M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
12 Then the men of Ephraim were summoned and crossed over to Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why did you cross over to fight against the children of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house over you with fire.” 2 So Jephthah responded to them, “I and my people were in a bitter conflict with the children of Ammon, yet when I called you, you didn’t deliver me from their hand. 3 So when I saw that you weren’t going to deliver, I put my life in my hand and crossed over against the children of Ammon, and Adonai gave them into my hand. So why have you come up to me today, to fight me?”
4 Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim. The men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, “You Gileadites are just fugitives of Ephraim in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh.” 5 The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. So when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,” 6 then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth,’” and he said “Sibboleth” since he could not pronounce it right, then they would seize him and slay him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of Ephraim fell.
7 Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died and was buried in one of the towns of Gilead. 8 After him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 Now he had 30 sons, and 30 daughters—he sent them outside and brought in 30 girls from outside for his sons. He judged Israel seven years, 10 then Ibzan died and was buried in Bethlehem.
11 Then after him Elon the Zebulunite judged Israel. He judged Israel ten years, 12 then Elon the Zebulunite died and was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun. 13 After him Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite judged Israel. 14 He had 40 sons and 30 grandsons who rode on 70 donkeys, and he judged Israel eight years. 15 Then Abdon son of Hillel the Pirathonite died and was buried in Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, in the hill country of the Amalekites.
16 Now Paul came to Derbe and Lystra. There was a disciple there named Timothy, son of a woman who was a Jewish believer and a Greek father, 2 who was well-spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him for the sake of the Jewish people in those places—for they all knew that his father was Greek.
4 As they were traveling through the cities, they were handing down the rulings that had been decided upon by the emissaries and elders in Jerusalem, for them to keep. 5 So Messiah’s communities were strengthened in the faith and kept increasing daily in number.
Going West to Macedonia
6 They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Ruach ha-Kodesh to speak the word in Asia. [a] 7 When they came to Mysia, they were trying to proceed into Bithynia, but the Ruach of Yeshua would not allow them. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 Now a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man from Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 As soon as he had seen the vision, immediately we tried to go to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
11 So we put out to sea from Troas and made a straight course for Samothrace, the next day on to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi—which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia as well as a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for several days.
13 On Yom Shabbat, we went outside the gate to the river, where we expected a place of prayer to be. We sat down and began speaking with the women who had gathered. 14 A woman named Lydia—a seller of purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearer—was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.
15 When she was immersed, along with her household, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she insisted.[b]
16 It so happened that as we were going to prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination, who was bringing her masters much profit from her fortune-telling. [c] 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept shouting, saying, “These men are servants of El Elyon, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days. But Paul was irritated and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Messiah Yeshua to come out of her!” And it came out of her that very moment.
19 But when her masters saw that the hope of profit was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 And when they brought them to the chief authorities, they said, “These men are throwing our city into an uproar! Being Jewish, 21 they advocate customs which are not permitted for us to accept or practice,[d] being Romans.”
22 Then the crowd joined in the attack on them. So the chief authorities ripped their clothes off them and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23 After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Having received this charge, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.[e]
Salvation for a Jailer’s Household
25 But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a great earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors were unlocked, and everyone’s chains came loose.
27 When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights and rushed in; and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 After he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said, “Put your trust in the Lord Yeshua[f] and you will be saved—you and your household!”
32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with everyone in his household. 33 He took them that very hour and washed their wounds, and at once he was immersed—he and all his household. 34 The jailer brought them to his house and set food before them, and he was overjoyed that he with his entire household had put their trust in God.
35 When day came, the chief authorities sent their police officers, saying, “Release those men.”
36 But the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief authorities have sent orders to release you. So come out now, and go in shalom.”
37 But Paul said to the officers, “They have beaten us publicly without a trial—men who are Roman citizens—and have thrown us into prison. And now they are sending us away secretly? No! Let them come themselves and lead us out!”
38 The police officers reported these words to the chief authorities. They became afraid when they heard they were Romans, 39 so they came and apologized to them. After they escorted them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. 40 When Paul and Silas went out of the prison, they visited Lydia’s house. And when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed.
Unheard Voice of the Prophets
25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah (which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). 2 Jeremiah the prophet spoke it to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until this day—these 23 years—the word of Adonai has come to me. So I have spoken to you, speaking early and often, but you have not listened. 4 Moreover, Adonai has sent to you all His servants the prophets, sending them early and often—but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear— 5 saying: ‘Turn, now, everyone from his evil way, and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell in the land that Adonai has given to you and to your fathers forever and ever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve them, to worship them, and so do not provoke Me with the work of your hands, so I would do you no harm.’
7 “Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares Adonai. “So you are provoking Me with the work of your hands, to your own hurt.”
8 Therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “Since you have not heard My words, 9 I will soon send for and bring all the families of the north”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“and I will send for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations round about, and I will utterly destroy them, and make them a horror, and a hissing, an enduring desolation.
10 “Moreover, I will silence among them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride,[a] the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
Seventy Years of Desolation
11 “So this whole land will be a desolate ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for 70 years. 12 Then it will come to pass, when 70 years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” declares Adonai, “the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, and I will make it ruins forever. 13 I will bring on that land all My words which I pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them also. So I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their own hands.”
Cup of Fury and Reeling
15 For thus says Adonai, the God of Israel, to me: “Take this cup of the wine of fury from My hand, and make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink it. 16 They will drink, and reel to and fro, and be like madmen, because of the sword that I will send among them. 17 Then I took the cup from Adonai’s hand, and made all the nations drink, to whom Adonai had sent me: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with its kings and its princes—to make them an appalling horror and hissing, a curse as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, with his servants, his princes and all his people; 20 and all the mingled people, all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom, Moab, and Ammon’s children; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who shave the corners[b]; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed people dwelling in the wilderness; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, either far or close to another; and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth. And the king of Sheshach[c] will drink after them.”
27 And you will say to them, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Drink, be drunken, vomit, fall down and rise no more, because of the sword that I will send among you.” 28 And if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then here is what you will say to them: “Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, you will surely drink! 29 See, I am beginning to bring evil on the city where My name is called, and should you go completely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth.” It is a declaration of Adonai-Tzva’ot.
30 Therefore you are to prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
“Adonai is roaring from on high,
giving voice from His holy dwelling.
He roars mightily over His sheepfold.
He shouts like those who tread grapes,
against all who dwell on the earth.
31 A noise has come to the end of the earth,
for Adonai has a dispute with the nations.
He is passing judgment on all flesh.
As for the wicked, He has given them over to the sword.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
32 Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:
“Evil will soon go forth from nation to nation. A great storm is being stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. 33 Those slain by Adonai on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. They will not be lamented, gathered, or buried; they will be dung on the surface of the ground.”
34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry!
Wallow in the dust, you leaders of the flock!
For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are full.
You will fall like a precious vase.
35 For the shepherds will have no way to flee,
nor the leaders of the flock to escape.
36 Hark! The outcry of the shepherds,
the wailing of the leaders of the flock!
For Adonai is ravaging their pasture.
37 The peace of the pasture is stifled
because of the fierce anger of Adonai.
38 He has left His lair, like a lion.
For their land has become a waste,
because of the fury of the oppressor
and because of His fierce anger.
Ben-David Enters Jerusalem
11 Now as they draw near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, to the Mount of Olives, Yeshua sends two of His disciples 2 and says to them, “Go into the village ahead of you. Right away as you enter it, you will find a colt tied up that no one has ever sat upon.[a] Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Master needs it.’ And right away he will send it back here.”[b]
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a door. And they untied it. 5 Some people standing there began saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”
6 They answered just as Yeshua had told them, and the people let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Yeshua and laid their cloaks on it, and He sat on it. 8 Many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread branches cut from the fields. [c] 9 Those going before and those following kept shouting,
“Hoshia-na! Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!
Hoshia-na in the highest!”[d]
11 And He entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around at everything, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve, since it was already late.
The Fruit of the Faithful
12 The next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13 Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if He would find any fruit on it. When He came up to it, He found nothing except leaves, because it wasn’t the season for figs. 14 And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.
15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the Temple and started to drive out those selling and buying in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves, 16 and He wouldn’t let anyone carry goods through the Temple. 17 And He began to teach them, saying, “Is it not written,
‘My house shall be called
a house of prayer for all the nations’?[e]
But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”[f]
18 The ruling kohanim and Torah scholars heard this and began looking for a way to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. 19 Whenever evening came, Yeshua and His disciples would leave the city.
20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree shriveled from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Yeshua, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has shriveled up!”
22 And Yeshua answered, saying to them, “Have faith in God! 23 Amen, I tell you, if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says is happening, so shall it be for him. 24 For this reason I say to you, whatever you pray and ask, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your transgressions.” (26) [g]
A Question for a Question
27 Again they come to Jerusalem. While Yeshua was walking in the Temple, the ruling kohanim, Torah scholars, and elders come up to Him. 28 And they start saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”
29 Yeshua said to them, “I will put one question to you. Answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The immersion of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me!”
31 They began to dialogue among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’. . .?” They were afraid of the crowd, for all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So answering Yeshua, they say, “We don’t know.”
And Yeshua tells them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.