M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

13 Again the people of Isra’el did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, and Adonai handed them over to the P’lishtim for forty years.

² There was a man from Tzor‘ah from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoach; his wife was barren, childless. ³ The angel of Adonai appeared to the woman and said to her, “Listen! You are barren, you haven’t had a child, but you will conceive and bear a son. ⁴ Now, therefore, be careful not to drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don’t eat anything unclean. ⁵ For indeed you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb. Moreover, he will begin to rescue Isra’el from the power of the P’lishtim.”

⁶ The woman came and told her husband; she said, “A man of God came to me; his face was fearsome, like that of the angel of God. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. ⁷ But he said to me, ‘Listen! You will conceive and bear a son, so now don’t drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don’t eat anything unclean, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb until the day he dies.’”

⁸ Then Manoach prayed to Adonai, “Please, Adonai, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born.” ⁹ God paid attention to what Manoach said, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoach wasn’t with her. ¹⁰ The woman hurried and ran to tell her husband, “Here! That man, the one who came to me the other day, he’s come again!” ¹¹ Manoach got up, followed his wife, went to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” He answered, “I am.” ¹² Manoach asked, “Now, when what you said comes true, what are the guidelines for raising the child? What should be done for him?” ¹³ The angel of Adonai said to Manoach, “The woman should take care to do everything I said to her. ¹⁴ She shouldn’t eat anything that comes from a grapevine, she shouldn’t drink wine or other intoxicating liquor, and she shouldn’t eat anything unclean. She should do everything I ordered her to do.”

¹⁵ Manoach said to the angel of Adonai, “Please stay with us a bit longer, so that we can cook a young goat for you.” ¹⁶ The angel of Adonai said to Manoach, “Even if I do stay, I won’t eat your food; and if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to Adonai.” For Manoach did not know that he was the angel of Adonai. ¹⁷ Manoach said to the angel of Adonai, “Tell us your name, so that when your words come true we can honor you.” ¹⁸ The angel of Adonai answered him, “Why are you asking about my name? It is wonderful.” ¹⁹ Manoach took the kid and the grain offering and offered them on the rock to Adonai. Then, with Manoach and his wife looking on, the angel did something wonderful — ²⁰ as the flame went up toward the sky from the altar, the angel of Adonai went up in the flame from the altar. When Manoach and his wife saw it, they fell to the ground on their faces. ²¹ But the angel of Adonai did not appear again to Manoach or his wife. Then Manoach realized it had been the angel of Adonai. ²² Manoach said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen God!” ²³ But his wife said to him, “If Adonai had wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, and he wouldn’t have shown us all this or told us such things at this time.”

²⁴ The woman bore a son and called him Shimshon. The child grew, and Adonai blessed him. ²⁵ The Spirit of Adonai began to stir him when he was in the Camp of Dan, between Tzor‘ah and Eshta’ol.

17 After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Sha’ul and Sila came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue. ² According to his usual practice, Sha’ul went in; and on three Shabbats he gave them drashes from the Tanakh, ³ explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and that “this Yeshua whom I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” ⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and threw in their lot with Sha’ul and Sila, as did a great many of the Greek men who were “God-fearers,” and not a few of the leading women.

⁵ But the unbelieving Jews grew jealous; so they got together some vicious men from the riffraff hanging around in the market square, collected a crowd and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason’s house, hoping to bring Sha’ul and Sila out to the mob. ⁶ But when they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city authorities and shouted, “These men who have turned the whole world upside down have come here too! ⁷ And Jason has let them stay in his home! All of them are defying the decrees of the Emperor; because they assert that there is another king, Yeshua!” ⁸ Their words threw the crowd and the authorities into a turmoil, ⁹ so that only after Jason and the others had posted bond did they let them go. ¹⁰ But as soon as night fell, the brothers sent Sha’ul and Sila off to Berea.

As soon as they arrived, they went to the synagogue. ¹¹ Now the people here were of nobler character than the ones in Thessalonica; they eagerly welcomed the message, checking the Tanakh every day to see if the things Sha’ul was saying were true. ¹² Many of them came to trust, as did a number of prominent Greek women and not a few Greek men.

¹³ But when the unbelieving Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Sha’ul in Berea as well, they went there too to make trouble and agitate the crowds. ¹⁴ The brothers sent Sha’ul away at once to go down to the seacoast, while Sila and Timothy stayed behind. ¹⁵ Sha’ul’s escort went with him as far as Athens, then left with instructions for Sila and Timothy to come as quickly as they could.

¹⁶ While Sha’ul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit within him was disturbed at the sight of the city full of idols. ¹⁷ So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the “God-fearers,” and in the market square every day with the people who happened to be there.

¹⁸ Also a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers started meeting with him. Some asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others, because he proclaimed the Good News about Yeshua and the resurrection, said, “He sounds like a propagandist for foreign gods.” ¹⁹ They took and brought him before the High Council, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ Some of the things we are hearing from you strike us as strange, and we would like to know what they mean.” ²¹ (All the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their spare time talking or hearing about the latest intellectual fads.)

²² Sha’ul stood up in the Council meeting and said, “Men of Athens: I see how very religious you are in every way! ²³ For as I was walking around, looking at your shrines, I even found an altar which had been inscribed, ‘To An Unknown God.’ So, the one whom you are already worshipping in ignorance — this is the one I proclaim to you.

²⁴ “The God who made the universe and everything in it, and who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in man-made temples; ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as if he lacked something; since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything to everyone.

²⁶ “From one man he made every nation living on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the limits of their territories and the periods when they would flourish. ²⁷ God did this so that people would look for him and perhaps reach out and find him although in fact, he is not far from each one of us, ²⁸ ‘for in him we live and move and exist.’ Indeed, as some of the poets among you have said, ‘We are actually his children.’ ²⁹ So, since we are children of God, we shouldn’t suppose that God’s essence resembles gold, silver or stone shaped by human technique and imagination.

³⁰ “In the past, God overlooked such ignorance; but now he is commanding all people everywhere to turn to him from their sins. ³¹ For he has set a Day when he will judge the inhabited world, and do it justly, by means of a man whom he has designated. And he has given public proof of it by resurrecting this man from the dead.”

³² At the mention of a resurrection of dead people, some began to scoff; while others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” ³³ So Sha’ul left the meeting. ³⁴ But some men stayed with him and came to trust, including the High Council member Dionysius; there was also a woman named Damaris; and others came to trust along with them.

26 At the beginning of the reign of Y’hoyakim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Y’hudah, this word came from Adonai: ² “Adonai says: ‘Stand in the courtyard of Adonai’s house and speak to the people from all the cities in Y’hudah who come to worship at Adonai’s house; say everything I order you to say to them, and don’t leave out a word. ³ Maybe they will listen, and each of them turn from his evil way; then I will be able to relent from the disaster I intend to bring on them because of how evil their deeds are. ⁴ So tell them that this is what Adonai says: “If you will not pay attention to me and live according to my Torah, which I have given you, ⁵ and listen to what my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, say — I have sent them frequently, but you haven’t listened — ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city an object of cursing for all the nations of the earth.”’”

⁷ The cohanim, the prophets and all the people heard Yirmeyahu speaking these words in the house of Adonai. ⁸ When Yirmeyahu had finished saying everything Adonai had ordered him to say to all the people, the cohanim, prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You will die for this! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of Adonai, ‘This house will become like Shiloh,’ and, ‘This city will become uninhabited ruins’?” The people all crowded in on Yirmeyahu in Adonai’s house.

¹⁰ When the officials of Y’hudah heard about it, they came up from the king’s palace to Adonai’s house and sat at the entrance to the New Gate of Adonai’s house. ¹¹ The cohanim and prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man deserves a death sentence, because he has prophesied against this city; you have heard it with your own ears.” ¹² Then Yirmeyahu said to the officials and all the people, “Adonai sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words you have heard. ¹³ Therefore now, improve your ways and your doings; and listen to the voice of Adonai your God; then Adonai will relent from the disaster he has decreed against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, here, I am in your hands; do with me whatever seems good and right to you. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city and on its inhabitants; because the fact is that Adonai sent me to you to speak all these words, so that you could hear them.”

¹⁶ The officials and all the people then said to the cohanim and prophets, “This man does not deserve a death sentence, because he has spoken to us in the name of Adonai our God.” ¹⁷ At this point some of the leaders of the land stood up and addressed all the people assembled: ¹⁸ “Back in the time of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah, Mikhah from Moreshet was a prophet. He told all the people of Y’hudah, ‘Adonai-Tzva’ot says,

¹⁹ “Did Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah and all Y’hudah put him to death? Not at all. Rather, he feared Adonai, and prayed for Adonai’s favor; and Adonai relented from the disaster he had pronounced against them. So [if we put Yirmeyahu to death,] we might bring great disaster on ourselves.”

²⁰ On the other hand, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of Adonai, Uriyahu the son of Sh’ma‘yahu from Kiryat-Ye‘arim, who prophesied against this city and against this land exactly what Yirmeyahu is saying. ²¹ When Y’hoyakim the king, with all his military men and other officials, heard what he was saying, the king wanted to have him killed. On hearing of this, Uriyahu became frightened, fled and went to Egypt. ²² Y’hoyakim the king sent men to Egypt — Elnatan the son of ‘Akhbor and some others. ²³ They brought Uriyahu back from Egypt and took him to Y’hoyakim the king, who put him to the sword and threw his corpse into the burial-ground of the common people.

²⁴ But in this situation concerning Yirmeyahu, Achikam the son of Shafan used his influence to help him, so that he was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

12 Yeshua began speaking to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower; then he rented it to tenant-farmers and left. ² When harvest-time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the crop from the vineyard. ³ But they took him, beat him up and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ So he sent another servant; this one they punched in the head and insulted. ⁵ He sent another one, and him they killed; and so with many others — some they beat up, others they killed. ⁶ He had still one person left, a son whom he loved; in the end, he sent him to them, saying, ‘My son they will respect.’ ⁷ But the tenants said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ So they seized him, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others! ¹⁰ Haven’t you read the passage in the Tanakh that says,

¹² They set about to arrest him, for they recognized that he had told the parable with reference to themselves. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

¹³ Next they sent some P’rushim and some members of Herod’s party to him in order to trap him with a sh’eilah. ¹⁴ They came and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person’s status but really teach what God’s way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?” ¹⁵ But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought one; and he asked them, “Whose name and picture are these?” “The Emperor’s,” they replied. ¹⁷ Yeshua said, “Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!” And they were amazed at him.

¹⁸ Then some Tz’dukim came to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him a sh’eilah: ¹⁹ “Rabbi, Moshe wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and have children to preserve the man’s family line.^{[b] 20} There were seven brothers. The first one took a wife, and when he died, he left no children. ²¹ Then the second one took her and died without leaving children, and the third likewise, ²² and none of the seven left children. Last of all, the woman also died. ²³ In the Resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Yeshua said to them, “Isn’t this the reason that you go astray? because you are ignorant both of the Tanakh and of the power of God? ²⁵ For when people rise from the dead, neither men nor women marry — they are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ And as for the dead being raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moshe, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov’?^{[c] 27} He is God not of the dead, but of the living! You are going far astray!”

²⁸ One of the Torah-teachers came up and heard them engaged in this discussion. Seeing that Yeshua answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most important mitzvah of them all?” ²⁹ Yeshua answered, “The most important is,

³¹ The second is this:

There is no other mitzvah greater than these.” ³² The Torah-teacher said to him, “Well said, Rabbi; you speak the truth when you say that he is one, and that there is no other besides him; ³³ and that loving him with all one’s heart, understanding and strength, and loving one’s neighbor as oneself, mean more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Yeshua saw that he responded sensibly, he said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared put to him another sh’eilah.

³⁵ As Yeshua was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “How is it that the Torah-teachers say the Messiah is the Son of David? ³⁶ David himself, inspired by the Ruach HaKodesh, said,

³⁷ David himself calls him ‘Lord’; so how is he his son?”

The great crowd listened eagerly to him. ³⁸ As he taught them, he said, “Watch out for the kind of Torah-teachers who like to walk around in robes and be greeted deferentially in the marketplaces, ³⁹ who like to have the best seats in the synagogues and take the places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁰ who like to swallow up widows’ houses while making a show of davvening at great length. Their punishment will be all the worse!”

⁴¹ Then Yeshua sat down opposite the Temple treasury and watched the crowd as they put money into the offering-boxes. Many rich people put in large sums, ⁴² but a poor widow came and put in two small coins. ⁴³ He called his talmidim to him and said to them, “Yes! I tell you, this poor widow has put more in the offering-box than all the others making donations. ⁴⁴ For all of them, out of their wealth, have contributed money they can easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given everything she had to live on.”