The Bible Reading Plan

Leviticus Chapter 17

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²"Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: ³Whatever man there is of the house of Israel who kills a bull, or lamb, or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, ⁴and hasn't brought it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as an offering to Yahweh in front of Yahweh's tabernacle: blood shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood. That man shall be cut off from among his people. ⁵This is in order that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they sacrifice in the open field, so they can bring them to Yahweh, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and sacrifice them for sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh. ⁶The priest is to sprinkle the blood on Yahweh's altar at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. ⁷They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat idols, after which they play the prostitute. This shall be a statute forever to them throughout their generations.'

⁸"Say to them, 'Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹and doesn't bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to Yahweh, that man shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰"'Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face against that soul who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹For the life of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life. ¹²Therefore I have said to the children of Israel, "No person among you may eat blood, nor may any stranger who lives as a foreigner among you eat blood."

¹³"'Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood, and cover it with dust. ¹⁴For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, "Don't eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off."

¹⁵"'Every person that eats what dies of itself, or what is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a foreigner, shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean. ¹⁶But if he doesn't wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.'"

Isaiah Chapter 38

²¹Now Isaiah had said, "Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover." ²²Hezekiah also had said, "What is the sign that I will go up to the house of Yahweh?"

Isaiah Chapter 39

¹At that time, Merodach Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been sick, and had recovered. ²Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah didn't show them. ³Then Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and asked him, "What did these men say? Where did they come from to you?" Hezekiah said, "They have come from a country far from me, even from Babylon."

⁴Then he asked, "What have they seen in your house?" Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house. There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

⁵Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of Yahweh of Armies: ⁶'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up until today, will be carried to Babylon. Nothing will be left,' says Yahweh. ⁷'They will take away your sons who will issue from you, whom you shall father, and they will be eunuchs in the king of Babylon's palace.'"

⁸Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "Yahweh's word which you have spoken is good." He said moreover, "For there will be peace and truth in my days."

Isaiah Chapter 40

¹"Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. ²"Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins."
³The voice of one who calls out,
"Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness!
Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
⁴Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The uneven shall be made level,
and the rough places a plain.
⁵Yahweh's glory shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it."

⁶The voice of one saying, "Cry out!"
One said, "What shall I cry?"
"All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
⁷The grass withers,
the flower fades,
because Yahweh's breath blows on it.
Surely the people are like grass.
⁸The grass withers,
the flower fades;
but the word of our God stands forever."

Psalm 17

A Prayer by David.

¹Hear, Yahweh, my righteous plea.
Give ear to my prayer that doesn't go out of deceitful lips.
²Let my sentence proceed from your presence.
Let your eyes look on equity.

³You have proved my heart.
You have visited me in the night.
You have tried me, and found nothing.
I have resolved that my mouth shall not disobey.
⁴As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips,
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
⁵My steps have held fast to your paths.
My feet have not slipped.

⁶I have called on you, for you will answer me, God.
Turn your ear to me.
Hear my speech.
⁷Show your marvelous loving kindness,
you who save those who take refuge by your right hand from their enemies.
⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye.
Hide me under the shadow of your wings,
⁹from the wicked who oppress me,
my deadly enemies, who surround me.
¹⁰They close up their callous hearts.
With their mouth they speak proudly.
¹¹They have now surrounded us in our steps.
They set their eyes to throw us down to the earth.
¹²He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey,
as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³Arise, Yahweh, confront him.
Throw him down.
Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
¹⁴from men by your hand, Yahweh,
from men of the world, whose portion is in this life.
You fill the belly of your cherished ones.
Your sons have plenty,
and they store up wealth for their children.

¹⁵As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness.
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.

Acts Chapter 17

¹Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ²Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³explaining and demonstrating that AnointedOne had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is AnointedOne."

⁴Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Gentiles a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women. ⁵But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people. ⁶When they didn't find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, [called] Jesus!" ⁸The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things. ⁹When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

¹⁰The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹²So many of them believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men. ¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes. ¹⁴Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there. ¹⁵But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a commandment for Silas and Timothy to come to him very quickly, they left.

¹⁶Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols. ¹⁷So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout people, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be advocating foreign deities," because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹They took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is, which you are speaking about? ²⁰For you bring certain strange things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean." ²¹Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.