M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Crime at Gibeah of Benjamin

19 Now in those days, there was no king in Israel. There was a certain Levite dwelling in a remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who got himself a concubine out of Bethlehem in Judah. ² But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father’s house to Bethlehem in Judah, and was there for a period of four months.

³ Then her husband arose and went after her to speak kindly to her to bring her back. He had his servant and a pair of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father’s house, and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. ⁴ His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, kept him staying with him three days, eating, drinking and lodging there.

⁵ Now on the fourth day they woke up early in the morning, and he rose up to depart, but the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward you may go.” ⁶ So the two of them sat down and ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please, be willing to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷ Then the man rose up to depart, but his father-in-law urged him, so he lodged there again. ⁸ Then he woke up early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman’s father said, “Please, strengthen yourself and tarry until afternoon!” So both of them ate. ⁹ And when the man rose up to depart, he and his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Behold now, the day is waning toward evening; please, spend the night. Behold, the day is drawing to a close; lodge here and let your heart be merry. Then tomorrow get up early for your journey so that you may go home.”

¹⁰ But the man would not spend that night, so he rose up and departed and came to a place near Jebus—that is, Jerusalem—and with him were a pair of saddled donkeys and his concubine. ¹¹ When they were near Jebus and the day was almost gone, the servant said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.”

¹² But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into a city of foreigners, who are not of Bnei-Yisrael. Let’s go on to Gibeah.” ¹³ “Come on,” he said to his servant, “let’s try to reach one of these places—we’ll spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” ¹⁴ So they passed on and went their way, and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵ Then they turned aside there to enter and lodge in Gibeah. When he went in, he sat down in the town square, for there was no one who took them into his house to spend the night.

¹⁶ Now behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. The man was of the hill country of Ephraim but dwelled in Gibeah, while the rest of the men of the place were Benjamites. ¹⁷ When he lifted up his eyes and saw the wayfaring man in the open square of the town, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?”

¹⁸ “We are passing from Bethlehem of Judah,” he said to him, “to the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, for I am from there, and I went to Bethlehem of Judah. But now I am going to the House of Adonai, yet no one has taken me into his house. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, there is both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and also bread and wine for me, your handmaid, and the young man that is with your servants—there is no lack of anything.”

²⁰ The old man said, “Shalom to you! Let all your needs be on me—only don’t spend the night in the open square!” ²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys fodder, and they washed their feet and ate and drank.

²² While they were making their hearts merry, behold, some worthless men of the town surrounded the house. Pounding the door, they shouted to the owner of the house, “Bring out the man that came into your house,” they said to the old man, “so we may have relations with him.”

²³ But the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my fellows, please don’t do this evil. After all, this man has come into my house. Don’t commit this disgraceful deed. ²⁴ Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine—I will bring them out to you now, and you may abuse them and do to them whatever pleases you, but don’t do such a degrading thing to this man!”

²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and brought her out to them, and they raped her and abused her all the night until morning. When dawn broke, they let her go. ²⁶ As the morning came, the woman came and fell down at the doorway of the man’s house where her master was, until it was full daylight.

²⁷ When her master rose up in the morning opened the doors of the house, and went out to go his way, behold, the woman his concubine had collapsed at the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸ “Get up!” he said to her, “and let’s go.” But there was no response. So he placed her on the donkey. Then the man got up and went to his place.

²⁹ Now when he entered his house, he took a knife and laid hold of his concubine and cut her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her to all the territory of Israel. ³⁰ So it was, that everyone who saw it said, ‘ “Nothing like this has ever happened or been seen, since the day that Bnei-Yisrael came up from the land of Egypt to this day! Think it over, take counsel and speak up!”

23 Paul, looking intently at the Sanhedrin, said, “Brothers, I have lived my life in all good conscience for God up to this day.” ² But the kohen gadol Ananias ordered those standing by him to strike him on the mouth.

³ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you on the mouth, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit judging me according to the Torah, and yet in violation of the Torah you order me to be struck?”^[a]

⁴ Those standing nearby said, “Do you insult God’s kohen gadol?”

⁵ Paul said, “I didn’t know, brothers, that he is the kohen gadol. For it has been written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”^[b]

⁶ But recognizing that one group was Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees! I am on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angel or spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all. ⁹ Then there was a great uproar. Some of the Torah scholars of the Pharisees’ party stood up and protested sharply, “We find nothing wrong with this man! What if a spirit or angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰ As a big dispute was developing, the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. So he ordered the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and to bring him into headquarters.

¹¹ The following night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, “Take courage! For just as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome!”

Conspiracy to Kill Paul

¹² When it was day, the Judean leaders formed a conspiracy. They bound themselves by an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were more than forty who formed this plot. ¹⁴ They went to the ruling kohanim and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ So now you and the Sanhedrin serve notice to the commander to bring him down to you—like you are about to investigate his case more thoroughly. But we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

¹⁶ But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush. He went into the headquarters and told Paul. ¹⁷ Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has a message for him.”

¹⁸ So the centurion took him and led him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.”

¹⁹ The commander took him by the hand, stepped aside, and began asking him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”

²⁰ And he said, “The Judean leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow—as if they are about to investigate more thoroughly about him. ²¹ But do not give in to them, for more than forty of them have bound themselves by an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Even now, they are ready and waiting for your consent.”

²² So the commander dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me about these things.”

Escorted to Caesarea

²³ Calling two of his centurions, he said, “At the third hour of the night,^[c] prepare two hundred soldiers, along with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, to proceed as far as Caesarea. ²⁴ Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, so that he might be brought safely to Felix the governor.”

²⁵ He wrote a letter to this effect:

²⁶ “Claudius Lysias,

To the Most Excellent Governor Felix:

Greetings!

²⁷ This man was seized by the Judean leaders and was about to be killed by them, when I came on the scene with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he is a Roman citizen. ²⁸ Desiring to know the charge of which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin. ²⁹ I found that he was accused concerning issues of their law, but charged with nothing worthy of death or imprisonment. ³⁰ When I was informed that there was a plot against the man, I sent him to you immediately, also ordering his accusers to state before you what they have against him.”

³¹ So the soldiers, in keeping with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² On the next day, they returned to headquarters, leaving the horsemen to go on with him. ³³ When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul before him. ³⁴ Upon reading the letter, the governor asked what province he was from. When he learned that Paul was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers have arrived also.” Then he gave orders for Paul to be guarded in Herod’s Praetorium.

The Secret of Redemption

33 Then the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still confined in the guard’s courtyard, saying:

⁴ For thus says Adonai, the God of Israel: “Concerning the houses of this city and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are torn down against the siege ramps and against the sword, ⁵ they are coming to fight with the Chaldeans, but they are about to fill them with the dead bodies of the people whom I will slay in My anger and in My fury. I have hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness.

⁶ “Indeed, I will bring it health and healing, and I will surely heal them. I will reveal to them an abundance of shalom and truth. ⁷ I will restore Judah from exile and Israel from exile, and will rebuild them, as in former times. ⁸ I will also cleanse them from all their iniquity^[b] in which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their wrongs in which they have sinned against Me and in which they have rebelled against Me.

⁹ “Then this city will be to Me for a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I do for them, so they will fear and tremble because of all the good and for all the shalom that I do for it.”

Voice of the Bridegroom

¹⁰ Thus says Adonai: “Yet again in this place—which you are saying is a waste without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the desolate, without man, without inhabitant and without beast—there will be heard ¹¹ the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them who say:

as they bring offerings of thanksgiving into the House of Adonai. For I will restore the land from the exile as it was at first,” declares Adonai.

¹² Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “Yet again will there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, a pasture of shepherds making their flocks lie down. ¹³ In the towns of the hill country, in the towns of the foothills, in the towns of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem and in the towns of Judah, will the flocks again pass under the hands of one who counts them,” declares Adonai.

Righteous Branch of David

¹⁷ For thus says Adonai: “For David, there will not be cut off a man sitting on the throne of the house of Israel, ¹⁸ nor will the Levitical kohanim ever lack a man before Me to offer burnt offering, to burn grain offerings and to make sacrifices continually.”

¹⁹ And the word of Adonai came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰ thus says Adonai: “If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that day and night would not be at in their appointed time, ²¹ only then may My covenant be broken with My servant David, that he would not have a son to reign on his throne, and the Levitical kohanim would not be My ministers. ²² As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David My servant, and the Levites who minister to Me.”

²³ The word of Adonai came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁴ “Have you not noticed what this people have spoken, saying: ‘The two families which Adonai did choose, He has rejected them’? Thus they despise My people—no longer a nation before them.” ²⁵ Thus says Adonai: “If I have not made My covenant of day and night firm, and the fixed patterns ordering the heavens and earth, ²⁶ only then would I reject the offspring of Jacob,^[c] and of My servant David so that I would not take from his offspring rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore them from their exile, and have compassion on them.”

Magen David

Psalm 3

Prayer for Sleep in Shalom

Psalm 4