M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

2 So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.

The Seventh Day

^2 (A)(B) By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested. ³ God blessed the seventh day and made it special, because on that day he rested from his work.

⁴ That's how God created the heavens and the earth.

The Garden of Eden

When the Lord God made the heavens and the earth, ⁵ no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land. ⁶ But streams^[a] came up from the ground and watered the earth.

^7 (C) The Lord God took some soil from the ground and made a man.^[b] God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. ⁸ The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.

^9 (D) The Lord God filled the garden with all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of these gave life—the other gave the wisdom to know the difference between right and wrong.

¹⁰ From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. ¹¹ The first one is the Pishon River that flows through the land of Havilah, ¹² where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. ¹³ The second is the Gihon River that winds through Ethiopia.^{[c] 14} The Tigris River that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the Euphrates River.

¹⁵ The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. ¹⁶ But the Lord told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, ¹⁷ except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”

¹⁸ The Lord God said, “It isn't good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” ^19-20 So the Lord took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names.

None of these was the right kind of partner for the man. ²¹ So the Lord God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side, ²² the Lord made a woman out of the rib.

The Lord God brought her to the man, ²³ and the man exclaimed,

^24 (E) That's why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman, and the two of them become like one person.

²⁵ Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed.

The Wise Men

2 When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east^[b] and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. ⁴ Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”

⁵ They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,

⁷ Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. ⁸ He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I also want to go and worship him.”

⁹ The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

¹¹ When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh^[c] and gave them to him. ¹² Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him.”

¹⁴ That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, ^15 (B) where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “I called my son out of Egypt.”

The Killing of the Children

¹⁶ When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.

¹⁷ So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,

The Return from Egypt

¹⁹ After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. ²⁰ The angel said, “Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead.”

²¹ Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. ²² But when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, ^23 (D) and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “He will be called a Nazarene.”^[d]

A List of People Who Returned from Exile

(Nehemiah 7.4-73)

2 King Nebuchadnezzar^[a] of Babylonia had captured many of the people of Judah and had taken them as prisoners to Babylonia. Now they were on their way back to Jerusalem and to their own towns everywhere in Judah.

^2-20 Zerubbabel, Joshua,^[b] Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah were in charge of the ones who were coming back. And here is a list of how many returned from each family group: 2,172 from Parosh; 372 from Shephatiah; 775 from Arah; 2,812 descendants of Jeshua and Joab^[c] from Pahath Moab; 1,254 from Elam; 945 from Zattu; 760 from Zaccai; 642 from Bani; 623 from Bebai; 1,222 from Azgad; 666 from Adonikam; 2,056 from Bigvai; 454 from Adin; 98 from Ater, also known as Hezekiah; 323 from Bezai; 112 from Jorah; 223 from Hashum; and 95 from Gibbar.

^21-35 Here is how many people returned whose ancestors had come from the following towns: 123 from Bethlehem; 56 from Netophah; 128 from Anathoth; 42 from Azmaveth; 743 from Kiriatharim, Chephirah, and Beeroth; 621 from Ramah and Geba; 122 from Michmas; 223 from Bethel and Ai; 52 from Nebo; 156 from Magbish; 1,254 from the other Elam; 320 from Harim; 725 from Lod, Hadid, and Ono; 345 from Jericho; and 3,630 from Senaah.

^36-39 Here is a list of how many returned from each family of priests: 973 descendants of Jeshua from the family of Jedaiah; 1,052 from the family of Immer; 1,247 from the family of Pashhur; and 1,017 from the family of Harim.

^40-42 And here is a list of how many returned from the families of Levites: 74 descendants of Hodaviah from the families of Jeshua and Kadmiel; 128 descendants of Asaph from the temple musicians; and 139 descendants of Shallum, Ater, Talmon, Akkub, Hatita, and Shobai from the temple guards.

^43-54 Here is a list of the families of temple workers whose descendants returned: Ziha, Hasupha, Tabbaoth, Keros, Siaha, Padon, Lebanah, Hagabah, Akkub, Hagab, Shamlai, Hanan, Giddel, Gahar, Reaiah, Rezin, Nekoda, Gazzam, Uzza, Paseah, Besai, Asnah, Meunim, Nephisim, Bakbuk, Hakupha, Harhur, Bazluth, Mehida, Harsha, Barkos, Sisera, Temah, Neziah, and Hatipha.

^55-57 Here is a list of Solomon's servants whose descendants returned: Sotai, Hassophereth, Peruda, Jaalah, Darkon, Giddel, Shephatiah, Hattil, Pochereth Hazzebaim, and Ami.

⁵⁸ A total of 392 descendants of temple workers and of Solomon's servants returned.

^59-60 There were 652 who returned from the families of Delaiah, Tobiah, and Nekoda, though they could not prove that they were Israelites. They had lived in the Babylonian towns of Tel-Melah, Tel-Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer.

^61-62 The families of Habaiah, Hakkoz, and Barzillai could not prove that they were priests. The ancestor of the family of Barzillai had married the daughter of Barzillai from Gilead and had taken his wife's family name. But the records of these three families could not be found, and none of them were allowed to serve as priests. ^63 (A) In fact, the governor^[d] told them, “You cannot eat the food offered to God until we find out if you really are priests.”^[e]

^64-67 There were 42,360 who returned, in addition to 7,337 servants and 200 musicians, both women and men. They brought with them 736 horses, 245 mules, 435 camels, and 6,720 donkeys.

⁶⁸ When the people came to where the Lord's temple had been in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders gave gifts so it could be rebuilt in the same place. ⁶⁹ They gave all they could, and it came to a total of 500 kilograms of gold, 500 kilograms of silver, and 100 robes for the priests.

^70 (B) Everyone returned to the towns from which their families had come, including the priests, the Levites, the musicians, the temple guards, and the workers.^[f]

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 ^(A) On the day of Pentecost^[a] all the Lord's followers were together in one place. ² Suddenly there was a noise from heaven like the sound of a mighty wind! It filled the house where they were meeting. ³ Then they saw what looked like fiery tongues moving in all directions, and a tongue came and settled on each person there. ⁴ The Holy Spirit took control of everyone, and they began speaking whatever languages the Spirit let them speak.

⁵ Many religious Jews from every country in the world were living in Jerusalem. ⁶ And when they heard this noise, a crowd gathered. But they were surprised, because they were hearing everything in their own languages. ⁷ They were excited and amazed, and said:

Don't all these who are speaking come from Galilee? ⁸ Then why do we hear them speaking our very own languages? ⁹ Some of us are from Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, ¹¹ Crete, and Arabia. Some of us were born Jews, and others of us have chosen to be Jews. Yet we all hear them using our own languages to tell the wonderful things God has done.

¹² Everyone was excited and confused. Some of them even kept asking each other, “What does all this mean?”

¹³ Others made fun of the Lord's followers and said, “They are drunk.”

Peter Speaks to the Crowd

¹⁴ Peter stood with the eleven apostles and spoke in a loud and clear voice to the crowd:

Friends and everyone else living in Jerusalem, listen carefully to what I have to say! ¹⁵ You are wrong to think that these people are drunk. After all, it is only nine o'clock in the morning. ¹⁶ But this is what God told the prophet Joel to say,

²² Now, listen to what I have to say about Jesus from Nazareth. God proved he sent Jesus to you by having him work miracles, wonders, and signs. All of you know this. ^23 (C) God had already planned and decided that Jesus would be handed over to you. So you took him and had evil men put him to death on a cross. ^24 (D) But God set him free from death and raised him to life. Death could not hold him in its power. ^25 (E) What David said are really the words of Jesus,

²⁹ My friends, it is right for me to speak to you about our ancestor David. He died and was buried, and his tomb is still here. ^30 (F) But David was a prophet, and he knew that God had made a promise he would not break. He had told David someone from his own family would someday be king.

³¹ David knew this would happen, and so he told us Christ would be raised to life. He said God would not leave him in the grave or let his body decay. ³² All of us can tell you that God has raised Jesus to life!

³³ Jesus was taken up to sit at the right side^[b] of God, and he was given the Holy Spirit, just as the Father had promised. Jesus is also the one who has given the Spirit to us, and this is what you are now seeing and hearing.

^34 (G) David didn't go up to heaven. So he wasn't talking about himself when he said, “The Lord told my Lord to sit at his right side, ³⁵ until he made my Lord's enemies into a footstool for him.” ³⁶ Everyone in Israel should then know for certain that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ, even though you put him to death on a cross.

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were very upset. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “Friends, what should we do?”

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Turn to God and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ This promise is for you and your children. It is for everyone our Lord God will choose, no matter where they live.”

⁴⁰ Peter told them many other things as well. Then he said, “I beg you to save yourselves from what will happen to all these evil people.” ⁴¹ On that day about 3,000 believed his message and were baptized. ⁴² They spent their time learning from the apostles, and they were like family to each other. They also broke bread^[c] and prayed together.

Life among the Lord's Followers

⁴³ Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked. ^44 (H) All the Lord's followers often met together, and they shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever was in need. ⁴⁶ Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread^[d] together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, ⁴⁷ while praising God. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.