M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Gideon Surprises and Routs the Midianites

7 Then Jerubba′al (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod; and the camp of Mid′ian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

² The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Mid′ianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ ³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home.’” And Gideon tested them;^[a] twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

⁴ And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; take them down to the water and I will test them for you there; and he of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall go with you,’ shall go with you; and any of whom I say to you, ‘This man shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” ⁵ So he brought the people down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one that laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself; likewise every one that kneels down to drink.” ⁶ And the number of those that lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. ⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Mid′ianites into your hand; and let all the others go every man to his home.” ⁸ So he took the jars of the people from their hands,^[b] and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Mid′ian was below him in the valley.

⁹ That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp; for I have given it into your hand. ¹⁰ But if you fear to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant; ¹¹ and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men that were in the camp. ¹² And the Mid′ianites and the Amal′ekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is upon the seashore for multitude. ¹³ When Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade; and he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Mid′ian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” ¹⁴ And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Jo′ash, a man of Israel; into his hand God has given Mid′ian and all the host.”

¹⁵ When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped; and he returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise; for the Lord has given the host of Mid′ian into your hand.” ¹⁶ And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰ And the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the army ran; they cried out and fled. ²² When they blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shit′tah toward Zer′erah,^[c] as far as the border of A′bel-meho′lah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naph′tali and from Asher and from all Manas′seh, and they pursued after Mid′ian.

²⁴ And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of E′phraim, saying, “Come down against the Mid′ianites and seize the waters against them, as far as Beth-bar′ah, and also the Jordan.” So all the men of E′phraim were called out, and they seized the waters as far as Beth-bar′ah, and also the Jordan. ²⁵ And they took the two princes of Mid′ian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Mid′ian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.

Peter’s Report to the Church at Jerusalem

11 Now the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, ³ saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” ⁴ But Peter began and explained to them in order: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, something descending, like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came down to me. ⁶ Looking at it closely I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. ⁷ And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ ⁸ But I said, ‘No, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹ But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. ¹¹ At that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesare′a. ¹² And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brethren also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ And he told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon called Peter; ¹⁴ he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ ¹⁵ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?” ¹⁸ When they heard this they were silenced. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.”

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹ Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoeni′cia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyre′ne, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks^[a] also, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord. ²² News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; ²⁴ for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord. ²⁵ So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; ²⁶ and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with^[b] the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians.

²⁷ Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them named Ag′abus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius. ²⁹ And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea; ³⁰ and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

20 Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ² Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. ³ On the morrow, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on every side. ⁴ For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. ⁵ Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them, and seize them, and carry them to Babylon. ⁶ And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity; to Babylon you shall go; and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

6 He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him. ² And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands! ³ Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense^[a] at him. ⁴ And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” ⁵ And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And he marveled because of their unbelief.

And he went about among the villages teaching.

The Mission of the Twelve

⁷ And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁸ He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; ⁹ but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. ¹⁰ And he said to them, “Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. ¹¹ And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.” ¹² So they went out and preached that men should repent. ¹³ And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

¹⁴ King Herod heard of it; for Jesus’^[b] name had become known. Some^[c] said, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; that is why these powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵ But others said, “It is Eli′jah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard of it he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” ¹⁷ For Herod had sent and seized John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Hero′di-as, his brother Philip’s wife; because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ And Hero′di-as had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, ²⁰ for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he was much perplexed; and yet he heard him gladly. ²¹ But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and the leading men of Galilee. ²² For when Hero′di-as’ daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will grant it.” ²³ And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out, and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the baptizer.” ²⁵ And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And the king was exceedingly sorry; but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. ²⁷ And immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard and gave orders to bring his head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.

Feeding the Five Thousand

³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. ³² And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. ³³ Now many saw them going, and knew them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late; ³⁶ send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii^[d] worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹ And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Beth-sa′ida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” ⁵¹ And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, ⁵² for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Healing the Sick in Gennesaret

⁵³ And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennes′aret, and moored to the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, ⁵⁵ and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.