M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Eternal One appeared to him again, assuring him of the promise of a child yet to come.
Eternal One: I am the God-All-Powerful.[a] Walk before Me. Continue to trust and serve Me faithfully. Be blameless and true. 2 If you are true and trust Me, then I will make certain the covenant with you that I promised. I will bless you with a throng of descendants.
3 Abram bowed low, his face and body flat on the ground.
Eternal One: 4 Here is My covenant with you. I promise you will become the root of a huge family tree of multiple nations. 5 To symbolize your foundational role in this covenant, I hereby change your name. You will no longer go by the name “Abram.” Your new name will be “Abraham,” which means “father of a great multitude of nations,” because that is exactly what I will make of you.[b] 6 Your descendants will be exceedingly fruitful. Nations and kings will descend from you. 7 I hereby make this covenant—this sacred bond—between Me and you and all of your children and their children’s children throughout the coming generations. It will be an eternal covenant. I will be your God and the God to all who come after you! 8 I will fulfill My promise to give you and your descendants the land of Canaan, where you now live as foreigners. I will place all of Canaan into your hands to be yours forever. I will be your God and their God forever.
9 (continuing to Abraham) As for your part in the agreement, you and your descendants must keep My covenant throughout the generations. 10-11 The sign that you and your family keep My covenant is this: each male who lives among you shall be circumcised. The circumcised flesh of your foreskins constitutes a special “sign” of the covenant I made with you, a relationship bonded together by loyalty and love. 12-13 From this point onward, throughout coming generations, each male child born to you should be circumcised when he is eight days old. You must circumcise all male members of your household, even the slaves born within your household or the servants purchased from foreigners who aren’t your flesh and blood; anyone and everyone within your household must carry this sign. This external mark on his body will be a sign of My everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who is not separated from his foreskin will be cut off from his people and excluded from these covenant promises because he has broken My covenant.
15 (continuing to Abraham) As for Sarai, your wife, the covenant applies to her as well. No longer will she be known as Sarai; her new name will be Sarah. 16 She will receive My special blessing, and she will conceive a son by you. With My blessing on her, she will become the founding princess of nations to come. Kings of many peoples will be counted among her children.
The Scriptures tell us that names matter. What we call people and places often describes and defines them in ways other kinds of words do not. People’s names may recall the circumstances of their birth or reflect their character or perhaps depict their destiny. God changes Abram’s name to Abraham to signify that he will become the founding father of many nations. The change in Sarah’s name is a bit more complicated because both “Sarai” and “Sarah” mean “princess.” Still the name “Sarah” becomes her covenant-name, the name by which generations know her. As the wife of Abraham’s youth and old age, Sarah is destined to become the founding princess of many nations, a royal mother to many kings.
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and erupted into laughter in a moment of private absurdity, as he thought to himself, “Yeah, right! How can a centenarian father a child? Am I supposed to believe that Sarah, my 90-year-old wife, is going to have a baby?”
Abraham (to God): 18 There’s Ishmael of course. May my son Ishmael be blessed and live a long life beneath Your watchful eye.
Eternal One: 19 No, Abraham. I mean what I am telling you. Your wife Sarah will certainly become pregnant and bear a son. I want you to name him Isaac. I will continue to establish My covenant with him; through his line My covenant will last forever. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard your prayers for him! Look, he is your son too. I will bless him as well and make his lineage fruitful. His descendants will also be of a huge number. In fact, he will be the father of 12 princes. I will make sure that a great nation arises from his descendants as well. 21 But My special covenant—this I will establish with Isaac. Sarah is going to give birth to him at this very time next year.
22 When God was finished talking with Abraham about all of this, He left and Abraham went home. 23 Abraham immediately took his son Ishmael and all of the slaves born in his household or bought with his money—every single male within his household—and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, just as God had told him to do. 24 Abraham was already 99 years old when he was circumcised. 25 His son Ishmael was 13 years old when he received the mark of the covenant. 26 On the day Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised, 27 all men of the household, no matter where they had come from, were circumcised along with them.
16 They came to Him together, a band of Pharisees and a band of Sadducees, trying to trick and trap Him.
Now at this time in Judea, the Jews, the children of Israel, are a diverse bunch. One group of Jews, which Jesus has already encountered, is called the Pharisees. Another group of Jews is called the Sadducees. The two groups do not agree about how to read Scripture, they do not see eye-to-eye, and they do not get along. They rarely partner with each other, but here they are partnering—because they are so perplexed, befuddled, and panicked about this Jesus.
They asked Him for a sign from heaven.
Jesus: 2 At evening time, you read the sky as a sign—you say, “The weather will be fine because the sky is shading red,” 3 and in the morning, you read the sky as a sign, saying, “The red, stormy sky tells me that today we will have storms.” So you are skilled at interpreting the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times? 4 Only a cheating and evil generation such as this would beg for a miraculous sign from heaven. The only sign you will get will be the sign of Jonah.
And then Jesus left them and went away.
5 When next the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to bring any bread with them.
Jesus: 6 Be careful; avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
7 The disciples were not quite sure what Jesus meant, so they discussed His warning among themselves.
Disciples: He must mean not to buy any bread from a baker who associates with the Pharisees or Sadducees. He must have given us this warning because we showed up here without any bread.
8 Jesus knew what the disciples were saying among themselves, and He took them to task.
Jesus: You men of little faith, do you really think that I care which baker you patronize? After spending so much time with Me, do you still not understand what I mean? So you showed up without bread; why talk about it? 9-10 Don’t you remember that we fed 5,000 men with five rounds of flatbread? Don’t you remember that we fed 4,000 men with seven rounds of bread? Don’t you remember what excess, what abundance there was—how many broken pieces and crusts you collected after everyone had eaten and was sated? 11 So when I speak about leaven, I am not talking about what we will eat for dinner. I say again, avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
12 And then the disciples understood: Jesus was not talking about the bread you eat, but about the food that feeds your soul. He was speaking in metaphor; He was warning them against imbibing the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13 Jesus then went to Caesarea Philippi.
Jesus (to His disciples): Who do people say the Son of Man is?
Disciples: 14 Some say John the Baptist.[a] And some say Elijah. And some say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.
Jesus: 15 And you? Who do you say that I am?
Peter: 16 You are the Anointed One. You are the Son of the living God.
Jesus: 17 Simon, son of Jonah, your knowledge is a mark of blessing. For you didn’t learn this truth from your friends or from teachers or from sages you’ve met on the way. You learned it from My Father in heaven. 18 This is why I have called you Peter (rock): for on this rock I will build My church. The church will reign triumphant even at the gates of hell. 19 Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
With Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Anointed One, the foundation of the church is laid. In the days ahead, the church will storm the gates of hell and nothing will be able to stop it. No darkness, no doubt, no deception—not even death will be able to stand against it.
20 And Jesus ordered His disciples to keep these teachings secret.
Jesus: You must tell no one that I am the Anointed.
21 Then Jesus began to tell the disciples about what would happen to Him. He said He would have to go to Jerusalem. There the elders, chief priests, and scribes would meet Him; He would suffer at their hands; and He would be killed. But three days later, He would be raised to new life.
22 As Jesus spoke of the things to come, Peter took Him aside. Sad and confused, and maybe a little bit prideful, Peter chastised Jesus.
Peter: No, Lord! Never! These things that You are saying—they will never happen to You!
Jesus (turning to Peter): 23 Get away from Me, Satan!
This is the very thing He said to the devil during those wilderness temptations.
You are a stumbling block before Me! You are not thinking about God’s story; you are thinking about some distorted story of fallen, broken people. 24 (to His disciples) If you want to follow Me, you must deny yourself the things you think you want. You must pick up your cross and follow Me. 25 The person who wants to save his life must lose it, and she who loses her life for Me will find it. 26 Look, does it make sense to truly become successful, but then to hand over your very soul? What is your soul really worth? 27 The Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory, with His heavenly messengers, and then He will reward each person for what has been done. 28 I tell you this: some of you standing here, you will see the Son of Man come into His kingdom before you taste death.
6 Once again, we found that our progress had been reported to our enemies. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab (as well as the rest of our adversaries) heard that under my leadership the wall had been rebuilt. Not one gap remained (though the doors still had to be hung on the gates). 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent messengers to me.
Sanballat and Geshem’s Message: Come and meet with us in the plain of Ono, at the border village of Cheriphim.
They were planning to hurt me. 3 So instead of going, I sent messengers back to them.
Nehemiah’s Message: I am in the middle of a great work and cannot be interrupted. I am not coming down to meet with you. What is so important that I should suspend this great work we are doing to travel to see you?
4 This same exchange played out four different times: they asked for a meeting; I refused.
5 The fifth time I was approached by a servant of Sanballat. He came with the same message, but this time he also carried an unsealed letter in his hand.
Sanballat’s Letter: 6 A report has gone out to the surrounding nations that you are rebuilding the wall because you and your fellow Jews are planning to revolt against Persia. Geshem[a] confirms this report and suggests you are looking to be crowned as king. Rumor has it 7 that you have even appointed prophets to announce in Jerusalem, “Judah has a king!” referencing you. Be assured, this very report will make it back to King Artaxerxes. Meet with us at once.
8 My message back to him was simple.
Nehemiah’s Message: There is nothing to what you are saying. You are making it all up.
9 We knew our enemies’ intent was to intimidate us into stopping our work. They reasoned, “These Jews will stop rebuilding out of fear and discouragement. Progress will grind to a halt.” Instead I renewed my dedication, strengthened my hands.
10 A little later, I went to see Shemaiah (Delaiah’s son and Mehetabel’s grandson) who was shut up inside his house.
Shemaiah: It is not safe here. Let us leave and go into God’s house inside the temple and shut the doors. People are coming to kill you. They will come at night.
Nehemiah: 11 Why would a man in my position run for his life? Why would a person like me use the temple to save his life when such contact with God would surely kill me? I refuse to go into the temple under such circumstances.
12-13 While I was speaking these words, I realized God had not sent him to me. God would never tell me to break His laws. Shemaiah’s prophecy was “inspired” by the money of Tobiah and Sanballat. After hearing his message, they thought I would be scared and thus vulnerable to sin. They hoped to use such a lapse in behavior to discredit me.
Nehemiah: 14 O my God, remember these two: Tobiah and Sanballat. Remember what they have done. And do not forget their accomplices—the prophetess Noadiah and her prophetic associates—who have been trying to intimidate me.
15 Even with all that interference, the wall was soon finished. It was the 25th day of Elul. The work had been accomplished in 52 days. 16 When our enemies heard the work was complete and the surrounding nations saw our wall, their confidence crumbled. Only one possible conclusion could be drawn: it was not just our efforts that had done this thing. God had been working alongside us. 17 These developments caused a flurry of correspondence between the nobles of Judah and Tobiah. 18 Many of these nobles in Judah were tied to Tobiah by a marriage oath.
Tobiah has married into Jewish families while living in Jerusalem as interim governor, although he serves Sanballat in Samaria.
He was the son-in-law of Shecaniah (Arah’s son), and his son Jehohanan was married to the daughter of Meshullam (Berechiah’s son). 19 These men constantly praised Tobiah in my presence, describing his good deeds to me. They also reported to Tobiah what I said. And still he sent me his letters; his attempts to intimidate me were ceaseless.
16 1-3 When Paul reached Derbe and Lystra, he invited a disciple named Timothy to join him and Silas. Timothy had a good reputation among the believers in Lystra and Iconium, but there was a problem: although Timothy’s mother was a believing Jew, his father was Greek, which meant Timothy was uncircumcised. Because the Jewish people of those cities knew he was the son of a Greek man, Paul felt it would be best for Timothy to be circumcised before proceeding.
4 Leaving there, now accompanied by Timothy, they delivered to the churches in each town the decisions and instructions given by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. 5 The churches were strengthened in the faith by their visit and kept growing in numbers on a daily basis.
6 They sensed the Holy Spirit telling them not to preach their message in Asia at this time, so they traveled through Phrygia and Galatia. 7 They came near Mysia and planned to go into Bithynia, but again they felt restrained from doing so by the Spirit of Jesus. 8 So they bypassed Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 That night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was pleading with him.
Macedonian Man: Come over to Macedonia! Come help us!
Luke now shifts his narration from impersonal observation to a first-person account of events because he has joined Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
10 This vision convinced us all that God was calling us to bring the good news to that region.
11 We set sail from the port city of Troas, first stopping in Samothrace, then the next day in Neapolis, 12 finally arriving in Philippi, a Roman colony and one of Macedonia’s leading cities. We stayed in Philippi for several days. 13 On the Sabbath day, we went outside the city walls to the nearby river, assuming that some Jewish people might be gathering for prayer. We found a group of women there, so we sat down and spoke to them. 14 One of them, Lydia, was a business woman originally from Thyatira. She made a living buying and selling fine purple fabric. She was a true worshiper of God and listened to Paul with special interest. The Lord opened her heart to take in the message with enthusiasm. 15 She and her whole household were ceremonially washed through baptism.[a]
Lydia: If you believe I’m truly faithful to the Lord, please, you must come and stay at my home.
We couldn’t turn down her invitation.
16 One day, as we were going to the place set aside for prayer, we encountered a slave girl. She made a lot of money for her owners as a fortune-teller, assisted by some sort of occult spirit. 17 She began following us.
Slave Girl (shouting): These men are slaves like me, but slaves of the Most High God! They will proclaim to you the way of liberation!
18 The next day as we passed by, she did the same thing—and again on the following days. One day Paul was really annoyed, so he turned and spoke to the spirit that was enslaving her.
Paul: I order you in the name of Jesus, God’s Anointed: Come out of her!
It came right out. 19 But when her owners realized she would be worthless now as a fortune-teller, they grabbed Paul and Silas, dragged them into the open market area, and presented them to the authorities.
Slave Owners: 20 These men are troublemakers, disturbing the peace of our great city. They are from some Jewish sect, 21 and they promote foreign customs that violate our Roman standards of conduct.
22 The crowd joined in with insults and insinuations, prompting the city officials to strip them naked in the public square so they could be beaten with rods. 23 They were flogged mercilessly and then were thrown into a prison cell. The jailer was ordered to keep them under the strictest supervision. 24 The jailer complied, first restraining them in ankle chains, then locking them in the most secure cell in the center of the jail.
25 Picture this: It’s midnight. In the darkness of their cell, Paul and Silas—after surviving the severe beating—aren’t moaning and groaning; they’re praying and singing hymns to God. The prisoners in adjoining cells are wide awake, listening to them pray and sing. 26 Suddenly the ground begins to shake, and the prison foundations begin to crack. You can hear the sound of jangling chains and the squeak of cell doors opening. Every prisoner realizes that his chains have come unfastened. 27 The jailer wakes up and runs into the jail. His heart sinks as he sees the doors have all swung open. He is sure his prisoners have escaped, and he knows this will mean death for him, so he pulls out his sword to commit suicide. 28 At that moment, Paul sees what is happening and shouts out at the top of his lungs,
Paul: Wait, man! Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here! None of us has escaped.
29 The jailer sends his assistants to get some torches and rushes into the cell of Paul and Silas. He falls on his knees before them, trembling. 30 Then he brings them outside.
Jailer: Gentlemen, please tell me, what must I do to be liberated?
Paul and Silas: 31 Just believe—believe in the ultimate King, Jesus, and not only will you be rescued, but your whole household will as well.
32-34 The jailer brings them to his home, and they have a long conversation with the man and his family. Paul and Silas explain the message of Jesus to them all. The man washes their wounds and feeds them, then they baptize[b] the man and his family. The night ends with Paul and Silas in the jailer’s home, sharing a meal together, the whole family rejoicing that they have come to faith in God.
35 At dawn the city officials send the police to the jailer’s home with a command: “Let those men go free.”
Jailer: 36 The city officials have ordered me to release you, so you may go now in peace.
Paul (loud enough that the police can hear): 37 Just a minute. This is unjust. We’ve been stripped naked, beaten in public, and thrown into jail, all without a trial of any kind. Now they want to release us secretly as if nothing happened? No way: we’re Roman citizens—we shouldn’t be treated like this! If the city officials want to release us, then they can come and tell us to our faces.
38 The police report back to the city officials; and when they come to the part about Paul and Silas being Roman citizens, the officials turn pale with fear. 39 They rush to the jail in person and apologize. They personally escort Paul and Silas from their cell and politely ask them to leave the city. 40 Paul and Silas oblige—after stopping at Lydia’s home to gather with the brothers and sisters there and give them parting words of encouragement.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.