M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Cain and Abel

4 Adam loved his wife Eve and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the Lord’s help I have had a baby boy.” ² Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Abel took care of sheep. Cain farmed the land. ³ After some time, Cain gathered some things he had grown. He brought them as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also brought an offering. He brought the fattest parts of some animals from his flock. They were the first animals born to their mothers. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering. ⁵ But he wasn’t pleased with Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his face was sad.

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why are you looking so sad? ⁷ Do what is right and then you will be accepted. If you don’t do what is right, sin is waiting at your door to grab you. It desires to control you. But you must rule over it.”

⁸ Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” So they went out. There Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” Cain replied. “Am I supposed to take care of my brother?”

¹⁰ The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. ¹¹ So I am putting a curse on you. I am driving you away from this ground. It has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you farm the land, it will not produce its crops for you anymore. You will be a restless person who wanders around on the earth.”

¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “You are punishing me more than I can take. ¹⁴ Today you are driving me away from the land. I will be hidden from you. I’ll be a restless person who wanders around on the earth. Anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “No. Anyone who kills you will be paid back seven times.” The Lord put a mark on Cain. Then anyone who found him wouldn’t kill him. ¹⁶ So Cain went away from the Lord. He lived in the land of Nod. It was east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain loved his wife and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city. He named it after his son Enoch. ¹⁸ Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. And Methushael was the father of Lamech.

¹⁹ Lamech married two women. One was named Adah, and the other was named Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of people who live in tents and raise livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of everyone who plays stringed instruments and wind instruments. ²² Zillah also had a son. His name was Tubal-Cain. He made all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,

²⁵ Adam slept with his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth. She said, “God has given me another child. He will take the place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” ²⁶ Seth also had a son and named him Enosh.

Then people began to call on the name of the Lord.

Jesus Is Tempted in the Desert

4 The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert. There the devil tempted him. ² After 40 days and 40 nights of going without eating, Jesus was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him. He said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man must not live only on bread. He must also live on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

⁵ Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city. He had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. It is written,

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:16)

⁸ Finally, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain. He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ “If you bow down and worship me,” he said, “I will give you all this.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Get away from me, Satan! It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.’ ” (Deuteronomy 6:13)

¹¹ Then the devil left Jesus. Angels came and took care of him.

Jesus Begins to Preach

¹² John had been put in prison. When Jesus heard about this, he returned to Galilee. ¹³ Jesus left Nazareth and went to live in the city of Capernaum. It was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ In that way, what the prophet Isaiah had said came true. He had said,

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach. “Turn away from your sins!” he said. “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Jesus Chooses His First Disciples

¹⁸ One day Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. There he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the lake, because they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come and follow me,” Jesus said. “I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers. They were James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee. As they were preparing their nets, Jesus called out to them. ²² Right away they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.

Jesus Heals Sick People

²³ Jesus went all over Galilee. There he taught in the synagogues. He preached the good news of God’s kingdom. He healed every illness and sickness the people had. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria. People brought to him all who were ill with different kinds of sicknesses. Some were suffering great pain. Others were controlled by demons. Some were shaking wildly. Others couldn’t move at all. And Jesus healed all of them. ²⁵ Large crowds followed him. People came from Galilee, from the area known as the Ten Cities, and from Jerusalem and Judea. Others came from the area across the Jordan River.

Enemies Oppose the Rebuilding of the Temple

4 The people who had returned from Babylon were building a temple to honor the Lord. He is the God of Israel. The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard about it. ² Then those enemies came to Zerubbabel. The family leaders of Israel were with him. The enemies said, “We want to help you build. We’re just like you. We worship your God. We offer sacrifices to him. We’ve been doing that ever since the time of Esarhaddon. He was king of Assyria. He brought our people here.”

³ Zerubbabel and Joshua answered them. So did the rest of the family leaders of Israel. They said, “You can’t help us build a temple to honor our God. You aren’t part of us. We’ll build it ourselves. We’ll do it to honor the Lord, the God of Israel. Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us to build it.”

⁴ Then the nations around Judah tried to make its people lose hope. They wanted to make them afraid to go on building. ⁵ So those nations paid some of the Jewish officials to work against the people of Judah. They wanted their plans to fail. They did it during the whole time Cyrus was king of Persia. They kept doing it until Darius became king.

Later Enemies Also Oppose the Jews

⁶ The enemies of the Jews brought charges against the people of Judah and Jerusalem. It happened when Xerxes began to rule over Persia.

⁷ Then Artaxerxes became king of Persia. During his rule, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and their friends wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. It was written in the Aramaic language. And it used the Aramaic alphabet.

⁸ Rehum and Shimshai also wrote a letter to King Artaxerxes. Rehum was the commanding officer. Shimshai was the secretary. Their letter was against the people of Jerusalem. It said,

⁹ We, Rehum and Shimshai, are writing this letter. Rehum is the commanding officer. Shimshai is the secretary. Our friends join us in writing. They include the judges, officials and managers in charge of the people from Persia, Uruk and Babylon. They are also over the Elamites from Susa. ¹⁰ And they are over those who were forced to leave their countries. The great King Ashurbanipal, who is worthy of honor, forced them to leave. He moved them to the city of Samaria. He also moved them to other places west of the Euphrates River.

¹¹ Here is a copy of the letter sent to Artaxerxes.

We are sending this letter to you, King Artaxerxes.

It is from your servants who live west of the Euphrates River.

¹² We want you to know about the people who left you and have come up to us. They have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that evil city. It has caused trouble for a long time. Those people are making its walls like new again. They are repairing the foundations.

¹³ Here is something else we want you to know. Suppose this city is rebuilt. And suppose its walls are made like new again. Then no more taxes, gifts or fees will be collected. And sooner or later there will be less money for you. ¹⁴ We owe a lot to you. We don’t want to see dishonor brought on you. So we’re sending this letter to tell you what is going on. ¹⁵ Then you can have a search made in the official records. Have someone check the records of the kings who ruled before you. If you do, you will find out that Jerusalem is an evil city. It causes trouble for kings and countries. For a long time the city has refused to let anyone rule over it. That’s why it was destroyed. ¹⁶ We want you to know that this city shouldn’t be rebuilt. Its walls shouldn’t be made like new again. If that happens, you won’t have anything left west of the Euphrates River.

¹⁷ The king replied,

I am writing this letter to Rehum, the commanding officer. I am also writing it to Shimshai the secretary. And I am writing it to your friends living in Samaria and in other places west of the Euphrates River.

I give you my greetings.

¹⁸ The letter you sent us has been read to me. It has been explained to me in my language. ¹⁹ I gave an order. I had a search made. Here is what we found out. Jerusalem has a long history of turning against the kings of the countries that have ruled over it. It has refused to remain under their control. It is always stirring up trouble. ²⁰ Jerusalem has had powerful kings. Some of them ruled over everything west of the Euphrates. Taxes, gifts and fees were paid to them. ²¹ So give an order to those men. Make them stop their work. Then the city won’t be rebuilt until I give the order. ²² Pay careful attention to this matter. Why should we let this danger grow? That would not be in our best interests.

²³ The copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary. It was also read to their friends. Right away they went to the Jews in Jerusalem. They forced them to stop their work.

²⁴ And so the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a stop. No more work was done on it until the second year that Darius was king of Persia.

Peter and John Are Taken to the Sanhedrin

4 Peter and John were speaking to the people. The priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees came up to the apostles. ² They were very upset by what the apostles were teaching the people. The apostles were saying that people can be raised from the dead. They said this can happen because Jesus rose from the dead. ³ So the temple authorities arrested Peter and John. It was already evening, so they put them in prison until the next day. ⁴ But many who heard the message believed. The number of men who believed grew to about 5,000.

⁵ The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶ Annas, the high priest, was there. So were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and other people in the high priest’s family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought to them. They wanted to question them. “By what power did you do this?” they asked. “And through whose name?”

⁸ Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ Are you asking us to explain our actions today? Do you want to know why we were kind to a man who couldn’t walk? Are you asking how he was healed? ¹⁰ Then listen to this, you and all the people of Israel! You nailed Jesus Christ of Nazareth to the cross. But God raised him from the dead. It is through Jesus’ name that this man stands healed in front of you. ¹¹ Scripture says that Jesus is

¹² You can’t be saved by believing in anyone else. God has given people no other name under heaven that will save them.”

¹³ The leaders saw how bold Peter and John were. They also realized that Peter and John were ordinary men with no training. This surprised the leaders. They realized that these men had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ The leaders could see the man who had been healed. He was standing there with them. So there was nothing they could say. ¹⁵ They ordered Peter and John to leave the Sanhedrin. Then they talked things over. ¹⁶ “What can we do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed an unusual miracle. We can’t say it didn’t happen. ¹⁷ We have to stop this thing. It must not spread any further among the people. We have to warn these men. They must never speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”

¹⁸ Once again the leaders called in Peter and John. They commanded them not to speak or teach at all in Jesus’ name. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Which is right from God’s point of view? Should we listen to you? Or should we listen to God? You be the judges! ²⁰ There’s nothing else we can do. We have to speak about the things we’ve seen and heard.”

²¹ The leaders warned them again. Then they let them go. They couldn’t decide how to punish Peter and John. They knew that all the people were praising God for what had happened. ²² The man who had been healed by the miracle was over 40 years old.

The Believers Pray

²³ Peter and John were allowed to leave. They went back to their own people. They reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ The believers heard this. Then they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Lord and King,” they said, “you made the heavens, the earth and the sea. You made everything in them. ²⁵ Long ago you spoke by the Holy Spirit. You spoke through the mouth of our father David, who served you. You said,

²⁷ In fact, Herod and Pontius Pilate met with the Gentiles in this city. They also met with the people of Israel. All of them made plans against your holy servant Jesus. He is the one you anointed. ²⁸ They did what your power and purpose had already decided should happen. ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider the bad things they say they are going to do. Help us to be very bold when we speak your word. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal. Do signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They were bold when they spoke God’s word.

The Believers Share What They Own

³² All the believers were agreed in heart and mind. They didn’t claim that anything they had was their own. Instead, they shared everything they owned. ³³ With great power the apostles continued their teaching. They were telling people that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead. And God’s grace was working powerfully in all of them. ³⁴ So there were no needy persons among them. From time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them. They brought the money from the sales. ³⁵ They put it down at the apostles’ feet. It was then given out to anyone who needed it.

³⁶ Joseph was a Levite from Cyprus. The apostles called him Barnabas. The name Barnabas means Son of Help. ³⁷ Barnabas sold a field he owned. He brought the money from the sale. He put it down at the apostles’ feet.