M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

14 (iv) When Amrafel was king of Shin‘ar, Aryokh king of Elasar, K’dorla‘omer king of ‘Elam and Tid‘al king of Goyim; ² they made war together against Bera king of S’dom and against Birsha king of ‘Amora, Shin’av king of Admah, Shem’ever king of Tzvoyim, and the king of Bela (which is the same as Tzo‘ar). ³ All the latter kings joined forces in the Siddim Valley, where the Dead Sea is. ⁴ They had served K’dorla‘omer twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵ In the fourteenth year K’dorla‘omer and the kings with him came and defeated the Refa’im in ‘Asht’rot-Karnayim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Eimim in Shaveh-Kiryatayim ⁶ and the Hori at Se‘ir, their mountain, all the way to Eil-Pa’ran by the desert. ⁷ Next they turned back, came to ‘Ein-Mishpat (which is the same as Kadesh), and defeated all the country of the ‘Amaleki, and also the Emori, who lived in Hatzatzon-Tamar. ⁸ Then the kings of S’dom, ‘Amora, Admah, Tzvoyim and Bela (that is, Tzo‘ar) came out and arrayed themselves for battle in the Siddim Valley ⁹ against K’dorla‘omer king of ‘Elam, Tid‘al king of Goyim, Amrafel king of Admah and Aryokh king of Elasar, four kings against the five.

¹⁰ Now the Siddim Valley was full of clay pits; and when the kings of S’dom and ‘Amora fled, some fell into them; while the rest fled to the hills. ¹¹ The victors took all the possessions of S’dom and ‘Amora and all their food supply; then they left. ¹² But as they left, they took Lot, Avram’s brother’s son, and his possessions; since he was living in S’dom. ¹³ Someone who had escaped came and told Avram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Emori, brother of Eshkol and brother of ‘Aner; all of them allies of Avram. ¹⁴ When Avram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, who had been born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ¹⁵ During the night he and his servants divided his forces against them, then attacked and pursued them all the way to Hovah, north of Dammesek. ¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, together with the women and the other people. ¹⁷ After his return from slaughtering K’dorla‘omer and the kings with him, the king of S’dom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley, also known as the King’s Valley.

¹⁸ Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine. He was cohen of El ‘Elyon [God Most High], ¹⁹ so he blessed him with these words:

Avram gave him a tenth of everything.

(v) ²¹ The king of S’dom said to Avram, “Give me the people, and keep the goods for yourself.” ²² But Avram answered the king of S’dom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to Adonai, El ‘Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal thong of anything that is yours; so that you won’t be able to say, ‘I made Avram rich.’ ²⁴ I will take only what my troops have eaten and the share of the spoil belonging to the men who came with me — ‘Aner, Eshkol and Mamre; let them have their share.”

13 That same day, Yeshua went out of the house and sat down by the lake; ² but such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there while the crowd stood on the shore. ³ He told them many things in parables:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky patches where there was not much soil. It sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow; ⁶ but when the sun had risen, the young plants were scorched; and since their roots were not deep, they dried up. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ But others fell into rich soil and produced grain, a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as had been sown. ⁹ Those who have ears, let them hear!”

¹⁰ Then the talmidim came and asked Yeshua, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” ¹¹ He answered, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them. ¹² For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. ¹³ Here is why I speak to them in parables: they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. ¹⁴ That is, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Yesha‘yahu which says,

¹⁶ But you, how blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear! ¹⁷ Yes indeed! I tell you that many a prophet and many a tzaddik longed to see the things you are seeing but did not see them, and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them.

¹⁸ “So listen to what the parable of the sower means. ¹⁹ Whoever hears the message about the Kingdom, but doesn’t understand it, is like the seed sown along the path — the Evil One comes and seizes what was sown in his heart. ²⁰ The seed sown on rocky ground is like a person who hears the message and accepts it with joy at once, ²¹ but has no root in himself. So he stays on for a while; but as soon as some trouble or persecution arises on account of the message, he immediately falls away. ²² Now the seed sown among thorns stands for someone who hears the message, but it is choked by the worries of the world and the deceitful glamor of wealth, so that it produces nothing. ²³ However, what was sown on rich soil is the one who hears the message and understands it; such a person will surely bear fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

²⁴ Yeshua put before them another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, then went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads of grain, the weeds also appeared. ²⁷ The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ ²⁸ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants asked him, ‘Then do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, because if you pull up the weeds, you might uproot some of the wheat at the same time. ³⁰ Let them both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest-time I will tell the reapers to collect the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn.’”

³¹ Yeshua put before them another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man takes and sows in his field. ³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up it is larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree, so that the birds flying about come and nest in its branches.”

³³ And he told them yet another parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with a bushel of flour, then waited until the whole batch of dough rose.”

³⁴ All these things Yeshua said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without using a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet,

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His talmidim approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸ the field is the world. As for the good seed, these are the people who belong to the Kingdom; and the weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One. ³⁹ The enemy who sows them is the Adversary, the harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are collected and burned up in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all the things that cause people to sin and all the people who are far from Torah; ⁴² and they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where people will wail and grind their teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let him hear!

⁴⁴ “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. A man found it, hid it again, then in great joy went and sold everything he owned, and bought that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ On finding one very valuable pearl he went away, sold everything he owned and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Once more, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net thrown into the lake, that caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen brought the net up onto the shore, sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad fish away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the close of the age — the angels will go forth and separate the evil people from among the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will wail and grind their teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. ⁵² He said to them, “So then, every Torah-teacher who has been made into a talmid for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new things and old.”

⁵³ When Yeshua had finished these parables, he left ⁵⁴ and went to his home town. There he taught them in their synagogue in a way that astounded them, so that they asked, “Where do this man’s wisdom and miracles come from? ⁵⁵ Isn’t he the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Miryam? and his brothers Ya‘akov, Yosef, Shim‘on and Y’hudah? ⁵⁶ And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all this?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him. But Yeshua said to them, “The only place people don’t respect a prophet is in his home town and in his own house.” ⁵⁸ And he did few miracles there because of their lack of trust.

3 Then Elyashiv the cohen hagadol set out with his fellow cohanim, and they rebuilt the Sheep Gate. They consecrated it and set up its doors; they consecrated it as far as the Tower of the Hundred and on to the Tower of Hanan’el. ² Next to him the men from Yericho built. Next to him Zakur the son of Imri built.

³ The sons of Hasna’ah rebuilt the Fish Gate; they installed its timber framework and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars. ⁴ Next to them M’remot the son of Uriyah, the son of Hakotz, made repairs. Next to them Meshulam the son of Berekhyah, the son of Mesheizav’el, made repairs. Next to them Tzadok the son of Ba‘ana made repairs. ⁵ Next to them the men from T’koa made repairs; but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.

⁶ Yoyada the son of Paseach and Meshulam the son of B’sodyah made repairs to the Old City Gate; they installed its timber framework and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars. ⁷ Next to them M’latyah the Giv‘oni, Yadon the Meronoti and the men from Giv‘on and Mitzpah made repairs; they worked for the people associated with the governor of the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River. ⁸ Next to them ‘Uzi’el the son of Harhayah, goldsmiths, made repairs.

Next to him Hananyah, one of the perfume-makers, made repairs; they renovated Yerushalayim as far as the Broad Wall. ⁹ Next to them Refayah the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Yerushalayim, made repairs. ¹⁰ Next to him Y’dayah the son of Harumaf made repairs opposite his own house. Next to him Hatush the son of Hashavn’yah made repairs. ¹¹ Malkiyah the son of Harim and Hashuv the son of Pachat-Mo’av made repairs on another section and on the Tower of the Ovens. ¹² Next to him Shalum the son of HaLochesh, leader of half the district of Yerushalayim, he and his daughters, made repairs.

¹³ Hanun and the people living in Zanoach repaired the Valley Gate; they rebuilt it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars; and they rebuilt 1,500 feet of the wall, as far as the Dung Gate.

¹⁴ Malkiyah the son of Rechav, leader of the district of Beit-Hakerem, repaired the Dung Gate; he rebuilt it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars.

¹⁵ Shalun the son of Kol-Hozeh, leader of the district of Mitzpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he rebuilt it, covered it and set up its doors, along with its bolts and bars; he also rebuilt the wall of the Pool of Shelach, by the royal garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David. ¹⁶ After him Nechemyah the son of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beit-Tzur, made repairs from the place opposite the tombs of David as far as the artificial pool and the soldiers’ barracks. ¹⁷ After him the L’vi’im made repairs: Rechum the son of Bani; next to him Hashavyah, leader of half the district of Ke‘ilah, made repairs for his district. ¹⁸ After him their colleagues, Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of half the district of Ke‘ilah, made repairs. ¹⁹ Next to him ‘Ezer the son of Yeshua, leader of Mitzpah, made repairs on another section, opposite the ascent to the armory at the Angle. ²⁰ After him Barukh the son of Zakkai worked diligently making repairs on another section, from the Angle to the door of the house of Elyashiv the cohen hagadol. ²¹ After him M’remot the son of Uriyah made repairs on another section, from the door of the house of Elyashiv to the end of the house of Elyashiv. ²² After him the cohanim from the plain made repairs. ²³ After them Binyamin and Hashuv made repairs opposite their house. After them ‘Azaryah the son of Ma‘aseiyah, the son of ‘Ananyah, made repairs next to his house. ²⁴ After him Binui the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of ‘Azaryah to the Angle and to the Corner. ²⁵ Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the Angle and the tower that projects out from the upper part of the royal palace near the Courtyard of the Guard.

After him P’dayah the son of Par‘osh made repairs ²⁶ (since the temple servants were living in the ‘Ofel) as far as opposite the Water Gate to the east and the tower that projects out. ²⁷ After him the men from T’koa repaired another section, opposite the great tower that projects out and on to the wall of the ‘Ofel.

²⁸ Above the Horse Gate the cohanim made repairs, each one opposite his own house. ²⁹ After them Tzadok the son of Immer made repairs opposite his house. After him Sh’ma‘yah the son of Sh’khanyah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs. ³⁰ After him Hananyah the son of Shelemyah and Hanun the sixth son of Tzalaf made repairs on another section. After him Meshulam the son of Berekhyah made repairs opposite his own room.

³¹ After him Malkiyah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and the merchants, opposite the Mustering Gate and on to the upper room at the corner. ³² Finally, between the upper room at the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and merchants made repairs.

^33 (4:1) But when Sanvalat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he was furious. Greatly enraged, he ridiculed the Judeans; ^34 (4:2) before his kinsmen and the army of Shomron he said, “What are these pathetic Judeans doing? Are they going to rebuild anything they want? Are they going to sacrifice? Are they going to finish today? Are they going to recover useful stones from the piles of rubble, burned rubble at that?” ^35 (4:3) Toviyah the ‘Amoni was with him, and he said, “Whatever they’re building, why, if even a fox went up it, he’d knock their stone wall down!”

^36 (4:4) Our God, listen! We are being treated with contempt. Turn back their jeers on their own heads; give them over to be plundered in a land of exile. ^37 (4:5) Don’t cover their guilt, don’t let their sin be wiped out from before you; because they have insulted the builders to their face.

^38 (4:6) So we kept building the wall, which was soon joined together and completed to half its height all the way around; because the people worked with a will.

13 In the Antioch congregation were prophets and teachers — Bar-Nabba, Shim‘on (known as “the Black”), Lucius (from Cyrene), Menachem (who had been brought up with Herod the governor) and Sha’ul. ² One time when they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Ruach HaKodesh said to them, “Set aside for me Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ After fasting and praying, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴ So these two, after they had been sent out by the Ruach HaKodesh, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ After landing in Salamis, they began proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues, with Yochanan (Mark) as an assistant; ⁶ and thus they made their way throughout the whole island.

They ended up in Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and pseudo-prophet named Bar-Yeshua. ⁷ He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. Now the governor had called for Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul and was anxious to hear the message about God; ⁸ but the sorcerer Elymas (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, doing his best to turn the governor away from the faith. ⁹ Then Sha’ul, also known as Paul, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, stared straight at him and said, ¹⁰ “You son of Satan, full of fraud and evil! You enemy of everything good! Won’t you ever stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?^{[a] 11} So now, look! The hand of the Lord is upon you; and for a while you will be blind, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over Elymas; and he groped about, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then, on seeing what had happened, the governor trusted, astounded by the teaching about the Lord.

¹³ Having set sail from Paphos, Sha’ul and his companions arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. There Yochanan left them and returned to Yerushalayim, ¹⁴ but the others went on from Perga to Pisidian Antioch, and on Shabbat they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading from the Torah and from the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent them a message, “Brothers, if any of you has a word of exhortation for the people, speak!” ¹⁶ So Sha’ul stood, motioned with his hand, and said:

“Men of Isra’el and God-fearers, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people Isra’el chose our fathers. He made the people great during the time when they were living as aliens in Egypt and with a stretched-out arm he led them out of that land.^{[b] 18} For some forty years^[c] he took care of them in the desert, ¹⁹ and after he had destroyed seven nations^[d] in the land of Kena‘an he gave their land to his people as an inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. After that, he gave them judges,^[e] down to the prophet Sh’mu’el. ²¹ Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Sha’ul Ben-Kish, a man from the tribe of Binyamin. After forty years, ²² God removed him and raised up David as king for them, making his approval known with these words, ‘I found David Ben-Yishai to be a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want.’^[f]

²³ “In keeping with his promise, God has brought to Isra’el from this man’s descendants a deliverer, Yeshua. ²⁴ Now before the coming of Yeshua, Yochanan proclaimed to all the people of Isra’el an immersion in connection with turning to God from sin. ²⁵ But as Yochanan was ending his work, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? Well — I’m not! But after me is coming someone, the sandals of whose feet I am unworthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Brothers! — sons of Avraham and those among you who are ‘God-fearers’! It is to us that the message of this deliverance has been sent! ²⁷ For the people living in Yerushalayim and their leaders did not recognize who Yeshua was or understand the message of the Prophets read every Shabbat, so they fulfilled that message by condemning him. ²⁸ They could not find any legitimate ground for a death sentence; nevertheless they asked Pilate to have him executed; ²⁹ and when they had carried out all the things written about him, he was taken down from the stake^[g] and placed in a tomb.

³⁰ “But God raised him from the dead! ³¹ He appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim; and they are now his witnesses to the people.

³² “As for us, we are bringing you the Good News that what God promised to the fathers, ³³ he has fulfilled for us the children in raising up Yeshua, as indeed it is written in the second Psalm,

³⁴ And as for his raising him up from the dead, to return to decay no more, he said,

³⁵ This is explained elsewhere:

³⁶ For David did indeed serve God’s purposes in his own generation; but after that, he died, was buried with his fathers and did see decay. ³⁷ However, the one God raised up did not see decay.

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this man is proclaimed forgiveness of sins! ³⁹ That is, God clears everyone who puts his trust in this man, even in regard to all the things concerning which you could not be cleared by the Torah of Moshe.

⁴⁰ “Watch out, then, so that this word found in the Prophets may not happen to you:

⁴² As they left, the people invited Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba to tell them more about these matters the following Shabbat. ⁴³ When the synagogue meeting broke up, many of the born Jews and devout proselytes followed Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba, who spoke with them and urged them to keep holding fast to the love and kindness of God.

⁴⁴ The next Shabbat, nearly the whole city gathered together to hear the message about the Lord; ⁴⁵ but when the Jews who had not believed saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and spoke up against what Sha’ul was saying and insulted him. ⁴⁶ However, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba answered boldly: “It was necessary that God’s word be spoken first to you. But since you are rejecting it and are judging yourselves unworthy of eternal life — why, we’re turning to the Goyim! ⁴⁷ For that is what Adonai has ordered us to do:

⁴⁸ The Gentiles were very happy to hear this. They honored the message about the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life came to trust. ⁴⁹ And the message about the Lord was carried throughout the whole region.

⁵⁰ But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the women ‘God-fearers’ of high social standing and the leading men of the city, and they organized persecution against Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba and expelled them from their district. ⁵¹ However, Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba shook off the dust of their feet against them and went on to Iconium; ⁵² and the talmidim were filled with joy and with the Ruach HaKodesh.