M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Temptation and the Fall
3 Now[a] the serpent[b] was shrewder[c] than any of the wild animals[d] that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that[e] God[f] said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?”[g] 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat[h] of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it,[i] or else you will die.’”[j] 4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die,[k] 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open[l] and you will be like God, knowing[m] good and evil.”[n]
6 When[o] the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food,[p] was attractive[q] to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise,[r] she took some of its fruit and ate it.[s] She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.[t] 7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
The Judgment Oracles of God at the Fall
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about[u] in the orchard at the breezy time[v] of the day, and they hid[w] from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 9 But the Lord God called to[x] the man and said to him, “Where are you?”[y] 10 The man replied,[z] “I heard you moving about[aa] in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 11 And the Lord God[ab] said, “Who told you that you were naked?[ac] Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”[ad] 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave[ae] me some fruit[af] from the tree and I ate it.” 13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this[ag] you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent[ah] tricked[ai] me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,[aj]
“Because you have done this,
cursed[ak] are you above all the cattle
and all the living creatures of the field!
On your belly you will crawl[al]
and dust you will eat[am] all the days of your life.
15 And I will put hostility[an] between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring;[ao]
he[ap] will strike your head,
and[aq] you[ar] will strike[as] his heel.”[at]
16 To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase[au] your labor pains;[av]
with pain you will give birth to children.
You will want to control your husband,[aw]
but he will dominate[ax] you.”
17 But to Adam[ay] he said,
“Because you obeyed[az] your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
the ground is cursed[ba] because of you;
in painful toil you will eat[bb] of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
but you will eat the grain[bc] of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow[bd] you will eat food
until you return to the ground,[be]
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”[bf]
20 The man[bg] named his wife Eve,[bh] because[bi] she was the mother of all the living.[bj] 21 The Lord God made garments from skin[bk] for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “Now[bl] that the man has become like one of us,[bm] knowing[bn] good and evil, he must not be allowed[bo] to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God expelled him[bp] from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 When he drove[bq] the man out, he placed on the eastern side[br] of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries[bs] who used the flame of a whirling sword[bt] to guard the way to the tree of life.
The Ministry of John the Baptist
3 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness[a] of Judea proclaiming, 2 “Repent,[b] for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 For he is the one about whom the prophet Isaiah had spoken:[c]
“The voice[d] of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make[e] his paths straight.’”[f]
4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.[g] 5 Then people from Jerusalem,[h] as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6 and he was baptizing them[i] in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many Pharisees[j] and Sadducees[k] coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore produce fruit[l] that proves your[m] repentance, 9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’[n] For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10 Even now the ax is laid at[o] the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am—I am not worthy[p] to carry his sandals! He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[q] 12 His winnowing fork[r] is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse,[s] but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire!”[t]
The Baptism of Jesus
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River.[u] 14 But John[v] tried to prevent[w] him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 15 So Jesus replied[x] to him, “Let it happen now,[y] for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John[z] yielded[aa] to him. 16 After[ab] Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the[ac] heavens[ad] opened[ae] and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove[af] and coming to rest[ag] on him. 17 And[ah] a voice from heaven said,[ai] “This is my one dear Son;[aj] in him[ak] I take great delight.”[al]
The Altar is Rebuilt
3 When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites[a] were living[b] in their[c] towns, the people assembled[d] in[e] Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak[f] and his priestly colleagues[g] and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues[h] started to build[i] the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by[j] the law of Moses the man of God. 3 They established the altar on its foundations, even though they were in terror of the local peoples,[k] and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and the evening offerings. 4 They observed the Feast of Shelters[l] as required[m] and offered the proper number of[n] daily burnt offerings according to the requirement for each day. 5 Afterward they offered the continual burnt offerings and those for the new moons and those for all the holy assemblies of the Lord and all those that were being voluntarily offered to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. However, the Lord’s temple was not at that time established.[o]
Preparations for Rebuilding the Temple
7 So they provided money[p] for the masons and carpenters, and food, beverages, and olive oil for the people of Sidon and Tyre, so that they would bring cedar timber from Lebanon to the seaport[q] at Joppa, in accord with the edict of King Cyrus of Persia. 8 In the second year after they had come to the temple of God in Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak initiated the work,[r] along with the rest of their associates,[s] the priests and the Levites, and all those who were coming to Jerusalem from the exile. They appointed[t] the Levites who were at least twenty years old[u] to take charge of the work on the Lord’s temple. 9 So Jeshua appointed both his sons and his relatives,[v] Kadmiel and his sons (the sons of Yehudah[w]), to take charge of the workers in the temple of God, along with the sons of Henadad, their sons, and their relatives[x] the Levites. 10 When the builders established the Lord’s temple, the priests, ceremonially attired and with their clarions,[y] and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with their cymbals, stood to praise the Lord according to the instructions left by[z] King David of Israel.[aa] 11 With antiphonal response they sang,[ab] praising and glorifying the Lord:
“For he is good;
his loyal love toward Israel is forever.”
All the people gave a loud[ac] shout as they praised the Lord when the temple of the Lord was established. 12 Many of the priests, the Levites, and the leaders[ad]—older people who had seen with their own eyes the former temple while it was still established[ae]—were weeping loudly,[af] and many others raised their voice in a joyous shout. 13 People were unable to tell the difference between the sound of joyous shouting and the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people were shouting so loudly[ag] that the sound was heard a long way off.
Peter and John Heal a Lame Man at the Temple
3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time[a] for prayer,[b] at three o’clock in the afternoon.[c] 2 And a man lame[d] from birth[e] was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called “the Beautiful Gate” every day[f] so he could beg for money[g] from those going into the temple courts.[h] 3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple courts,[i] he asked them for money.[j] 4 Peter looked directly[k] at him (as did John) and said, “Look at us!” 5 So the lame man[l] paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold,[m] but what I do have I give you. In the name[n] of Jesus Christ[o] the Nazarene, stand up and[p] walk!” 7 Then[q] Peter[r] took hold[s] of him by the right hand and raised him up, and at once the man’s[t] feet and ankles were made strong.[u] 8 He[v] jumped up,[w] stood and began walking around, and he entered the temple courts[x] with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 All[y] the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations[z] at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement[aa] at what had happened to him.
Peter Addresses the Crowd
11 While the man[ab] was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway[ac] called Solomon’s Portico.[ad] 12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, “Men of Israel,[ae] why are you amazed at this? Why[af] do you stare at us as if we had made this man[ag] walk by our own power or piety? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,[ah] the God of our forefathers,[ai] has glorified[aj] his servant[ak] Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected[al] in the presence of Pilate after he had decided[am] to release him. 14 But you rejected[an] the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed[ao] the Originator[ap] of life, whom God raised[aq] from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses![ar] 16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’[as] name,[at] his very name has made this man—whom you see and know—strong. The[au] faith that is through Jesus[av] has given him this complete health in the presence[aw] of you all. 17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance,[ax] as your rulers did too. 18 But the things God foretold[ay] long ago through[az] all the prophets—that his Christ[ba] would suffer—he has fulfilled in this way. 19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 so that times of refreshing[bb] may come from the presence of the Lord,[bc] and so that he may send the Messiah[bd] appointed[be] for you—that is, Jesus. 21 This one[bf] heaven must[bg] receive until the time all things are restored,[bh] which God declared[bi] from times long ago[bj] through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey[bk] him in everything he tells you.[bl] 23 Every person[bm] who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed[bn] from the people.’[bo] 24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced[bp] these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors,[bq] saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants[br] all the nations[bs] of the earth will be blessed.’[bt] 26 God raised up[bu] his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning[bv] each one of you from your iniquities.”[bw]
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