M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The New Beginning

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons. He said to them, “Have many children. Grow in number and fill the earth. ² Every animal on earth and every bird in the sky will respect and fear you. So will every animal that crawls on the ground and every fish in the sea respect and fear you. I have given them to you.

³ “Everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food. Earlier I gave you the green plants. And now I give you everything for food. ⁴ But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it, because blood gives life. ⁵ I will demand your blood for your lives. That is, I will demand the life of any animal that kills a person. And I will demand the life of anyone who takes another person’s life.

⁷ “Noah, I want you and your family to have many children. Grow in number on the earth and become many.”

⁸ Then God said to Noah and his sons, ⁹ “Now I am making my agreement with you and your people who will live after you. ¹⁰ And I also make it with every living thing that is with you. It is with the birds, the tame animals and the wild animals. It is with all that came out of the boat with you. I make my agreement with every living thing on earth. ¹¹ I make this agreement with you: I will never again destroy all living things by floodwaters. A flood will never again destroy the earth.”

¹² And God said, “I am making an agreement between me and you and every living creature that is with you. It will continue from now on. This is the sign: ¹³ I am putting my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of the agreement between me and the earth. ¹⁴ When I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow appears in the clouds. ¹⁵ Then I will remember my agreement. It is between me and you and every living thing. Floodwaters will never again destroy all life on the earth. ¹⁶ When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it. Then I will remember the agreement that continues forever. It is between me and every living thing on the earth.”

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “That rainbow is a sign. It is the sign of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth.”

Noah and His Sons

¹⁸ The sons of Noah came out of the boat with him. They were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) ¹⁹ These three men were Noah’s sons. And all the people on earth came from these three sons.

²⁰ Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. ²¹ He drank wine made from his grapes. Then he became drunk and lay naked in his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Canaan, looked at his naked father. Ham told his brothers outside. ²³ Then Shem and Japheth got a coat and carried it on both their shoulders. They walked backwards into the tent and covered their father. They turned their faces away. In this way they did not see their father without clothes.

²⁴ Noah was sleeping because of the wine. Later he woke up. Then he learned what his youngest son, Ham, had done to him. ²⁵ So Noah said,

²⁶ Noah also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ He lived a total of 950 years. Then he died.

Nations Grow and Spread

10 This is the family history of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth. After the flood these three men had sons.

Japheth’s Sons

² The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim^[a] and Rodanim. ⁵ Those who lived in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea came from these sons of Japheth. All the families grew and became different nations. Each nation had its own land and its own language.

Ham’s Sons

⁶ The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim,^[b] Put and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca.

The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ Cush also had a descendant named Nimrod. Nimrod became a very powerful man on earth. ⁹ He was a great hunter before the Lord. That is why people say someone is “like Nimrod, a great hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ At first Nimrod’s kingdom covered Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh in the land of Babylonia. ¹¹ From there he went to Assyria. There he built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir and Calah. ¹² He also built Resen, the great city between Nineveh and Calah.

¹³ Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, ¹⁴ Pathrusites, Casluhites and the people of Crete. (The Philistines came from the Casluhites.)

¹⁵ Canaan was the father of Sidon his first son and of Heth. ¹⁶ Canaan was also the father of the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, ¹⁷ Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, ¹⁸ Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. The families of the Canaanites scattered. ¹⁹ The land of the Canaanites reached from Sidon to Gerar as far as Gaza. And it reached to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ All these people were the sons of Ham. All these families had their own languages, their own lands and their own nations.

Shem’s Sons

²¹ Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. One of his descendants was the father of all the sons of Eber.

²² The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

²³ The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech.

²⁴ Arphaxad was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber. ²⁵ Eber was the father of two sons. One son was named Peleg^[c] because the earth was divided during his life. Eber’s other son was named Joktan.

²⁶ Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹ Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these people were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ These people lived in the area between Mesha and Sephar in the hill country in the East.

³¹ These are the people from the family of Shem. They are arranged by families, languages, countries and nations.

³² This is the list of the families from the sons of Noah. They are arranged according to their nations. From these families came all the nations who spread across the earth after the flood.

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

9 Jesus got into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. ² Some people brought to Jesus a man who was paralyzed. The man was lying on his mat. Jesus saw that these people had great faith, so he said to the paralyzed man, “Be happy, young man. Your sins are forgiven.”

³ Some of the teachers of the law heard this. They said to themselves, “This man speaks as if he were God—that is blasphemy!”^[a]

⁴ Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “Why are you thinking evil thoughts? ⁵ Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? ⁶ But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up. Take your mat and go home.” ⁷ And the man stood up and went home. ⁸ The people saw this and were amazed. They praised God for giving power like this to men.

Jesus Chooses Matthew

⁹ When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew. Matthew was sitting in the tax office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew stood up and followed Jesus.

¹⁰ Jesus had dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. ¹¹ The Pharisees saw this and asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

¹² Jesus heard the Pharisees ask this. So he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor. Only the sick need a doctor. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices.’^[b] I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners.”

Jesus Is Not Like Other Jews

¹⁴ Then the followers of John^[c] came to Jesus. They said to Jesus, “We and the Pharisees often give up eating.^[d] But your followers don’t. Why?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “The friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will leave them. Then his friends are sad, and they will give up eating.

¹⁶ “When someone sews a patch over a hole in an old coat, he never uses a piece of cloth that is not yet shrunk. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. ¹⁷ Also, people never pour new wine into old leather bags for holding wine. If they do, the old bags will break. The wine will spill, and the wine bags will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into new wine bags. Then the wine and the wine bags will continue to be good.”

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

¹⁸ While Jesus was saying these things, a ruler of the synagogue came to him. The ruler bowed down before Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and touch her with your hand, and she will live again.”

¹⁹ So Jesus stood up and went with the ruler. Jesus’ followers went too.

²⁰ Then a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came behind Jesus and touched the edge of his coat. ²¹ She was thinking, “If I can touch his coat, then I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned and saw the woman. He said, “Be happy, dear woman. You are made well because you believed.” And the woman was healed at once.

²³ Jesus continued along with the ruler and went into the ruler’s house. Jesus saw people there who play music for funerals. And he saw many people there crying. ²⁴ Jesus said, “Go away. The girl is not dead. She is only asleep.” But the people laughed at Jesus. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, Jesus went into the girl’s room. He took her hand, and she stood up. ²⁶ The news about this spread all around the area.

Jesus Heals More People

²⁷ When Jesus was leaving there, two blind men followed him. They cried out, “Show kindness to us, Son of David!”

²⁸ Jesus went inside, and the blind men went with him. He asked the men, “Do you believe that I can make you see again?”

They answered, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹ Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “You believe that I can make you see again. So this will happen.” ³⁰ Then the men were able to see. But Jesus warned them very strongly, saying, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” ³¹ But the blind men left and spread the news about Jesus all around that area.

³² When the two men were leaving, some people brought another man to Jesus. This man could not talk because he had a demon in him. ³³ Jesus forced the demon to leave the man. Then the man who couldn’t talk was able to speak. The crowd was amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel.”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “The leader of demons is the one that gives him power to force demons out.”

³⁵ Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues and told people the Good News about the kingdom. And he healed all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. ³⁶ He saw the crowds of people and felt sorry for them because they were worried and helpless. They were like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Jesus said to his followers, “There are many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers to help harvest them. ³⁸ God owns the harvest. Pray to him that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest.”^[e]

Ezra’s Prayer

9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me. They said, “Ezra, the Israelites, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the people around us. Those neighbors do evil things as the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites did. ² The Israelite men and their sons have married the women of these non-Jewish people. They have mixed the people who belong to God with the people around them. The leaders and officers of Israel did this first. And they caused the rest of the Israelites to do this unfaithful thing.”

³ When I heard this, I angrily tore my robe and coat. I pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down in shock. ⁴ Then everyone who trembled in fear at the word of the God of Israel gathered around me. This was because of the unfaithfulness of the captives who had returned. I sat there in shock until the evening sacrifice.

⁵ Then, at the evening sacrifice, I got up from where I had shown my disgrace. My inner robe and coat were torn. And I fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God. ⁶ I prayed,

“My God, I am too ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to you. I am in disgrace because our sins are so many they are higher than our heads. Our sins even reach up to the sky. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been very guilty. Because of our sins, we, our kings and priests have suffered punishment. We have been punished by the sword and captivity. Foreign kings have taken away our things and shamed us. It is that way today.

⁸ “But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been kind to us. He has let some of us come back from captivity. He has let us live in safety in his holy place. And so our God gives us hope and a little relief from our slavery. ⁹ Even though we are slaves, our God has not left us. He caused the kings of Persia to be kind to us. He has given us new life. So we can rebuild the Temple and repair its ruins. And he has given us a wall to protect us in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “But now, our God, what can we say after you have done all this? We have disobeyed your commands. ¹¹ You gave these commands through your servants the prophets. You said, ‘The land you are entering to own is ruined. The people living there have spoiled it by the evil they do. Their evil filled the land with uncleanness from one end to the other. ¹² So do not let your daughters marry their sons. And do not let their daughters marry your sons. Do not wish for their peace or success. Then you may be strong and eat the good things of the land. And then you can leave this land to your descendants forever.’

¹³ “What has happened to us is our own fault. We have done evil things. Our guilt is great. But you, our God, have punished us less than we deserve. You have left a few of us alive. ¹⁴ We should not again break your commands by allowing marriages with these wicked people. If we did, you would get angry enough to destroy us. Then none of us would be left alive. ¹⁵ Lord, God of Israel, by your goodness a few of us are left alive today. We admit that we are guilty. None of us should be allowed to stand before you.”

Saul Is Converted

9 In Jerusalem Saul was still trying to frighten the followers of the Lord by saying he would kill them. So he went to the high priest ² and asked him to write letters to the synagogues in the city of Damascus. Saul wanted the high priest to give him the authority to find people in Damascus who were followers of Christ’s Way. If he found any there, men or women, he would arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem.

³ So Saul went to Damascus. As he came near the city, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. ⁴ Saul fell to the ground. He heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why are you doing things against me?”

⁵ Saul said, “Who are you, Lord?”

The voice answered, “I am Jesus. I am the One you are trying to hurt. ⁶ Get up now and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.”

⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there, but they said nothing. They heard the voice, but they saw no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground. He opened his eyes, but he could not see. So the men with Saul took his hand and led him into Damascus. ⁹ For three days Saul could not see, and he did not eat or drink.

¹⁰ There was a follower of Jesus in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to Ananias in a vision, “Ananias!”

Ananias answered, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight Street. Find the house of Judas.^[a] Ask for a man named Saul from the city of Tarsus. He is there now, praying. ¹² Saul has seen a vision. In it a man named Ananias comes to him and lays his hands on him. Then he sees again.”

¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and the terrible things he did to your people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now he has come here to Damascus. The leading priests have given him the power to arrest everyone who worships you.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen Saul for an important work. He must tell about me to non-Jews, to kings, and to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

¹⁷ So Ananias went to the house of Judas. He laid his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus sent me. He is the one you saw on the road on your way here. He sent me so that you can see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately, something that looked like fish scales fell from Saul’s eyes. He was able to see again! Then Saul got up and was baptized. ¹⁹ After eating some food, his strength returned.

Saul Preaches in Damascus

Saul stayed with the followers of Jesus in Damascus for a few days. ²⁰ Soon he began to preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “Jesus is the Son of God!”

²¹ All the people who heard him were amazed. They said, “This is the man who was in Jerusalem. He was trying to destroy those who trust in this name! He came here to do the same thing. He came here to arrest the followers of Jesus and take them back to the leading priests.”

²² But Saul became more and more powerful. His proofs that Jesus is the Christ were so strong that the Jews in Damascus could not argue with him.

Saul Escapes from Damascus

²³ After many days, the Jews made plans to kill Saul. ²⁴ They were watching the city gates day and night. They wanted to kill him, but Saul learned about their plan. ²⁵ One night some followers of Saul helped him leave the city. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the city wall.

Saul in Jerusalem

²⁶ Then Saul went to Jerusalem. He tried to join the group of followers, but they were all afraid of him. They did not believe that he was really a follower. ²⁷ But Barnabas accepted Saul and took him to the apostles. Barnabas told them that Saul had seen the Lord on the road. He explained how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.

²⁸ And so Saul stayed with the followers. He went everywhere in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁹ He would often talk and argue with the Jews who spoke Greek. But they were trying to kill him. ³⁰ When the brothers learned about this, they took Saul to Caesarea. From there they sent him to Tarsus.

³¹ The church everywhere in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had a time of peace. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the group became stronger. The believers showed that they respected the Lord by the way they lived. Because of this, the group of believers grew larger and larger.

Peter Heals Aeneas

³² As Peter was traveling through all the area, he visited God’s people who lived in Lydda. ³³ There he met a paralyzed man named Aeneas. Aeneas had not been able to leave his bed for the past eight years. ³⁴ Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Stand up and make your bed!” Aeneas stood up immediately. ³⁵ All the people living in Lydda and on the Plain of Sharon saw him. These people turned to the Lord.

Peter in Joppa

³⁶ In the city of Joppa there was a follower named Tabitha. (Her Greek name, Dorcas, means “a deer.”) She was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷ While Peter was in Lydda, Tabitha became sick and died. Her body was washed and put in a room upstairs. ³⁸ The followers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda. (Lydda is near Joppa.) So they sent two men to Peter. They begged him, “Hurry, please come to us!” ³⁹ Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. All the widows stood around Peter, crying. They showed him the shirts and coats that Tabitha had made when she was still alive. ⁴⁰ Peter sent everyone out of the room. He kneeled and prayed. Then he turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, stand up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called the believers and the widows into the room. He showed them Tabitha; she was alive! ⁴² People everywhere in Joppa learned about this, and many believed in the Lord. ⁴³ Peter stayed in Joppa for many days with a man named Simon who was a leatherworker.