M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Flood Ends
8 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and tame animals with him in the boat. God made a wind blow over the earth. And the water went down. 2 The underground springs stopped flowing. And the clouds in the sky stopped pouring down rain. 3-4 The water that covered the earth began to go down. After 150 days the water had gone down so much that the boat touched land again. It came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat.[a] This was on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. 5 The water continued to go down. By the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains could be seen.
6 Forty days later Noah opened the window he had made in the boat. 7 He sent out a raven. It flew here and there until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then Noah sent out a dove. This was to find out if the water had dried up from the ground. 9 The dove could not find a place to land because water still covered the earth. So it came back to the boat. Noah reached out his hand and took the bird. And he brought it back into the boat.
10 After seven days Noah again sent out the dove from the boat. 11 And that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah knew that the ground was almost dry. 12 Seven days later he sent the dove out again. But this time it did not come back.
13 Noah was now 601 years old. It was the first day of the first month of that year. The water was dried up from the land. Noah removed the covering of the boat and saw that the land was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the land was completely dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “You and your wife, your sons and their wives should go out of the boat. 17 Bring every animal out of the boat with you—the birds, animals and everything that crawls on the earth. Let them have many young ones and let them grow in number.”
18 So Noah went out with his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 Every animal, everything that crawls on the earth and every bird went out of the boat. They left by families.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. Noah took some of all the clean birds and animals. And he burned them on the altar as offerings to God. 21 The Lord was pleased with these sacrifices. He said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings. Their thoughts are evil even when they are young. But I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time.
22 “As long as the earth continues,
there will be planting and harvest.
Cold and hot,
summer and winter,
day and night
will not stop.”
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
8 When Jesus came down from the hill, great crowds followed him. 2 Then a man sick with a harmful skin disease came to Jesus. The man bowed down before him and said, “Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want.”
3 Jesus touched the man and said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” And immediately the man was healed from his skin disease. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go and show yourself to the priest.[a] And offer the gift that Moses commanded[b] for people who are made well. This will show people that you are healed.”
Jesus Heals a Soldier’s Servant
5 Jesus went to the city of Capernaum. When he entered the city, an army officer came to Jesus and begged for help. 6 The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”
7 Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”
8 The officer answered, “Lord, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. All you need to do is command that my servant be healed, and he will be healed. 9 I myself am a man under the authority of other men. And I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant obeys me.
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were with him, “I tell you the truth. This man has more faith than any other person I have found, even in Israel. 11 Many people will come from the east and from the west. They will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 And those people who should have the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. In that place people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”
13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And at that same time his servant was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
14 Jesus went to Peter’s house. There Jesus saw that Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a high fever. 15 Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she stood up and began to serve Jesus.
16 That evening people brought to Jesus many who had demons. Jesus spoke and the demons left them. Jesus healed all the sick. 17 He did these things to make come true what Isaiah the prophet said:
“He took our suffering on him.
And he felt our pain for us.” Isaiah 53:4
People Want to Follow Jesus
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he told his followers to go to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow you any place you go.”
20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes to live in. The birds have nests to live in. But the Son of Man has no place where he can rest his head.”
21 Another man, one of Jesus’ followers, said to Jesus, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the people who are dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Stops a Storm
23 Jesus got into a boat, and his followers went with him. 24 A very bad storm arose on the lake. The waves covered the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The followers went to Jesus and woke him. They said, “Lord, save us! We will drown!”
26 Jesus answered, “Why are you afraid? You don’t have enough faith.” Then Jesus got up and gave a command to the wind and the sea. The wind stopped, and the sea became very calm.
27 The men were amazed. They said, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons
28 Jesus arrived at the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarene[c] people. There, two men came to Jesus. They had demons in them. These men lived in the burial caves. They were so dangerous that people could not use the road by those caves. 29 The two men came to Jesus and shouted, “What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to punish us before the right time?”
30 Near that place there was a large herd of pigs feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you make us leave these men, please send us into that herd of pigs.”
32 Jesus said to them, “Go!” So the demons left the men and went into the pigs. Then the whole herd of pigs ran down the hill into the lake and were drowned. 33 The men who were caring for the pigs ran away and went into town. They told about all of this and what had happened to the men who had demons. 34 Then the whole town went out to see Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their area.
Leaders Who Returned with Ezra
8 These are the leaders of the family groups who returned with me. And it is a listing of those who were with them. They came back from Babylon during the rule of King Artaxerxes.
2 From the descendants of Phinehas, there was Gershom.
From the descendants of Ithamar, there was Daniel.
From the descendants of David, there was Hattush 3 of the descendants of Shecaniah.
From the descendants of Parosh, there was Zechariah. And 150 men came with him.
4 From the descendants of Pahath-Moab, there was Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, with 200 men.
5 From the descendants of Zattu, there was Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, with 300 men.
6 From the descendants of Adin, there was Ebed son of Jonathan, with 50 men.
7 From the descendants of Elam, there was Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, with 70 men.
8 From the descendants of Shephatiah, there was Zebadiah son of Michael, with 80 men.
9 From the descendants of Joab, there was Obadiah son of Jehiel, with 218 men.
10 From the descendants of Bani, there was Shelomith son of Josiphiah, with 160 men.
11 From the descendants of Bebai, there was Zechariah son of Bebai, with 28 men.
12 From the descendants of Azgad, there was Johanan son of Hakkatan, with 110 men.
13 From the descendants of Adonikam, these were the last ones: Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah. With them were 60 men.
14 From the descendants of Bigvai, there were Uthai and Zaccur, with 70 men.
The Return to Jerusalem
15 I, Ezra, called all those people together at the canal. It flows toward Ahava. We camped there for three days. I checked all the people and the priests. But I did not find any Levites. 16 So I called these leaders: Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam. And I called Joiarib and Elnathan, who were teachers. 17 I sent those men to Iddo, the leader at Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his relatives, who are the Temple servants in Casiphia. I sent them to bring servants to us for the Temple of our God. 18 Our God was helping us. So Iddo’s relatives gave us Sherebiah, a wise man from the descendants of Mahli. Mahli was the son of Levi. And Levi was the son of Israel. And they brought Sherebiah’s sons and brothers. In all there were 18 men. 19 And they brought to us Hashabiah and Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari. And they also brought his brothers and nephews. In all there were 20 men. 20 They also brought 220 of the Temple servants. This is a group David and the officers had set up to help the Levites. All of those men were listed by name.
21 There by the Ahava Canal, I announced we would all give up eating. We would make ourselves humble before our God. And we would ask God for a safe trip for ourselves, our children and all our possessions. 22 I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen. They could have protected us from enemies on the road. But we had said to the king, “Our God helps everyone who obeys him. But God is very angry with all who reject him.” 23 So we gave up eating and prayed to our God about our trip. He answered our prayers.
24 Then I chose 12 of the priests who were leaders. They were Sherebiah and Hashabiah and 10 of their relatives. 25 I weighed the offering of silver and gold. And I weighed the things given for the Temple of our God. I gave them to the 12 priests I had chosen. The king, the people who advised him, his officers and all the Israelites there with us had given these things for the Temple. 26 I weighed out and gave them about 50,000 pounds of silver, about 7,500 pounds of silver objects and about 7,500 pounds of gold. 27 I gave them 20 gold bowls that weighed about 19 pounds. And I gave them 2 fine pieces of polished bronze that were as valuable as gold.
28 Then I said to the priests, “You and these things belong to the Lord for his service. The silver and gold are gifts to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 Guard these things carefully. In Jerusalem, weigh them in front of the leading priests, Levites and the leaders of the family groups of Israel. Do this in the rooms of the Temple of the Lord.” 30 So the priests and Levites took the silver, the gold and the special things that had been weighed out. They were to take them to the Temple of our God in Jerusalem.
31 On the twelfth day of the first month we left the Ahava Canal. We started toward Jerusalem. Our God helped us. He protected us from enemies and robbers along the way. 32 Then we arrived in Jerusalem. We rested there three days.
33 On the fourth day we weighed out the silver, the gold and the special things in the Temple of our God. We handed them to the priest Meremoth son of Uriah. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with Meremoth. Also the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui were with them. 34 We checked everything by number and by weight. And the total weight was written down at that time.
35 Then the captives who returned made burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They sacrificed 12 bulls for all Israel, 96 male sheep and 77 male lambs. All these animals were burned as sacrifices to the Lord. For a sin offering to the Lord there were 12 male goats. 36 They took King Artaxerxes’ orders to the royal officers and to the governors west of the Euphrates. Then these men gave help to the people and the Temple of God.
8 Saul agreed that the killing of Stephen was a good thing.
Trouble for the Believers
2-3 Some religious men buried Stephen. They cried very loudly for him. On that day people began trying to hurt the church in Jerusalem and make it suffer. Saul was also trying to destroy the church. He went from house to house. He dragged out men and women and put them in jail. All the believers, except the apostles, went to different places in Judea and Samaria. 4 And everywhere the believers were scattered, they told people the Good News.
Philip Preaches in Samaria
5 Philip[a] went to the city[b] of Samaria and preached about the Christ. 6 The people there heard Philip and saw the miracles he was doing. They all listened carefully to the things he said. 7 Many of these people had evil spirits in them. But Philip made the evil spirits leave them. The spirits made a loud noise when they came out. There were also many weak and crippled people there. Philip healed them, too. 8 So the people in that city were very happy.
9 But there was a man named Simon in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had practiced magic. He amazed all the people of Samaria with his magic. He bragged and called himself a great man. 10 All the people—the least important and the most important—paid attention to what Simon said. They said, “This man has the power of God, called ‘the Great Power’!” 11 Simon had amazed them with his magic tricks so long that the people became his followers. 12 But Philip told them the Good News about the kingdom of God and the power of Jesus Christ. Men and women believed Philip and were baptized. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. He stayed very close to Philip. When he saw the miracles and the very powerful things that Philip did, Simon was amazed.
14 The apostles were still in Jerusalem. They heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God. So they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When Peter and John arrived, they prayed that the Samaritan believers might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 These people had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. But the Holy Spirit had not yet entered any of them. 17 Then, when the two apostles began laying their hands on[c] the people, they received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given to people when the apostles laid their hands on them. So he offered the apostles money. 19 He said, “Give me also this power so that when I lay my hands on a person, he will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter said to him, “You and your money should both be destroyed! You thought you could buy God’s gift with money. 21 You cannot share with us in this work. Your heart is not right before God. 22 Change your heart! Turn away from this evil thing you have done. Pray to the Lord. Maybe he will forgive you for thinking this. 23 I see that you are full of bitter jealousy and ruled by sin.”
24 Simon answered, “Both of you pray for me to the Lord. Pray that the things you have said will not happen to me!”
25 Then the two apostles told the people the things they had seen Jesus do. And after the apostles had given the message of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem. On the way, they went through many Samaritan towns and preached the Good News to the people.
Philip Teaches an Ethiopian
26 An angel of the Lord spoke to Philip.[d] The angel said, “Get ready and go south. Go to the road that leads down to Gaza from Jerusalem—the desert road.” 27 So Philip got ready and went. On the road he saw a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch. He was an important officer in the service of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. He was responsible for taking care of all her money. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and 28 now he was on his way home. He was sitting in his chariot and reading from the book of Isaiah, the prophet. 29 The Spirit said to Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30 So Philip ran toward the chariot. He heard the man reading from Isaiah, the prophet. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 He answered, “How can I understand? I need someone to explain it to me!” Then he invited Philip to climb in and sit with him. 32 The verse of Scripture that he was reading was this:
“He was like a sheep being led to be killed.
He was quiet, as a sheep is quiet while its wool is being cut.
He said nothing.
33 He was shamed and was treated unfairly.
He died without children to continue his family.
His life on earth has ended.” Isaiah 53:7-8
34 The officer said to Philip, “Please tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is he talking about himself or about someone else?” 35 Philip began to speak. He started with this same Scripture and told the man the Good News about Jesus.
36 While they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The officer said, “Look! Here is water! What is stopping me from being baptized?” 37 [Philip answered, “If you believe with all your heart, you can.” The officer said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”][e] 38 Then the officer commanded the chariot to stop. Both Philip and the officer went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away; the officer never saw him again. The officer continued on his way home, full of joy. 40 But Philip appeared in a city called Azotus and preached the Good News in all the towns on the way from Azotus to Caesarea.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.