M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Water From the Rock
17 The entire Israelite community set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin[a] as the Lord had commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”
Moses said to them, “Why are you quarreling with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there, so they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up out of Egypt to let us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst?”
4 Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go in front of the people, and take the elders of Israel with you. Also take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Watch me. I will stand there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. You are to strike the rock. Water will come out of it, and the people will drink.” Moses did that in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He named the place Massah[b] and Meribah,[c] because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Battle With the Amalekites
8 Then the Amalekites came and fought against the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Select some men for us, and go out and fight against the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop, and God’s staff will be in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did just as Moses told him.
While Joshua was fighting against the Amalekites, Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the hilltop. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, the Israelites would start winning, but whenever he lowered his hand,[d] the Amalekites would start winning. 12 When Moses’ arms became tired, they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands—one on one side, and one on the other side. In this way his hands were steady until sunset. 13 So Joshua defeated the Amalekite army with the sword.
14 The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a memorial, and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.” 15 Moses built an altar and named it “The Lord Is My Banner,” 16 because he had said, “Since a hand was raised against the throne of the Lord,[e] the Lord will be at war with the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned
20 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching the good news, the chief priests and experts in the law came to him with the elders. 2 They asked him, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things. Or who is the one who gave you this authority?”
3 He answered them, “I will also ask you one question. Tell me: 4 the baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?”
5 They discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from.
8 Jesus said to them, “Neither am I going to tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
9 He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to some tenant farmers, and went away on a journey for a long time. 10 When it was the right time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenant farmers beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 The man went ahead and sent yet another servant, but they also beat him, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 He then sent yet a third. They also wounded him and threw him out. 13 The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my son, whom I love. Perhaps they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenant farmers saw him, they talked it over with one another. They said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. So what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.”
When they heard this, they said, “May it never be!”
17 But he looked at them and said, “Then what about this that is written:
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone?[a]
18 “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush the one on whom it falls.”
19 That very hour the chief priests and the experts in the law began looking for a way to lay hands on him, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Paying Taxes to Caesar
20 They watched him carefully and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, so that they could trap Jesus in something he said, and then deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor. 21 They questioned him, “Teacher, we know that you say and teach what is right and show no partiality to anyone, but you teach the way of God on the basis of the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 But he was aware of their deceit and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius.[b] Whose image and inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they answered.
25 He said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
26 They were not able to trap him in what he said in the presence of the people. They were amazed at his answer and became silent.
The God of the Living
27 Some of the Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him. 28 They asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother should take the wife and raise up children for his brother.[c] 29 So there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless. 30 The second took her as a wife,[d] 31 and so did the third, and in the same way the seven died and left no children. 32 Finally the woman died too. 33 So in the resurrection, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as a wife.”
34 Jesus said to them, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are considered worthy to experience that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 In fact, they cannot die any more, for they are like the angels. They are sons of God, because they are sons of the resurrection.
37 “Even Moses showed in the account about the burning bush that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord: ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[e] 38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all are alive to him.”
39 Some of the experts in the law answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 Then they no longer dared to ask him anything.
David’s Son and David’s Lord
41 Jesus said to them, “How is it that they say that the Christ is David’s son? 42 David himself says in the book of Psalms:
The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand, 43 until I make your enemies
a footstool under your feet.”[f]
44 “So David calls him ‘Lord.’ Then how is he his son?”
Beware
45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the experts in the law, who like to walk around in long robes and love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and offer long prayers to look good. They will receive greater condemnation.”
35 Then Elihu continued:
2 Do you really think it is right when you say,
“My righteousness is greater than God’s”?[a]
3 You even say, “What use will this be to me?
How will it profit me more than if I sinned?”
4 But I will respond to your words—and to your friends with you!
5 Look at the heavens and you will see.
Take a good look at the clouds.
They are high above you!
6 If you have sinned, how does that affect God?
If your rebellious deeds are many, what harm can you do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what are you giving to him?
What does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness only affects a man like you,
and your righteousness only impacts other people.
9 They cry out because of severe oppression.
They scream for relief from the arm of the powerful.
10 But no one asks, “Where is God my Maker,
who provides songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the wild animals on the earth,
who makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?”
12 Then the wicked cry out, but he does not answer,
because of their arrogant pride.[b]
13 Certainly God will not listen to an insincere[c] cry,
and the Almighty will not pay attention to it.
14 How much less when you say
that you do not see him,
that your case has been presented to him,
and that you are waiting for him!
15 Besides that, you say that his anger has not demanded an accounting,
and that he does not fully understand sin.[d]
16 Job opens his mouth pointlessly,
and he heaps up words without knowledge.
We Long for Heaven
5 Now we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal home in heaven, which is not made by human hands. 2 In fact, the reason we groan is that we long to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. 3 If we do indeed put it on,[a] we will certainly not be found naked. 4 To be sure, while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as the down payment.
6 Therefore we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 But we are confident and would much prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 And for this reason we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home or away. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he did while in the body, whether good or bad.
11 So, since we know the fear of the Lord, we are trying to persuade people. Now, we are well known by God, and I hope that we are also well known in your consciences. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again, but we are giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you have a reply for those who boast about outward appearance rather than what is in the heart.
13 Actually, if we were out of our minds, it was for God. If we are in our right minds, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels[b] us, because we came to this conclusion: One died for all; therefore, all died. 15 And he died for all, so that those who live would no longer live for themselves but for him, who died in their place and was raised again.
God Was in Christ Reconciling the World
16 As a result, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way. 17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. The new has come![c] 18 And all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. And he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, inasmuch as God is making an appeal through us. We urge you, on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.