M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Samson Is Born

13 Once again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for 40 years.

² A certain man from Zorah was named Manoah. He was from the tribe of Dan. Manoah had a wife who wasn’t able to have children. ³ The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife. He said, “You are not able to have children. But you are going to become pregnant. You will have a baby boy. ⁴ Make sure you do not drink any kind of wine. Also make sure you do not eat anything that is ‘unclean.’ ⁵ You will become pregnant. You will have a son. The hair on his head must never be cut. That is because the boy will be a Nazirite. He will be set apart to God from the day he is born. He will take the lead in saving Israel from the power of the Philistines.”

⁶ Then the woman went to her husband. She told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God. His appearance was so amazing that it filled me with great wonder. I didn’t ask him where he came from. And he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant. You will have a son. So do not drink any kind of wine. Do not eat anything that is “unclean.” That is because the boy will be a Nazirite. He will belong to God in a special way from the day he is born until the day he dies.’ ”

⁸ Then Manoah prayed to the Lord. He said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again. He told us we would have a son. We want the man of God to teach us how to bring up the boy.”

⁹ God heard Manoah. And the angel of God came again to the woman. He came while she was out in the field. But her husband Manoah wasn’t with her. ¹⁰ The woman hurried to her husband. She told him, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me the other day is here!”

¹¹ Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he spoke to him. He said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”

“I am,” he replied.

¹² So Manoah asked him, “What will happen when your words come true? What rules should we follow for the boy’s life and work?”

¹³ The angel of the Lord answered him. He said, “Your wife must do everything I have told her to do. ¹⁴ She must not eat anything that comes from grapevines. She must not drink any kind of wine. She must not eat anything that is ‘unclean.’ She must do everything I have commanded her to do.”

¹⁵ Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay and eat. We want to prepare a young goat for you.”

¹⁶ The angel of the Lord replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat any of your food. But if you still want to prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord.” Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the Lord.

¹⁷ Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord a question. “What is your name?” he said. “We want to honor you when your word comes true.”

¹⁸ The angel replied, “Why are you asking me what my name is? You would not be able to understand it.” ¹⁹ Manoah got a young goat. He brought it along with the grain offering. He sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. Then the Lord did an amazing thing. It happened while Manoah and his wife were watching. ²⁰ A flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven. The angel of the Lord rose up in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw it, they fell with their faces to the ground. ²¹ The angel of the Lord didn’t show himself again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized it was the angel of the Lord.

²² “We’re going to die!” he said to his wife. “We’ve seen God!”

²³ But his wife answered, “The Lord doesn’t want to kill us. If he did, he wouldn’t have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us. He wouldn’t have shown us all these things. He wouldn’t have told us we’re going to have a son.”

²⁴ Later, the woman had a baby boy. She named him Samson. As he grew up, the Lord blessed him. ²⁵ The Spirit of the Lord began to work in his life. It happened while he was in Mahaneh Dan. That place is between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Paul and Silas Arrive in Thessalonica

17 Paul and those traveling with him passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia. They came to Thessalonica. A Jewish synagogue was there. ² Paul went into the synagogue as he usually did. For three Sabbath days in a row he talked with the Jews about the Scriptures. ³ He explained and proved that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am telling you about is the Messiah!” he said. ⁴ His words won over some of the Jews. They joined Paul and Silas. A large number of Greeks who worshiped God joined them too. So did quite a few important women.

⁵ But other Jews were jealous. So they rounded up some evil people from the market place. Forming a crowd, they started all kinds of trouble in the city. The Jews rushed to Jason’s house. They were looking for Paul and Silas. They wanted to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ But they couldn’t find them. So they dragged Jason and some other believers to the city officials. “These men have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted. “Now they have come here. ⁷ Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all disobeying Caesar’s commands. They say there is another king. He is called Jesus.” ⁸ When the crowd and the city officials heard this, they became very upset. ⁹ They made Jason and the others give them money. The officials did this to make sure they would return to the court. Then they let Jason and the others go.

Paul and Silas Are Sent to Berea

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ The Berean Jews were very glad to receive Paul’s message. They studied the Scriptures carefully every day. They wanted to see if what Paul said was true. So they were more noble than the Thessalonian Jews. ¹² Because of this, many of the Berean Jews believed. A number of important Greek women also became believers. And so did many Greek men.

¹³ But the Jews in Thessalonica found out that Paul was preaching God’s word in Berea. So some of them went there too. They stirred up the crowds and got them all worked up. ¹⁴ Right away the believers sent Paul to the coast. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. ¹⁵ The believers who went with Paul took him to Athens. Then they returned with orders that Silas and Timothy were supposed to join him as soon as they could.

Paul Preaches in Athens

¹⁶ Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. He was very upset to see that the city was full of statues of gods. ¹⁷ So he went to the synagogue. There he talked both with Jews and with Greeks who worshiped God. Each day he spoke with anyone who happened to be in the market place. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic thinkers began to argue with him. Some of them asked, “What is this fellow chattering about?” Others said, “He seems to be telling us about gods we’ve never heard of.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus. He was telling them that Jesus had risen from the dead. ¹⁹ They took him to a meeting of the Areopagus. There they said to him, “What is this new teaching you’re giving us? ²⁰ You have some strange ideas we’ve never heard before. We would like to know what they mean.” ²¹ All the people of Athens spent their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas. People from other lands who lived there did the same.

²² Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “People of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. ²³ As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship. I even found an altar with

To an Unknown God

written on it. So you don’t know what you are worshiping. Now I am going to tell you about this ‘unknown god.’

²⁴ “He is the God who made the world. He also made everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ He is not served by human hands. He doesn’t need anything. Instead, he himself gives life and breath to all people. He also gives them everything else they have. ²⁶ From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. ²⁷ God did this so that people would seek him. And perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. ²⁸ ‘In him we live and move and exist.’ As some of your own poets have also said, ‘We are his children.’

²⁹ “Yes, we are God’s children. So we shouldn’t think that God is made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn’t a statue planned and made by clever people. ³⁰ In the past, God didn’t judge people for what they didn’t know. But now he commands all people everywhere to turn away from their sins. ³¹ He has set a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has appointed a man to be its judge. God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead.”

³² They heard Paul talk about the dead being raised. Some of them made fun of this idea. But others said, “We want to hear you speak about this again.” ³³ So Paul left the meeting of the Areopagus. ³⁴ Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed in Jesus. Dionysius was one of them. He was a member of the Areopagus. A woman named Damaris also became a believer. And so did some others.

Jeremiah’s Enemies Try to Have Him Killed

26 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It was shortly after Jehoiakim became king of Judah. He was the son of Josiah. ² The Lord said to Jeremiah, “Stand in the courtyard of my house. Speak to the people of the towns in Judah. Speak to all those who come to worship in my house. Tell them everything I command you. Do not leave out a single word. ³ Perhaps they will listen. Maybe they will turn from their evil ways. Then I will not do what I said I would. I will not bring trouble on them. I had planned to punish them because of the evil things they had done. ⁴ Tell them, ‘The Lord says, “Listen to me. Obey my law that I gave you. ⁵ And listen to the words my servants the prophets are speaking. I have sent them to you again and again. But you have not listened to them. ⁶ So I will make this house like Shiloh. All the nations on earth will use the name of this city in a curse.” ’ ”

⁷ Jeremiah spoke these words in the Lord’s house. The priests, the prophets and all the people heard him. ⁸ Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say. But as soon as he did, the priests, the prophets and all the people grabbed him. They said, “You must die! ⁹ Why do you prophesy these things in the Lord’s name? Why do you say that this house will become like Shiloh? Why do you say that this city will be empty and deserted?” And all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the Lord’s house.

¹⁰ The officials of Judah heard what had happened. So they went up from the royal palace to the Lord’s house. There they took their places at the entrance of the New Gate. ¹¹ Then the priests and prophets spoke to the officials and all the people. They said, “This man should be sentenced to death. He has prophesied against this city. You have heard it with your own ears!”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and people. He said, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city. He told me to say everything you have heard. ¹³ So change the way you live and act. Obey the Lord your God. Then he won’t do what he said he would. He won’t bring on you the trouble he said he would bring. ¹⁴ As for me, I’m in your hands. Do to me what you think is good and right. ¹⁵ But you can be sure of one thing. If you put me to death, you will be held responsible for spilling my blood. And I haven’t even done anything wrong. You will bring guilt on yourselves and this city and those who live in it. The Lord has sent me to you. He wanted me to say all these things so you could hear them. And that’s the truth.”

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people spoke to the priests and prophets. They said, “This man shouldn’t be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

¹⁷ Some of the elders of the land stepped forward. They spoke to the whole community gathered there. They said, ¹⁸ “Micah from Moresheth prophesied. It was during the time Hezekiah was king over Judah. Micah spoke to all the people of Judah. He told them, ‘The Lord who rules over all says,

¹⁹ Did King Hezekiah or anyone else in Judah put Micah to death? Hezekiah had respect for the Lord and tried to please him. And the Lord didn’t judge Jerusalem as he said he would. He didn’t bring on it the trouble he said he would bring. But we are about to bring horrible trouble on ourselves!”

²⁰ Uriah was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord. He was from Kiriath Jearim. He was the son of Shemaiah. Uriah prophesied against this city and this land. He said the same things Jeremiah did. ²¹ King Jehoiakim and all his officers and officials heard Uriah’s words. So the king decided to put him to death. But Uriah heard about it. He was afraid. And he ran away to Egypt. ²² So King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan to Egypt. He also sent some other men along with him. Elnathan was the son of Akbor. ²³ Those men brought Uriah out of Egypt. They took him to King Jehoiakim. Then the king had Uriah struck down with a sword. He had Uriah’s body thrown into one of the graves of the ordinary people.

²⁴ In spite of that, Ahikam stood up for Jeremiah. Ahikam was the son of Shaphan. Because of Ahikam, Jeremiah wasn’t handed over to the people to be put to death.

The Story of the Renters

12 Jesus began to speak to the people using stories. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went to another place. ² At harvest time he sent a servant to the renters. He told the servant to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³ But they grabbed the servant and beat him up. Then they sent him away with nothing. ⁴ So the man sent another servant to the renters. They hit this one on the head and treated him badly. ⁵ The man sent still another servant. The renters killed him. The man sent many others. The renters beat up some of them. They killed the others.

⁶ “The man had one person left to send. It was his son, and he loved him. He sent him last of all. He said, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But the renters said to each other, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took him and killed him. They threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “What will the owner of the vineyard do then? He will come and kill those renters. He will give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read what this part of Scripture says,

¹² Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest Jesus. They knew he had told the story against them. But they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Is It Right to Pay the Royal Tax to Caesar?

¹³ Later the religious leaders sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus. They wanted to trap him with his own words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of honor. You don’t let other people tell you what to do or say. You don’t care how important they are. But you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right to pay the royal tax to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew what they were trying to do. So he asked, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin. Let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin. He asked them, “Whose picture is this? And whose words?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give back to God what belongs to God.”

They were amazed at him.

Marriage When the Dead Rise

¹⁸ The Sadducees came to Jesus with a question. They do not believe that people rise from the dead. ¹⁹ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us about a man who died and didn’t have any children. But he did leave a wife behind. That man’s brother must get married to the widow. He must provide children to carry on his dead brother’s name. ²⁰ There were seven brothers. The first one got married. He died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one got married to the widow. He also died and left no child. It was the same with the third one. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ When the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven of them were married to her.”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures. And you do not know the power of God. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ What about the dead rising? Haven’t you read in the Book of Moses the story of the burning bush? God said to Moses, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. You have made a big mistake!”

The Most Important Commandment

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard the Sadducees arguing. He noticed that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important of all the commandments?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “Here is the most important one. Moses said, ‘Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) ³¹ And here is the second one. ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18) There is no commandment more important than these.”

³² “You have spoken well, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one. There is no other God but him. ³³ To love God with all your heart and mind and strength is very important. So is loving your neighbor as you love yourself. These things are more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ Jesus saw that the man had answered wisely. He said to him, “You are not far from God’s kingdom.” From then on, no one dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

Whose Son Is the Messiah?

³⁵ Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard. He asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? ³⁶ The Holy Spirit spoke through David himself. David said,

³⁷ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”

The large crowd listened to Jesus with delight.

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law

³⁸ As he taught, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in long robes. They like to be greeted with respect in the market. ³⁹ They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. They also love to have the places of honor at dinners. ⁴⁰ They take over the houses of widows. They say long prayers to show off. God will punish these men very much.”

The Widow’s Offering

⁴¹ Jesus sat down across from the place where people put their temple offerings. He watched the crowd putting their money into the offering boxes. Many rich people threw large amounts into them. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins. They were worth only a few pennies.

⁴³ Jesus asked his disciples to come to him. He said, “What I’m about to tell you is true. That poor widow has put more into the offering box than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave a lot because they are rich. But she gave even though she is poor. She put in everything she had. That was all she had to live on.”