M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Ruth Meets Boaz

2 Now Na′omi had a kinsman of her husband’s, a man of wealth, of the family of Elim′elech, whose name was Bo′az. ² And Ruth the Moabitess said to Na′omi, “Let me go to the field, and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” ³ So she set forth and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Bo′az, who was of the family of Elim′elech. ⁴ And behold, Bo′az came from Bethlehem; and he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” And they answered, “The Lord bless you.” ⁵ Then Bo′az said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose maiden is this?” ⁶ And the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, “It is the Moabite maiden, who came back with Na′omi from the country of Moab. ⁷ She said, ‘Pray, let me glean and gather among the sheaves after the reapers.’ So she came, and she has continued from early morning until now, without resting even for a moment.”^[a]

⁸ Then Bo′az said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my maidens. ⁹ Let your eyes be upon the field which they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to molest you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” ¹⁰ Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?” ¹¹ But Bo′az answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. ¹² The Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!” ¹³ Then she said, “You are most gracious to me, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your maidservant, though I am not one of your maidservants.”

¹⁴ And at mealtime Bo′az said to her, “Come here, and eat some bread, and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her parched grain; and she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. ¹⁵ When she rose to glean, Bo′az instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. ¹⁶ And also pull out some from the bundles for her, and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.”

¹⁷ So she gleaned in the field until evening; then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. ¹⁸ And she took it up and went into the city; she showed her mother-in-law what she had gleaned, and she also brought out and gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied. ¹⁹ And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Bo′az.” ²⁰ And Na′omi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Na′omi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.” ²¹ And Ruth the Moabitess said, “Besides, he said to me, ‘You shall keep close by my servants, till they have finished all my harvest.’” ²² And Na′omi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is well, my daughter, that you go out with his maidens, lest in another field you be molested.” ²³ So she kept close to the maidens of Bo′az, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Paul Sails for Rome

27 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort, named Julius. ² And embarking in a ship of Adramyt′tium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristar′chus, a Macedo′nian from Thessaloni′ca. ³ The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. ⁴ And putting to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. ⁵ And when we had sailed across the sea which is off Cili′cia and Pamphyl′ia, we came to Myra in Ly′cia. ⁶ There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and put us on board. ⁷ We sailed slowly for a number of days, and arrived with difficulty off Cni′dus, and as the wind did not allow us to go on, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmo′ne. ⁸ Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lase′a.

⁹ As much time had been lost, and the voyage was already dangerous because the fast had already gone by, Paul advised them, ¹⁰ saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” ¹¹ But the centurion paid more attention to the captain and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. ¹² And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to put to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, looking northeast and southeast,^[a] and winter there.

The Storm at Sea

¹³ And when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close inshore. ¹⁴ But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land; ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven. ¹⁶ And running under the lee of a small island called Cauda,^[b] we managed with difficulty to secure the boat; ¹⁷ after hoisting it up, they took measures^[c] to undergird the ship; then, fearing that they should run on the Syr′tis, they lowered the gear, and so were driven. ¹⁸ As we were violently storm-tossed, they began next day to throw the cargo overboard; ¹⁹ and the third day they cast out with their own hands the tackle of the ship. ²⁰ And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many a day, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

²¹ As they had been long without food, Paul then came forward among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and should not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. ²² I now bid you take heart; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For this very night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, ²⁴ and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and lo, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we shall have to run on some island.”

²⁷ When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of A′dria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. ²⁸ So they sounded and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they sounded again and found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let out four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come. ³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it go.

³³ As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take some food; it will give you strength, since not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” ³⁵ And when he had said this, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. ³⁷ (We were in all two hundred and seventy-six^[d] persons in the ship.) ³⁸ And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

The Shipwreck

³⁹ Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to bring the ship ashore. ⁴⁰ So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders; then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. ⁴¹ But striking a shoal^[e] they ran the vessel aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was broken up by the surf. ⁴² The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape; ⁴³ but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their purpose. He ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and make for the land, ⁴⁴ and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all escaped to land.

Zedekiah’s Vain Hope

37 Zedeki′ah the son of Josi′ah, whom Nebuchadrez′zar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coni′ah the son of Jehoi′akim. ² But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedeki′ah sent Jehu′cal the son of Shelemi′ah, and Zephani′ah the priest, the son of Ma-asei′ah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God.” ⁴ Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. ⁵ The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt; and when the Chalde′ans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army which came to help you is about to return to Egypt, to its own land. ⁸ And the Chalde′ans shall come back and fight against this city; they shall take it and burn it with fire. ⁹ Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chalde′ans will surely stay away from us,” for they will not stay away. ¹⁰ For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chalde′ans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Is Imprisoned

¹¹ Now when the Chalde′an army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his portion^[a] there among the people. ¹³ When he was at the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Iri′jah the son of Shelemi′ah, son of Hanani′ah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are deserting to the Chalde′ans.” ¹⁴ And Jeremiah said, “It is false; I am not deserting to the Chalde′ans.” But Iri′jah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. ¹⁵ And the princes were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

¹⁶ When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells, and remained there many days, ¹⁷ King Zedeki′ah sent for him, and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, “You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸ Jeremiah also said to King Zedeki′ah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? ²⁰ Now hear, I pray you, O my lord the king: let my humble plea come before you, and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” ²¹ So King Zedeki′ah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard; and a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies