M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Samson’s Feats

14 Samson went down to Timnah. There he saw a young woman who was a Philistine. ² He went back and told his father and his mother, “I saw a Philistine woman in Timnah. Now, get her for me as a wife.”

³ But his father and mother said to him, “Is there no suitable woman among the young women of your relatives and among all our people that you must go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?”

Samson insisted to his father, “No, get her for me—because, in my eyes, she is the right one.”

⁴ His father and mother did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an opportunity to confront the Philistines, who were ruling Israel at this time.

⁵ So Samson and his father and mother went down to Timnah, and as they approached the vineyards at Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring to meet him. ⁶ At that moment the Spirit of the Lord powerfully rushed upon Samson, and he tore the young lion in two as if he were tearing apart a young goat. He did this with his bare hands. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. ⁷ He went down and spoke to the woman. In the eyes of Samson, she was the right one.

⁸ After some days, when he returned to take her as his wife, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion, and to his surprise there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion! ⁹ So Samson scraped out some honey with his hands, and he ate it as he walked along. As he walked alongside his father and mother, he gave them some of the honey and they ate, but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

¹⁰ His father met with the woman, and Samson held a wedding feast there, as young men were accustomed to do. ¹¹ When the Philistines saw him, they selected thirty young men to serve as attendants.

¹² Samson said to them, “Allow me to tell you a riddle. If you figure out the solution and tell me within the seven days of the feast, I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. ¹³ But if you are not able to tell me, you will give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing.”

So they said to him, “Tell your riddle. Let us hear it!”

¹⁴ Samson said to them,

But they were not able to solve the riddle for three days.

¹⁵ Then, on the fourth day,^[a] they said to Samson’s wife, “Persuade your husband so that you can tell us the solution to the riddle, or we will set you on fire with the house of your father. You invited us in order to take our property, didn’t you?”

¹⁶ Samson’s wife cried on his shoulder and said, “You certainly hate me and do not love me. You told a riddle to my people, but you have not explained it to me!”

Samson said to her, “Look! I have not told even my father and my mother, and I should tell you?” ¹⁷ But she cried to him for the rest of the seven-day feast.^[b] Finally on the seventh day he told her, because she kept nagging him. Then she explained the riddle to the Philistine young men.

¹⁸ So the men of the town said to Samson on the seventh day, just before the sun went down:

But he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.”

¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men from there. Then he took the clothing that he stripped off them and gave the clothing to the men who had solved the riddle. He was burning with anger as he went back to his father’s house. ²⁰ Meanwhile the Philistines gave Samson’s wife to one of the men who had attended him.

In Corinth

18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them. ³ Because he had the same occupation, he stayed and worked with them, for they were tentmakers by trade. ⁴ Every Sabbath he led a discussion in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was entirely devoted to preaching the word,^[a] testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶ But when they opposed Paul and slandered him, he shook out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”

⁷ He left that place and went to the house of a man named Titius^[b] Justus, a worshipper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking, and do not be silent. ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the judicial bench. ¹³ They said, “This man is persuading the people to worship God in a way that is against the law.”

¹⁴ But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were some kind of misdemeanor or vicious crime, I would formally accept the complaint of you Jews. ¹⁵ But since these are disputes about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not intend to be a judge of these things.” ¹⁶ So he drove them away from the judicial bench. ¹⁷ Then all the Greeks^[c] seized Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the judicial bench. But none of these things concerned Gallio.

Return to Antioch in Syria

¹⁸ After Paul stayed many more days, he said good-bye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea Paul had his head shaved, because he was keeping a vow.

¹⁹ Next they arrived at Ephesus, where he left Priscilla and Aquila. Paul himself went into the synagogue and led a discussion with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined. ²¹ But as he said good-bye, he told them,^[d] “I will come back to you again if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

²² When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church. Then he went down to Antioch. ²³ After spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos

²⁴ A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man and well versed in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. He spoke with burning zeal and taught the facts about Jesus^[e] accurately, although he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

²⁷ When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he provided much help to those who had become believers by grace, ²⁸ because he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

The Yoke of Babylon

27 Early in the reign of Zedekiah^[a] son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord.

² This is what the Lord said to me.

⁸ The Lord also said:

¹² I also said all these things to Zedekiah king of Judah.

¹⁶ I also spoke to the priests and to all of the people.

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple courts, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look what impressive stones these are, and what impressive buildings!”

² Jesus said to him, “Do you see these large buildings? There will not be one stone here left on top of another. They will all be thrown down.”

³ As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be fulfilled?”

⁵ Jesus began by telling them, “Be careful that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.

⁷ “Whenever you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁸ In fact, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. ⁹ But be on your guard! People will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand in the presence of rulers and kings for my sake as a witness to them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹ Whenever they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what you should say. Say whatever is given to you in that hour, because you will not be the ones speaking; instead it will be the Holy Spirit.

¹² “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father, his child. Children will rise up against their parents and put them to death. ¹³ You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ When you see the abomination that causes desolation^[a] standing where it should not be—let the reader understand—then those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. ¹⁵ The one who is on the housetop should not go down or enter to take anything out of his house. ¹⁶ The one who is in the field should not return to get his clothes. ¹⁷ How terrible it will be for those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸ Pray that this will not happen in winter. ¹⁹ For in those days there will be distress of such a kind as has not happened from the beginning of the creation until now, and surely never will be again. ²⁰ If the Lord had not shortened those days, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened the days. ²¹ Then if someone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²² For false Christs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if it were possible. ²³ So be on your guard. I have told you everything in advance.

²⁴ “But after that distress in those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. ²⁵ The stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶ Then you will see the Son of Man coming on clouds with great power and glory.^{[b] 27} At that time he will send out his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of the sky.

²⁸ “Learn from this illustration of the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ So also when you see these things happening, you will know that he is near—at the doors! ³⁰ Amen I tell you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things happen. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Watch! Be Alert!

³² “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Watch! Be alert and pray, because you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴ It is like a man going away on a journey. When he left his home, he put his servants in charge and assigned what each one was to do. He also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know when the owner of the house is coming: whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or early in the morning. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!”