M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

27 In the course of time, after Yitz’chak had grown old and his eyes dim, so that he couldn’t see, he called ‘Esav his older son and said to him, “My son?” and he answered, “Here I am.” ² “Look, I’m old now, I don’t know when I will die. ³ Therefore, please take your hunting gear — your quiver of arrows and your bow; go out in the country, and get me some game. ⁴ Make it tasty, the way I like it; and bring it to me to eat. Then I will bless you [as firstborn], before I die.”

⁵ Rivkah was listening when Yitz’chak spoke to his son ‘Esav. So when ‘Esav went out to the country to hunt for game and bring it back, ⁶ she said to her son Ya‘akov, “Listen! I heard your father telling ‘Esav your brother, ⁷ ‘Bring me game, and make it tasty, so I can eat it. Then I will give you my blessing in the presence of Adonai, before my death.’ ⁸ Now pay attention to me, my son; and do what I tell you. ⁹ Go to the flock, and bring me back two choice kids. I will make it tasty for your father, the way he likes it; ¹⁰ and you will bring it to your father to eat; so that he will give his blessing to you before his death.” ¹¹ Ya‘akov answered Rivkah his mother, “Look, ‘Esav is hairy, but I have smooth skin. ¹² Suppose my father touches me — he’ll know I’m trying to trick him, and I’ll bring a curse on myself, not a blessing!” ¹³ But his mother said, “Let your curse be on me. Just listen to me, and go get me the kids!” ¹⁴ So he went, got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared them in the tasty way his father loved. ¹⁵ Next, Rivkah took ‘Esav her older son’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on Ya‘akov her younger son; ¹⁶ and she put the skins of the goats on his hands and on the smooth parts of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave the tasty food and the bread she had prepared to her son Ya‘akov.

¹⁸ He went to his father and said, “My father?” He replied, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Ya‘akov said to his father, “I am ‘Esav your firstborn. I’ve done what you asked me to do. Get up now, sit down, eat the game, and then give me your blessing.” ²⁰ Yitz’chak said to his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Adonai your God made it happen that way.” ²¹ Yitz’chak said to Ya‘akov, “Come here, close to me, so I can touch you, my son, and know whether you are in fact my son ‘Esav or not.” ²² Ya‘akov approached Yitz’chak his father, who touched him and said, “The voice is Ya‘akov’s voice, but the hands are ‘Esav’s hands.” ²³ However, he didn’t detect him; because his hands were hairy like his brother ‘Esav’s hands; so he gave him his blessing. ²⁴ He asked, “Are you really my son ‘Esav?” And he replied, “I am.” ²⁵ He said, “Bring it here to me, and I will eat my son’s game, so that I can give you my blessing.” So he brought it up to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Yitz’chak said to him, “Come close now, and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ He approached and kissed him. Yitz’chak smelled his clothes and blessed Ya‘akov with these words: “See, my son smells like a field which Adonai has blessed. (vi) ²⁸ So may God give you dew from heaven, the richness of the earth, and grain and wine in abundance. ²⁹ May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be lord over your kinsmen, let your mother’s descendants bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”

³⁰ But as soon as Yitz’chak had finished giving his blessing to Ya‘akov, when Ya‘akov had barely left his father’s presence, ‘Esav his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ He too had prepared a tasty meal and brought it to his father, and now he said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat from his son’s game, so that you may give me your blessing.” ³² Yitz’chak his father said to him, “Who are you?” and he answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, ‘Esav.” ³³ Yitz’chak began trembling uncontrollably and said, “Then who was it that took game and brought it to me? I ate it all just before you came, and I gave my blessing to him. That’s the truth, and the blessing must stand.” ³⁴ When ‘Esav heard his father’s words he burst into loud, bitter sobbing. “Father, bless me too,” he begged. ³⁵ He replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took away your blessing.” ³⁶ ‘Esav said, “His name, Ya‘akov [he supplants], really suits him — because he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and here, now he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ Yitz’chak answered ‘Esav, “Look, I have made him your lord, I have given him all his kinsmen as servants, and I have given him grain and wine to sustain him. What else is there that I can do for you, my son?” ³⁸ ‘Esav said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Father, bless me too!” ‘Esav wept aloud, ³⁹ and Yitz’chak his father answered him: “Here! Your home will be of the richness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. ⁴⁰ You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. But when you break loose, you will shake his yoke off your neck.”

⁴¹ ‘Esav hated his brother because of the blessing his father had given him. ‘Esav said to himself, “The time for mourning my father will soon come, and then I will kill my brother Ya‘akov.” ⁴² But the words of ‘Esav her older son were told to Rivkah. She sent for Ya‘akov her younger son and said to him, “Here, your brother ‘Esav is comforting himself over you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Therefore, my son, listen to me: get up and escape to Lavan my brother in Haran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him a little while, until your brother’s anger subsides. ⁴⁵ Your brother’s anger will turn away from you, and he will forget what you did to him. Then I’ll send and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you on the same day?”

⁴⁶ Rivkah said to Yitz’chak, “I’m sick to death of Hitti women! If Ya‘akov marries one of the Hitti women, like those who live here, my life won’t be worth living.”

26 When Yeshua had finished speaking, he said to his talmidim, ² “As you know, Pesach is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be nailed to the execution-stake.”

³ Then the head cohanim and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of Kayafa the cohen hagadol. ⁴ They made plans to arrest Yeshua surreptitiously and have him put to death; ⁵ but they said, “Not during the festival, or the people will riot.”

⁶ Yeshua was in Beit-Anyah, at the home of Shim‘on, the man who had had tzara’at. ⁷ A woman who had an alabaster jar filled with very expensive perfume approached Yeshua while he was eating and began pouring it on his head. ⁸ When the talmidim saw it, they became very angry. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor.” ¹⁰ But Yeshua, aware of what was going on, said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² She poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. ¹³ Yes! I tell you that throughout the whole world, wherever this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told in her memory.”

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve, the one called Y’hudah from K’riot, went to the head cohanim ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me if I turn Yeshua over to you?” They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to Y’hudah.^{[a] 16} From then on he looked for a good opportunity to betray him.

¹⁷ On the first day for matzah, the talmidim came to Yeshua and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare your Seder?” ¹⁸ “Go into the city, to so-and-so,” he replied, “and tell him that the Rabbi says, ‘My time is near, my talmidim and I are celebrating Pesach at your house.’” ¹⁹ The talmidim did as Yeshua directed and prepared the Seder.

²⁰ When evening came, Yeshua reclined with the twelve talmidim; ²¹ and as they were eating, he said, “Yes, I tell you that one of you is going to betray me.” ²² They became terribly upset and began asking him, one after the other, “Lord, you don’t mean me, do you?” ²³ He answered, “The one who dips his matzah in the dish with me is the one who will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will die just as the Tanakh says he will; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him had he never been born!” ²⁵ Y’hudah, the one who was betraying him, then asked, “Surely, Rabbi, you don’t mean me?” He answered, “The words are yours.”

²⁶ While they were eating, Yeshua took a piece of matzah, made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to the talmidim and said, “Take! Eat! This is my body!” ²⁷ Also he took a cup of wine, made the b’rakhah, and gave it to them, saying, “All of you, drink from it! ²⁸ For this is my blood, which ratifies the New Covenant, my blood shed on behalf of many, so that they may have their sins forgiven. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink this ‘fruit of the vine’ again until the day I drink new wine with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

³⁰ After singing the Hallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ³¹ Yeshua then said to them, “Tonight you will all lose faith in me, as the Tanakh says, ‘I will strike the shepherd dead, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’^{[b] 32} But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into the Galil.” ³³ “I will never lose faith in you,” Kefa answered, “even if everyone else does.” ³⁴ Yeshua said to him, “Yes! I tell you that tonight before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” ³⁵ “Even if I must die with you,” Kefa replied, “I will never disown you!” And all the talmidim said the same thing.

³⁶ Then Yeshua went with his talmidim to a place called Gat-Sh’manim and said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took with him Kefa and Zavdai’s two sons. Grief and anguish came over him, ³⁸ and he said to them, “My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake with me.” ³⁹ Going on a little farther, he fell on his face, praying, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet — not what I want, but what you want!” ⁴⁰ He returned to the talmidim and found them sleeping. He said to Kefa, “Were you so weak that you couldn’t stay awake with me for even an hour? ⁴¹ Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test — the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak.”

⁴² A second time he went off and prayed. “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink it, let what you want be done.” ⁴³ Again he returned and found them sleeping, their eyes were so heavy.

⁴⁴ Leaving them again, he went off and prayed a third time, saying the same words. ⁴⁵ Then he came to the talmidim and said, “For now, go on sleeping, take your rest. . . . Look! The time has come for the Son of Man to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Get up! Let’s go! Here comes my betrayer!”

⁴⁷ While Yeshua was still speaking, Y’hudah (one of the Twelve!) came, and with him a large crowd carrying swords and clubs, from the head cohanim and elders of the people. ⁴⁸ The betrayer had arranged to give them a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want — grab him!” ⁴⁹ He went straight up to Yeshua, said, “Shalom, Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁵⁰ Yeshua said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they moved forward, laid hold of Yeshua and arrested him.

⁵¹ At that, one of the men with Yeshua reached for his sword, drew it out and struck at the servant of the cohen hagadol, cutting off his ear. ⁵² Yeshua said to him, “Put your sword back where it belongs, for everyone who uses the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Don’t you know that I can ask my Father, and he will instantly provide more than a dozen armies of angels to help me? ⁵⁴ But if I did that, how could the passages in the Tanakh be fulfilled that say it has to happen this way?”

⁵⁵ Then Yeshua addressed the crowd: “So you came out to take me with swords and clubs, the way you would the leader of a rebellion? Every day I sat in the Temple court, teaching; and you didn’t seize me then. ⁵⁶ But all this has happened so that what the prophets wrote may be fulfilled.” Then the talmidim all deserted him and ran away.

⁵⁷ Those who had seized Yeshua led him off to Kayafa the cohen hagadol, where the Torah-teachers and elders were assembled. ⁵⁸ Kefa followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the cohen hagadol; then he went inside and sat down with the guards to see what the outcome would be.

⁵⁹ The head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin looked for some false evidence against Yeshua, so that they might put him to death. ⁶⁰ But they didn’t find any, even though many liars came forward to give testimony. At last, however, two people came forward and said, ⁶¹ “This man said, ‘I can tear down God’s Temple and build it again in three days.’” ⁶² The cohen hagadol stood up and said, “Have you nothing to say to the accusation these men are making?” ⁶³ Yeshua remained silent. The cohen hagadol said to him, “I put you under oath! By the living God, tell us if you are the Mashiach, the Son of God!” ⁶⁴ Yeshua said to him, “The words are your own. But I tell you that one day you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of HaG’vurah and coming on the clouds of heaven.”^{[c] 65} At this, the cohen hagadol tore his robes. “Blasphemy!” he said. “Why do we still need witnesses? You heard him blaspheme! ⁶⁶ What is your verdict?” “Guilty,” they answered. “He deserves death!” ⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face and pounded him with their fists; and those who were beating him ⁶⁸ said, “Now, you ‘Messiah,’ ‘prophesy’ to us: who hit you that time?”

⁶⁹ Kefa was sitting outside in the courtyard when a servant girl came up to him. “You too were with Yeshua from the Galil,” she said. ⁷⁰ But he denied it in front of everyone — “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” ⁷¹ He went out onto the porch, and another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Yeshua of Natzeret.” ⁷² Again he denied it, swearing, “I don’t know the man!” ⁷³ After a little while, the bystanders approached Kefa and said, “You must be one of them — your accent gives you away.” ⁷⁴ This time he began to invoke a curse on himself as he swore, “I do not know the man!” — and immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ Kefa remembered what Yeshua had said, “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times”; and he went outside and cried bitterly.

3 Some time later King Achashverosh began to single out Haman the son of Hamdata the Agagi for advancement; eventually he gave him precedence over all his fellow officers. ² All the king’s servants at the King’s Gate would kneel and bow down before Haman, because the king had so ordered. But Mordekhai would neither kneel nor bow down to him. ³ The king’s servants at the King’s Gate asked Mordekhai, “Why don’t you obey the king’s order?” ⁴ But after they had confronted him a number of times without his paying attention to them, they told Haman, in order to find out whether Mordekhai’s explanation that he was a Jew would suffice to justify his behavior. ⁵ Haman was furious when he saw that Mordekhai was not kneeling and bowing down to him. ⁶ However, on learning what people Mordekhai belonged to, it seemed to him a waste to lay hands on Mordekhai alone. Rather, he decided to destroy all of Mordekhai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole of Achashverosh’s kingdom.

⁷ In the first month, the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of Achashverosh, they began throwing pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman every day and every month until the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. ⁸ Then Haman said to Achashverosh, “There is a particular people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom. Their laws are different from those of every other people; moreover, they don’t observe the king’s laws. It doesn’t befit the king to tolerate them. ⁹ If it please the king, have a decree written for their destruction; and I will hand over 330 tons of silver to the officials in charge of the king’s affairs to deposit in the royal treasury.”

¹⁰ The king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the son of Hamdata the Agagi, the enemy of the Jews. ¹¹ The king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, and the people too, to do with as seems good to you.”

¹² The king’s secretaries were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month. They wrote down all Haman’s orders to the king’s army commanders and governors in all the provinces and to the officials of every people, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language; everything was written in the name of King Achashverosh and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ Letters were sent by courier to all the royal provinces “to destroy, kill and exterminate all Jews, from young to old, including small children and women, on a specific day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to seize their goods as plunder.” ¹⁴ A copy of the document to be issued as a decree in every province was to be publicly proclaimed to all the peoples, so that they would be ready for that day. ¹⁵ At the king’s order the runners went out quickly, and the decree was issued in Shushan the capital. Then the king and Haman sat down for a drink together, but the city of Shushan was thrown into confusion.

26 Agrippa said to Sha’ul, “You have permission to speak on your own behalf.” Then Sha’ul motioned with his hand and began his defense:

² “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that it is before you today that I am defending myself against all the charges made against me by Jews, ³ because you are so well informed about all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “So then! All Jews know how I lived my life from my youth on, both in my own country and in Yerushalayim. ⁵ They have known me for a long time; and if they are willing, they can testify that I have followed the strictest party in our religion — that is, I have lived as a Parush. ⁶ How ironic it is that I stand on trial here because of my hope in the promise made to our fathers! ⁷ It is the fulfillment of this very promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they resolutely carry on their acts of worship night and day; yet it is in connection with this hope, your Majesty, that I am being accused by Jews! ⁸ Why do you people consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

⁹ “I used to think it was my duty to do all I could to combat the name of Yeshua from Natzeret; ¹⁰ and in Yerushalayim I did so. After receiving authority from the head cohanim, I myself threw many of God’s people in prison; when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ Often I went from one synagogue to another, punishing them and trying to make them blaspheme; and in my wild fury against them, I even went so far as to persecute them in cities outside the country.

¹² “On one such occasion, I was traveling to Dammesek with the full authority and power of the head cohanim. ¹³ I was on the road, and it was noon, your Majesty, when I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my traveling companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground; and then I heard a voice saying to me, in Hebrew, ‘Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me? It’s hard on you to be kicking against the ox-goads!’ ¹⁵ I said, ‘Who are you, sir?’ and the Lord answered, ‘I am Yeshua, and you are persecuting me! ¹⁶ But get up, and stand on your feet! I have appeared to you to appoint you to serve and bear witness to what you have already seen of me, and to what you will see when I appear to you in the future. ¹⁷ I will deliver you from the People and from the Goyim. I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes; so that they will turn from darkness to light, from the power of the Adversary to God, and thus receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who have been separated for holiness by putting their trust in me.’

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision from heaven! ²⁰ On the contrary, I announced first in Dammesek, then in Yerushalayim and throughout Y’hudah, and also to the Goyim, that they should turn from their sins to God and then do deeds consistent with that repentance. ²¹ It was because of these things that Jews seized me in the Temple and tried to kill me. ²² However, I have had God’s help; so to this day, I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what both the prophets and Moshe said would happen — ²³ that the Messiah would die, and that he, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to both the People and the Goyim.”

²⁴ But just as he reached this point in his defense, Festus shouted at the top of his voice, “Sha’ul, you’re out of your mind! So much learning is driving you crazy!”

²⁵ But Sha’ul said, “No, I am not ‘crazy,’ Festus, your Excellency; on the contrary, I am speaking words of truth and sanity. ²⁶ For the king understands these matters, so to him I express myself freely, because I am sure that none of these things have been hidden from him. After all, they didn’t happen in some back alley. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe!”

²⁸ Agrippa said to Sha’ul, “In this short time, you’re trying to convince me to become Messianic?” ²⁹ Sha’ul replied, “Whether it takes a short time or a long time, I wish to God that not only you, but also everyone hearing me today, might become just like me except for these chains!”

³⁰ Then the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and the others sitting with them. ³¹ After they had left, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing that deserves either death or prison.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “If he hadn’t appealed to the Emperor, he could have been released.”