The Bible Reading Plan

Genesis Chapter 27

³⁰As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me."

³²Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" He said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."

³³Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of it before you came, and have blessed him? [And, he will be] blessed."

³⁴When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried [out] with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Father! Bless me as well!"

³⁵He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing."

³⁶He said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?"

³⁷Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your ruler, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants. I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then will I do for you, my son?"

³⁸Esau said to his father, "Do you have just one blessing, my father? Bless me as well, my father." Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

³⁹Isaac his father answered him, "Behold, your dwelling will be of the abundance of the earth, and of the dew of the sky from above. ⁴⁰You will live by your sword, and you will serve your brother. When you come into your own, you'll break loose and shake his yoke from your neck."

⁴¹Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing which his father blessed him with. Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob."

⁴²The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. ⁴³Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. ⁴⁴Stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away, ⁴⁵until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

Judges Chapter 16

¹³Delilah said to Samson, "Until now, you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me with what you might be bound." He said to her, "If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web."

¹⁴She fastened it with the pin, and said to him, "The Philistines are on you, Samson!" He awakened out of his sleep, and plucked away the pin of the beam, and the web.

¹⁵She said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies."

¹⁶When she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, his soul was troubled to death. ¹⁷He told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man."

¹⁸When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, "Come up this once, for he has told me all his heart." Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her, and brought the money in their hand. ¹⁹She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. ²⁰She said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" He awoke out of his sleep, and said, "I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free." But he didn't know that Yahweh had departed from him. ²¹The Philistines laid hold of him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of bronze; and he ground at the mill in the prison. ²²However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.

²³The lords of the Philistines gathered them together to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god, and to rejoice; for they said, "Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hand." ²⁴When the people saw him, they praised their god; for they said, "Our god has delivered our enemy and the destroyer of our country, who has slaughtered many of us, into our hand."

²⁵When their hearts were merry they said, "Call for Samson, that he may entertain us." They called for Samson out of the prison, and he performed before them. They set him between the pillars; ²⁶and Samson said to the boy who held him by the hand, "Allow me to feel the pillars whereupon the house rests, that I may lean on them." ²⁷Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were on the roof about three thousand men and women, who saw while Samson performed. ²⁸Samson called to Yahweh, and said, "LordOfMine Yahweh, remember me, please, and strengthen me, please, only this once, God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." ²⁹Samson took hold of the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and leaned on them, the one with his right hand, and the other with his left. ³⁰Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines!" He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were there. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.

³¹Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial site of Manoah his father. He judged Israel twenty years.

1 Chronicles Chapter 26

¹For the divisions of the doorkeepers: of the Korahites, Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph. ²Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth, ³Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth, Eliehoenai the seventh. ⁴Obed-Edom had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethanel the fifth, ⁵Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peullethai the eighth; for God blessed him. ⁶Also to Shemaiah his son sons were born, who ruled over the house of their father; for they were mighty men of valor. ⁷The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed, Elzabad, whose brothers were valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah. ⁸All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom: they and their sons and their brothers, able men in strength for the service; sixty-two of Obed-Edom. ⁹Meshelemiah had sons and brothers, valiant men, eighteen. ¹⁰Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief), ¹¹Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen.

¹²Of these were the divisions of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having offices like their brothers, to minister in the house of Yahweh. ¹³They cast lots, the small as well as the great, according to their fathers' houses, for every gate. ¹⁴The lot eastward fell to Shelemiah. Then for Zechariah his son, a wise counselor, they cast lots; and his lot came out northward. ¹⁵To Obed-Edom southward; and to his sons the storehouse. ¹⁶To Shuppim and Hosah westward, by the gate of Shallecheth, at the causeway that goes up, watch against watch. ¹⁷Eastward were six Levites, northward four a day, southward four a day, and for the storehouse two and two. ¹⁸For Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar. ¹⁹These were the divisions of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.

Matthew Chapter 26

⁴³He came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words. ⁴⁵Then he came to his disciples and said to them, "Sleep later and take your rest. Look! The hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of shortcomers. ⁴⁶Arise, let's be going. See, he who betrays me is at hand."

⁴⁷While he was still speaking, look one of the twelve, Judas came with a great multitude [armed] with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people. ⁴⁸Now he who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, "Whoever I kiss, he is the one. Seize him." ⁴⁹Immediately he came to Jesus, and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.

⁵⁰Jesus said to him, "Friend, why are you here?"

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus, and took him. ⁵¹Behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.

⁵²Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place, for all those who take the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³Or do you think that I couldn't ask my Father, and he would even now send me more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴Then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?"

⁵⁵In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, "Have you come out as against a robber with swords and clubs to seize me? I sat daily in the temple teaching, and you didn't arrest me. ⁵⁶But all this has happened that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

⁵⁷Those who had taken Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together. ⁵⁸But Peter followed him from a distance to the court of the high priest, and entered in and sat with the officers, to see the end.

⁵⁹Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death, ⁶⁰and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward ⁶¹and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.'"

⁶²The high priest stood up and said to him, "Have you no answer? What is this that they testify against you?" ⁶³But Jesus stayed silent. The high priest answered him, "I solemnly-order you by the living God that you tell us whether you are AnointedOne, the Son of God."

⁶⁴Jesus said to him, "You have said so. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky."

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his clothing, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Behold, now you have heard his blasphemy. ⁶⁶What do you think?"

They answered, "He is worthy of death!" ⁶⁷Then they spat in his face and beat him with their fists, and some slapped him, ⁶⁸saying, "Prophesy to us, you AnointedOne! Who hit you?"

⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting outside in the court, and a maid came to him, saying, "You were also with Jesus, the Galilean!"

⁷⁰But he denied it before them all, saying, "I don't know what you are talking about."

⁷¹When he had gone out onto the porch, someone else saw him and said to those who were there, "This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth."

⁷²Again he denied it with an oath, "I don't know the man."

⁷³After a little while those who stood by came and said to Peter, "Surely you are also one of them, for your speech makes you known."

⁷⁴Then he began to curse and to swear, "I don't know the man!"

Immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Then he went out and wept bitterly.