his) humiliation justice was denied him.
Who will tell of his posterity?
For his life is taken from the earth.”
34 Then the eunuch said to Philip in reply, “I beg you, about whom is the prophet saying this? About himself, or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth and, beginning with this scripture passage, he proclaimed Jesus to him. 36 (K)As they traveled along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” [37 ][j] 38 Then he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but continued on his way rejoicing.(L) 40 Philip came to Azotus, and went about proclaiming the good news to all the towns until he reached Caesarea.(M)
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.