This Bible reading plan takes you through most of the Holy Scriptures each weekday of the year. Each day has three Bible readings:
You're welcome to read one, two, or all three of the readings every weekday. And if you fall behind, don't worry! You can either use the weekends to catch up or you can simply dive in to the reading for that day, even if you've missed a few days, weeks, or even months!
20:1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:
“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by4 the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,5 which he obtained with his own blood.6 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
[1] 20:3
[2] 20:15
[3] 20:21
[4] 20:22
[5] 20:28
[6] 20:28
(ESV)
When the DVD medium was in its prime, it seemed as though every movie, every series, and every documentary had its own special director's cut, director's commentary, "making of" commentary, and deleted scenes chapter all packaged tidily in a DVD boxed set full of "bonus features," which, of course, also happened to be a limited-time-collector-edition boxed set that would one day become a valuable collectors' item. I have yet to see any of those DVD boxed sets reach their stated aim. I'll keep waiting.
The failure of these boxed sets to reach their coveted "collector" status notwithstanding, the bonus features on many of these collections are at least mildly interesting. It's fun to get a behind-the-scenes look at how some of my favorite movies were made. I perhaps most enjoy the "deleted scenes" feature because it allows me to judge for myself the value of a particular scene. Sometimes, I watch a deleted scene and ask, "Why did they delete that? That would've added a lot to the story line!" Other times, I watch a deleted scene and wonder, "Was that really worth the film it's recorded on? Couldn't that film have been used for nobler purposes, like archiving Home Shopping Network coverage?"
In our reading for today from Acts 20, Paul gives his farewell speech to the elders at the Christian church of Ephesus. Interestingly, he "sails past Ephesus" (verses 16), asking the Ephesian elders to instead meet him at the coastal town of Miletus (verse 17) so that he is not detained by the grieving members of the Ephesian congregation who would have surely offered protracted and tearful goodbyes in the face of his departure. During his address to these elders, he reminds them, "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (verse 35). Paul quotes Jesus' words as they are recorded in Matthew's gospel to extol the value of service. Or are those Jesus' words as they are recorded in Mark's gospel? Wait, I think they're from Luke. Then again, those words may be from John.
Actually, Jesus' famed words, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," are recorded in none of the four gospels. Paul, well aware that there are many "deleted scenes" from Jesus' life as it is recorded in the gospels, gives us a "bonus feature," or perhaps more accurately, a "bonus teaching," from Jesus on service which has served us well for millennia.
At the end of his gospel, John honestly confesses, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25). John confesses that, although his biography of Jesus' life is certainly towering, inspiring, and infinitely useful, it is not comprehensive. Jesus has done more. Jesus has taught more. And Paul, graciously, gives the Ephesian elders - and, by extension, us - a glimpse into one of the things that Jesus has taught which, nevertheless, was not recorded in the gospels.
Lest we be afraid that we are missing some vital piece of information about Jesus' word and work, Paul boldly proclaims earlier in his address to the Ephesian elders, "I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God" (verse 27). In saying this, Paul does not mean that he has recounted for them every thing that Jesus ever said or did; rather, he means that everything necessary for life and salvation has been sufficiently and graciously revealed to us in the pages of Holy Writ. The writers of Scripture have given us all the "bonus features" and "deleted scenes" we need.
In certain modern day critical and cynical circles, it has become fashionable to seek out "bonus features" and "deleted scenes" of Jesus' life by scouring extra-canonical sources. Although these sources can shed some helpful interpretive light on Scripture, they should not be mustered in an attempt to overthrow and call into question the inspired teaching and record of Scripture. For Scripture alone has given us the whole will of God. Scripture alone has "given us everything we need for life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). Scripture alone is sufficient for us to "believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing have life in his name" (John 20:31). So today, give thanks that you need no biblical boxed set full of special features to know and love God. For he has already given you everything you need, even his Son, in the simple pages of his Word.
19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.
25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God,
enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
and his dominion shall be to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues;
he works signs and wonders
in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2 Daniel declared,1 “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
[1] 7:2
(ESV)
After a restless night, King Darius ran to the lions' den to find out what had happened to Daniel. From outside the entrance he raised an anguished cry: "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?" Daniel responded immediately explaining to the king that God had sent His angel to shut the lion's mouth so that he would not be injured, since Daniel was innocent before God and the king, having done nothing wrong. King Darius rejoiced to hear Daniel's voice and brought him out of the lions' den, but he had the men and their families who had conspired against Daniel thrown into the den, to be devoured and die. In the custom of Nebuchadnezzar, King Darius wrote a decree proclaiming that all people were to tremble in fear before Daniel's God, for he "delivers and rescues." Following his rescue, God communicated to Daniel as he had to King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream. In his night vision Daniel saw four great beasts come up out of the ocean. The first was like a winged lion but it transformed so that it's wings were removed and it stood on two feet like a man, with the mind of a man. The second was like a hungry bear, with the ribs of its prey in its mouth. It was commanded to "devour much flesh." The third was like a leopard with four wings and four heads. It was granted dominion. The final beast was different from all the others. It was terrifying, and exceptionally powerful. With teeth of iron it devoured its prey, stomping on anything left with its feet. This beast had ten horns, among which appeared one more horn with eyes and a mouth boasting and "speaking great things."
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
31 but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
32 He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
33 He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
34 For jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
35 He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.
7:1 My son, keep my words
and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live;
keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden1 woman,
from the adulteress2 with her smooth words.
(ESV)