M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
5 Here now is the account of Adam’s descendants. You remember, when God created humans, He made them in His own likeness. 2 He created them male and female; and after creating them, God put a special blessing on them and named them “humanity.”
3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son who looked just like him. He was Adam’s spitting image, and so resembled God too. Adam named him Seth. 4 After Seth was born, Adam lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters as well. 5 So Adam was 930 years old when he died.
6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered a son named Enosh. 7 After Enosh was born, Seth lived another 807 years, and he also had other sons and daughters. 8 He was 912 years old when he died.
9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered a son named Kenan. 10 After Kenan was born, Enosh lived another 815 years, and he had other sons and daughters too. 11 He was 905 years old when he died.
12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered a son named Mahalalel. 13 After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived another 840 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 14 He was 910 years old when he died.
15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered a son named Jared. 16 After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived another 830 years, and he, too, had other sons and daughters. 17 He was 895 years old when he died.
18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered a son named Enoch. 19 After Enoch was born, Jared lived another 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 20 He was 962 years old when he died.
21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered a son named Methuselah. 22 After Methuselah was born, Enoch lived in a close relationship with God for 300 more years; he also had other sons and daughters. 23 He lived to be 365 years old, 24 but Enoch had such a close and intimate relationship with God that one day he just vanished—God took him.
Enoch leaves this world in an unusual way. He is taken without experiencing death. But he is not the last.
25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered a son named Lamech. 26 After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived another 782 years, and he also had other sons and daughters. 27 He was 969 years old when he died.
28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 named Noah. He named him this because he predicted, “From out of the ground the Eternal cursed will now come someone who will bring relief from our work and painful toil.” 30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived another 595 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 31 He was 777 years old when he died.
32 Now by the time Noah was 500 years old, he had fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
People talk about this Jesus, this Preacher and Healer. Word spreads of His charisma and wisdom and power and love. People who are too sick to walk persuade their friends and relatives to carry them to Jesus. These cripples and demonized and ill and paralytics come to Jesus, and He heals them, and they follow Him.
5 Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountain (as Moses had done before Him) and He sat down (as Jewish teachers of His day usually did). His disciples gathered around Him.
There on the mountain Jesus teaches them all. And as He is teaching, crowds gather around and overhear His teachings, listen in, and are captivated. This, the Sermon on the Mount, is the first of the five Mosaic-like sermons in Matthew.
2 And He began to teach them.
3 Jesus: Blessed are the spiritually poor—the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
4 Blessed are those who mourn—they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek and gentle—they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness—they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful—they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are those who are pure in heart—they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers—they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness—the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
11 And blessed are you, blessed are all of you, when people persecute you or denigrate you or despise you or tell lies about you on My account. 12 But when this happens, rejoice. Be glad. Remember that God’s prophets have been persecuted in the past. And know that in heaven, you have a great reward.
Salt draws out the good flavors subtly hidden in food and preserves what would otherwise spoil, as do those who claim to be children of God.
13 You, beloved, are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes bland and loses its saltiness, can anything make it salty again? No. It is useless. It is tossed out, thrown away, or trampled.
14 And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. 15 Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. 16 You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.
17 Do not think that I have come to overturn or do away with the law or the words of our prophets. To the contrary: I have not come to overturn them but to fulfill them.
18 This, beloved, is the truth: until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter, not one pen stroke, will disappear from the sacred law—for everything, everything in the sacred law will be fulfilled and accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks even the smallest, most obscure commandment—not to mention teaches others to do the same—will be called small and obscure in the kingdom of heaven. Those who practice the law and teach others how to live the law will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you this: you will not enter the kingdom of heaven unless your righteousness goes deeper than the Pharisees’, even more righteous than the most learned learner of the law.
Righteousness is the reason Jesus has come—to make the people righteous through and through. He then begins to interpret the law of Scripture for them with this in mind.
21 As you know, long ago God instructed Moses to tell His people, “Do not murder;[a] those who murder will be judged and punished.” 22 But here is the even harder truth: anyone who is angry with his brother will be judged for his anger. Anyone who taunts his friend, speaks contemptuously toward him, or calls him “Loser” or “Fool” or “Scum,” will have to answer to the high court. And anyone who calls his brother a fool may find himself in the fires of hell.
23 Therefore, if you are bringing an offering to God and you remember that your brother is angry at you or holds a grudge against you, 24 then leave your gift before the altar, go to your brother, repent and forgive one another, be reconciled, and then return to the altar to offer your gift to God.
25 If someone sues you, settle things with him quickly. Talk to him as you are walking to court; otherwise, he may turn matters over to the judge, and the judge may turn you over to an officer, and you may land in jail. 26 I tell you this: you will not emerge from prison until you have paid your last penny.
27 As you know, long ago God forbade His people to commit adultery.[b] 28 You may think you have abided by this Commandment, walked the straight and narrow, but I tell you this: any man who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart. 29 If your right eye leads you into sin, gouge it out and throw it in the garbage—for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell. 30 And if your right hand leads you into sin, cut it off and throw it away—for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell.
31 And here is something else: you have read in Deuteronomy that anyone who divorces his wife must do so fairly—he must give her the requisite certificate of divorce and send her on her way, free and unfettered.[c] 32 But I tell you this: unless your wife cheats on you, you must not divorce her, period. Nor are you to marry someone who has been married and divorces, for a divorced person who remarries commits adultery.
33 You know that God expects us to abide by the oaths we swear and the promises we make. 34 But I tell you this: do not ever swear an oath. What is an oath? You cannot say, “I swear by heaven”—for heaven is not yours to swear by; it is God’s throne. 35 And you cannot say, “I swear by this good earth,” for the earth is not yours to swear by; it is God’s footstool. And you cannot say, “I swear by the holy city Jerusalem,” for it is not yours to swear by; it is the city of God, the capital of the King of kings. 36 You cannot even say that you swear by your own head, for God has dominion over your hands, your lips, your head. It is He who determines if your hair be straight or curly, white or black; it is He who rules over even this small scrap of creation. 37 You need not swear an oath—any impulse to do so is of evil. Simply let your “yes” be “yes,” and let your “no” be “no.”
38 You know that Hebrew Scripture sets this standard of justice and punishment: take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.[d] 39 But I say this, don’t fight against the one who is working evil against you. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, you are to turn and offer him your left cheek. 40 If someone connives to get your shirt, give him your jacket as well. 41 If someone forces you to walk with him for a mile, walk with him for two instead. 42 If someone asks you for something, give it to him. If someone wants to borrow something from you, do not turn away.
43 You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy.[e] 44 But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— 45 in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. 46 It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. 47 And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! 48 But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
The Jews cannot imagine that such opposition to their rebuilding exists within the very government sanctioning and financing their work. The support of a pagan government is not enough to enable and maintain the building of the Lord’s temple. While Darius struggles with political unrest throughout his empire, God incites the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to motivate the Jews to resume work on the building.
5 1-2 The prophets Haggai and Zechariah (descendant of Iddo) spoke to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem with the words of the True God of Israel encouraging Zerubbabel (son of Shealtiel) and Jeshua (son of Jozadak) to resume the reconstruction of the True God’s temple in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God gave them assistance. 3 Questioning the sudden commencement of the work, Tattenai (governor of the Persian province west of the Euphrates), Shethar-bozenai, and their associates approached the working Jews.
Persian Officials: Who told you to rebuild the temple?
4 We gave them the names of the people who were doing the work, fearing they might end our construction. 5 But the True God protected the Jewish elders. The Persians did not intend to stop the laborers until Darius received a letter concerning the situation and sent his written reply. 6 Tattenai (governor of the Persian province west of the Euphrates), Shethar-bozenai, and their fellow officials drafted that letter.
Officials’ Letter:
7 To our King Darius, we wish you peace.
8 It should be known that we have visited the great God’s temple in the province of Judah. The Jews are busy carefully laying huge stones and hoisting beams into the walls, and the work is progressing well. 9 When we saw their progress, we asked the elders who told them to resume the construction: 10 what were the names of the laborers and the superintendents. 11 They responded by telling us about Cyrus’ decree:
We are the servants of the True God of heaven and earth; we are rebuilding His house—a house that was originally crafted by one of the greatest kings of Israel early in our nation’s history. 12 Our ancestors disobeyed the True God of heaven and provoked His anger. He empowered Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean king of Babylon, to capture our rebellious ancestors, deport them to Babylon, and destroy His temple.
13 We languished in captivity for more than a generation, until King Cyrus, in his first year as king over Persia and Babylon, allowed us to rebuild the True God’s temple. 14 Cyrus returned the gold and silver vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from the True God’s temple in Jerusalem and displayed in the Babylonian temple, to Sheshbazzar, a recently appointed governor. 15 Cyrus told him to put the vessels back into the temple in Jerusalem and rebuild the True God’s temple on the foundations of the first temple. 16 So Sheshbazzar traveled to Jerusalem and laid the foundations of the True God’s temple. We have been working on the building, either gathering supplies or building the structure, ever since, but it is far from finished.
17 We suggest that you command a thorough search of the archives in your treasure house in Babylon, if that please you. If you find that the Jews’ story is correct and that King Cyrus’ original decree commissioned the rebuilding of the True God’s temple in Jerusalem, then send us your decision as to whether or not the Jews should continue their work.
This portrait of the early church as an unselfish community is captivating and inspiring. It presents a challenge for many followers of the Anointed One who want to show sacrificially their love to Him and His church. Many today wonder how to translate this into a modern culture so shaped by consumerism and self-interest, but no translation is necessary. These problems weren’t foreign to the early community. In contrast to the generosity and sincerity of some like Barnabas, Luke now explains that others gave not out of love, but out of a desire to be honored by the community.
5 Once a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira fully cooperating, committed fraud. He sold some property 2 and kept some of the proceeds, but he pretended to make a full donation to the Lord’s emissaries.[a]
Peter: 3 Ananias, have you allowed Satan to influence your lies to the Holy Spirit and hold back some of the money? 4 Look, it was your property before you sold it, and the money was all yours after you sold it. Why have you concocted this scheme in your heart? You weren’t just lying to us; you were lying to God.
5 Ananias heard these words and immediately dropped to the ground, dead; fear overcame all those who heard of the incident. 6 Some young men came, wrapped the body, and buried it immediately. 7 About three hours had passed when Sapphira arrived. She had no idea what had happened.
Peter: 8 Did you sell the land for such-and-such a price?
Sapphira: Yes, that was the price.
Peter: 9 Why did the two of you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Do you hear those footsteps outside? Those are the young men who just buried your husband, and now they will carry you out as well.
10 She—like her husband—immediately fell dead at Peter’s feet. The young men came in and carried her corpse outside and buried it beside her husband. 11 The whole church was terrified by this story, as were others who heard it.
In these formative days, God sends some strong messages about His work in the church: the power to heal, the beauty of life in the Spirit, and His hatred for arrogant religion. If God does not rebuke the married couple who chooses to make a show of their supposed generosity, then Christianity might drift in the wrong direction. While the Jewish leaders are using religion as a means to gain power and increase their reputations, the teachings of Jesus lead down a path toward the kingdom of God rather than toward human advancement. God chooses to expose these bad motives quickly, so that the church can give out of pure motives rather than out of a desire to appear righteous.
12 Those were amazing days—with many signs and wonders being performed through the apostles among the people. The church would gather as a unified group in Solomon’s Porch, 13 enjoying great respect by the people of the city—though most people wouldn’t risk publicly affiliating with them. 14 Even so, record numbers of believers—both men and women—were added to the Lord. 15 The church’s renown was so great that when Peter walked down the street, people would carry out their sick relatives hoping his shadow would fall on some of them as he passed. 16 Even people from towns surrounding Jerusalem would come, bringing others who were sick or tormented by unclean spirits, all of whom were cured.
17 Of course, this popularity elicited a response: the high priest and his affiliates in the Sadducean party were jealous, 18 so they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But that night, a messenger of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and led them to freedom.
Messenger of the Lord: 20 Go to the temple, and stand up to tell the people the whole message about this way of life from Jesus.
21 At dawn they did as they were told; they returned to their teaching in the temple.
Meanwhile the council of Jewish elders was gathering—convened by the high priest and his colleagues. They sent the temple police to the prison to have the Lord’s emissaries[b] brought for further examination; 22 but of course, the temple police soon realized they weren’t there. They returned and reported,
Temple Police: 23 The prison was secure and locked, and the guards were standing in front of the doors; but when we unlocked the doors, the cell was empty.
24 The captain of the temple police and the senior priests were completely mystified when they heard this. They had no idea what had happened. 25 Just then, someone arrived with this news:
Temple Messenger: You know those men you put in prison last night? Well, they’re free. At this moment, they’re at it again, teaching our people in the temple!
26 The temple police—this time, accompanied by their captain—rushed over to the temple and brought the emissaries[c] of the Lord to the council. They were careful not to use violence, because the people were so supportive of them that the police feared being stoned by the crowd if they were too rough. 27 Once again the men stood before the council. The high priest began the questioning.
High Priest: 28 Didn’t we give you strict orders to stop teaching in this name? But here you are, spreading your teaching throughout Jerusalem. And you are determined to blame us for this man’s death.
Peter and the Apostles: 29 If we have to choose between obedience to God and obedience to any human authority, then we must obey God. 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from death. You killed Jesus by hanging Him on a tree, 31 but God has lifted Him high, to God’s own right hand, as the Prince, as the Liberator. God intends to bring Israel to a radical rethinking of our lives and to a complete forgiveness of our sins. 32 We are witnesses to these things. There is another witness, too—the Holy Spirit—whom God has given to all who choose to obey Him.
33 The council was furious and would have killed them; 34 but Gamaliel, a Pharisee in the council respected as a teacher of the Hebrew Scriptures, stood up and ordered the men to be sent out so the council could confer privately.
Gamaliel: 35 Fellow Jews, you need to act with great care in your treatment of these fellows. 36 Remember when a man named Theudas rose to notoriety? He claimed to be somebody important, and he attracted about 400 followers. But when he was killed, his entire movement disintegrated and nothing came of it. 37 After him came Judas, that Galilean fellow, at the time of the census. He also attracted a following; but when he died, his entire movement fell apart. 38 So here’s my advice: in this case, just let these men go. Ignore them. If this is just another movement arising from human enthusiasm, it will die out soon enough. 39 But then again, if God is in this, you won’t be able to stop it—unless, of course, you’re ready to fight against God!
40 The council was convinced, so they brought the apostles back in. They were flogged, again told not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released. 41 As they left the council, they weren’t discouraged at all. In fact, they were filled with joy over being considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of His name. 42 And constantly, whether in public, in the temple, or in their homes, they kept teaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Anointed One, the Liberating King.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.