M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 19
The Levite’s Concubine.[a] 1 In those days there was no king in Israel, and there was a certain Levite who lived on the far side of the hill country of Ephraim who took a concubine from Bethlehem of Judah. 2 His concubine cheated on him and she returned to her father’s house in Bethlehem. She had been there for four months 3 when her husband rose up to go to her in order to convince her to return to him. He took along his servant and two donkeys.
She invited him into her father’s house, and when her father saw him, he was pleased to meet him. 4 His father-in-law, the young woman’s father, urged him to stay with him. He stayed with him for three days, eating and drinking and sleeping there. 5 On the fourth day they rose early in the morning and were leaving. The woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Fortify yourself with something to eat, and then you can go on your way.” 6 Both of them sat down and they ate and drank together, and then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please, stay the night and enjoy yourself.” 7 When the man rose up to go, his father-in-law urged him to stay, so he slept there. 8 Early on the morning of the fifth day, the young woman’s father said, “Fortify yourself, wait until the afternoon.” So the both of them ate together.
9 When the man got up to depart along with the concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, it is almost evening, stay the night because the day is almost over. Stay here and enjoy yourselves. You can get up early tomorrow morning and be on your way home.” 10 But the man would not stay the night. He got up and left and went toward Jebus (that is, Jerusalem) along with his two saddled donkeys and his concubine.
11 It was already late in the day when they were passing by Jebus, so the servant said to his master, “Come, let us stop at the city of the Jebusites and stay for the night.” 12 The master said, “I will not stop at a foreign city whose inhabitants are not Israelites. Let us continue on to Gibeah.” 13 He said to his servant, “We will try to reach Gibeah or Ramah and spend the night in one of those places.” 14 They went on, and the sun was setting as they approached Gibeah in Benjamin. 15 They stopped there to spend the night in Gibeah. They went in and sat in the city square, but no one took them home for the night.
16 That evening an old man[b] came in from working in the fields in the hill country of Ephraim. He was living in Gibeah, and the men of that place were Benjaminites. 17 When he looked up and saw a traveler in the city square, the old man said, “Where are you going? Where have you come from?” 18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to the far side of the hill country of Ephraim. I am from there. I had gone to Bethlehem in Judah, but now I am going to the house of the Lord. No one has welcomed me into his home. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, your maidservant, and the young man who is with me. We do not need anything.” 20 The old man said, “Peace be with you. Let me supply whatever you need, only do not spend the night in the city square.” 21 So he took them into his home and fed the donkeys. He washed their feet, and they had something to eat and drink.
22 Abuse at Gibeah. While they were enjoying themselves, certain men from the city who were surely sons of Belial[c] surrounded the house. They beat on the door and spoke to the old man, the master of the house, saying, “Bring out the man who entered your house, so that we can know him.” 23 The master of the house went out to them and said to them: “No, my brothers, do not do this evil thing. This man is a guest in my house; do not do this disgraceful thing. 24 [d]Look, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now. You can abuse them, and do whatever you want to them, but do not do such a vile thing to this man.” 25 But the men would not listen to him. The man thrust his concubine outside to them. They raped her and maltreated her all throughout the night, and in the morning they let her go.
26 At daybreak the woman came to the house where her master was staying and fell down in the doorway. She remained there until it was light. 27 Her master got up in the morning and opened the doors to the house to be on his way, and he found his concubine lying in the doorway to the house, her hands upon the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up. Let us be on our way,” but there was no answer. The man then put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 When he arrived home, he picked up a knife, took his concubine, and cut her body into twelve parts. He then sent it into each of the territories of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it said, “No one has ever done such a thing from the day that the Israelites came up out of Egypt until the present. Think about it. Take counsel. Tell us what to do.”
Chapter 23
1 Paul looked intently at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brethren, to this very day, I have conducted myself before God with a perfectly clear conscience.” 2 At this, the high priest Ananias[a] ordered his attendants to strike him on the mouth.
3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there to judge me according to the Law and then in defiance of the Law order me to be struck?” 4 The attendants said, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?” 5 Paul replied, “Brethren, I did not realize that he was the high priest. It is clearly written: ‘You shall not curse the ruler of your people.’ ”
6 Well aware that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, Paul called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning our hope in the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he said this, a dispute ensued between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three.
9 Then a great uproar arose, and some of the scribes belonging to the party of the Pharisees stood up and forcefully stated, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has really spoken to him?” 10 When a violent dissension arose, the commander was fearful that Paul would be torn to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down, seize him from their midst, and bring him into the barracks.
11 On the following night, the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have borne witness to me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”
12 A Plot To Kill Paul.[b] When morning came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath[c] not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who entered this pact. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath not to consume any food until we have killed Paul. 15 You and the Sanhedrin should make an official request to the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to investigate his case more thoroughly. We on our part have arranged to kill him before he arrives.”
16 However, the son of Paul’s sister learned of the plot. He thereupon went to the barracks and related the news to Paul. 17 Paul then summoned one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 He brought him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and requested that I bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took him by the hand, drew him aside, and asked him in private, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 He replied, “The Jews have agreed to request you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of inquiring more thoroughly into his case. 21 Do not believe them. More than forty of them are waiting for your consent to their request, for they have sworn an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now and are waiting only for your consent.” 22 The commander dismissed the young man, ordering him, “Tell no one that you have given me this information.”
Paul’s Imprisonment and Defenses at Caesarea
23 Paul Is Imprisoned at Caesarea.[d] Then he summoned two of his centurions and said, “Have two hundred soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight,[e] along with seventy cavalrymen and two hundred auxiliaries. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and deliver him to Felix the governor.” 25 He then wrote a letter as follows:
26 Claudius Lysias,
To his Excellency the governor Felix:[f]
Greetings.
27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them; but when I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I arrived on the scene with my troops and rescued him.
28 Wanting to learn what charge they were making against him, I had him brought before their Sanhedrin. 29 I discovered that the accusation dealt with questions about their Law, but that there was no charge against him that merited death or imprisonment. 30 Now I have been informed of a plot to assassinate this man. I am sending him to you without delay, and I have instructed his accusers to present to you their case against him.
31 Therefore, the soldiers, acting in accordance with their orders, took Paul and escorted him during the night to Antipatris. 32 On the next day, they returned to the barracks, leaving the cavalrymen to escort him the rest of the way. 33 When they arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed over Paul to him.
34 After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he was from, and on learning that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that he be held in custody in Herod’s praetorium.
Chapter 33
Jerusalem Restored. 1 While Jeremiah was still imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the Lord came to him a second time: 2 Thus says the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it—the Lord is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you and reveal to you great and mysterious secrets about which you are unaware. 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah which are in the process of being destroyed by siege-works and the sword 5 in the battle against the Chaldeans: The houses will be filled with the corpses of those whom I will strike down in my anger and rage, those whose wickedness has caused me to hide my face from this city.
6 Nevertheless, I intend to treat and assuage the wounds of this city. I will heal the people and grant them an abundance of peace and prosperity. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel and rebuild them as they were formerly. 8 I will cleanse them of all the guilt they incurred by their sins against me, and I will forgive them for their offenses by which they sinned and rebelled against me. 9 Then Jerusalem will become for me a name of joy and praise and pride for all the nations of the earth to behold. When they learn of all the good that I will do for her, they will be overcome with fear and trembling because of all the peace and prosperity I have provided.
10 Thus says the Lord: In this place about which you say, “It is a wasteland, without men or animals,” and in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are now deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will once again be heard 11 the cries of joy and the cries of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, and the joyful sounds of those who bring thank offerings to the Lord, saying,
“Give thanks to the Lord of hosts,
for the Lord is good;
his love endures forever.”
For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were once before, says the Lord.
12 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is now a wasteland, without men or animals, and in all its towns, there will again be pastures in which shepherds can rest their flocks. 13 In the towns of the hill country, of the foothills, and of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, in the districts around Jerusalem, and in the towns of Judah, flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.
14 [a]The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise of blessings I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
15 In those days and at that time
I will cause a righteous branch
to spring up from the line of David
he will do what is just and upright in the land,
16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which the city will be called:
“The Lord Our Righteousness.”
17 For thus says the Lord: Never will David lack a male descendant to succeed to the throne of the house of Israel, 18 nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have available one of their number to stand before me to present burnt offerings, to burn cereal offerings, and to offer sacrifices each day.
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 Thus says the Lord: If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that day and night would no longer occur at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with my servant David could also be broken so that he would not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levites who minister as priests to me could also be broken. 22 Just as the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be counted, so I will increase the descendants of my servant David and of the Levites who minister to me.
23 This word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 Have you not noticed what these people say, “The two families that were chosen by the Lord have been rejected by him”? As a result, they look upon my people with such contempt that they no longer regard them as a nation.
25 Thus says the Lord: If I had not established my covenant with day and night and fixed the laws governing heaven and earth, 26 then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and of my servant David and not choose any of David’s descendants to serve as rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and have mercy upon them.
Book I—Psalms 3–41[a]
Psalm 3[b]
Trust in God in Time of Danger
1 A psalm of David. When he was fleeing from his son Absalom.
2 O Lord, how great is the number of my enemies,
how many are those who rise up against me.
3 How numerous are the ones who say of me,
“He will not receive salvation from God.” Selah[c]
4 But you, O Lord, are a shield to protect me;
you are my glory and the one who raises my head high.[d]
5 Whenever I cry aloud to the Lord,
he answers me from his holy mountain.[e] Selah
6 I lie down and sleep;
I awaken again, for the Lord sustains me.[f]
7 Thus, I will not fear the multitudes
who have surrounded me on every side.
8 Rise up, O Lord!
Rescue me, O my God!
You will strike all my enemies across the face[g]
and break the teeth of the wicked.
9 Salvation comes from the Lord.
May your blessing be upon your people. Selah
Psalm 4[h]
Joyful Confidence in God
1 For the director.[i] With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
2 When I call upon you, answer me, O God,
you who uphold my rights.
When I was in distress, you set me free;
have pity on me and listen to my prayer.
3 How long[j] will you people turn my glory into shame,
cherishing what is worthless and pursuing what is false? Selah
4 Remember that the Lord wonderfully favors those who are faithful,[k]
and the Lord listens when I call out to him.
5 [l]When you are angry, be careful not to sin;
reflect in silence
as you lie upon your beds. Selah
6 Offer worthy sacrifices
and place your trust in the Lord.
7 Many exclaim, “Who will show us better times!
Let the light of your face shine on[m] us, O Lord!”
8 You have granted my heart[n] greater joy
than others experience when grain and wine abound.
9 In peace I lie down and sleep,
for only with your help, O Lord,
can I rest secure.
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