M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

24 By now Avraham was old, advanced in years; and Adonai had blessed Avraham in everything. ² Avraham said to the servant who had served him the longest, who was in charge of all he owned, “Put your hand under my thigh; ³ because I want you to swear by Adonai, God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from among the women of the Kena‘ani, among whom I am living; ⁴ but that you will go to my homeland, to my kinsmen, to choose a wife for my son Yitz’chak.” ⁵ The servant replied, “Suppose the woman isn’t willing to follow me to this land. Must I then bring your son back to the land from which you came?” ⁶ Avraham said to him, “See to it that you don’t bring my son back there. ⁷ Adonai, the God of heaven — who took me away from my father’s house and away from the land I was born in, who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants’ — he will send his angel ahead of you; and you are to bring a wife for my son from there. ⁸ But if the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are released from your obligation under my oath. Just don’t bring my son back there.” ⁹ The servant put his hand under the thigh of Avraham his master and swore to him concerning the matter.

(iii) ¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and all kinds of gifts from his master, got up and went to Aram-Naharayim, to Nachor’s city. ¹¹ Toward evening, when the women go out to draw water, he had the camels kneel down outside the city by the well. ¹² He said, “Adonai, God of my master Avraham, please let me succeed today; and show your grace to my master Avraham. ¹³ Here I am, standing by the spring, as the daughters of the townsfolk come out to draw water. ¹⁴ I will say to one of the girls, ‘Please lower your jug, so that I can drink.’ If she answers, ‘Yes, drink; and I will water your camels as well,’ then let her be the one you intend for your servant Yitz’chak. This is how I will know that you have shown grace to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, Rivkah the daughter of B’tu’el son of Milkah the wife of Nachor Avraham’s brother, came out with her jug on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The girl was very beautiful, a virgin, never having had sexual relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jug and came up. ¹⁷ The servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug to drink.” ¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she replied, and immediately lowered her jug onto her arm and let him drink. ¹⁹ When she was through letting him drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have drunk their fill.” ²⁰ She quickly emptied her jug into the trough, then ran again to the well to draw water, and kept on drawing water for all his camels. ²¹ The man gazed at her in silence, waiting to find out whether Adonai had made his trip successful or not.

²² When the camels were done drinking, the man took a gold nose-ring weighing one-fifth of an ounce and two gold bracelets weighing four ounces ²³ and asked, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” ²⁴ She answered, “I am the daughter of B’tu’el the son Milkah bore to Nachor,” ²⁵ adding, “We have plenty of straw and fodder, and room for staying overnight.” ²⁶ The man bowed his head and prostrated himself before Adonai. (iv) ²⁷ Then he said, “Blessed be Adonai, God of my master Avraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love for my master; because Adonai has guided me to the house of my master’s kinsmen.” ²⁸ The girl ran off and told her mother’s household what had happened.

^29-30 Rivkah had a brother named Lavan. When he saw the nose-ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists besides, and when he heard his sister Rivkah’s report of what the man had said to her, he ran out to the spring and found the man standing there by the camels. ³¹ “Come on in,” he said, “you whom Adonai has blessed! Why are you standing outside when I have made room in the house and prepared a place for the camels?” ³² So the man went inside, and while the camels were being unloaded and provided straw and fodder, water was brought for him to wash his feet and the feet of the men with him.

³³ But when a meal was set before him, he said, “I won’t eat until I say what I have to say.” Lavan said, “Speak.” ³⁴ He said, “I am Avraham’s servant. ³⁵ Adonai has greatly blessed my master, so that he has grown wealthy. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Sarah my master’s wife bore my master a son when she was old, and he has given him everything he has. ³⁷ My master made me swear, saying, ‘You are not to choose a wife for my son from among the women of the Kena‘ani, among whom I am living; ³⁸ rather, you are to go to my father’s house, to my kinsmen, to choose a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman isn’t willing to follow me.’ ⁴⁰ Avraham answered me, ‘Adonai, in whose presence I live, will send his angel with you to make your trip successful; and you are to pick a wife for my son from my kinsmen in my father’s house; ⁴¹ this will release you from your obligation under my oath. But if, when you come to my kinsmen, they refuse to give her to you, this too will release you from my oath.’

⁴² “So today, I came to the spring and said, ‘Adonai, God of my master Avraham, if you are causing my trip to succeed in its purpose, ⁴³ then, here I am, standing by the spring. I will say to one of the girls coming out to draw water, “Let me have a sip of water from your jug.” ⁴⁴ If she answers, “Yes, drink; and I will water your camels as well,” then let her be the woman you intend for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ And even before I had finished speaking to my heart, there came Rivkah, going out with her jug on her shoulder; she went down to the spring and drew water. When I said to her, ‘Please let me have a drink,’ ⁴⁶ she immediately lowered the jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well.’ So I drank, and she had the camels drink too.

⁴⁷ “I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ and she answered, ‘The daughter of B’tu’el son of Nachor, whom Milkah bore to him.’ Then I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists, ⁴⁸ bowed my head, prostrated myself before Adonai and blessed Adonai, God of my master Avraham, for having led me in the right way to obtain my master’s brother’s [grand]daughter for his son.

⁴⁹ “So now if you people intend to show grace and truth to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me, so that I can turn elsewhere.”

⁵⁰ Lavan and B’tu’el replied, “Since this comes from Adonai, we can’t say anything to you either bad or good. ⁵¹ Rivkah is here in front of you; take her and go. Let her be your master’s son’s wife, as Adonai has said.” ⁵² When Avraham’s servant heard what they said, he prostrated himself on the ground to Adonai. (v) ⁵³ Then the servant brought out silver and gold jewelry, together with clothing, and gave them to Rivkah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and mother. ⁵⁴ He and his men then ate and drank and stayed the night.

In the morning they got up; and he said, “Send me off to my master.” ⁵⁵ Her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that, she will go.” ⁵⁶ He answered them, “Don’t delay me, since Adonai has made my trip successful, but let me go back to my master.” ⁵⁷ They said, “We will call the girl and see what she says.” ⁵⁸ They called Rivkah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?” and she replied, “I will.”

⁵⁹ So they sent their sister Rivkah away, with her nurse, Avraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rivkah with these words: “Our sister, may you be the mother of millions, and may your descendants possess the cities of those who hate them.” ⁶¹ Then Rivkah and her maids mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rivkah and went on his way.

⁶² Meanwhile, Yitz’chak, one evening after coming along the road from Be’er-Lachai-Ro’i — he was living in the Negev — ⁶³ went out walking in the field; and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rivkah too looked up; and when she saw Yitz’chak, she quickly dismounted the camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” When the servant replied, “It’s my master,” she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ The servant told Yitz’chak everything he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Yitz’chak brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent and took Rivkah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. Thus was Yitz’chak comforted for the loss of his mother.

23 Then Yeshua addressed the crowds and his talmidim: ² “The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim,” he said, “sit in the seat of Moshe. ³ So whatever they tell you, take care to do it. But don’t do what they do, because they talk but don’t act! ⁴ They tie heavy loads onto people’s shoulders but won’t lift a finger to help carry them. ⁵ Everything they do is done to be seen by others; for they make their t’fillin broad and their tzitziyot long, ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, ⁷ and they love being greeted deferentially in the marketplaces and being called ‘Rabbi.’

⁸ “But you are not to let yourselves be called ‘Rabbi’; because you have one Rabbi, and you are all each other’s brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘Father.’ because you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to let yourselves be called ‘leaders,’ because you have one Leader, and he is the Messiah! ¹¹ The greatest among you must be your servant, ¹² for whoever promotes himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be promoted.

¹³ “But woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! For you are shutting the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces, neither entering yourselves nor allowing those who wish to enter to do so. ^14 [a]

¹⁵ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You go about over land and sea to make one proselyte; and when you succeed, you make him twice as fit for Gei-Hinnom as you are!

¹⁶ “Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, ‘If someone swears by the Temple, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the gold in the Temple, he is bound.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! Which is more important? the gold? or the Temple which makes the gold holy? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the offering on the altar, he is bound.’ ¹⁹ Blind men! Which is more important? the sacrifice? or the altar which makes the sacrifice holy? ²⁰ So someone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it. ²¹ And someone who swears by the Temple swears by it and the One who lives in it. ²² And someone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and the One who sits on it.

²³ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint, dill and cumin; but you have neglected the weightier matters of the Torah — justice, mercy, trust. These are the things you should have attended to — without neglecting the others! ²⁴ Blind guides! — straining out a gnat, meanwhile swallowing a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Parush! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may be clean too.

²⁷ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of rottenness. ²⁸ Likewise, you appear to people from the outside to be good and honest, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and far from Torah.

²⁹ “Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P’rushim! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the tzaddikim, ³⁰ and you say, ‘Had we lived when our fathers did, we would never have taken part in killing the prophets.’ ³¹ In this you testify against yourselves that you are worthy descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Go ahead then, finish what your fathers started!

³³ “You snakes! Sons of snakes! How can you escape being condemned to Gei-Hinnom? ³⁴ Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and Torah-teachers — some of them you will kill, indeed, you will have them executed on stakes as criminals; some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. ³⁵ And so, on you will fall the guilt for all the innocent blood that has ever been shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Hevel to the blood of Z’kharyah Ben-Berekhyah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. ³⁶ Yes! I tell you that all this will fall on this generation!

³⁷ “Yerushalayim! Yerushalayim! You kill the prophets! You stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children, just as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you refused! ³⁸ Look! God is abandoning your house to you, leaving it desolate.^{[b] 39} For I tell you, from now on, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.’”^[c]

13 It was also at that time, when they were reading in the scroll of Moshe, that it was found written that no ‘Amoni or Mo’avi may ever enter the assembly of God, ² because they did not supply the people of Isra’el with food and water, but hired Bil‘am against them to put a curse on them — although our God turned the curse into a blessing. ³ On hearing the Torah, they separated from Isra’el everyone of mixed ancestry.

⁴ Also, prior to this, Elyashiv the cohen, who had been put in charge of the storage rooms in the house of our God, and who was related by marriage to Toviyah, ⁵ had prepared for him a large room where formerly they had stored the grain offerings, frankincense, equipment and the tenths of grain, wine and olive oil ordered to be given to the L’vi’im, singers and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the cohanim.

⁶ During all this time I wasn’t present in Yerushalayim; because in the thirty-second year of Artach’shashta king of Bavel, I went to see the king; then, after some time had passed, I asked permission from the king ⁷ and returned to Yerushalayim, where I found out about the terrible thing Elyashiv had done for Toviyah by preparing a room for him in the courtyards of the house of our God. ⁸ I was so furious that I threw all Toviyah’s household goods out of the room. ⁹ Then, at my order, they cleansed the rooms; and I brought back the equipment of the house of God, the grain offerings and frankincense.

¹⁰ I also learned that the portions for the L’vi’im had not been given to them, so that the L’vi’im and singers who were supposed to be doing the work had deserted, each one to his own farm. ¹¹ I disputed with the leaders, demanding, “Why is the house of God abandoned?” I gathered the L’vi’im together and restored them to their stations; ¹² and then all Y’hudah brought the tenth of grain, wine and olive oil to the storerooms. ¹³ To supervise the storerooms I appointed Shelemyah the cohen, Tzadok the Torah-teacher and, from the L’vi’im, P’dayah; assisting them was Hanan the son of Zakur, the son of Mattanyah; for these were considered reliable. Their duty was to make the distribution to their kinsmen. ¹⁴ My God, remember me for this; don’t wipe out my good deeds which I have done for the house of my God and for his service!

¹⁵ During this time I saw in Y’hudah some people who were treading winepresses on Shabbat, also bringing in heaps of grain and loading donkeys with it, likewise wine, grapes, figs and all kinds of loads; and they were bringing them into Yerushalayim on the day of Shabbat. On the day when they were planning to sell the food, I warned them not to. ¹⁶ There were also living there people from Tzor who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on Shabbat to the people in Y’hudah and even in Yerushalayim. ¹⁷ I disputed with the nobles of Y’hudah, demanding of them, “What is this terrible thing you are doing, profaning the day of Shabbat? ¹⁸ Didn’t your ancestors do this, and didn’t our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you are bringing still more fury against Isra’el by profaning Shabbat!” ¹⁹ So when the gates of Yerushalayim began to grow dark before Shabbat, I ordered that the doors be shut; and I ordered that they not be reopened until after Shabbat. I put some of my servants in charge of the gates, to see to it that no loads be brought in on Shabbat. ²⁰ The merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Yerushalayim once or twice, ²¹ until I warned them, “Why are you spending the night by the wall? Do it again, and I’ll use force against you!” From then on they stopped coming on Shabbat. ²² Then I ordered the L’vi’im to purify themselves and come and guard the gates, in order to keep the day of Shabbat holy. My God, remember this too for me, and have mercy on me in keeping with the greatness of your grace!

²³ Also during this time I saw the Judeans who had married women from Ashdod, ‘Amon and Mo’av; ²⁴ and their children, who spoke half in the language of Ashdod and couldn’t speak in the language the Judeans spoke but only in the language of each people. ²⁵ I disputed with them and cursed them, and I beat some of them up and pulled out their hair. Then I made them swear by God, “You will not give your daughters as wives for their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves. ²⁶ Wasn’t it by doing these things that Shlomo king of Isra’el sinned? There was no king like him among many nations, and his God loved him, and God made him king over all Isra’el; nevertheless the foreign women caused even him to sin. ²⁷ Are we to give in to you and let you continue in this very great evil, breaking faith with our God by marrying foreign women?”

²⁸ One of the sons of Yoyada the son of Elyashiv, the cohen hagadol, had become son-in-law to Sanvalat the Horoni; so I drove him out of my presence. ²⁹ My God, remember them; because they have defiled the office of cohen and the covenant of the cohanim and L’vi’im.

³⁰ Thus I cleansed them of everything foreign, and I had the cohanim and L’vi’im resume their duties, each one in his appointed task. ³¹ I also made provision for the delivery of wood at stated times, and for the firstfruits. My God, remember me favorably.

23 Sha’ul looked straight at them and said, “Brothers, I have been discharging my obligations to God with a perfectly clear conscience, right up until today.” ² But the cohen hagadol, Hananyah, ordered those standing near him to strike him on the mouth. ³ Then Sha’ul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Will you sit there judging me according to the Torah, yet in violation of the Torah order me to be struck?” ⁴ The men nearby said, “This is the cohen hagadol of God that you’re insulting!” ⁵ Sha’ul said, “I didn’t know, brothers, that he was the cohen hagadol; for it says in the Torah, ‘You are not to speak disparagingly of a ruler of your people.’”^[a]

⁶ But knowing that one part of the Sanhedrin consisted of Tz’dukim and the other of P’rushim, Sha’ul shouted, “Brothers, I myself am a Parush and the son of P’rushim; and it is concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am being tried!” ⁷ When he said this, an argument arose between the P’rushim and the Tz’dukim, and the crowd was divided. ⁸ For the Tz’dukim deny the resurrection and the existence of angels and spirits; whereas the P’rushim acknowledge both. ⁹ So there was a great uproar, with some of the Torah-teachers who were on the side of the P’rushim standing up and joining in — “We don’t find anything wrong with this man; and if a spirit or an angel spoke to him, what of it?” ¹⁰ The dispute became so violent that the commander, fearing that Sha’ul would be torn apart by them, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force and bring him back into the barracks.

¹¹ The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage! For just as you have borne a faithful witness to me in Yerushalayim, so now you must bear witness in Rome.”

¹² The next day, some of the Judeans formed a conspiracy. They took an oath, saying they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Sha’ul; ¹³ more than forty were involved in this plot. ¹⁴ They went to the head cohanim and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food until we have killed Sha’ul. ¹⁵ What you are to do is make it appear to the commander that you and the Sanhedrin want to get more accurate information about Sha’ul’s case, so that he will bring him down to you; while we, for our part, are prepared to kill him before he ever gets here.”

¹⁶ But the son of Sha’ul’s sister got wind of the planned ambush, and he went into the barracks and told Sha’ul. ¹⁷ Sha’ul called one of the officers and said, “Take this man up to the commander; he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸ So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Sha’ul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.” ¹⁹ The commander took him by the hand, led him aside privately and asked, “What is it you have to tell me?” ²⁰ He said, “The Judeans have agreed to ask you tomorrow to bring Sha’ul down to the Sanhedrin on the pretext that they want to investigate his case more thoroughly. ²¹ But don’t let yourself be talked into it, because more than forty men are lying in wait for him. They have taken an oath neither to eat nor to drink until they kill him; and they are ready now, only waiting for you to give your consent to their request.”

²² The commander let the young man go, cautioning him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.” ²³ Then he summoned two of the captains and said, “Get two hundred infantry soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight, and seventy mounted cavalry and two hundred spearmen; ²⁴ also provide replacements for Sha’ul’s horse when it gets tired; and bring him through safely to Felix the governor.” ²⁵ And the commander wrote the following letter:

Greetings!

³¹ So the soldiers, following their orders, took Sha’ul during the night and brought him to Antipatris, ³² then returned to the barracks after leaving the cavalry to go on with him. ³³ The cavalry took him to Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor, and handed Sha’ul over to him. ³⁴ The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. On learning he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will give you a full hearing after your accusers have also arrived,” and ordered him to be kept under guard in Herod’s headquarters.