M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Sarah Dies
23 Sarah lived to be 127 years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba. Kiriath Arba is also called Hebron. It’s in the land of Canaan. Sarah’s death made Abraham very sad. He went to the place where her body was lying. There he wept over her.
3 Then Abraham got up from beside his wife’s body. He said to the Hittites, 4 “I’m an outsider. I’m a stranger among you. Sell me some property where I can bury those in my family who die. Then I can bury my wife.”
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, 6 “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your wife in the best place we have to bury our dead. None of us will refuse to sell you a place to bury her.”
7 Then Abraham bowed down in front of the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife, then listen to me. Speak to Zohar’s son Ephron for me. 9 Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah. It belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price. I want it as a place to bury my dead wife among you.”
10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting there among his people. He replied to Abraham. All of the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city heard him. 11 “No, sir,” Ephron said. “Listen to me. I will give you the field. I’ll also give you the cave that’s in the field. I will give it to you in front of my people. Bury your wife.”
12 Again Abraham bowed down in front of the people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron so they could hear him. He said, “Please listen to me. I’ll pay the price of the field. Accept it from me. Then I can bury my wife there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Sir, listen to me. The land is worth ten pounds of silver. But what’s that between the two of us? Bury your wife.”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s offer. He weighed out for Ephron the price he had named. The Hittites there had heard the amount. The price was ten pounds of silver. Abraham measured it by the weights that were used by merchants.
17 So Ephron sold his field to Abraham. The field was in Machpelah near Mamre. Abraham bought the field and the cave that was in it. He also bought all the trees that were inside the borders of the field. Everything was sold 18 to Abraham as his property. He bought it in front of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah. He buried her in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre in the land of Canaan. Mamre is at Hebron. 20 So the field and the cave that was in it were sold to Abraham by the Hittites. The property became a place to bury those who died in his family.
The Story of the Wedding Dinner
22 Jesus told them more stories. He said, 2 “Here is what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king prepared a wedding dinner for his son. 3 He sent his slaves to those who had been invited to the dinner. The slaves told them to come. But they refused.
4 “Then he sent some more slaves. He said, ‘Tell those who were invited that I have prepared my dinner. I have killed my oxen and my fattest cattle. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding dinner.’
5 “But the people paid no attention. One went away to his field. Another went away to his business. 6 The rest grabbed his slaves. They treated them badly and then killed them. 7 The king became very angry. He sent his army to destroy them. They killed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then the king said to his slaves, ‘The wedding dinner is ready. But those I invited were not fit to come. 9 So go to the street corners. Invite to the dinner anyone you can find.’ 10 So the slaves went out into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good. Soon the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “The king came in to see the guests. He noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man couldn’t think of anything to say.
13 “Then the king told his slaves, ‘Tie up his hands and feet. Throw him outside into the darkness. Out there people will weep and grind their teeth.’
14 “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Is It Right to Pay the Royal Tax to Caesar?
15 The Pharisees went out. They made plans to trap Jesus with his own words. 16 They sent their followers to him. They sent the Herodians with them. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of honor. You teach the way of God truthfully. You don’t let others tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. 17 Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus knew their evil plans. He said, “You pretenders! Why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin people use for paying the tax.” They brought him a silver coin. 20 He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Marriage When the Dead Rise
23 That same day the Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “here is what Moses told us. If a man dies without having children, his brother must get married to the widow. He must provide children to carry on his brother’s name. 25 There were seven brothers among us. The first one got married and died. Since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brothers. It happened right on down to the seventh brother. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, when the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”
29 Jesus replied, “You are mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. 30 When the dead rise, they won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. They will be like the angels in heaven. 31 What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read what God said to you? 32 He said, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed by what he taught.
The Most Important Commandment
34 The Pharisees heard that the Sadducees weren’t able to answer Jesus. So the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them was an authority on the law. So he tested Jesus with a question. 36 “Teacher,” he asked, “which is the most important commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5) 38 This is the first and most important commandment. 39 And the second is like it. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) 40 Everything that is written in the Law and the Prophets is based on these two commandments.”
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
41 The Pharisees were gathered together. Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”
“The son of David,” they replied.
43 He said to them, “Then why does David call him ‘Lord’? The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said,
44 “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
under your control.” ’ (Psalm 110:1)
45 So if David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be David’s son?” 46 No one could give any answer to him. From that day on, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
The Priests and Levites Who Returned to Judah
12 Some priests and Levites returned to Judah with Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel was the son of Shealtiel. Here are the names of those priests and Levites.
Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,
2 Amariah, Malluk, Hattush,
3 Shekaniah, Rehum, Meremoth,
4 Iddo, Ginnethon, Abijah,
5 Mijamin, Moadiah, Bilgah,
6 Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,
7 Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, Jedaiah
All of them were the leaders of the priests and those who helped them. They lived in the days of Joshua.
8 The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah and Judah. There were also Mattaniah and those who helped him. They were in charge of the songs for giving thanks. 9 Bakbukiah and Unni helped them. They stood and sang across from them during the services.
10 Joshua was the father of Joiakim.
Joiakim was the father of Eliashib.
Eliashib was the father of Joiada.
11 Joiada was the father of Jonathan.
And Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.
12 Here are the names of the family leaders of the priests. They were the leaders in the days of Joiakim.
Meraiah was from Seraiah’s family.
Hananiah was from Jeremiah’s family.
13 Meshullam was from Ezra’s family.
Jehohanan was from Amariah’s family.
14 Jonathan was from Malluk’s family.
Joseph was from Shekaniah’s family.
15 Adna was from Harim’s family.
Helkai was from Meremoth’s family.
16 Zechariah was from Iddo’s family.
Meshullam was from Ginnethon’s family.
17 Zikri was from Abijah’s family.
Piltai was from Miniamin’s and Moadiah’s family.
18 Shammua was from Bilgah’s family.
Jehonathan was from Shemaiah’s family.
19 Mattenai was from Joiarib’s family.
Uzzi was from Jedaiah’s family.
20 Kallai was from Sallu’s family.
Eber was from Amok’s family.
21 Hashabiah was from Hilkiah’s family.
And Nethanel was from Jedaiah’s family.
22 The names of the family leaders of the Levites in the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan and Jaddua were written down. So were the names of the family leaders of the priests. That happened while Darius ruled over Persia. 23 The names of the leaders in Levi’s family line up to the time of Johanan were written down. They were written in the official records. Johanan was the son of Eliashib. 24 The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah and Jeshua. Jeshua was the son of Kadmiel. Those who helped them stood across from them to sing praises and give thanks. One group would sing back to the other. That’s what David, the man of God, had ordered.
25 Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon and Akkub stood at the gates of the temple. They guarded the storerooms at the gates. 26 They served in the days of Joiakim. He was the son of Joshua. Joshua was the son of Jozadak. They also served in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. Nehemiah was the governor. Ezra was a priest and the teacher of the Law.
The Wall of Jerusalem Is Set Apart to God
27 The wall of Jerusalem was set apart to God. For that occasion, the Levites were gathered together from where they lived. They were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate that happy occasion. They celebrated the fact that the wall was being set apart to God. They did it by singing and giving their thanks to him. They celebrated by playing music on cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The musicians were also brought together. Some of them came in from the area around Jerusalem. Others came from the villages where the people of Netophah lived. 29 Others came from Beth Gilgal. Still others came from the area of Geba and Azmaveth. The musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 The priests and Levites made themselves pure. Then they made the people, the gates and the wall pure and “clean.”
31 I, Nehemiah, had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also appointed two large choirs to sing and give thanks. I told one of them to walk south on top of the wall. That was toward the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them. 33 Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah and Jeremiah also followed them. 35 Some priests who had trumpets followed them. So did Zechariah. He was the son of Jonathan. Jonathan was the son of Shemaiah. Shemaiah was the son of Mattaniah. Mattaniah was the son of Micaiah. Micaiah was the son of Zakkur. Zakkur was the son of Asaph. 36 Those who helped Zechariah also marched along. They were Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani. They brought musical instruments with them. That’s what David, the man of God, had ordered. Ezra led the group that was marching south. He was the teacher of the Law. 37 At the Fountain Gate they continued straight up the steps of the City of David. The steps went up to the wall. Then the group passed above the place where David’s palace had been. They continued on to the Water Gate on the east.
38 The second choir went north. I followed them on top of the wall. Half of the people went with me. They went past the Tower of the Ovens. They went to the Broad Wall. 39 They marched over the Gate of Ephraim. They went over the Jeshanah Gate and the Fish Gate. They went past the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred. They continued on to the Sheep Gate. At the Gate of the Guard they stopped.
40 Then the two choirs that sang and gave thanks took their places in God’s house. So did I. So did half of the officials. 41 And so did the priests. They were Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah. They had their trumpets with them. 42 Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer were also there. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. 43 On that day large numbers of sacrifices were offered. The people were glad because God had given them great joy. The women and children were also very happy. The joyful sound in Jerusalem could be heard far away.
Nehemiah Makes Some Final Changes
44 At that time some men were put in charge of the storerooms. That’s where all the gifts the people brought were placed. Those gifts included the first shares of their crops. They also included a tenth of everything the Law required. Crops were harvested from the fields around the towns. The people had to bring the shares of those crops that were required by the Law. They gave them to the priests and Levites. That’s because the people of Judah were pleased with the priests and Levites who were serving God. 45 The priests and Levites did everything their God wanted them to do. They made things pure and “clean.” The musicians and the men who guarded the temple gates also served God. Everything was done just as David and his son Solomon had commanded. 46 A long time ago there had been directors for the musicians. There had also been directors for the songs for giving thanks and praise to God. It was in the time of David and Asaph. 47 So now in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all the people of Israel brought their gifts. They gave the musicians and the men who guarded the gates what they were supposed to give them every day. They also set apart the shares for the other Levites. And the Levites set apart the shares for the priests in the family line of Aaron.
22 1 “Brothers and fathers,” Paul began, “listen to me now. I want to give you reasons for my actions.”
2 When they heard that he was speaking to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said, 3 “I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. I studied with Gamaliel. I was well trained by him in the law given to our people long ago. I wanted to serve God as much as any of you do today. 4 I hurt the followers of the Way of Jesus. I sent many of them to their death. I arrested men and women. I threw them into prison. 5 The high priest and the whole Council can be witnesses of this themselves. I even had some official letters they had written to their friends in Damascus. So I went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “I had almost reached Damascus. About noon a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice speak to me. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you opposing me?’
8 “ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,’ he replied. ‘I am the one you are opposing.’ 9 The light was seen by my companions. But they didn’t understand the voice of the one speaking to me.
10 “ ‘What should I do, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said. ‘Go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been given to do.’ 11 The brightness of the light had blinded me. So my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a godly Jew who obeyed the law. All the Jews living there respected him very much. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that very moment I was able to see him.
14 “Then he said, ‘The God of our people has chosen you. He wanted to tell you his plans for you. You have seen the Blameless One. You have heard words from his mouth. 15 Now you will tell everyone about what you have seen and heard. 16 So what are you waiting for? Get up and call on his name. Be baptized. Have your sins washed away.’
17 “I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple. Then it seemed to me that I was dreaming. 18 I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem at once. The people here will not accept what you tell them about me.’
19 “ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know what I used to do. I went from one synagogue to another and put believers in prison. I also beat them. 20 Stephen was a man who told other people about you. I stood there when he was killed. I had agreed that he should die. I even guarded the coats of those who were killing him.’
21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go. I will send you far away to people who are not Jews.’ ”
Paul the Roman Citizen
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!”
23 They shouted and threw off their coats. They threw dust into the air. 24 So the commanding officer ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. He gave orders for Paul to be whipped and questioned. He wanted to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 A commander was standing there as they stretched Paul out to be whipped. Paul said to him, “Does the law allow you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
26 When the commander heard this, he went to the commanding officer and reported it. “What are you going to do?” the commander asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
27 So the commanding officer went to Paul. “Tell me,” he asked. “Are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I am,” Paul answered.
28 Then the officer said, “I had to pay a lot of money to become a citizen.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29 Right away those who were about to question him left. Even the officer was alarmed. He realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
Paul Is Taken to the Sanhedrin
30 The commanding officer wanted to find out exactly what the Jews had against Paul. So the next day he let Paul out of prison. He ordered a meeting of the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin. Then he brought Paul and had him stand in front of them.
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