M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back again and make your demand upon Pharaoh; but I have hardened him and his officials, so that I can do more miracles demonstrating my power. 2 What stories you can tell your children and grandchildren about the incredible things I am doing in Egypt! Tell them what fools I made of the Egyptians, and how I proved to you that I am Jehovah.”
3 So Moses and Aaron requested another audience with Pharaoh and told him: “Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, asks, ‘How long will you refuse to submit to me? Let my people go so they can worship me. 4-5 If you refuse, tomorrow I will cover the entire nation with a thick layer of locusts so that you won’t even be able to see the ground, and they will finish destroying everything that escaped the hail. 6 They will fill your palace, and the homes of your officials, and all the houses of Egypt. Never in the history of Egypt has there been a plague like this will be!’” Then Moses stalked out.
7 The court officials now came to Pharaoh and asked him, “Are you going to destroy us completely? Don’t you know even yet that all Egypt lies in ruins? Let the men go and serve Jehovah their God!”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. “All right, go and serve Jehovah your God!” he said. “But just who is it you want to go?”
9 “We will go with our sons and daughters, flocks and herds,” Moses replied. “We will take everything with us; for we must all join in the holy pilgrimage.”
10 “In the name of God I will not let you take your little ones!” Pharaoh retorted. “I can see your plot! 11 Never! You that are men, go and serve Jehovah, for that is what you asked for.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Hold out your hand over the land of Egypt to bring locusts—they will cover the land and eat everything the hail has left.”
13 So Moses lifted his rod and Jehovah caused an east wind to blow all that day and night; and when it was morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 And the locusts covered the land of Egypt from border to border; it was the worst locust plague in all Egyptian history; and there will never again be another like it. 15 For the locusts covered the face of the earth and blotted out the sun so that the land was darkened; and they ate every bit of vegetation the hail had left; there remained not one green thing—not a tree, not a plant throughout all the land of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh sent an urgent call for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I confess my sin against Jehovah your God and against you. 17 Forgive my sin only this once, and beg Jehovah your God to take away this deadly plague. I solemnly promise that I will let you go as soon as the locusts are gone.”
18 So Moses went out from Pharaoh and entreated the Lord, 19 and he sent a very strong west wind that blew the locusts out into the Red Sea, so that there remained not one locust in all the land of Egypt! 20 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not let the people go.
21 Then Jehovah said to Moses, “Lift your hands to heaven, and darkness without a ray of light will descend upon the land of Egypt.” 22 So Moses did, and there was thick darkness over all the land for three days. 23 During all that time the people scarcely moved—but all the people of Israel had light as usual.
24 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and said, “Go and worship Jehovah—but let your flocks and herds stay here; you can even take your children with you.”
25 “No,” Moses said, “we must take our flocks and herds for sacrifices and burnt offerings to Jehovah our God. 26 Not a hoof shall be left behind; for we must have sacrifices for the Lord our God, and we do not know what he will choose until we get there.”
27 So the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let them go.
28 “Get out of here and don’t let me ever see you again,” Pharaoh shouted at Moses. “The day you do, you shall die.”
29 “Very well,” Moses replied. “I will never see you again.”
13 About this time he was informed that Pilate had butchered some Jews from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem.
2 “Do you think they were worse sinners than other men from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And don’t you realize that you also will perish unless you leave your evil ways and turn to God?
4 “And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 Not at all! And you, too, will perish unless you repent.”
6 Then he used this illustration: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if he could find any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. 7 Finally he told his gardener to cut it down. ‘I’ve waited three years and there hasn’t been a single fig!’ he said. ‘Why bother with it any longer? It’s taking up space we can use for something else.’
8 “‘Give it one more chance,’ the gardener answered. ‘Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. 9 If we get figs next year, fine; if not, I’ll cut it down.’”
10 One Sabbath as he was teaching in a synagogue, 11 he saw a seriously handicapped woman who had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to straighten herself.
12 Calling her over to him Jesus said, “Woman, you are healed of your sickness!” 13 He touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised and thanked God!
14 But the local Jewish leader in charge of the synagogue was very angry about it because Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week to work,” he shouted to the crowd. “Those are the days to come for healing, not on the Sabbath!”
15 But the Lord replied, “You hypocrite! You work on the Sabbath! Don’t you untie your cattle from their stalls on the Sabbath and lead them out for water? 16 And is it wrong for me, just because it is the Sabbath day, to free this Jewish woman from the bondage in which Satan has held her for eighteen years?”
17 This shamed his enemies. And all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.
18 Now he began teaching them again about the Kingdom of God: “What is the Kingdom like?” he asked. “How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed planted in a garden; soon it grows into a tall bush and the birds live among its branches.
20-21 “It is like yeast kneaded into dough, which works unseen until it has risen high and light.”
22 He went from city to city and village to village, teaching as he went, always pressing onward toward Jerusalem.
23 Someone asked him, “Will only a few be saved?”
And he replied, 24-25 “The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, for the truth is that many will try to enter but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. Then if you stand outside knocking, and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us,’ he will reply, ‘I do not know you.’
26 “‘But we ate with you, and you taught in our streets,’ you will say.
27 “And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you. You can’t come in here, guilty as you are. Go away.’
28 “And there will be great weeping and gnashing of teeth as you stand outside and see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets within the Kingdom of God— 29 for people will come from all over the world to take their places there. 30 And note this: some who are despised now will be greatly honored then; and some who are highly thought of now will be least important then.”
31 A few minutes later some Pharisees said to him, “Get out of here if you want to live, for King Herod is after you!”
32 Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and doing miracles of healing today and tomorrow; and the third day I will reach my destination. 33 Yes, today, tomorrow, and the next day! For it wouldn’t do for a prophet of God to be killed except in Jerusalem!
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! The city that murders the prophets. The city that stones those sent to help her. How often I have wanted to gather your children together even as a hen protects her brood under her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 35 And now—now your house is left desolate. And you will never again see me until you say, ‘Welcome to him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
28 “Men know how to mine silver and refine gold, 2 to dig iron from the earth and melt copper from stone. 3-4 Men know how to put light into darkness so that a mine shaft can be sunk into the earth, and the earth searched and its deep secrets explored. Into the black rock, shadowed by death, men descend on ropes, swinging back and forth.
5 “Men know how to obtain food from the surface of the earth, while underneath there is fire.
6 “They know how to find sapphires and gold dust— 7 treasures that no bird of prey can see, no eagle’s eye observe— 8 for they are deep within the mines. No wild animal has ever walked upon those treasures; no lion has set his paw there. 9 Men know how to tear apart flinty rocks and how to overturn the roots of mountains. 10 They drill tunnels in the rocks and lay bare precious stones. 11 They dam up streams of water and pan the gold.[a]
12 “But though men can do all these things, they don’t know where to find wisdom and understanding. 13 They not only don’t know how to get it, but, in fact, it is not to be found among the living.
14 “‘It’s not here,’ the oceans say; and the seas reply, ‘Nor is it here.’
15 “It cannot be bought for gold or silver, 16 nor for all the gold of Ophir or precious onyx stones or sapphires. 17 Wisdom is far more valuable than gold and glass. It cannot be bought for jewels mounted in fine gold. 18 Coral or crystal is worthless in trying to get it; its price is far above rubies. 19 Topaz from Ethiopia cannot purchase it, nor even the purest gold.
20 “Then where can we get it? Where can it be found? 21 For it is hid from the eyes of all mankind; even the sharp-eyed birds in the sky cannot discover it.
22 “But Destruction and Death speak of knowing something about it! 23-24 And God surely knows where it is to be found, for he looks throughout the whole earth, under all the heavens. 25 He makes the winds blow and sets the boundaries of the oceans. 26 He makes the laws of the rain and a path for the lightning. 27 He knows where wisdom is and declares it to all who will listen. He established it and examined it thoroughly. 28 And this is what he says to all mankind: ‘Look, to fear the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.’”
14 Let love be your greatest aim; nevertheless, ask also for the special abilities the Holy Spirit gives, and especially the gift of prophecy, being able to preach the messages of God.
2 But if your gift is that of being able to “speak in tongues,” that is, to speak in languages you haven’t learned, you will be talking to God but not to others, since they won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be a secret. 3 But one who prophesies, preaching the messages of God, is helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and comforting them. 4 So a person “speaking in tongues” helps himself grow spiritually, but one who prophesies, preaching messages from God, helps the entire church grow in holiness and happiness.
5 I wish you all had the gift of “speaking in tongues,” but even more I wish you were all able to prophesy, preaching God’s messages, for that is a greater and more useful power than to speak in unknown languages—unless, of course, you can tell everyone afterwards what you were saying, so that they can get some good out of it too.
6 Dear friends, even if I myself should come to you talking in some language you don’t understand, how would that help you? But if I speak plainly what God has revealed to me, and tell you the things I know, and what is going to happen, and the great truths of God’s Word—that is what you need; that is what will help you. 7 Even musical instruments—the flute, for instance, or the harp—are examples of the need for speaking in plain, simple English[a] rather than in unknown languages. For no one will recognize the tune the flute is playing unless each note is sounded clearly. 8 And if the army bugler doesn’t play the right notes, how will the soldiers know that they are being called to battle? 9 In the same way, if you talk to a person in some language he doesn’t understand, how will he know what you mean? You might as well be talking to an empty room.
10 I suppose that there are hundreds of different languages in the world, and all are excellent for those who understand them, 11 but to me they mean nothing. A person talking to me in one of these languages will be a stranger to me and I will be a stranger to him. 12 Since you are so anxious to have special gifts from the Holy Spirit, ask him for the very best, for those that will be of real help to the whole church.
13 If someone is given the gift of speaking in unknown tongues, he should pray also for the gift of knowing what he has said, so that he can tell people afterwards plainly. 14 For if I pray in a language I don’t understand, my spirit is praying, but I don’t know what I am saying.
15 Well, then, what shall I do? I will do both. I will pray in unknown tongues and also in ordinary language that everyone understands. I will sing in unknown tongues and also in ordinary language so that I can understand the praise I am giving; 16 for if you praise and thank God with the spirit alone, speaking in another language, how can those who don’t understand you be praising God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t know what you are saying? 17 You will be giving thanks very nicely, no doubt, but the other people present won’t be helped.
18 I thank God that I “speak in tongues” privately[b] more than any of the rest of you. 19 But in public worship I would much rather speak five words that people can understand and be helped by than ten thousand words while “speaking in tongues” in an unknown language.
20 Dear brothers, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent babies when it comes to planning evil, but be men of intelligence in understanding matters of this kind. 21 We are told in the ancient Scriptures that God would send men from other lands to speak in foreign languages to his people, but even then they would not listen. 22 So you see that being able to “speak in tongues” is not a sign to God’s children concerning his power, but is a sign to the unsaved. However, prophecy (preaching the deep truths of God) is what the Christians need, and unbelievers aren’t yet ready for it. 23 Even so, if an unsaved person, or someone who doesn’t have these gifts, comes to church and hears you all talking in other languages, he is likely to think you are crazy. 24 But if you prophesy, preaching God’s Word, even though such preaching is mostly for believers,[c] and an unsaved person or a new Christian comes in who does not understand about these things, all these sermons will convince him of the fact that he is a sinner, and his conscience will be pricked by everything he hears. 25 As he listens, his secret thoughts will be laid bare, and he will fall down on his knees and worship God, declaring that God is really there among you.
26 Well, my brothers, let’s add up what I am saying. When you meet together some will sing, another will teach, or tell some special information God has given him, or speak in an unknown language, or tell what someone else is saying who is speaking in the unknown language, but everything that is done must be useful to all, and build them up in the Lord. 27 No more than two or three should speak in an unknown language, and they must speak one at a time, and someone must be ready to interpret what they are saying. 28 But if no one is present who can interpret, they must not speak out loud. They must talk silently to themselves and to God in the unknown language but not publicly.
29-30 Two or three may prophesy, one at a time, if they have the gift, while all the others listen. But if, while someone is prophesying, someone else receives a message or idea from the Lord, the one who is speaking should stop. 31 In this way all who have the gift of prophecy can speak, one after the other, and everyone will learn and be encouraged and helped. 32 Remember that a person who has a message from God has the power to stop himself or wait his turn.[d] 33 God is not one who likes things to be disorderly and upset. He likes harmony, and he finds it in all the other churches.
34 Women should be silent during the church meetings. They are not to take part in the discussion, for they are subordinate to men[e] as the Scriptures also declare. 35 If they have any questions to ask, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to express their opinions in church meetings.
36 You disagree? And do you think that the knowledge of God’s will begins and ends with you Corinthians? Well, you are mistaken! 37 You who claim to have the gift of prophecy or any other special ability from the Holy Spirit should be the first to realize that what I am saying is a commandment from the Lord himself. 38 But if anyone still disagrees—well, we will leave him in his ignorance.[f]
39 So, my fellow believers, long to be prophets so that you can preach God’s message plainly; and never say it is wrong to “speak in tongues”; 40 however, be sure that everything is done properly in a good and orderly way.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.