M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

15 But after a while, during the wheat-harvest season, Shimshon went to see his wife. He brought a young goat for her and said to her father, “I want to go to my wife in her room.” But he wouldn’t let him. ² Her father said, “I really thought you hated her altogether, so I gave her to your best man. But her younger sister — isn’t she even prettier? Why not take her instead?” ³ Shimshon said to them, “This time I’m through with the P’lishtim! I’m going to do something terrible to them!” ⁴ So Shimshon went and caught three hundred foxes. Then he took torches, tied pairs of foxes to each other by their tails, and put a torch in the knot of every pair of tails. ⁵ Then he set the torches on fire and let the foxes loose in wheat fields of the P’lishtim. In this way he burned up the harvested wheat along with the grain waiting to be harvested, and the olive orchards as well. ⁶ The P’lishtim asked, “Who did this?” They answered, “Shimshon the son-in-law of the man from Timnah, because he took Shimshon’s wife and gave her to his best man.” Then the P’lishtim came up and burned both her and her father to death. ⁷ Shimshon said to them, “I will certainly have my revenge on you for doing such a thing; but after I do, I’ll stop.” ⁸ Infuriated, he began killing them right and left; it was a massacre. Then he went down and stayed in the cave at the ‘Eitam Rock.

⁹ The P’lishtim went up, pitched camp in Y’hudah and attacked Lechi. ¹⁰ The men of Y’hudah said, “Why are you attacking us?” They replied, “To arrest Shimshon, that’s why — to treat him the way he treated us.” ¹¹ Then 3,000 men from Y’hudah went down to the cave at the Eitam Rock and said to Shimshon, “Don’t you know that the P’lishtim are our rulers? What are you doing to us?” He answered, “I’ve only treated them the way they treated me.” ¹² They said to him, “We’ve come down to arrest you and hand you over to the P’lishtim.” Shimshon replied, “Swear to me that you won’t fall on me yourselves.” ¹³ They said to him, “No, but we will tie you up and hand you over to them. However, we promise not to kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock. ¹⁴ When he got to Lechi, the P’lishtim came running and shouting at him; and the Spirit of Adonai came on him powerfully. The ropes on his arms became as weak as burnt flax and fell from his arms. ¹⁵ He found a fresh donkey jawbone, took it in his hand, and with it he struck down a thousand men. ¹⁶ Shimshon said,

¹⁷ After he finished speaking he threw the jawbone away, and the place came to be called Ramat-Lechi [jawbone heights].

¹⁸ Then he felt very thirsty, so he called on Adonai, saying, “You accomplished this great rescue through your servant. But am I now to die from thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” ¹⁹ Then God made a gash in the crater at Lechi, and water came out. When he had drunk, his spirit came back; and he revived. This is why the place was called ‘Ein-HaKorei [the spring of him who called], and it is there in Lechi until now. ²⁰ He judged Isra’el in the period of the P’lishtim for twenty years.

19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Sha’ul completed his travels through the inland country and arrived at Ephesus, where he found a few talmidim. ² He asked them, “Did you receive the Ruach HaKodesh when you came to trust?” “No,” they said to him, “we have never even heard that there is such a thing as the Ruach HaKodesh.” ³ “In that case,” he said, “into what were you immersed?” “The immersion of Yochanan,” they answered. ⁴ Sha’ul said, “Yochanan practiced an immersion in connection with turning from sin to God; but he told the people to put their trust in the one who would come after him, that is, in Yeshua.” ⁵ On hearing this, they were immersed into the name of the Lord Yeshua; ⁶ and when Sha’ul placed his hands on them, the Ruach HaKodesh came upon them; so that they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. ⁷ In all, there were about twelve of these men.

⁸ Sha’ul went into the synagogue; and for three months he spoke out boldly, engaging in dialogue and trying to persuade people about the Kingdom of God. ⁹ But some began hardening themselves and refusing to listen; and when these started defaming the Way before the whole synagogue, Sha’ul withdrew, took the talmidim with him, and commenced holding daily dialogues in Tyrannus’s yeshivah. ¹⁰ This went on for two years; so that everyone, both Jews and Greeks, living in the province of Asia heard the message about the Lord.

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Sha’ul. ¹² For instance, handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were brought to sick people; they would recover from their ailments; and the evil spirits would leave them.

¹³ Then some of the Jewish exorcists who traveled from place to place tried to make use of the name of the Lord Yeshua in connection with people who had evil spirits. They would say, “I exorcise you by the Yeshua that Sha’ul is proclaiming!” ¹⁴ One time, seven sons of a Jewish cohen gadol named Skeva were doing this; ¹⁵ and the evil spirit answered them. It said, “Yeshua I know. And Sha’ul I recognize. But you? Who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit fell upon them, overpowered them and gave them such a beating that they ran from the house, naked and bleeding.

¹⁷ When all this became known to the residents of Ephesus, fear fell on all of them, Jews and Greeks alike; and the name of the Lord Yeshua came to be held in high regard. ¹⁸ Many of those who had earlier made professions of faith now came and admitted publicly their evil deeds; ¹⁹ and a considerable number of those who had engaged in occult practices threw their scrolls in a pile and burned them in public. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, it came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰ Thus the message about the Lord continued in a powerful way to grow in influence.

²¹ Some time later, Sha’ul decided by the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and then go to Yerushalayim. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome.” ²² So he dispatched two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia; but he himself remained in the province of Asia for awhile.

²³ It was at this time that a major furor arose concerning the Way. ²⁴ There was a silversmith named Demetrius who manufactured from silver, objects connected with the worship of the goddess Artemis; and he provided no small amount of work for the craftsmen. ²⁵ He called a meeting of them and of those engaged in similar trades, and said, “Men, you understand that this line of business provides us our living. ²⁶ And you can see and hear for yourselves that not only here in Ephesus, but in practically the whole province of Asia, this Sha’ul has convinced and turned away a considerable crowd by saying that man-made gods aren’t gods at all. ²⁷ Now the danger is not only that the reputation of our trade will suffer, but that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will come to be taken lightly. It could end up with the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and indeed throughout the whole world, being ignominiously brought down from her divine majesty!”

²⁸ Hearing this, they were filled with rage and began bellowing, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ Soon the whole city was in an uproar. As one man, the mob rushed into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Sha’ul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. ³⁰ Sha’ul himself wanted to appear before the crowd, but the talmidim wouldn’t let him. ³¹ Even some of the officials of the province, friends of his, sent a message begging him not to risk entering the theater. ³² Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and others something else, because the assembly was in complete confusion, and the great majority didn’t even know why they were there. ³³ Some of the crowd explained the situation to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed to the front. So Alexander motioned for silence, hoping to make a defense speech to the people. ³⁴ But as soon as they recognized that he was a Jew, they began bellowing in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” and they kept it up for about two hours.

³⁵ At last, the city clerk was able to quiet the crowd. “Men of Ephesus!” he said, “Is there anyone who doesn’t know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone which fell from the sky? ³⁶ Since this is beyond dispute, you had better calm down and not do anything rash. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who have neither robbed the temple nor insulted your goddess. ³⁸ So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and the judges are there — let them bring charges and counter-charges. ³⁹ But if there is something more you want, it will have to be settled in a lawful assembly. ⁴⁰ For we are in danger of being accused of rioting on account of what has happened today. There is no justification for it; and if we are asked, we will be unable to give any reasonable explanation for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹ And with these words, he dismissed the assembly.

28 That same year, at the beginning of the reign of Tzidkiyahu king of Y’hudah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananyah the son of ‘Azur the prophet, from Giv‘on, spoke to me in Adonai’s house in front of the cohanim and all the people, saying, ² “This is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Bavel. ³ Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles from Adonai’s house that N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel removed from this place and carried to Bavel. ⁴ Also I will bring back here Y’khanyah the son of Y’hoyakim, king of Y’hudah, along with all those from Y’hudah who were taken captive to Bavel,’ says Adonai, ‘for I will break the yoke of the king of Bavel.’”

⁵ Then the prophet Yirmeyahu said to the prophet Hananyah in front of the cohanim and all the people standing in Adonai’s house — ⁶ the prophet Yirmeyahu said, “Amen! May Adonai do it! May Adonai fulfill the words you have prophesied and bring back from Bavel to this place the articles from Adonai’s house and all the people who were carried away captive! ⁷ Nevertheless, listen now to this word that I am speaking for you to hear and for all the people to hear. ⁸ The prophets who were here before me and before you prophesied in times past against many countries and against great kingdoms about war, disaster and plagues. ⁹ As for a prophet who prophesies peace — when the word of that prophet is fulfilled, it will be evident concerning that prophet that Adonai indeed did send him.”

¹⁰ At this point Hananyah the prophet took the crossbar off the prophet Yirmeyahu’s neck and broke it. ¹¹ Then Hananyah, in front of all the people, said, “Thus says Adonai: ‘In just this way will I break off the yoke of N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel from the necks of all the nations within two years.’”

The prophet Yirmeyahu left them; ¹² but then this word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu, after Hananyah the prophet had broken off the crossbar from the neck of the prophet Yirmeyahu: ¹³ “Go and tell Hananyah that Adonai:says, ‘You have broken the crossbars of wood, but you will make in their place crossbars of iron. ¹⁴ For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: “I have put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these nations, so that they can serve N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel; and they will serve him; and I have given him the wild animals too.”’”

¹⁵ Then the prophet Yirmeyahu said to Hananyah the prophet, “Listen here, Hananyah! Adonai has not sent you! You are making these people trust in a lie! ¹⁶ Therefore, here is what Adonai says: ‘I am about to send you away from the face of the earth — this year you will die, because you have preached rebellion against Adonai.’” ¹⁷ Hananyah the prophet died that same year, in the seventh month.

14 It was now two days before Pesach (that is, the festival of Matzah), and the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers were trying to find some way to arrest Yeshua surreptitiously and have him put to death; ² for they said, “Not during the festival, or the people will riot.”

³ While he was in Beit-Anyah in the home of Shim‘on (a man who had had tzara‘at), and as he was eating, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume, pure oil of nard, very costly. She broke the jar and poured the perfume over Yeshua’s head. ⁴ But some there angrily said to themselves, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for a year’s wages and given to the poor!” And they scolded her. ⁶ But he said, “Let her be. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. ⁷ For you will always have the poor with you; and whenever you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ What she could do, she did do — in advance she poured perfume on my body to prepare it for burial. ⁹ Yes! I tell you that wherever in the whole world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told in her memory.”

¹⁰ Then Y’hudah from K’riot, who was one of the Twelve, went to the head cohanim in order to betray Yeshua to them. ¹¹ They were pleased to hear this and promised to give him money. And he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Yeshua.

¹² On the first day for matzah, when they slaughtered the lamb for Pesach, Yeshua’s talmidim asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare your Seder?” ¹³ He sent two of his talmidim with these instructions: “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him; ¹⁴ and whichever house he enters, tell him that the Rabbi says, ‘Where is the guest room for me, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?’ ¹⁵ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations there.” ¹⁶ The talmidim went off, came to the city and found things just as he had told them they would be; and they prepared the Seder.

¹⁷ When evening came, Yeshua arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸ As they were reclining and eating, Yeshua said, “Yes! I tell you that one of you is going to betray me.” ¹⁹ They became upset and began asking him, one after the other, “You don’t mean me, do you?” ²⁰ “It’s one of the Twelve,” he said to them, “someone dipping matzah in the dish with me. ²¹ For 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!”

²² While they were eating, Yeshua took a piece of matzah, made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take it! This is my body.” ²³ Also he took a cup of wine, made the b’rakhah, and gave it to them; and they all drank. ²⁴ He said to them, “This is my blood, which ratifies the New Covenant, my blood shed on behalf of many people. ²⁵ Yes! I tell you, I will not drink this ‘fruit of the vine’ again until the day I drink new wine in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ After singing the Hallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷ Yeshua said to them, “You will all lose faith in me, for the Tanakh says,

²⁸ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into the Galil.” ²⁹ Kefa said to him, “Even if everyone else loses faith in you, I won’t.” ³⁰ Yeshua replied, “Yes! I tell you that this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times!” ³¹ But Kefa kept insisting, “Even if I must die with you, I will never disown you!” And they all said the same thing.

³² They went to a place called Gat Sh’manim; and Yeshua said to his talmidim, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took with him Kefa, Ya‘akov and Yochanan. Great distress and anguish came over him; ³⁴ and he said to them, “My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake.” ³⁵ Going on a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him: ³⁶ “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”) “All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me! Still, not what I want, but what you want.” ³⁷ He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Kefa, “Shim‘on, are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? ³⁸ Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test — the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak.”

³⁹ Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words; ⁴⁰ and again he came and found them sleeping, their eyes were so very heavy; and they didn’t know what to answer him.

⁴¹ The third time, he came and said to them, “For now, go on sleeping, take your rest. . . .There, that’s enough! The time has come! Look! The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners! ⁴² Get up! Let’s go! Here comes my betrayer!”

⁴³ While Yeshua was still speaking, Y’hudah (one of the Twelve!) came, and with him a crowd carrying swords and clubs, from the head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the elders. ⁴⁴ The betrayer had arranged to give them a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want. Grab him, and take him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ As he arrived, he went right up to Yeshua, said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶ Then they laid hold of Yeshua and arrested him; ⁴⁷ but one of the people standing nearby drew his sword and struck at the servant of the cohen hagadol, cutting off his ear.

⁴⁸ Yeshua addressed them: “So you came out to take me with swords and clubs, the way you would the leader of a rebellion? ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you in the Temple court, teaching, and you didn’t seize me then! But let the Tanakh be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ And they all deserted him and ran away. ⁵¹ There was one young man who did try to follow him; but he was wearing only a nightshirt; and when they tried to seize him, ⁵² he slipped out of the nightshirt and ran away naked.

⁵³ They led Yeshua to the cohen hagadol, with whom all the head cohanim, elders and Torah-teachers were assembling. ⁵⁴ Kefa followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the cohen hagadol, where he sat down with the guards and warmed himself by the fire.

⁵⁵ The head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin tried to find evidence against Yeshua, so that they might have him put to death, but they couldn’t find any. ⁵⁶ For many people gave false evidence against him, but their testimonies didn’t agree. ⁵⁷ Some stood up and gave this false testimony: ⁵⁸ “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with hands; and in three days I will build another one, not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Even so, their testimonies didn’t agree.

⁶⁰ The cohen hagadol stood up in the front and asked Yeshua, “Have you nothing to say to the accusations these men are making?” ⁶¹ But he remained silent and made no reply. Again the cohen hagadol questioned him: “Are you the Mashiach, Ben-HaM’vorakh?” ⁶² “I AM,” answered Yeshua. “Moreover, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of HaG’vurah and coming on the clouds of heaven.”^{[b] 63} At this, the cohen hagadol tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? ⁶⁴ You heard him blaspheme! What is your decision?” And they all declared him guilty and subject to the death penalty.

⁶⁵ Then some began spitting at him; and after blindfolding him, they started pounding him with their fists and saying to him, “Let’s see you prophesy!” And as the guards took him, they beat him too.

⁶⁶ Meanwhile, Kefa was still in the courtyard below. One of the serving-girls of the cohen hagadol ⁶⁷ saw Kefa warming himself, took a look at him, and said, “You were with the man from Natzeret, Yeshua!” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about!” He went outside into the entryway, and a rooster crowed. ⁶⁹ The girl saw him there and started telling the bystanders, “This fellow is one of them.” ⁷⁰ Again he denied it. A little later, the bystanders themselves said to Kefa, “You must be one of them, because you’re from the Galil.” ⁷¹ At this he began to invoke a curse on himself as he swore, “I do not know this man you are telling me about!” — ⁷² and immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Kefa remembered what Yeshua had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times.” And throwing himself down, he burst into tears.