M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

22 (vii) After these things, God tested Avraham. He said to him, “Avraham!” and he answered, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Yitz’chak; and go to the land of Moriyah. There you are to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will point out to you.”

³ Avraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, together with Yitz’chak his son. He cut the wood for the burnt offering, departed and went toward the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day, Avraham raised his eyes and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ Avraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go there, worship and return to you.” ⁶ Avraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Yitz’chak his son. Then he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and they both went on together.

⁷ Yitz’chak spoke to Avraham his father: “My father?” He answered, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Avraham replied, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son”; and they both went on together.

⁹ They came to the place God had told him about; and Avraham built the altar there, set the wood in order, bound Yitz’chak his son and laid him on the altar, on the wood. ¹⁰ Then Avraham put out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

¹¹ But the angel of Adonai called to him out of heaven: “Avraham? Avraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy! Don’t do anything to him! For now I know that you are a man who fears God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ Avraham raised his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. Avraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴ Avraham called the place Adonai Yir’eh [Adonai will see (to it), Adonai provides] — as it is said to this day, “On the mountain Adonai is seen.”

¹⁵ The angel of Adonai called to Avraham a second time out of heaven. ¹⁶ He said, “I have sworn by myself — says Adonai — that because you have done this, because you haven’t withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will most certainly bless you; and I will most certainly increase your descendants to as many as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and by your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed — because you obeyed my order.”

¹⁹ So Avraham returned to his young men. They got up and went together to Be’er-Sheva, and Avraham settled in Be’er-Sheva.

(Maftir) ²⁰ Afterwards, Avraham was told, “Milkah too has borne children, to your brother Nachor — ²¹ ‘Utz his firstborn, Buz his brother, K’mu’el the father of Aram, ²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Yidlaf and B’tu’el. ²³ B’tu’el fathered Rivkah. These eight Milkah bore to Nachor Avraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Re’umah, bore children also: Tevach, Gacham, Tachash and Ma‘akhah.

Haftarah Vayera: M’lakhim Bet (2 Kings) 4:1–37 (A); 4:1–23 (S)

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Vayera: Luke 17:26 –37; Romans 9:6 – 9; Galatians 4:21–31; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 6:13–20; 11:13–19; Ya‘akov (James) 2:14–24; 2 Kefa (2 Peter) 2:4–10

21 As they were approaching Yerushalayim, they came to Beit-Pagei on the Mount of Olives. Yeshua sent two talmidim ² with these instructions: “Go into the village ahead of you, and you will immediately find a donkey tethered there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, tell him, ‘The Lord needs them’; and he will let them go at once.” ⁴ This happened in order to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet,

⁶ So the talmidim went and did as Yeshua had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put their robes on them, and Yeshua sat on them. ⁸ Crowds of people carpeted the road with their clothing, while others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds ahead of him and behind shouted,

to the Son of David;

¹⁰ When he entered Yerushalayim, the whole city was stirred. “Who is this?” they asked. ¹¹ And the crowds answered, “This is Yeshua, the prophet from Natzeret in the Galil.”

¹² Yeshua entered the Temple grounds and drove out those who were doing business there, both the merchants and their customers. He upset the desks of the money-changers and knocked over the benches of those who were selling pigeons. ¹³ He said to them, “It has been written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’^[e] But you are making it into a den of robbers!”^[f]

¹⁴ Blind and lame people came up to him in the Temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the head cohanim and Torah-teachers saw the wonderful things he was doing, and the children crying out in the Temple, “Please deliver us!”^[g] to the Son of David, they were furious. ¹⁶ They said to him, “Do you hear what they’re saying?” Yeshua replied, “Of course! Haven’t you ever read,

¹⁷ With that, he left them and went outside the city to Beit-Anyah, where he spent the night.

¹⁸ The next morning, on his way back to the city, he felt hungry. ¹⁹ Spotting a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. So he said to it, “May you never again bear fruit!” and immediately the fig tree dried up. ²⁰ The talmidim saw this and were amazed. “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?” they asked. ²¹ Yeshua answered them, “Yes! I tell you, if you have trust and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to this fig tree; but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Go and throw yourself into the sea!’ it will be done. ²² In other words, you will receive everything you ask for in prayer, no matter what it is, provided you have trust.”

²³ He went into the Temple area; and as he was teaching, the head cohanim and the elders of the people approached him and demanded, “What s’mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? And who gave you this s’mikhah?” ²⁴ Yeshua answered, “I too will ask you a question. If you answer it, then I will tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things. ²⁵ The immersion of Yochanan — where did it come from? From Heaven or from a human source?” They discussed it among themselves: “If we say, ‘From Heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From a human source,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard Yochanan as a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Yeshua, “We don’t know.” And he replied, “Then I won’t tell you by what s’mikhah I do these things.

²⁸ “But give me your opinion: a man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered, ‘I don’t want to’; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The father went to his other son and said the same thing. This one answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he didn’t go. ³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they replied. “That’s right!” Yeshua said to them. “I tell you that the tax-collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you! ³² For Yochanan came to you showing the path to righteousness, and you wouldn’t trust him. The tax-collectors and prostitutes trusted him; but you, even after you saw this, didn’t change your minds later and trust him.

³³ “Now listen to another parable. There was a farmer who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower; then he rented it to tenants and left. ³⁴ When harvest-time came, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the crop. ³⁵ But the tenants seized his servants — this one they beat up, that one they killed, another they stoned. ³⁶ So he sent some other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally, he sent them his son, saying, ‘My son they will respect.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ ³⁹ So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They answered him, “He will viciously destroy those vicious men and rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop when it’s due.” ⁴² Yeshua said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Tanakh,

⁴³ Therefore, I tell you that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the kind of people that will produce its fruit!” ^44 [j]

⁴⁵ As the head cohanim and the P’rushim listened to his stories, they saw that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ But when they set about to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds; because the crowds considered him a prophet.

11 The leaders of the people took up residence in Yerushalayim; while the rest of the people cast lots to bring one-tenth of them to live in Yerushalayim the holy city, with the other nine-tenths in the other cities. ² The people blessed all those who volunteered to live in Yerushalayim.

³ In the cities of Y’hudah, everyone lived on his own property — the people of Isra’el, the cohanim, the L’vi’im, the temple servants and the descendants of Shlomo’s servants. But the leaders of the province lived in Yerushalayim. ⁴ Some of those living in Yerushalayim were from people of Y’hudah, and others were from people of Binyamin. Those from the people of Y’hudah were: ‘Atayah the son of ‘Uziyah, the son of Z’kharyah, the son of Amaryah, the son of Sh’fatyah, the son of Mahalal’el, from the descendants of Peretz; ⁵ and Ma‘aseiyah the son of Barukh, the son of Kol-Hozeh, the son of Hazayah, the son of ‘Adayah, the son of Yoyariv, the son of Z’kharyah, who belonged to the family of Shelah. ⁶ The total number of descendants of Peretz living in Yerushalayim was 468 courageous men.

⁷ These are the people of Binyamin: Salu the son of Meshulam, the son of Yo‘ed, the son of P’dayah, the son of Kolayah, the son of Ma‘aseiyah, the son of Iti’el, the son of Yesha‘yah. ⁸ After him: Gabai, Salai; 928 in all. ⁹ Yo’el the son of Zikhri was their overseer, and Y’hudah the son of Hasnu’ah was second in charge of the city.

¹⁰ From the cohanim: Y’da‘yah the son of Yoyariv, Yakhin, ¹¹ S’rayah the son of Hilkiyah, the son of Meshulam, the son of Tzadok, the son of M’rayot, the son of Achituv, the supervisor of the house of God, ¹² and their kinsmen who did the work for the house; in all 822; and ‘Adayah the son of Yerocham, the son of P’lalyah, the son of Amtzi, the son of Z’kharyah, the son of Pash’chur, the son of Malkiyah; ¹³ with his kinsmen, heads of fathers’ clans, 242; and ‘Amash’sai the son of ‘Azar’el, the son of Achzai, the son of Meshillemot, the son of Immer; ¹⁴ with his kinsmen, courageous men, 128; their overseer was Zavdi’el the son of HaG’dolim.

¹⁵ From the L’vi’im: Sh’ma‘yah the son of Hashuv, the son of ‘Azrikam, the son of Hashavyah, the son of Buni, ¹⁶ and Shabtai and Yozavad, from the leaders of the L’vi’im, who were in charge of external affairs for the house of God; ¹⁷ and Matanyah the son of Mikha, the son of Zavdi, the son of Asaf, the leader who began the thanksgiving prayer; and Bakbukyah, the second among his kinsmen; and ‘Avda the son of Shamua, the son of Galal, the son of Y’dutun. ¹⁸ All the L’vi’im in the holy city numbered 284.

¹⁹ The gatekeepers: ‘Akuv, Talmon and their kinsmen, who kept watch at the gates, numbered 172.

²⁰ The rest of Isra’el, [the rest of] the cohanim and [the rest of] the L’vi’im were in all the cities of Y’hudah, each on his own property.

²¹ The temple servants lived in the ‘Ofel; Tzicha and Gishpa were in charge of the temple servants.

²² The overseer of the L’vi’im in Yerushalayim was ‘Uzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashavyah, the son of Matanyah, the son of Mikha, from the descendants of Asaf the singers; [he was] in charge of the work of the house of God. ²³ For they were subject to the king’s orders; and there was a fixed schedule for the singers, assigning them their daily duties. ²⁴ P’tachyah the son of Mesheizav’el, from the descendants of Zerach the son of Y’hudah, was the king’s deputy in all affairs concerning the people.

²⁵ As for the villages and their surrounding fields: some of the people of Y’hudah lived in Kiryat-Arba and its villages, in Divon and its villages, in Y’kabze’el and its villages, ²⁶ in Yeshua, in Moladah, in Beit-Pelet, ²⁷ in Hatzar-Shu‘al and its villages, in Be’er-Sheva and its villages, ²⁸ in Ziklag, in M’khonah and its villages, ²⁹ in ‘Ein-Rimmon, in Tzor‘ah, in Yarmut, ³⁰ Zanoach, Adulam and their villages, in Lakhish and its surrounding fields, and in ‘Azekah and its villages. Thus they occupied the territory from Be’er-Sheva as far as the Hinnom Valley.

³¹ The people of Binyamin lived from Geva onward, in Mikhmas and ‘Ayah, in Beit-El and its villages, ³² and in ‘Anatot, Nov, ‘Ananyah, ³³ Hatzor, Ramah, Gittayim, ³⁴ Hadid, Tzvo‘im, N’valat, ³⁵ Lud, Ono and Gei-Harashim.

³⁶ Of the L’vi’im, some divisions from Y’hudah settled in Binyamin.

21 After we had torn ourselves away from the Ephesian elders, we set sail and made a straight run to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ² On finding a ship that was crossing over to Phoenicia, we embarked and set sail. ³ After sighting Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria and landed at Tzor, because that was where the ship was unloading its cargo. ⁴ Having searched out the talmidim there, we remained for a week. Guided by the Spirit, they told Sha’ul not to go up to Yerushalayim; ⁵ but when the week was over, we left to continue our journey. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the town. Kneeling on the beach and praying, ⁶ we said good-bye to each other. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ When the voyage from Tzor was over, we arrived at Ptolemais. There we greeted the brothers and stayed with them overnight. ⁸ The following day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the home of Philip the proclaimer of the Good News, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters with the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰ While we were staying there, a prophet named Agav came down from Y’hudah ¹¹ to visit us. He took Sha’ul’s belt, tied up his own hands and feet and said, “Here is what the Ruach HaKodesh says: the man who owns this belt — the Judeans in Yerushalayim will tie him up just like this and hand him over to the Goyim.” ¹² When we heard this, both we and the people there begged him not to go up to Yerushalayim; ¹³ but Sha’ul answered, “What are you doing, crying and trying to weaken my resolve? I am prepared not only to be tied up, but even to die in Yerushalayim for the name of the Lord Yeshua.” ¹⁴ And when he would not be convinced, we said, “May the Lord’s will be done,” and kept quiet.

¹⁵ So at the end of our stay, we packed and went up to Yerushalayim; ¹⁶ and with us went some of the talmidim from Caesarea. They brought us to the home of the man with whom we were to stay, Mnason from Cyprus, who had been a talmid since the early days.

¹⁷ In Yerushalayim, the brothers received us warmly. ¹⁸ The next day Sha’ul and the rest of us went in to Ya‘akov, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, Sha’ul described in detail each of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts.

²⁰ On hearing it, they praised God; but they also said to him, “You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Judeans, and they are all zealots for the Torah. ²¹ Now what they have been told about you is that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Goyim to apostatize from Moshe, telling them not to have a b’rit-milah for their sons and not to follow the traditions.

²² “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. ²⁴ Take them with you, be purified with them, and pay the expenses connected with having their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to these rumors which they have heard about you; but that, on the contrary, you yourself stay in line and keep the Torah.

²⁵ “However, in regard to the Goyim who have come to trust in Yeshua, we all joined in writing them a letter with our decision that they should abstain from what had been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled and from fornication.”

²⁶ The next day Sha’ul took the men, purified himself along with them and entered the Temple to give notice of when the period of purification would be finished and the offering would have to be made for each of them. ²⁷ The seven days were almost up when some unbelieving Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the Temple, stirred up all the crowd and grabbed him. ²⁸ “Men of Isra’el, help!” they shouted. “This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone things against the people, against the Torah and against this place! And now he has even brought some Goyim into the Temple and defiled this holy place!” ²⁹ (They had previously seen Trophimus from Ephesus in the city with him and assumed that Sha’ul had brought him into the Temple.)

³⁰ The whole city was aroused, and people came running from all over. They seized Sha’ul and dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the gates were shut. ³¹ But while they were attempting to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman battalion that all Yerushalayim was in turmoil. ³² Immediately he took officers and soldiers and charged down upon them. As soon as they saw the commander, they quit beating Sha’ul.

³³ Then the commander came up, arrested him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Everyone in the crowd shouted something different; so, since he couldn’t find out what had happened because of the uproar, he ordered him brought to the barracks. ³⁵ When Sha’ul got to the steps, he actually had to be carried by the soldiers, because the mob was so wild — ³⁶ the crowd kept following and screaming, “Kill him!”

³⁷ As Sha’ul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “Is it all right if I say something to you?” The commander said, “You know Greek! ³⁸ Say, aren’t you that Egyptian who tried to start a revolution a while back, and led four thousand armed terrorists out into the desert?” ³⁹ Sha’ul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; and I ask your permission to let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ Having received permission, Sha’ul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When they finally became still, he addressed them in Hebrew: