M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Meets Esau
32 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.[a] 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He named that place Mahanaim.[b]
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the region of Edom. 4 He gave them a command. “Tell my lord, Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says: I have lived as an alien with Laban until very recently. 5 I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
6 The messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We came to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you, and he has four hundred men with him.”
7 So Jacob was terrified and very distressed. He divided the people who were with him, as well as the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two camps.[c] 8 He said, “If Esau comes to one camp and strikes it, then the other camp will escape.” 9 Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will do good for you,’ 10 I am not worthy of even a bit of all the mercy and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for I crossed over this Jordan with just my staff, and now I have grown into two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid that he will come and strike me and the mothers, as well as the children. 12 You said, ‘I will surely do good for you and make your descendants like the grains of sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because there are so many.’”
13 Jacob spent that night there and selected a gift for Esau his brother from the possessions he had with him: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys with ten foals. 16 He handed them over to his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Cross over in front of me, and keep some space between each herd and the next one.” 17 He commanded the one in front, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks, ‘Whose people are you? Where are you going? Whose herds are these in front of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. It is a gift sent to you, my lord Esau. Look, he is right behind us.’” 19 He commanded the second group, and the third, and all those who followed the herds, “This is how you shall speak to Esau when you meet him. 20 You shall say, ‘What’s more, look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob said, “I will win his favor with the gift that I have sent ahead of me, and after that I will see his face, and perhaps he will accept me.”
21 So the gift was sent over ahead of him, but he himself spent that night in the camp.
22 He got up that night and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and he also sent his possessions across. 24 Jacob was left alone, and he wrestled with a man there until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he touched the socket of his thigh, and the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated as he wrestled. 26 The man said, “Let me go. It’s daybreak.”
Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 Then he said to him, “What is your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
28 Then he said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men, and you have won.”
29 Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
He said, “Why do you ask what my name is?” Then he blessed him there.
30 Jacob named the place Peniel,[d] because he said, “I have seen God face-to-face, and my life has been spared.” 31 The sun rose as he crossed over at Peniel, and he was limping because of his thigh. 32 For that reason, to this day the people of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip that is on the socket of the thigh, because God touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh on the tendon of the hip.
Jesus Heals a Man With a Withered Hand
3 Jesus entered the synagogue again, and a man was there with a withered[a] hand. 2 They were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day, so that they could accuse him. 3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step forward!”[b] 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 Then he looked around at them with anger, deeply grieved at the hardness of their hearts. He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” The man stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees left and immediately began to conspire against Jesus with the Herodians, plotting how they might kill him.
Jesus Heals Many
7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples. A large crowd followed him from Galilee, Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumaea, and beyond the Jordan, as well as from around Tyre and Sidon. A large crowd came to him when they heard all that he was doing. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that the people would not crush him. 10 Since he had healed many people, all those who had illnesses were pressing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down in front of him, crying out, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But he warned them sternly that they should not tell who he was.
Jesus Appoints the Twelve Apostles
13 Jesus went up the mountain, summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve whom he designated apostles,[c] so that they would be with him and so that he could send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; 17 then James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, to whom he gave the nickname Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder”; 18 also Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus; finally, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Jesus Has Power to Drive Out Demons
20 They went[d] into a house. A crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat a meal. 21 When his own people[e] heard this, they went out to take control of him, because they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
22 The experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”
23 Jesus called them together and spoke to them in parables. “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished. 27 On the other hand, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he ties up the strong man first. Then he can plunder his house. 28 Amen[f] I tell you: Everything will be forgiven people, their sins and whatever blasphemies they may speak. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”[g] 30 Jesus said this because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
31 Then his mother and his brothers arrived. While they were standing outside, they sent word to Jesus, calling for him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him. They began to tell him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 He looked at those who sat around him in a circle and he said, “Look, my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
8 That day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Mordecai came and appeared before the king, because Esther had told him what Mordecai’s relationship to her was.
2 The king took off his signet ring that he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. Esther put Mordecai in charge of the house of Haman.
3 In addition, Esther spoke to the king. She fell at his feet, wept, and requested that he put an end to the evil plan that Haman the Agagite had devised against the Jews.
4 The king held out the golden scepter to Esther. Esther rose and stood in the presence of the king.
5 She said, “If it is acceptable to the king, if I have found favor before him, if this idea seems right to the king, and if I am acceptable to him, a decree should be written to nullify the letters for the plot of Haman, son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews in all of the provinces of the king. 6 For how can I watch the disaster that is about to come on my people! How can I watch the destruction of my relatives!”
7 King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look. I have given Haman’s house to Esther. They have hanged him on the gallows because he raised his hand against the Jews. 8 You can write concerning the Jews whatever seems good to you and seal it with the king’s signet ring, because a document written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be changed.”
9 The king’s scribes were summoned at once, on the twenty-third day of Sivan, the third month. Whatever Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews was written to the satraps, governors, and the officials of the provinces from India to Cush, one hundred twenty-seven provinces in all. They wrote to each province in its own writing system and to each people in its own language (including to the Jews in their writing system and in their language). 10 He wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent letters by messengers mounted on the king’s fastest thoroughbreds.[a]
The Content and Effect of the Letters
11 The king gave the Jews in every city the right to gather together to defend their own lives and to destroy, kill, and annihilate any military force of any people or province that might attack them, along with their children and their wives, and to plunder their goods.
12 In all the provinces of King Xerxes, 13 a copy of the writing, which was issued as a law for every province, proclaimed to all the peoples that on one day (the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, Adar), the Jews would be ready to avenge themselves on their enemies.
14 The couriers riding their swift horses went out quickly, spurred on by the word of the king. The decree originated in Susa, the citadel.
15 Mordecai went out from the king’s presence, dressed in blue and white royal clothing, with a large gold crown and a purple linen cape. The city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 It was a time of light, gladness, joy, and honor for the Jews.
17 In every province and in every city which the message of the king reached, his edict brought gladness and joy to the Jews. There was a feast and a holiday. Many of the peoples of the land declared themselves Jews because the fear of the Jews had fallen upon them.
A Jew’s Advantage and God’s Faithfulness
3 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew? Or what benefit is there to circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Indeed, above all else, they were entrusted with the messages of God.
3 Now what if some did not believe? Their unbelief[a] will not nullify God’s faithfulness, will it? 4 Absolutely not! God must be true, even though everyone is found to be a liar, just as it is written:
So that you would be justified whenever you speak,
and win the case when you judge.[b]
An Absurd Conclusion
5 Now if our unrighteousness demonstrates God’s righteousness, what shall we say? God is not unjust in bringing his wrath on us, is he? (I am speaking from a human point of view.) 6 Absolutely not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 For example,[c] someone might say, “If by my lie the truth of God increases all the more to his glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?” 8 And why not say (as some slanderously claim we say), “Let us do evil so that good may result.” Their condemnation is deserved.
All Are Guilty of Sin
9 What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all! In fact, we have already made the charge that all (both Jews and Greeks) are under sin. 10 Just as it is written:
There is no one who is righteous, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands. There is no one who searches for God.
12 They all turned away; together they became useless.
There is no one who does what is good; there is not even one.[d]
13 Their throat is an open grave.
They kept deceiving with their tongues.
The poison of asps is on their lips.[e]
14 Their mouth is filled with cursing and bitterness.[f]
15 Their feet are quick to shed blood.
16 They leave a trail of destruction and suffering wherever they go.
17 The way of peace they did not know.[g]
18 There is no fear of God in front of their eyes.[h]
The Law Condemns Everyone
19 Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law,[i] so that every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be subject to God’s judgment. 20 For this reason, no one[j] will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.
A Righteousness Apart From the Law by Faith
21 But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all[k] who believe.
In fact, there is no difference, 23 because all have sinned and fall short of the glory[l] of God 24 and are justified[m] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat[n] through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, since, in his divine restraint, he had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. 26 He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.
27 What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle[o]—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law. 29 Or is he only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised person by faith and the uncircumcised person through the very same faith. 31 So are we doing away with the law by this faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we are upholding the law.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.