M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

God Makes a Covenant With Noah

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons. He said to them, “Have children so that there are many of you. Fill the earth. ² All the land animals will be afraid of you. All the birds in the sky will be afraid of you. Every creature that moves along the ground will be afraid of you. So will every fish in the seas. Every living thing is put under your control. ³ Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. I have already given you the green plants for food. Now I am giving you everything.

⁴ “But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it. ⁵ I will certainly hold someone accountable if you are murdered. I will even hold animals accountable if they kill you. I will also hold anyone accountable who murders another person.

⁷ Have children so that there will be many of you. Multiply and become many on the earth.”

⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons who were with him. He said, ⁹ “I am now making my covenant with you and with all your children who will be born after you. ¹⁰ I am making it also with every living creature that was with you in the ark. I am making my covenant with the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals. I am making it with all the creatures that came out of the ark with you. In fact, I am making it with every living thing on earth. ¹¹ Here is my covenant I am making with you. The waters of a flood will never again destroy all life. A flood will never again destroy the earth.”

¹² God continued, “My covenant is between me and you and every living creature with you. It is a covenant for all time to come. Here is the sign of the covenant I am making. ¹³ I have put my rainbow in the clouds. It will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴ Sometimes when I bring clouds over the earth, a rainbow will appear in them. ¹⁵ Then I will remember my covenant between me and you and every kind of living creature. The waters will never again become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶ When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it. I will remember that my covenant will last forever. It is a covenant between me and every kind of living creature on earth.”

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “The rainbow is the sign of my covenant. I have made my covenant between me and all life on earth.”

The Sons of Noah

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. ¹⁹ The people who were scattered over the earth came from Noah’s three sons.

²⁰ Noah was a man who farmed the land. He decided to plant a field that produced grapes for making wine. ²¹ When he drank some of the wine, it made him drunk. Then he lay down inside his tent without any clothes on. ²² Ham saw his father naked. Then Ham, the father of Canaan, went outside and told his two brothers. ²³ But Shem and Japheth picked up a piece of clothing and laid it across their shoulders. Then they walked backward into the tent. They covered their father’s body. They turned their faces away because they didn’t want to see their father naked.

²⁴ Then Noah woke up from his sleep that was caused by the wine. He found out what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵ He said,

²⁶ Noah also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ Noah lived a total of 950 years. And then he died.

A List of Nations

10 Here is the story of Shem, Ham and Japheth. They were Noah’s sons. After the flood, they also had sons.

The Sons of Japheth

The Sons of Ham

⁸ Cush was the father of Nimrod. Nimrod became a mighty hero on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter in the Lord’s eyes. That’s why people sometimes compare others with Nimrod. They say, “They are like Nimrod, who was a mighty hunter in the Lord’s eyes.” ¹⁰ The first capital cities of Nimrod’s kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh. These cities were in the land of Babylon. ¹¹ From that land he went to Assyria. There he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir and Calah. ¹² He also built Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah. Nineveh is the most famous city.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham. They are listed by their tribes and languages in their territories and nations.

The Sons of Shem

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, Japheth’s younger brother. All the sons of Eber belonged to Shem’s family line.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem. They are listed by their tribes and languages in their territories and nations.

³² These are the tribes of Noah’s sons. They are listed by their family lines within their nations. From them the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Man Who Could Not Walk

9 Jesus stepped into a boat. He went over to the other side of the lake and came to his own town. ² Some men brought to him a man who could not walk. He was lying on a mat. Jesus saw that they had faith. So he said to the man, “Don’t lose hope, son. Your sins are forgiven.”

³ Then some teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is saying a very evil thing!”

⁴ Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, “Why do you have evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’? Or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he spoke to the man who could not walk. “Get up,” he said. “Take your mat and go home.” ⁷ The man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with wonder. They praised God for giving that kind of authority to a human being.

Jesus Chooses Matthew and Eats With Sinners

⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew. He was sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him. Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ Later Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and sinners came. They ate with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ The Pharisees saw this. So they asked the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² Jesus heard this. So he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a doctor. Sick people do. ¹³ Go and learn what this means, ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ (Hosea 6:6) I have not come to get those who think they are right with God to follow me. I have come to get sinners to follow me.”

Jesus Is Asked About Fasting

¹⁴ One day John’s disciples came. They said to Jesus, “We and the Pharisees often go without eating. Why don’t your disciples go without eating?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the groom be sad while he is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.

¹⁶ “People don’t sew a patch of new cloth on old clothes. The new piece will pull away from the old. That will make the tear worse. ¹⁷ People don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst. The wine will run out, and the wineskins will be destroyed. No, people pour new wine into new wineskins. Then both are saved.”

Jesus Heals a Dead Girl and a Suffering Woman

¹⁸ While Jesus was saying this, a synagogue leader came. He got down on his knees in front of Jesus. He said, “My daughter has just died. But come and place your hand on her. Then she will live again.” ¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him. So did his disciples.

²⁰ Just then a woman came up behind Jesus. She had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. She touched the edge of his clothes. ²¹ She thought, “I only need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned and saw her. “Dear woman, don’t give up hope,” he said. “Your faith has healed you.” The woman was healed at that moment.

²³ When Jesus entered the synagogue leader’s house, he saw the noisy crowd and people playing flutes. ²⁴ He said, “Go away. The girl is not dead. She is sleeping.” But they laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been sent outside, Jesus went in. He took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News about what Jesus had done spread all over that area.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him. They called out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

²⁸ When Jesus went indoors, the blind men came to him. He asked them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

²⁹ Then he touched their eyes. He said, “It will happen to you just as you believed.” ³⁰ They could now see again. Jesus strongly warned them, “Be sure that no one knows about this.” ³¹ But they went out and spread the news. They talked about him all over that area.

³² While they were going out, another man was brought to Jesus. A demon controlled him, and he could not speak. ³³ When the demon was driven out, the man spoke. The crowd was amazed. They said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He drives out demons by the power of the prince of demons.”

There Are Only a Few Workers

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues. He preached the good news of the kingdom. And he healed every illness and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he felt deep concern for them. They were treated badly and were helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is huge. But there are only a few workers. ³⁸ So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest field.”

Ezra Prays for the People

9 After all these things had been done, the leaders came to me. They said, “The people of Israel have committed sins. Even the priests and Levites have sinned. They haven’t kept themselves separate from the nations around them. The Lord hates the practices of those nations. He hates what the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites do. He also hates what the Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites do. ² The men of Israel have married the daughters of some of those people. They’ve also taken some of those women for their sons to marry. So they’ve mixed our holy nation with the nations around us. We leaders and officials have also married women who don’t worship the Lord. By doing this, we have led the way in breaking our covenant with the Lord.”

³ When I heard that, I tore my inner robe and my coat. I pulled hair from my head and beard. I was so shocked I sat down. ⁴ Then everyone who trembled with fear at God’s words gathered around me. That’s because the people who had returned from Babylon had not been faithful. So I was very upset. I just sat there until the time of the evening sacrifice.

⁵ Then I got up. I had been very sad for quite a while. My inner robe and my coat were torn. I fell down on my knees. I spread my hands out to the Lord my God. ⁶ I prayed,

“I’m filled with shame and dishonor, my God. I can hardly look to you and pray. That’s because our sins are piled up above our heads. Our guilt reaches all the way to the heavens. ⁷ We are filled with it. It has been like that ever since the days of our people who lived long ago. Kings of other countries have killed many of us and our kings and priests with their swords. They’ve forced others to leave their own land. They’ve taken them away as prisoners. They’ve robbed others. They’ve made still others feel ashamed and dishonored. All these things have happened to us because we’ve committed so many sins. And that’s how things still are to this day.

⁸ “But you are the Lord our God. Now you have shown us your kindness for a short time. That’s because you have allowed a few of us to remain here. Your temple has given us new hope. So you have made things easier for us. You have given us a little rest from our slavery. ⁹ We are still slaves. But you are our God. You haven’t turned away from us. You haven’t left us in our slavery. You have been kind to us. The kings of Persia have seen it. You have given us new life to repair your temple and rebuild it. You have given us a place of safety in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “You are our God. What can we say after the way you have blessed us? We have turned away from your commands. ¹¹ You gave us your commands through your servants the prophets. You said, ‘You are entering the land to take it as your own. The sinful practices of its people have made the land impure. They have filled it with their “unclean” acts from one end to the other. The Lord hates all their practices. ¹² So don’t let your daughters marry their sons. And don’t let their daughters marry your sons. Don’t make a peace treaty with them at any time. Then you will be strong. You will eat the good things the land produces. And you will leave all of it to your children as their share. They and their children after them will enjoy it forever.’

¹³ “Our evil acts and our terrible sins have brought about the things that have happened to us. You are our God. Because we sinned so much, you should have punished us even more than you have. But you have left many of your people alive. ¹⁴ Suppose we don’t obey your commands again. And suppose we continue to marry people who commit sins that you hate. If we do, you will be so angry with us that you will destroy us. You won’t leave us even a few people. You won’t leave anyone alive. ¹⁵ Lord, you are the God of Israel. You are holy. You always do what is right. Today you have left many of your people alive. Here we are with all our guilt. You see the guilt of our sin. Because we have sinned, not one of us can stand in front of you.”

Saul Becomes a Believer

9 Meanwhile, Saul continued to oppose the Lord’s followers. He said they would be put to death. He went to the high priest. ² He asked the priest for letters to the synagogues in Damascus. He wanted to find men and women who belonged to the Way of Jesus. The letters would allow him to take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. ³ On his journey, Saul approached Damascus. Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. ⁴ He fell to the ground. He heard a voice speak to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you opposing me?”

⁵ “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus,” he replied. “I am the one you are opposing. ⁶ Now get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ The men traveling with Saul stood there. They weren’t able to speak. They had heard the sound. But they didn’t see anyone. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground. He opened his eyes, but he couldn’t see. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. ⁹ For three days he was blind. He didn’t eat or drink anything.

¹⁰ In Damascus there was a believer named Ananias. The Lord called out to him in a vision. “Ananias!” he said.

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

¹¹ The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. Ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying. ¹² In a vision Saul has seen a man come and place his hands on him. That man’s name is Ananias. In the vision, Ananias placed his hands on Saul so he could see again.”

¹³ “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I’ve heard many reports about this man. They say he has done great harm to your holy people in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now he has come here to arrest all those who worship you. The chief priests have given him authority to do this.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! I have chosen this man to work for me. He will announce my name to the Gentiles and to their kings. He will also announce my name to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ I will show him how much he must suffer for me.”

¹⁷ Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. He placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “you saw the Lord Jesus. He appeared to you on the road as you were coming here. He has sent me so that you will be able to see again. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Right away something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes. And he could see again. He got up and was baptized. ¹⁹ After eating some food, he got his strength back.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul spent several days with the believers in Damascus. ²⁰ Right away he began to preach in the synagogues. He taught that Jesus is the Son of God. ²¹ All who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Isn’t he the man who caused great trouble in Jerusalem? Didn’t he make trouble for those who worship Jesus? Hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” ²² But Saul grew more and more powerful. The Jews living in Damascus couldn’t believe what was happening. Saul proved to them that Jesus is the Messiah.

²³ After many days, the Jews had a meeting. They planned to kill Saul. ²⁴ But he learned about their plan. Day and night they watched the city gates closely in order to kill him. ²⁵ But his followers helped him escape by night. They lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.

²⁶ When Saul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the believers. But they were all afraid of him. They didn’t believe he was really one of Jesus’ followers. ²⁷ But Barnabas took him to the apostles. He told them about Saul’s journey. He said that Saul had seen the Lord. He told how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Barnabas also said that Saul had preached without fear in Jesus’ name in Damascus. ²⁸ So Saul stayed with the believers. He moved about freely in Jerusalem. He spoke boldly in the Lord’s name. ²⁹ He talked and argued with the Greek Jews. But they tried to kill him. ³⁰ The other believers heard about this. They took Saul down to Caesarea. From there they sent him off to Tarsus.

³¹ Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. The church was strengthened and grew larger. That’s because they worshiped the Lord and the Holy Spirit helped them.

Peter Heals Aeneas and Dorcas

³² Peter traveled around the country. He went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. ³³ There he found a disabled man named Aeneas. For eight years the man had spent most of his time in bed. ³⁴ “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up! Roll up your mat!” So Aeneas got up right away. ³⁵ Everyone who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him. They turned to the Lord.

³⁶ In Joppa there was a believer named Tabitha. Her name in the Greek language is Dorcas. She was always doing good and helping poor people. ³⁷ About that time she became sick and died. Her body was washed and placed in a room upstairs. ³⁸ Lydda was near Joppa. The believers heard that Peter was in Lydda. So they sent two men to him. They begged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹ Peter went with them. When he arrived, he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him crying. They showed him the robes and other clothes Dorcas had made before she died.

⁴⁰ Peter sent them all out of the room. Then he got down on his knees and prayed. He turned toward the dead woman. He said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and especially the widows. He brought her to them. They saw that she was alive. ⁴² This became known all over Joppa. Many people believed in the Lord. ⁴³ Peter stayed in Joppa for some time. He stayed with Simon, a man who worked with leather.