M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision
17 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, (A)the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him,
“I am [a]God (B)Almighty;
Walk before Me, and be [b](C)blameless.
2 “I will [c]establish My (D)covenant between Me and you,
And I will (E)multiply you exceedingly.”
3 Abram (F)fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you will be the father of a (G)multitude of nations.
5 “No longer shall your name be called [d]Abram,
But (H)your name shall be [e]Abraham;
For (I)I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and (J)kings will come forth from you. 7 I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your [f]descendants after you throughout their generations for an (K)everlasting covenant, (L)to be God to you and (M)to your [g]descendants after you. 8 (N)I will give to you and to your [h]descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and (O)I will be their God.”
9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, (P)you shall keep My covenant, you and your [i]descendants after you throughout their generations. 10 (Q)This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your [j]descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 And (R)you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. 12 And every male among you who is (S)eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your [k]descendants. 13 A servant who is born in your house or (T)who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be (U)cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but [l]Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and indeed I will give you (V)a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; (W)kings of peoples will [m]come from her.” 17 Then Abraham (X)fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And (Y)will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before You!” 19 But God said, “No, but Sarah your wife will bear you (Z)a son, and you shall call his name [n]Isaac; and (AA)I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his [o]descendants after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and (AB)will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. (AC)He shall [p]become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a (AD)great nation. 21 But My covenant I will establish with (AE)Isaac, whom (AF)Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.” 22 When He finished talking with him, (AG)God went up from Abraham.
23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were (AH)born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, (AI)as God had said to him. 24 Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when (AJ)he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And (AK)Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son. 27 All the men of his household, who were (AL)born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Pharisees Test Jesus
16 (A)The (B)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they (C)asked Him to show them a [a]sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “[b](D)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ (E)Do you know how to discern the [c]appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? 4 (F)An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a [d]sign; and a [e]sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and (G)beware of the [f]leaven of the (H)Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “(I)You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand or remember (J)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? 10 Or (K)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But (L)beware of the [g]leaven of the (M)Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the (N)Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter’s Confession of Christ
13 (O)Now when Jesus came into the district of (P)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that (Q)the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say (R)John the Baptist; and others, [h](S)Elijah; but still others, [i]Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are [j](T)the Christ, (U)the Son of (V)the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, (W)Simon [k]Barjona, because (X)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are [l](Y)Peter, and upon this [m]rock I will build My church; and the gates of (Z)Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you (AA)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and (AB)whatever you bind on earth [n]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth [o]shall have been loosed in heaven.” 20 (AC)Then He [p]warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was [q](AD)the Christ.
Jesus Foretells His Death
21 (AE)From that time [r]Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and (AF)suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “[s]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never [t]happen to You.” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, (AG)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on [u]God’s interests, but man’s.”
Discipleship Is Costly
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and (AH)take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For (AI)whoever wishes to save his [v]life will lose it; but whoever loses his [w]life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the (AJ)Son of Man (AK)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and (AL)will then [x]repay every man according to his [y]deeds.
28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the (AM)Son of Man (AN)coming in His kingdom.”
The Enemy’s Plot
6 Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, (A)although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, 2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at [a]Chephirim in the plain of (B)Ono.” But they were planning to [b]harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. 5 Then Sanballat sent his servant to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and [c]Gashmu says, that (C)you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these reports. 7 You have also appointed prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning [d]you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ And now it will be reported to the king according to these reports. So come now, let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent a message to him saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done, but you are (D)inventing them [e]in your own mind.” 9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, [f]thinking, “[g]They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.” But now, (E)O God, strengthen my hands.
10 When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, (F)who was [h]confined at home, he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.” 11 But I said, “(G)Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple [i]to save his life? I will not go in.” 12 Then I perceived [j]that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He was hired for this reason, (H)that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. 14 (I)Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah (J)the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.
The Wall Is Finished
15 So (K)the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 (L)When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they [k]lost their confidence; for (M)they recognized that this work had been accomplished [l]with the help of our God. 17 Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were bound by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah. 19 Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and reported my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to frighten me.
The Macedonian Vision
16 Paul came also to (A)Derbe and to (B)Lystra. And a disciple was there, named (C)Timothy, the son of a (D)Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by (E)the brethren who were in (F)Lystra and (G)Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to [a]go with him; and he (H)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering (I)the decrees which had been decided upon by (J)the apostles and (K)elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. 5 So (L)the churches were being strengthened [b]in the faith, and were (M)increasing in number daily.
6 They passed through the [c](N)Phrygian and (O)Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in [d](P)Asia; 7 and after they came to (Q)Mysia, they were trying to go into (R)Bithynia, and the (S)Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by (T)Mysia, they came down to (U)Troas. 9 (V)A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of (W)Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen (X)the vision, immediately (Y)we sought to [e]go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to (Z)preach the gospel to them.
11 So putting out to sea from (AA)Troas, we ran (AB)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to (AC)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of (AD)Macedonia, (AE)a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on (AF)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
First Convert in Europe
14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of (AG)Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, (AH)a worshiper of God, was listening; [f]and the Lord (AI)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and (AJ)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
16 It happened that as we were going to (AK)the place of prayer, a slave-girl having (AL)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of (AM)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you [g]the way of salvation.” 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you (AN)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very [h]moment.
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of (AO)profit was [i]gone, they seized (AP)Paul and Silas and (AQ)dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and (AR)are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being (AS)Romans.”
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their [j]robes off them and proceeded to order [k]them to be (AT)beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding (AU)the jailer to guard them securely; 24 [l]and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in (AV)the [m]stocks.
25 But about midnight (AW)Paul and Silas were praying and (AX)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly (AY)there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately (AZ)all the doors were opened and everyone’s (BA)chains were unfastened. 27 When (BB)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about (BC)to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before (BD)Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, (BE)what must I do to be saved?”
The Jailer Converted
31 They said, “(BF)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and (BG)your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of [n]the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them (BH)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set [o]food before them, and rejoiced [p]greatly, having believed in God with (BI)his whole household.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And (BJ)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go (BK)in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, (BL)men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. (BM)They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them (BN)to leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of (BO)Lydia, and when they saw (BP)the brethren, they [q]encouraged them and departed.
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