M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

9 God blessed Noach and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. ² The fear and dread of you will be upon every wild animal, every bird in the air, every creature populating the ground, and all the fish in the sea; they have been handed over to you. ³ Every moving thing that lives will be food for you; just as I gave you green plants before, so now I give you everything — ⁴ only flesh with its life, which is its blood, you are not to eat. ⁵ I will certainly demand an accounting for the blood of your lives: I will demand it from every animal and from every human being. I will demand from every human being an accounting for the life of his fellow human being. ⁶ Whoever sheds human blood, by a human being will his own blood be shed; for God made human beings in his image. ⁷ And you people, be fruitful, multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply on it.”

(v) ⁸ God spoke to Noach and his sons with him; he said, ⁹ “As for me — I am herewith establishing my covenant with you, with your descendants after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you — the birds, the livestock and every wild animal with you, all going out of the ark, every animal on earth. ¹¹ I will establish my covenant with you that never again will all living beings be destroyed by the waters of a flood, and there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹² God added, “Here is the sign of the covenant I am making between myself and you and every living creature with you, for all generations to come: ¹³ I am putting my rainbow in the cloud — it will be there as a sign of the covenant between myself and the earth. ¹⁴ Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow is seen in the cloud; ¹⁵ I will remember my covenant which is between myself and you and every living creature of any kind; and the water will never again become a flood to destroy all living beings. ¹⁶ The rainbow will be in the cloud; so that when I look at it, I will remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of any kind on the earth.”

¹⁷ God said to Noach, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between myself and every living creature on the earth.”

(vi) ¹⁸ The sons of Noach who went out from the ark were Shem, Ham and Yefet. Ham is the father of Kena‘an. ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noach, and the whole earth was populated by them.

²⁰ Noach, a farmer, was the first to plant a vineyard. ²¹ He drank so much of the wine that he got drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. ²² Ham, the father of Kena‘an, saw his father shamefully exposed, went out and told his two brothers. ²³ Shem and Yefet took a cloak, put it over both their shoulders, and, walking backward, went in and covered their naked father. Their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father lying there shamefully exposed.

²⁴ When Noach awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵ He said, “Cursed be Kena‘an; he will be a servant of servants to his brothers.” ²⁶ Then he said, “Blessed be Adonai, the God of Shem; Kena‘an will be their servant. ²⁷ May God enlarge Yefet; he will live in the tents of Shem, but Kena‘an will be their servant.”

²⁸ After the flood Noach lived 350 years. ²⁹ In all, Noach lived 950 years; then he died.

10 Here is the genealogy of the sons of Noach — Shem, Ham and Yefet; sons were born to them after the flood.

² The sons of Yefet were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Yavan, Tuval, Meshekh and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Rifat and Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Yavan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. ⁵ From these the islands of the nations were divided into their lands, each according to its language, according to their families, in their nations.

⁶ The sons of Ham were Kush, Mitzrayim, Put and Kena‘an. ⁷ The sons of Kush were S’va, Havilah, Savta, Ra‘mah and Savt’kha. The sons of Ra‘mah were Sh’va and D’dan.

⁸ Kush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful ruler on earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before Adonai — this is why people say, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Adonai.” ¹⁰ His kingdom began with Bavel, Erekh, Akkad and Kalneh, in the land of Shin‘ar. ¹¹ Ashur went out from that land and built Ninveh, the city Rechovot, Kelach, ¹² and Resen between Ninveh and Kelach — that one is the great city.

¹³ Mitzrayim fathered the Ludim, the ‘Anamim, the L’havim, the Naftuchim, ¹⁴ the Patrusim, the Kasluchim (from whom came the P’lishtim) and the Kaftorim.

¹⁵ Kena‘an fathered Tzidon his firstborn, Het, ¹⁶ the Y’vusi, the Emori, the Girgashi, ¹⁷ the Hivi, the ‘Arki, the Sini, ¹⁸ the Arvadi, the Tz’mari and the Hamati. Afterwards, the families of the Kena‘ani were dispersed. ¹⁹ The border of the Kena‘ani was from Tzidon, as you go toward G’rar, to ‘Azah; as you go toward S’dom, ‘Amora, Admah and Tzvoyim, to Lesha.

²⁰ These were the descendants of Ham, according to their families and languages, in their lands and in their nations.

²¹ Children were also born to Shem, ancestor of all the descendants of ‘Ever and older brother of Yefet. ²² The sons of Shem were ‘Elam, Ashur, Arpakhshad, Lud and Aram. ²³ The sons of Aram were ‘Utz, Hul, Geter and Mash. ²⁴ Arpakhshad fathered Shelach, and Shelach fathered ‘Ever. ²⁵ To ‘Ever were born two sons. One was given the name Peleg [division], because during his lifetime the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Yoktan. ²⁶ Yoktan fathered Almodad, Shelef, Hatzar-Mavet, Yerach, ²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸ ‘Oval, Avima’el, Sheva, ²⁹ Ofir, Havilah and Yovav — all these were the sons of Yoktan. ³⁰ Their territory stretched from Mesha, as you go toward S’far, to the mountain in the east.

³¹ These were the descendants of Shem, according to their families and languages, in their lands and in their nations.

³² These were the families of the sons of Noach, according to their generations, in their nations. From these the nations of the earth were divided up after the flood.

9 So he stepped into a boat, crossed the lake again and came to his own town. ² Some people brought him a paralyzed man lying on a mattress. When Yeshua saw their trust, he said to the paralyzed man, “Courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” ³ On seeing this, some of the Torah-teachers said among themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” ⁴ Yeshua, knowing what they were thinking, said, “Why are you entertaining evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Tell me, which is easier to say — ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your mattress, and go home!” ⁷ And the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and said a b’rakhah to God the Giver of such authority to human beings.

⁹ As Yeshua passed on from there he spotted a tax-collector named Mattityahu sitting in his collection booth. He said to him, “Follow me!” and he got up and followed him.

¹⁰ While Yeshua was in the house eating, many tax-collectors and sinners came and joined him and his talmidim at the meal. ¹¹ When the P’rushim saw this, they said to his talmidim, “Why does your rabbi eat with tax-collectors and sinners?” ¹² But Yeshua heard the question and answered, “The ones who need a doctor aren’t the healthy but the sick. ¹³ As for you, go and learn what this means: ‘I want compassion rather than animal-sacrifices.’^[a] For I didn’t come to call the ‘righteous,’ but sinners!”

¹⁴ Next, Yochanan’s talmidim came to him and asked, “Why is it that we and the P’rushim fast frequently, but your talmidim don’t fast at all?” ¹⁵ Yeshua said to them, “Can wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch tears away from the coat and leaves a worse hole. ¹⁷ Nor do people put new wine in old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. No, they pour new wine into freshly prepared wineskins, and in this way both are preserved.”

¹⁸ While he was talking, an official came in, kneeled down in front of him and said, “My daughter has just died. But if you come and lay your hand on her, she will live.” ¹⁹ Yeshua, with his talmidim, got up and followed him.

²⁰ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years approached him from behind and touched the tzitzit on his robe. ²¹ For she said to herself, “If I can only touch his robe, I will be healed.” ²² Yeshua turned, saw her and said, “Courage, daughter! Your trust has healed you.” And she was instantly healed.

²³ When Yeshua arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute-players, and the crowd in an uproar, ²⁴ he said, “Everybody out! The girl isn’t dead, she’s only sleeping!” And they jeered at him. ²⁵ But after the people had been put outside, he entered and took hold of the girl’s hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of this spread through all that region.

²⁷ As Yeshua went on from there, two blind men began following him, shouting, “Son of David! Take pity on us!” ²⁸ When he entered the house, the blind men came up, and Yeshua said to them, “Do you believe that I have the power to do this?” They replied, “Yes, sir.” ²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it happen to you according to your trust”; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Yeshua warned them severely, “See that no one knows about it.” ³¹ But instead, they went away and talked about him throughout that district.

³² As they were going, a man controlled by a demon and unable to speak was brought to Yeshua. ³³ After the demon was expelled the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Isra’el,” they said. ³⁴ But the P’rushim said, “It is through the ruler of the demons that he expels demons.”

³⁵ Yeshua went about all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and weakness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his talmidim, “The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. ³⁸ Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers to gather in his harvest.”

9 After these things had been done, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Isra’el, the cohanim and the L’vi’im have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands and their disgusting practices — the Kena‘ani, Hitti, P’rizi, Y’vusi, ‘Amoni, Mo’avi, Egyptians and Emori. ² They have taken some of the women from these nations as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has assimilated to the peoples of the lands; moreover, the officials and leaders have been the main offenders in this treachery.” ³ When I heard this, I tore my robe and tunic, pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat down in shock. ⁴ All who trembled at the words of the God of Isra’el assembled around me when confronted with the treachery of these exiles; and I sat there in shock until the evening offering.

⁵ At the evening offering, with my cloak and tunic torn, I got up from afflicting myself, fell on my knees, spread out my hands to Adonai my God, ⁶ and said, “My God, I am ashamed. I blush to lift my face to you, my God! For our sins tower over our heads; our guilt reaches up to heaven. ⁷ Since the times of our ancestors, we have been deeply guilty; and because of our sins, we, our kings and our cohanim have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to exile, to pillage and to disgrace, as is the case today. ⁸ Now, for a brief moment, Adonai our God has shown us the favor of allowing a remnant to escape and giving us a secure foothold in his holy place, in order for God to make things look brighter to us and revive us a little in our slavery. ⁹ For we are slaves. Yet our God has not abandoned us in our slavery, but has caused the kings of Persia to extend grace to us, reviving us, so that we can rebuild the house of our God, repair its ruins, and have a wall of defense in Y’hudah and Yerushalayim.

¹⁰ “But now, our God, what are we to say after this? For we have abandoned your mitzvot, ¹¹ which you gave us through your servants the prophets when they said, ‘The land which you are going to in order to take possession of it is a land defiled by the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, because of their disgusting practices, which have filled it with their filth from one end to the other. ¹² Therefore, you are not to give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons; and you are not to promote their peace or prosperity ever. Only in this way will you grow strong, enjoy the good things of the land and leave it as a lasting inheritance to your children.’ ¹³ Now, after all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our deep guilt — and even so, you, our God, have punished us less than our sins deserve and have given us a surviving remnant — ¹⁴ are we to break your mitzvot again by making marriages with the peoples who have these disgusting practices? Won’t you become so angry with us that you would destroy us completely, so that there would be no surviving remnant and no one who escapes? ¹⁵ Adonai, God of Isra’el! You are just; yet we have been left a surviving remnant that has escaped, as is the case today. Look, we are before you in our guilt; because of it, no one can stand in your presence.”

9 Meanwhile, Sha’ul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s talmidim, went to the cohen hagadol ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Dammesek, authorizing him to arrest any people he might find, whether men or women, who belonged to “the Way,” and bring them back to Yerushalayim.

³ He was on the road and nearing Dammesek, when suddenly a light from heaven flashed all around him. ⁴ Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?” ⁵ “Sir, who are you?” he asked. “I am Yeshua, and you are persecuting me. ⁶ But get up, and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.”

⁷ The men traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ They helped Sha’ul get up off the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So, leading him by the hand, they brought him into Dammesek. ⁹ For three days he remained unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ There was a talmid in Dammesek, Hananyah by name; and in a vision the Lord said to him, “Hananyah!” He said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to Straight Street, to Y’hudah’s house; and ask for a man from Tarsus named Sha’ul; for he is praying, ¹² and in a vision he has seen a man named Hananyah coming in and placing his hands on him to restore his sight.” ¹³ But Hananyah answered, “Lord, many have told me about this man, how much harm he has done to your people in Yerushalayim; ¹⁴ and here he has a warrant from the head cohanim to arrest everyone who calls on your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name to the Goyim, even to their kings, and to the sons of Isra’el as well. ¹⁶ For I myself will show him how much he will have to suffer on account of my name.”

¹⁷ So Hananyah left and went into the house. Placing his hands on him, he said, “Brother Sha’ul, the Lord — Yeshua, the one who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here — has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh.” ¹⁸ In that moment, something like scales fell away from Sha’ul’s eyes; and he could see again. He got up and was immersed; ¹⁹ then he ate some food and regained his strength.

Sha’ul spent some days with the talmidim in Dammesek, ²⁰ and immediately he began proclaiming in the synagogues that Yeshua is the Son of God. ²¹ All who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Isn’t he the man who in Yerushalayim was trying to destroy the people who call on this name? In fact, isn’t that why he came here, to arrest them and bring them back to the head cohanim?” ²² But Sha’ul was being filled with more and more power and was creating an uproar among the Jews living in Dammesek with his proofs that Yeshua is the Messiah.

²³ Quite some time later, the non-believing Jews gathered together and made plans to kill him; ²⁴ but their plot became known to Sha’ul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to do away with him; ²⁵ but under cover of night, his talmidim took him and let him down over the city wall, lowering him in a large basket.

²⁶ On reaching Yerushalayim, he tried to join the talmidim; but they were all afraid of him — they didn’t believe he was a talmid. ²⁷ However, Bar-Nabba got hold of him and took him to the emissaries. He told them how Sha’ul had seen the Lord while traveling, that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Dammesek Sha’ul had spoken out boldly in the name of Yeshua. ²⁸ So he remained with them and went all over Yerushalayim continuing to speak out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ He talked and debated with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they began making attempts to kill him. ³⁰ When the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

³¹ Then the Messianic community throughout Y’hudah, the Galil and Shomron enjoyed peace and was built up. They lived in the fear of the Lord, with the counsel of the Ruach HaKodesh; and their numbers kept multiplying.

³² As Kefa traveled around the countryside, he came down to the believers in Lud. ³³ There he found a man named Aeneas who had lain bedridden for eight years, because he was paralyzed. ³⁴ Kefa said to him, “Aeneas! Yeshua the Messiah is healing you! Get up, and make your bed!” ³⁵ Everyone living in Lud and the Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.

Now in Yafo there was a talmidah named Tavita ³⁶ (which means “gazelle”); she was always doing tzedakah and other good deeds. ³⁷ It happened that just at that time, she took sick and died. After washing her, they laid her in a room upstairs. ³⁸ Lud is near Yafo, and the talmidim had heard that Kefa was there, so they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come to us without delay.” ³⁹ Kefa got up and went with them.

When he arrived, they led him into the upstairs room. All the widows stood by him, sobbing and showing all the dresses and coats Tavita had made them while she was still with them. ⁴⁰ But Kefa put them all outside, kneeled down and prayed. Then, turning to the body, he said, “Tavita! Get up!” She opened her eyes; and on seeing Kefa, she sat up. ⁴¹ He offered her his hand and helped her to her feet; then, calling the believers and the widows, he presented her to them alive. ⁴² This became known all over Yafo, and many people put their trust in the Lord. ⁴³ Kefa stayed on in Yafo for some time with a man named Shim‘on, a leather-tanner.