M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Yahweh’s Covenant with Abram
15 After these things the word of Yahweh came[a] to Abram in a vision, saying: “Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield, and your reward shall be very great.” 2 Then[b] Abram said, “O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? I continue to be[c] childless, and my heir[d] is Eliezer of Damascus.” 3 And Abram said, “Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, a member of my household[e] is my heir.”[f] 4 And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him saying, “This person will not be your heir,[g] but your own son will be your heir.”[h] 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed in Yahweh, and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. 7 And he said to him, “I am Yahweh, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give this land to you, to possess it.” 8 And he said, “O Yahweh God, how shall I know that I will possess it?” 9 And he said to him, “Take for me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove and a young pigeon.” 10 And he took for him all these and cut them in pieces down the middle. And he put each piece opposite the other,[i] but the birds he did not cut. 11 And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 And it happened, as the sun went down,[j] then a deep sleep fell upon Abram and, behold, a great terrifying darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said to Abram, “You must surely know[k] that your descendants shall be as aliens in a land not their own.[l] And they shall serve them[m] and they[n] shall oppress them four hundred years. 14 And also the nation that they[o] serve I will judge. Then[p] afterward they shall go out with great possessions. 15 And as for you, you shall go to your ancestors[q] in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete.”[r] 17 And after the sun had gone down and it was dusk, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between those half pieces. 18 On that day Yahweh made[s] a covenant with Abram saying, “To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates river, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Herod Kills John the Baptist
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus 2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and for this reason miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod, after[a] arresting John, bound him and put him[b] in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is not permitted for you to have her.” 5 And although he[c] wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they looked upon him as a prophet.
6 But when[d] Herod’s birthday celebration took place, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst of them and pleased Herod. 7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 And coached by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter!” 9 And although[e] the king was distressed, because of his oaths and his dinner guests[f] he commanded the request[g] to be granted. 10 And he sent orders[h] and[i] had John beheaded in the prison, 11 and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it[j] to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and[k] took away the corpse and buried it, and went and[l] told Jesus.
The Feeding of Five Thousand
13 Now when[m] Jesus heard it,[n] he withdrew from there in a boat to an isolated place by himself. And when[o] the crowds heard it,[p] they followed him by land from the towns. 14 And as he[q] got out, he saw the large crowd and had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it[r] was evening, the disciples came to him saying, “The place is desolate and the hour is late.[s] Release the crowds so that they can go away into the villages and[t] purchase food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need[u] to go away. You give them something[v] to eat.” 17 And they said to him, “We do not have anything[w] here except five loaves and two fish.” 18 So he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 And he commanded the crowds to recline for a meal on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and[x] looking up to heaven, he gave thanks. And after[y] breaking them,[z] he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them[aa] to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 Now those who ate were about five thousand men, in addition to women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 And immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he sent away the crowds. 23 And after he[ab] sent away the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. So when[ac] evening came, he was there alone. 24 But the boat was already many stadia distant from the land, being beaten by the waves, because the wind was against it. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But the disciples, when they[ad] saw him walking on the sea, were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Have courage, I am he! Do not be afraid!” 28 And Peter answered him and[ae] said, “Lord, if it is you,[af] command me to come to you on the water!” 29 So he said, “Come!” And getting out of the boat, Peter walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he[ag] saw the strong wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus extended his[ah] hand and[ai] caught him and said to him, “You of little faith! Why did you doubt?” 32 And when[aj] they got into the boat, the wind abated. 33 So those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God!”
Many Healed at Gennesaret
34 And after they[ak] had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when[al] the men of that place recognized him, they sent word into that whole surrounding region, and they brought to him all those who were sick.[am] 36 And they were imploring him that they might only touch the edge[an] of his cloak, and all those who touched it[ao] were cured.
Opposition Begins
4 [a] Now it happened when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he became angry and greatly provoked, and he mocked the Jews. 2 Then he said before his brothers and the army of Samaria, “What are the feeble Jews doing? Will they restore these things for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the piles of rubble—even those burned up?”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him and said, “Their wall of stone that they are building would break down if a fox went on it!”
4 Hear, our God, for we are despised. Turn their scorn on their head and give them over to plunder in the land of captivity. 5 Do not cover their guilt, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you. They have provoked the builders to anger.[b]
6 So we rebuilt the wall, and all of the wall was joined up to half its height. For the people had a heart to do it.
Opposition Stopped
7 Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the restoration of the walls of Jerusalem were going forward and the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. 8 So all of them plotted together to come fight against Jerusalem and to make trouble for it. 9 So we prayed to our God and set up a guard against them day and night.
10 But Judah said, “The strength of the carriers is failing, and there is too much dirt, and we are not able to build at the wall.” 11 Then our enemies said, “They will not know nor see until we come upon them and will kill them and stop the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived beside them came, they said to us ten times, “From all of the places where they live, they will come up against us.” 13 I stationed the people behind the deepest part of the wall in the open places according to their families, with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 And I looked, got up, and said to the nobles, prefects, and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 It happened when our enemies heard that their plan was known to us, that God had frustrated it, and we all returned to the wall—each to his work. 16 From that day, half of my servants were working on craftsmanship, half were holding spears, small shields, bows, and breastplates. The commanders were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 The ones who were building the wall and the ones who carried the materials[c] were carrying in one hand while doing the task, and with the other hand were grasping a weapon. 18 Each of the builders had his sword tied to his side while building. And the man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 I said to the nobles, to the prefects, and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widespread, and we are spread out over the wall far from each other. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, come together to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we labored at the work, and half of them were holding the spears from dawn until the stars came out. 22 At the time I also said to the people, “Let each man and his servant spend the night inside Jerusalem, so that they will be a guard for us in the night and work in the day.” 23 So neither I nor my brothers nor my young men nor the men of the guard who were behind me took off our clothes. Each one kept his weapon even in the water.
Preaching in Iconium
14 Now it happened that in Iconium they entered together[a] into the synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a large number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who were disobedient stirred up and poisoned the minds[b] of the Gentiles against the brothers. 3 So they stayed there[c] for a considerable time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the message of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be performed through their hands. 4 But the population of the city was divided, and some[d] were with the Jews and some[e] with the apostles. 5 So when an inclination took place on the part of both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their rulers, to mistreat them[f] and to stone them, 6 they became aware of it[g] and[h] fled to the Lycaonian cities—Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region. 7 And there they were continuing to proclaim the good news.
Mistaken for Gods in Lystra
8 And in Lystra a certain man was sitting powerless in his feet, lame from birth,[i] who had never walked. 9 This man listened while[j] Paul was speaking. Paul,[k] looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And he leaped up and began walking.[l] 11 And when[m] the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices in the Lycaonian language, saying, “The gods have become like men and[n] have come down to us!” 12 And they began calling[o] Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the principal speaker.[p] 13 And the priest of the temple[q] of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates and[r] was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds. 14 But when[s] the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it,[t] they tore their clothing and[u] rushed out into the crowd, shouting 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, proclaiming the good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things that are in them— 16 who in generations that are past permitted all the nations[v] to go their own ways. 17 And yet he did not leave himself without witness by[w] doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying you[x] with food and your hearts with gladness.” 18 And although[y] they said these things, only with difficulty did they dissuade the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
19 But Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and when they[z] had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him[aa] outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after[ab] the disciples surrounded him, he got up and[ac] went into the city. And on the next day he departed with Barnabas for Derbe.
Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria
21 And after they[ad] had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them[ae] to continue in the faith and saying,[af] “Through many persecutions[ag] it is necessary for us to enter into the kingdom of God.” 23 And when they[ah] had appointed elders for them in every church, after[ai] praying with fasting, they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed. 24 And they passed through Pisidia and[aj] came to Pamphylia. 25 And after[ak] they proclaimed the message in Perga, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed away to Antioch where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had completed. 27 And when they[al] arrived and called the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.[am] 28 And they stayed no little time with the disciples.
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