M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Story of Creation
1 In the beginning God
created the heavens
and the earth.[a]
2 The earth was barren,
with no form of life;[b]
it was under a roaring ocean
covered with darkness.
But the Spirit of God[c]
was moving over the water.
The First Day
3 (A) God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining. 4 God looked at the light and saw that it was good. He separated light from darkness 5 and named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening came, then morning—that was the first day.[d]
The Second Day
6 (B) God said, “I command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it.” 7 And that's what happened. God made the dome 8 and named it “Sky.” Evening came, then morning—that was the second day.
The Third Day
9 God said, “I command the water under the sky to come together in one place, so there will be dry ground.” And that's what happened. 10 God named the dry ground “Land,” and he named the water “Ocean.” God looked at what he had done and saw that it was good.
11 God said, “I command the earth to produce all kinds of plants, including fruit trees and grain.” And that's what happened. 12 The earth produced all kinds of vegetation. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. 13 Evening came, then morning—that was the third day.
The Fourth Day
14 God said, “I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. 15 I command them to shine on the earth.” And that's what happened. 16 God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other[e] to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17 Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. 19 Evening came, then morning—that was the fourth day.
The Fifth Day
20 God said, “I command the ocean to be full of living creatures, and I command birds to fly above the earth.” 21 So God made the giant sea monsters and all the living creatures that swim in the ocean. He also made every kind of bird. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. 22 Then he gave the living creatures his blessing—he told the ocean creatures to increase and live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to increase everywhere on earth. 23 Evening came, then morning—that was the fifth day.
The Sixth Day
24 God said, “I command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals, wild animals, and reptiles.” And that's what happened. 25 God made every one of them. Then he looked at what he had done, and it was good.
26 (C) God said, “Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures.”
27 (D)(E) So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. 28 God gave them his blessing and said:
Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.
29 I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat. 30 And I have given the green plants as food for everything else that breathes, including animals, both wild and tame, and birds. And so it was.
31 God looked at what he had done. All of it was very good! Evening came, then morning—that was the sixth day.
The Ancestors of Jesus
(Luke 3.23-38)
1 Jesus Christ came from the family of King David and also from the family of Abraham. And this is a list of his ancestors.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers (Judah's sons were Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar), Hezron;
Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David.
David, Solomon (his mother had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram;
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.
12-16 From the exile to the birth of Jesus, his ancestors were:
Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim;
Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
17 There were 14 generations from Abraham to David. There were also 14 from David to the exile in Babylonia and 14 more to the birth of the Messiah.
The Birth of Jesus
(Luke 2.1-7)
18 (B) This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David's family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God's Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph was a good man[a] and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding.
20 While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. 21 (C) Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus,[b] because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, 23 (D) “A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”
24 After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord's angel had told him to do. 25 (E) But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus.
Cyrus Lets the Jews Return Home
1 (A) Years ago the Lord sent Jeremiah with a message about a promise[a] for the people of Israel. Then in the first year that Cyrus was king of Persia,[b] the Lord kept his promise by telling Cyrus to send this official message to all parts of his kingdom:
2-3 (B) I am King Cyrus of Persia.
The Lord God of heaven, who is also the God of Israel, has made me the ruler of all nations on earth. And he has chosen me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. The Lord God will watch over and encourage any of his people who want to go back to Jerusalem and help build the temple.
4 Everyone else must provide what is needed. They must give money, supplies, and animals, as well as gifts for rebuilding God's temple.
5 Many people felt that the Lord God wanted them to help rebuild his temple, and they made plans to go to Jerusalem. Among them were priests, Levites, and leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. 6 The others helped by giving silver articles, gold, personal possessions, cattle, and other valuable gifts, as well as offerings for the temple.
7 King Cyrus gave back the things that Nebuchadnezzar[c] had taken from the Lord's temple in Jerusalem and had put in the temple of his own gods. 8 Cyrus placed Mithredath, his chief treasurer, in charge of these things. Mithredath counted them and gave a list to Sheshbazzar, the governor of Judah. 9-10 Included among them were: 30 large gold dishes; 1,000 large silver dishes; 29 other dishes;[d] 30 gold bowls; 410 silver bowls; and 1,000 other articles.
11 Altogether, there were 5,400 gold and silver dishes, bowls, and other articles. Sheshbazzar took them with him when he and the others returned to Jerusalem from Babylonia.
1 (A) Theophilus, I first wrote to you[a] about all that Jesus did and taught from the very first 2 until he was taken up to heaven. But before he was taken up, he gave orders to the apostles he had chosen with the help of the Holy Spirit.
3 For 40 days after Jesus had suffered and died, he proved in many ways that he had been raised from death. He appeared to his apostles and spoke to them about God's kingdom. 4 (B) While he was still with them, he said:
Don't leave Jerusalem yet. Wait here for the Father to give you the Holy Spirit, just as I told you he has promised to do. 5 (C) John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Is Taken to Heaven
6 While the apostles were still with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, are you now going to give Israel its own king again?”[b]
7 Jesus said to them, “You don't need to know the time of those events that only the Father controls. 8 (D) But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.” 9 (E) After Jesus had said this and while they were watching, he was taken up into a cloud. They could not see him, 10 but as he went up, they kept looking up into the sky.
Suddenly two men dressed in white clothes were standing there beside them. 11 They said, “Why are you men from Galilee standing here and looking up into the sky? Jesus has been taken to heaven. But he will come back in the same way you have seen him go.”
Someone To Take the Place of Judas
12-13 (F) The Mount of Olives was about a kilometer from Jerusalem. The apostles who had gone there were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon, known as the Eager One,[c] and Judas the son of James.
After the apostles returned to the city, they went upstairs to the room where they had been staying.
14 The apostles often met together and prayed with a single purpose in mind.[d] The women and Mary the mother of Jesus would meet with them, and so would his brothers. 15 One day there were about 120 of the Lord's followers meeting together, and Peter stood up to speak to them. 16-17 He said:
My friends, long ago by the power of the Holy Spirit, David said something about Judas, and what he said has now happened. Judas was one of us and had worked with us, but he brought the mob to arrest Jesus. 18 (G) Then Judas bought some land with the money he was given for doing that evil thing. He fell headfirst into the field. His body burst open, and all his insides came out. 19 When the people of Jerusalem found out about this, they called the place Akeldama, which in the local language means “Field of Blood.”
20 (H) In the book of Psalms it says,
“Leave his house empty,
and don't let anyone
live there.”
It also says,
“Let someone else
have his job.”
21-22 (I) So we need someone else to help us tell others that Jesus has been raised from death. He must also be one of the men who was with us from the very beginning. He must have been with us from the time the Lord Jesus was baptized by John until the day he was taken to heaven.
23 Two men were suggested: One of them was Joseph Barsabbas, known as Justus, and the other was Matthias. 24 Then they all prayed, “Lord, you know what everyone is like! Show us the one you have chosen 25 to be an apostle and to serve in place of Judas, who got what he deserved.” 26 They drew names, and Matthias was chosen to join the group of the eleven apostles.
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