M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

15 After these things hath the word of Jehovah been unto Abram in a vision, saying, `Fear not, Abram, I [am] a shield to thee, thy reward [is] exceeding great.'

² And Abram saith, `Lord Jehovah, what dost Thou give to me, and I am going childless? and an acquired son in my house is Demmesek Eliezer.'

³ And Abram saith, `Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and lo, a domestic doth heir me.'

⁴ And lo, the word of Jehovah [is] unto him, saying, `This [one] doth not heir thee; but he who cometh out from thy bowels, he doth heir thee;'

⁵ and He bringeth him out without, and saith, `Look attentively, I pray thee, towards the heavens, and count the stars, if thou art able to count them;' and He saith to him, `Thus is thy seed.'

⁶ And he hath believed in Jehovah, and He reckoneth it to him -- righteousness.

⁷ And He saith unto him, `I [am] Jehovah who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give to thee this land to possess it;'

⁸ and he saith, `Lord Jehovah, whereby do I know that I possess it?'

⁹ And He saith unto him, `Take for Me a heifer of three years, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, and a turtle-dove, and a young bird;'

¹⁰ and he taketh to him all these, and separateth them in the midst, and putteth each piece over against its fellow, but the bird he hath not divided;

¹¹ and the ravenous birds come down upon the carcases, and Abram causeth them to turn back.

¹² And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon him;

¹³ and He saith to Abram, `knowing -- know that thy seed is a sojourner in a land not theirs, and they have served them, and they have afflicted them four hundred years,

¹⁴ and the nation also whom they serve I judge, and after this they go out with great substance;

¹⁵ and thou -- thou comest in unto thy fathers in peace; thou art buried in a good old age;

¹⁶ and the fourth generation doth turn back hither, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.'

¹⁷ And it cometh to pass -- the sun hath gone in, and thick darkness hath been -- and lo, a furnace of smoke, and a lamp of fire, which hath passed over between those pieces.

¹⁸ In that day hath Jehovah made with Abram a covenant, saying, `To thy seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Phrat,

¹⁹ with the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,

²⁰ and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,

²¹ and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.'

14 At that time did Herod the tetrarch hear the fame of Jesus,

² and said to his servants, `This is John the Baptist, he did rise from the dead, and because of this the mighty energies are working in him.'

³ For Herod having laid hold on John, did bind him, and did put him in prison, because of Herodias his brother Philip's wife,

⁴ for John was saying to him, `It is not lawful to thee to have her,'

⁵ and, willing to kill him, he feared the multitude, because as a prophet they were holding him.

⁶ But the birthday of Herod being kept, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst, and did please Herod,

⁷ whereupon with an oath he professed to give her whatever she might ask.

⁸ And she having been instigated by her mother -- `Give me (says she) here upon a plate the head of John the Baptist;

⁹ and the king was grieved, but because of the oaths and of those reclining with him, he commanded [it] to be given;

¹⁰ and having sent, he beheaded John in the prison,

¹¹ and his head was brought upon a plate, and was given to the damsel, and she brought [it] nigh to her mother.

¹² And his disciples having come, took up the body, and buried it, and having come, they told Jesus,

¹³ and Jesus having heard, withdrew thence in a boat to a desolate place by himself, and the multitudes having heard did follow him on land from the cities.

¹⁴ And Jesus having come forth, saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion upon them, and did heal their infirm;

¹⁵ and evening having come, his disciples came to him, saying, `The place is desolate, and the hour hath now past, let away the multitudes that, having gone to the villages, they may buy to themselves food.'

¹⁶ And Jesus said to them, `They have no need to go away -- give ye them to eat.'

¹⁷ And they say to him, `We have not here except five loaves, and two fishes.'

¹⁸ And he said, `Bring ye them to me hither.'

¹⁹ And having commanded the multitudes to recline upon the grass, and having taken the five loaves and the two fishes, having looked up to the heaven, he did bless, and having broken, he gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes,

²⁰ and they did all eat, and were filled, and they took up what was over of the broken pieces twelve hand-baskets full;

²¹ and those eating were about five thousand men, apart from women and children.

²² And immediately Jesus constrained his disciples to go into the boat, and to go before him to the other side, till he might let away the multitudes;

²³ and having let away the multitudes, he went up to the mountain by himself to pray, and evening having come, he was there alone,

²⁴ and the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went away to them, walking upon the sea,

²⁶ and the disciples having seen him walking upon the sea, were troubled saying -- `It is an apparition,' and from the fear they cried out;

²⁷ and immediately Jesus spake to them, saying, `Be of good courage, I am [he], be not afraid.'

²⁸ And Peter answering him said, `Sir, if it is thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters;'

²⁹ and he said, `Come;' and having gone down from the boat, Peter walked upon the waters to come unto Jesus,

³⁰ but seeing the wind vehement, he was afraid, and having begun to sink, he cried out, saying, `Sir, save me.'

³¹ And immediately Jesus, having stretched forth the hand, laid hold of him, and saith to him, `Little faith! for what didst thou waver?'

³² and they having gone to the boat the wind lulled,

³³ and those in the boat having come, did bow to him, saying, `Truly -- God's Son art thou.'

³⁴ And having passed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret,

³⁵ and having recognized him, the men of that place sent forth to all that region round about, and they brought to him all who were ill,

³⁶ and were calling on him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment, and as many as did touch were saved.

4 And it cometh to pass, when Sanballat hath heard that we are building the wall, that it is displeasing to him, and he is very angry and mocketh at the Jews,

² and saith before his brethren and the force of Samaria, yea, he saith, `What [are] the weak Jews doing? are they left to themselves? do they sacrifice? do they complete in a day? do they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish? -- and they burnt!'

³ And Tobiah the Ammonite [is] by him and saith, `Also, that which they are building -- if a fox doth go up, then it hath broken down their stone wall.'

⁴ Hear, O our God, for we have been despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, and give them for a spoil in a land of captivity;

⁵ and do not cover over their iniquity, and their sin from before Thee let not be blotted out, for they have provoked to anger -- over-against those building.

⁶ And we build the wall, and all the wall is joined -- unto its half, and the people have a heart to work.

⁷ And it cometh to pass, when Sanballat hath heard, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, that lengthening hath gone up to the walls of Jerusalem, that the breeches have begun to be stopped, then it is very displeasing to them,

⁸ and they conspire, all of them together, to come in to fight against Jerusalem, and to do to it injury.

⁹ And we pray unto our God, and appoint a watch against them, by day and by night, because of them.

¹⁰ And Judah saith, `The power of the burden-bearers hath become feeble, and the rubbish [is] abundant, and we are not able to build on the wall.'

¹¹ And our adversaries say, `They do not know, nor see, till that we come in to their midst, and have slain them, and caused the work to cease.'

¹² And it cometh to pass, when the Jews have come who are dwelling near them, that they say to us ten times from all the places whither ye return -- [they are] against us.

¹³ And I appoint at the lowest of the places, at the back of the wall, in the clear places, yea, I appoint the people, by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

¹⁴ And I see, and rise up, and say unto the freemen, and unto the prefects, and unto the rest of the people, `Be not afraid of them; the Lord, the great and the fearful, remember ye, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.'

¹⁵ And it cometh to pass, when our enemies have heard that it hath been known to us, and God doth frustrate their counsel, and we turn back, all of us, unto the wall, each unto his work;

¹⁶ yea, it cometh to pass, from that day, half of my servants are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the heads [are] behind all the house of Judah.

¹⁷ The builders on the wall, and the bearers of the burden, those lading, [each] with one of his hands is working in the business, and one is laying hold of the missile.

¹⁸ And the builders [are] each with his sword, girded on his loins, and building, and he who is blowing with a trumpet [is] beside me.

¹⁹ And I say unto the freemen, and unto the prefects, and unto the rest of the people, `The work is abundant, and large, and we are separated on the wall, far off one from another;

²⁰ in the place that ye hear the voice of the trumpet thither ye are gathered unto us; our God doth fight for us.'

²¹ And we are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of the spears, from the going up of the dawn till the coming forth of the stars.

²² Also, at that time I said to the people, `Let each with his servant lodge in the midst of Jerusalem, and they have been to us by night a guard, and by day [for] the work:'

²³ and there are none -- I and my brethren and my servants, the men of the guard who [are] after me -- there are none of us putting off our garments, each [hath] his vessel of water.

14 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they did enter together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spake, so that there believed both of Jews and Greeks a great multitude;

² and the unbelieving Jews did stir up and made evil the souls of the nations against the brethren;

³ long time, indeed, therefore, did they abide speaking boldly in the Lord, who is testifying to the word of His grace, and granting signs and wonders to come to pass through their hands.

⁴ And the multitude of the city was divided, and some were with the Jews, and some with the apostles,

⁵ and when there was a purpose both of the nations and of the Jews with their rulers to use [them] despitefully, and to stone them,

⁶ they having become aware, did flee to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and to the region round about,

⁷ and there they were proclaiming good news.

⁸ And a certain man in Lystra, impotent in the feet, was sitting, being lame from the womb of his mother -- who never had walked,

⁹ this one was hearing Paul speaking, who, having stedfastly beheld him, and having seen that he hath faith to be saved,

¹⁰ said with a loud voice, `Stand up on thy feet upright;' and he was springing and walking,

¹¹ and the multitudes having seen what Paul did, did lift up their voice, in the speech of Lycaonia, saying, `The gods, having become like men, did come down unto us;'

¹² they were calling also Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, since he was the leader in speaking.

¹³ And the priest of the Zeus that is before their city, oxen and garlands unto the porches having brought, with the multitudes did wish to sacrifice,

¹⁴ and having heard, the apostles Barnabas and Paul, having rent their garments, did spring into the multitude, crying

¹⁵ and saying, `Men, why these things do ye? and we are men like-affected with you, proclaiming good news to you, from these vanities to turn unto the living God, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all the things in them;

¹⁶ who in the past generations did suffer all the nations to go on in their ways,

¹⁷ though, indeed, without witness He did not leave himself, doing good -- from heaven giving rains to us, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness;'

¹⁸ and these things saying, scarcely did they restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹ And there came thither, from Antioch and Iconium, Jews, and they having persuaded the multitudes, and having stoned Paul, drew him outside of the city, having supposed him to be dead;

²⁰ and the disciples having surrounded him, having risen he entered into the city, and on the morrow he went forth with Barnabas to Derbe.

²¹ Having proclaimed good news also to that city, and having discipled many, they turned back to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch,

²² confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting to remain in the faith, and that through many tribulations it behoveth us to enter into the reign of God,

²³ and having appointed to them by vote elders in every assembly, having prayed with fastings, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴ And having passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia,

²⁵ and having spoken in Perga the word, they went down to Attalia,

²⁶ and thence did sail to Antioch, whence they had been given by the grace of God for the work that they fulfilled;

²⁷ and having come and gathered together the assembly, they declared as many things as God did with them, and that He did open to the nations a door of faith;

²⁸ and they abode there not a little time with the disciples.