M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Bloodshed of Abimelech and Shechem

9 Now Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke to them and the whole clan of his mother’s father’s household saying, ² “Speak now, in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem: Which is better for you, that 70 men—all the sons of Jerubbaal—rule over you, or that a single man rules over you? Remember also that I am your flesh and bone.”

³ When his mother’s brothers discussed all these words of his in the ears of all Shechem’s leaders, their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” ⁴ So they gave him 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-berith^[a]. Abimelech then hired idle and reckless fellows, who followed him. ⁵ Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and slew his brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal, 70 men, on top of one stone. But Jotam, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, for he hid himself. ⁶ Then all the leaders of Shechem and all Beth-millo assembled themselves together and went and made Abimelech king at the terebinth of the pillar that was in Shechem.

⁷ Now when they told Jotam, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, lifted up his voice, called out and said to them, “Listen to me, O lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you! ⁸ Once the trees set out to anoint a king over them. So they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ ⁹ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my oil, that honors God and man, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹⁰ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹¹ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my sweetness and my delicious fruit, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹² So the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹³ But the vine said to them, ‘Should I stop yielding my new wine, which cheers God and man, and go wave over the trees?’ ¹⁴ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ ¹⁵ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If you truly are going to anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shadow; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

¹⁶ “So now, if you have acted in truth and integrity by making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt kindly with Jerubbaal and his household, and have done for him as he deserved— ¹⁷ for my father fought for you, and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, ¹⁸ but you have risen up against my father’s household today and have slain his sons—70 men on one stone—and have made Abimelech, son of his maidservant, king over the lords of Shechem just because he is your brother— ¹⁹ if you then have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his household today, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. ²⁰ But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the lords of Shechem and Beth-millo, and let fire come out from the lords of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech!”

²¹ Then Jotam ran away and fled, and went to Beer and remained there because of his brother Abimelech.

²² After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years, ²³ God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem. So the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech— ²⁴ in order that the violence done to Jerubbaal’s 70 sons might come due, so their blood might be laid on their brother Abimelech who slew them, and on the lords of Shechem who strengthened his hands to slay his brothers.

²⁵ So the lords of Shechem set up ambushers on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed anyone who passed by them along that road. So it was reported to Abimelech. ²⁶ Now Gaal son of Ebed had come with his relatives and moved to Shechem, and the lords of Shechem put their trust in him. ²⁷ When they went out into the field, they gathered grapes of their vineyards, trod them and had a party. Then they went into the house of their god, ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech.

²⁸ Then Gaal son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Isn’t he the son of Jerubbaal? Isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem—but why should we serve him? ²⁹ Now, if this people were under my hand, then I would get rid of Abimelech.” So he said to Abimelech, “Muster your army and come out!”

³⁰ When Zebul the governor of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, his anger burned. ³¹ So he sent messengers to Abimelech in deceit saying, “Watch out, Gaal son of Ebed and his relatives have moved to Shechem, and look, they are inciting the city against you. ³² So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. ³³ So it will be in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you will rise early and advance on the city; and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, then you should do to them whatever your hand finds.”

³⁴ So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose up by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four columns. ³⁵ Now Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. Then Abimelech and the people who were with him emerged from the ambush. ³⁶ When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!”

But Zebul said to him, “You’re seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.”

³⁷ Then Gaal spoke up again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the middle of the land, and one column is coming by the road of the Diviner’s Oak.”

³⁸ Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now? With it you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have trashed? Now go out and fight him!” ³⁹ So Gaal went out ahead of the lords of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. ⁴⁰ But Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. ⁴¹ While Abimelech stayed in Arumah, Zebul drove Gaal and his relatives out so that they could not stay in Shechem.

⁴² Now it came to pass the next day that the people went out into the field, and it was reported to Abimelech. ⁴³ So he took his people, divided them into three columns, and lay in ambush in the field. When he looked and saw the people were coming out of the city, he pounced on them and struck them down. ⁴⁴ Then Abimelech and the column that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate, and the other two columns rushed on all who were in the open field and struck them down. ⁴⁵ So Abimelech fought against the city all that day, captured the city and killed the people that were in it. Then he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

⁴⁶ Now when all the lords of Shechem’s Tower heard about it, they went into the vault of the temple of El-berith. ⁴⁷ When Abimelech was told that all the lords of Shechem’s Tower had gathered there, ⁴⁸ he and all the people with him went up to Mount Zalmon. Then Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees and lifted it up and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you’ve seen me do, hurry and do likewise.” ⁴⁹ So all the people likewise each cut down his branch and followed Abimelech. He laid them against the vault and set the vault on fire over them. So all the people of Shechem’s Tower also died—about a thousand men and women.

⁵⁰ Then Abimelech went to Thebez, camped against Thebez and captured it. ⁵¹ But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the city leaders fled there and shut themselves in, and went up to the roof of the tower. ⁵² So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the door of the tower to burn it with fire. ⁵³ But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. ⁵⁴ Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, ‘A woman slew him.’” So his young man thrust him through, and he died. ⁵⁵ So when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they each departed to his place. ⁵⁶ Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech—what he had done to his father by slaying his 70 brothers. ⁵⁷ Also all the wickedness of the men of Shechem God requited on their heads. Thus on them came the curse of Jotam son of Jerubbaal.

Sent Out from Antioch

13 Now in the Antioch community, there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (brought up since childhood with Herod the Tetrarch), and Saul. ² While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Ruach ha-Kodesh said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting, praying, and laying hands on them, they sent them off.

⁴ So, sent out by the Ruach ha-Kodesh, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John^[a] as a helper.

⁶ When they had gone throughout the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a man who was a magician—a Jewish false prophet, whose name was Bar-Yeshua. ⁷ He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who is also Paul, filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh, fixed his gaze on him ¹⁰ and said, “O you, full of all deceit and trickery, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness—will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ^{[b] 11} Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you,^[c] and you shall be blind and not see the sun for awhile.” Immediately, cloudiness and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. ¹² When he saw what had happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

Paul’s Message in Diaspora Synagogues

¹³ Setting sail from Paphos, Paul’s company came to Perga in Pamphylia. John left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But they passed on from Perga and came to Antioch of Pisidia. Entering the synagogue on the Shabbat, they sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading of the Torah and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, speak.”

¹⁶ So Paul, standing up and motioning with his hand, said, “Men of Israel and God-fearers, listen. ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt,^[d] and with an outstretched arm He led them out of there. ¹⁸ For about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. ^{[e] 19} And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land as an inheritance^[f]— ²⁰ all of this took about 450 years. After that, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² After removing him, He raised up David to be their king. He also testified about him and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do My will.’^[g]

²³ “From this man’s seed, in keeping with His promise, God brought to Israel a Savior^[h]—Yeshua. ²⁴ Before His coming, John had proclaimed an immersion of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ As John was completing his service, he said, ‘What do you suppose me to be? I am not He. But behold, One is coming after me, whose sandal I’m not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who are God-fearers, it is to us the message of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers—not recognizing Him or the sayings of the Prophets that are read every Shabbat—fulfilled these words by condemning Him. ²⁸ Though they found no charge worthy of a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. ²⁹ When they had carried out all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised Him from the dead! ³¹ For many days He appeared to those who had come up from the Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.

³² “And we proclaim to you Good News—the promise to the fathers has arrived! ³³ For God has fulfilled this promise to the children—to us—by raising up Yeshua, as it is also written in the second psalm:

³⁴ “But since He raised Him up from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, ‘I will give you the holy and sure mercies of David.’ ^{[j] 35} Therefore He also says in another psalm, ‘You will not permit Your Holy One to see decay.’ ^{[k] 36} For after David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he went to sleep and was laid with his fathers and saw decay. ³⁷ But the One whom God raised up did not see decay.

³⁸ “Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this One is proclaimed to you the removal of sins, including all those from which you could not be set right by the Torah of Moses. ³⁹ Through this One everyone who keeps trusting is made righteous.

⁴⁰ “Be careful, then, so that what is said in the Prophets may not come upon you:

⁴² As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging them to speak these things to them the next Shabbat. ⁴³ When the synagogue meeting broke up, many of the Jewish people and God-fearing inquirers followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and trying to persuade them to continue in the grace of God.

⁴⁴ The following Shabbat, almost the entire city came together to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ When the Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and tried to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him. ⁴⁶ Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unfit for eternal life—behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they were thrilled and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as had been inscribed for eternal life believed.^[n]

⁴⁹ Now the word of the Lord spread throughout the whole region. ⁵⁰ But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and they drove them out of their district. ⁵¹ But Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet against them,^[o] and they went on to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and the Ruach ha-Kodesh.

Warning to David’s Heirs

22 Thus said Adonai: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and speak this word:

² ‘Hear the word of Adonai, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you, your servants, and your people who enter by these gates.’ ³ Thus says Adonai: ‘Execute justice and righteousness. Rescue the one who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor. Do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the fatherless or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you really carry out this word, then through the gates of this palace will enter kings sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses—himself, his servants, and his people. ⁵ But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself,’ declares Adonai, ‘that this palace will become a ruin.’”

⁶ For thus says Adonai concerning the house of the king of Judah:

⁸ Many nations will pass by this city, and they will say, each to his neighbor, ‘Why has Adonai done such a thing to this great city?’ ⁹ Then they will answer: ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai their God, and worshipped other gods and served them.’”

¹¹ For thus says Adonai to Shallum, son of King Josiah of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He who went forth from this place will never return there. ¹² Instead, in the place where they led him captive, there will he die—he will see this land no more.”

¹⁸ Therefore thus says Adonai about Jehoiakim son of King Josiah of Judah:

²⁴ “As I live,” declares Adonai, “even if Coniah son of King Jehoiakim of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off, ²⁵ and give you over into the hand of those seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶ So I will cast you out, with your mother who bore you, into another country where you were not born—and there will you die. ²⁷ But as for the land where they long to return, they will never return there.”

Do You Still Not Understand?

8 In those days, there was another large crowd with nothing to eat, and Yeshua called the disciples. He said to them, ² “I have compassion for the crowd, because they’ve stayed with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them home hungry they’ll pass out on the way, for some of them have come from very far away.”

⁴ His disciples answered Him, “How can anyone satisfy these people with bread here in a wasteland?”

⁵ “How many loaves do you have?” Yeshua was asking them.

“Seven,” they said.

⁶ He directed the crowd to recline on the ground. After taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them and began giving them to His disciples to serve; and they served them to the crowd. ⁷ They also had a few small fish and, after offering a bracha for them, He commanded these to be served as well. ⁸ They ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over—seven baskets. ⁹ About four thousand^[a] were there, and Yeshua sent them away.

¹⁰ Right away, He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the area of Dalmanutha. ¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him, demanding a sign from heaven, to test Him. ¹² Sighing deeply in His spirit, Yeshua said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Amen, I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ Leaving them, He got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.

The Un-Seeing Disciples

¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they had only one loaf in the boat. ¹⁵ Yeshua was warning them, “Watch out! Beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and the hametz of Herod.”

¹⁶ They began to discuss with each other that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Yeshua, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss that you have no bread? You still don’t get it? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, don’t you see? And having ears, don’t you hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they say to Him.

²⁰ “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they say to Him.

²¹ He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Eyes that Need Opening

²² They come to Bethsaida. Some people bring a blind man to Yeshua and beg Him to touch the man. ²³ Taking the blind man by the hand, Yeshua brought him outside the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes and laying His hands on him, Yeshua asked the man, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ The man looked up and said, “I see men! They look like trees walking about.” ²⁵ Then Yeshua put His hands on the man’s eyes again. The man looked intently, his sight was restored, and he began to see everything clearly.

²⁶ Yeshua sent him straight home, saying, “Don’t even enter the village!”

²⁷ Now Yeshua and His disciples went out to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸ They told Him, “John the Immerser; and others Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”^[b]

²⁹ Then He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered Him, “You are the Messiah!” ³⁰ And He warned them not to tell anyone about Him.

Revealing the Mission

³¹ Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ^{[c] 32} He was speaking openly about this. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. He said, “Get behind Me, satan! You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”

³⁴ Then He called the crowd, along with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and keep following Me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels!”