M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Isaac Is Born

21 ^(A)Then the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had ^[a]promised. ^2 (B)So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at ^(C)the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, ^(D)Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was ^(E)eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now Abraham was ^(F)one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ Sarah said, “God has made ^(G)laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh ^[b]with me.” ⁷ And she said, “^(H)Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸ The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

⁹ Now Sarah saw ^(I)the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^[c](J)mocking. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “^(K)Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son ^[d]Isaac.” ^11 (L)The matter ^[e]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “^[f]Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for ^(M)through Isaac ^[g]your descendants shall be named. ¹³ And of ^(N)the son of the maid I will make a nation also, because he is your ^[h]descendant.” ¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a ^[i]skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was used up, she ^[j]left the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me ^[k]see the boy die.” And she sat opposite him, and ^(O)lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁷ God ^(P)heard the lad crying; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? ^(Q)Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him by ^[l]the hand, ^(R)for I will make a great nation of him.” ¹⁹ Then God ^(S)opened her eyes and she saw ^(T)a well of water; and she went and filled the ^[m]skin with water and gave the lad a drink.

^20 (U)God was with the lad, and he grew; and he ^[n]lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ^21 (V)He ^[o]lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Covenant with Abimelech

²² Now it came about at that time that ^(W)Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “^(X)God is with you in all that you do; ²³ now therefore, ^(Y)swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall show to me and to the land in which you have sojourned.” ²⁴ Abraham said, “I swear it.” ²⁵ But Abraham ^[p]complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech ^(Z)had seized. ²⁶ And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor did I hear of it ^[q]until today.”

²⁷ Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and ^(AA)the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have set by themselves?” ³⁰ He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that it may be a ^(AB)witness to me, that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he called that place ^(AC)Beersheba, because there the two of them took an oath. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there ^(AD)he called on the name of the Lord, the ^(AE)Everlasting God. ³⁴ And Abraham sojourned ^(AF)in the land of the Philistines for many days.

Laborers in the Vineyard

20 “For ^(A)the kingdom of heaven is like ^[a]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his ^(B)vineyard. ² When he had agreed with the laborers for a ^[b]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the ^[c]third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; ⁴ and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the ^[d]sixth and the ninth hour, and did ^[e]the same thing. ⁶ And about the ^[f]eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ ⁷ They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸ “When ^(C)evening came, the ^[g]owner of the vineyard *said to his ^(D)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ ⁹ When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a ^[h]denarius. ¹⁰ When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; ^[i]but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the ^(E)scorching heat of the day.’ ¹³ But he answered and said to one of them, ‘^(F)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your ^(G)eye ^[j]envious because I am ^[k]generous?’ ¹⁶ So ^(H)the last shall be first, and the first last.”

Death, Resurrection Foretold

^17 (I)As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, ¹⁸ “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man ^(J)will be ^[l]delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹ and ^(K)will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on ^(L)the third day He will be raised up.”

Preferment Asked

^20 (M)Then the mother of ^(N)the sons of Zebedee came to ^[m]Jesus with her sons, ^(O)bowing down and making a request of Him. ²¹ And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She *said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine ^(P)may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.” ²² But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(Q)to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.” ²³ He *said to them, “^(R)My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, ^(S)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(T)prepared by My Father.”

²⁴ And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. ^25 (U)But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It is not this way among you, ^(V)but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; ²⁸ just as ^(W)the Son of Man ^(X)did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His ^[n]life a ransom for many.”

Sight for the Blind

^29 (Y)As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. ³⁰ And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, ^(Z)have mercy on us, ^(AA)Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, ^(AB)Son of David, have mercy on us!” ³² And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³³ They *said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” ³⁴ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

Signers of the Document

10 ^[a]Now on the ^(A)sealed document were the names of: Nehemiah the ^[b]governor, the son of Hacaliah, and Zedekiah, ² Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, ³ Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, ⁴ Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, ⁵ Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, ⁶ Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, ⁷ Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, ⁸ Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah. These were the priests. ⁹ And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; ¹⁰ also their brothers Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, ¹¹ Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, ¹² Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, ¹³ Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. ¹⁴ The leaders of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, ¹⁵ Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, ¹⁶ Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, ¹⁷ Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, ¹⁸ Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, ¹⁹ Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, ²⁰ Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, ²¹ Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, ²² Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, ²³ Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, ²⁴ Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, ²⁵ Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, ²⁶ Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, ²⁷ Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

Obligations of the Document

²⁸ Now ^(B)the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants and ^(C)all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons and their daughters, all those who had knowledge and understanding, ²⁹ are joining with their ^[c]kinsmen, their nobles, and are ^[d](D)taking on themselves a curse and an oath to walk in God’s law, which was given through Moses, God’s servant, and to keep and to observe all the commandments of ^[e]God our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes; ³⁰ and ^(E)that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. ³¹ As ^(F)for the peoples of the land who bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we will not buy from them on the sabbath or a holy day; and we will forego the crops the ^(G)seventh year and the ^(H)exaction of every debt.

³² We also ^[f]placed ourselves under obligation to contribute yearly ^(I)one third of a shekel for the service of the house of our God: ³³ for the ^(J)showbread, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, the sabbaths, the new moon, for the appointed times, for the holy things and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and all the work of the house of our God.

³⁴ Likewise ^(K)we cast lots ^(L)for the supply of wood among the priests, the Levites and the people so that they might bring it to the house of our God, according to our fathers’ households, at fixed times annually, to burn on the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law; ³⁵ and that they might bring the first fruits of our ground and ^(M)the first fruits of all the fruit of every tree to the house of the Lord annually, ³⁶ and ^(N)bring to the house of our God the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks as it is written in the law, for the priests who are ministering in the house of our God. ^37 (O)We will also bring the first of our ^[g]dough, our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the new wine and the oil ^(P)to the priests at the chambers of the house of our God, and the ^(Q)tithe of our ground to the Levites, for the Levites are they who receive the tithes in all the rural towns. ^38 (R)The priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes, and the Levites shall bring up the tenth of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers of ^(S)the storehouse. ³⁹ For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi shall bring the ^(T)contribution of the grain, the new wine and the oil to the chambers; there are the utensils of the sanctuary, the priests who are ministering, the gatekeepers and the singers. Thus ^(U)we will not ^[h]neglect the house of our God.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

20 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for ^(A)the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left ^(B)to go to ^(C)Macedonia. ² When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. ³ And there he spent three months, and when ^(D)a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for ^(E)Syria, he decided to return through ^(F)Macedonia. ⁴ And ^[a]he was accompanied by Sopater of ^(G)Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by ^(H)Aristarchus and Secundus of the ^(I)Thessalonians, and ^(J)Gaius of ^(K)Derbe, and ^(L)Timothy, and ^(M)Tychicus and ^(N)Trophimus of ^[b](O)Asia. ⁵ But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for ^(P)us at ^(Q)Troas. ^6 (R)We sailed from ^(S)Philippi after ^(T)the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at ^(U)Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.

⁷ On ^(V)the first day of the week, when ^(W)we were gathered together to ^(X)break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his ^[c]message until midnight. ⁸ There were many ^(Y)lamps in the ^(Z)upper room where we were gathered together. ⁹ And there was a young man named ^[d]Eutychus sitting ^[e]on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ But Paul went down and ^(AA)fell upon him, and after embracing him, he ^(AB)said, “^[f]Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” ¹¹ When he had gone back up and had ^(AC)broken the bread and ^[g]eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. ¹² They took away the boy alive, and were ^[h]greatly comforted.

Troas to Miletus

¹³ But ^(AD)we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go ^[i]by land. ¹⁴ And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. ¹⁵ Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to ^(AE)Miletus. ¹⁶ For Paul had decided to sail past ^(AF)Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in ^[j](AG)Asia; for he was hurrying ^(AH)to be in Jerusalem, if possible, ^(AI)on the day of Pentecost.

Farewell to Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent to ^(AJ)Ephesus and called to him ^(AK)the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they had come to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, ^(AL)from the first day that I set foot in ^[k]Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me ^[l]through ^(AM)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(AN)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and ^[m]from house to house, ²¹ solemnly ^(AO)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ^(AP)repentance toward God and ^(AQ)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And now, behold, bound by the ^[n]Spirit, ^(AR)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(AS)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(AT)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(AU)bonds and afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(AV)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ^(AW)finish my course and ^(AX)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(AY)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(AZ)the grace of God.

²⁵ “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(BA)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶ Therefore, I ^[o]testify to you this day that ^(BB)I am ^[p]innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷ For I ^(BC)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(BD)purpose of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(BE)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^[q]overseers, to shepherd ^(BF)the church of God which ^(BG)He ^[r]purchased ^[s]with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure ^(BH)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(BI)the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away ^(BJ)the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(BK)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(BL)with tears. ³² And now I ^(BM)commend you to God and to ^(BN)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(BO)build you up and to give you ^(BP)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ^33 (BQ)I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that ^(BR)these hands ministered to my own needs and to the ^(BS)men who were with me. ³⁵ In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When he had said these things, he ^(BT)knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^[t]they began to weep aloud and ^[u](BU)embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, ^38 [v]grieving especially over ^(BV)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^(BW)accompanying him to the ship.