M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back to Pi Hahiroth. Tell them to camp for the night between Migdol and the Red Sea. This is near Baal Zephon. 3 The king will think, ‘The Israelites are lost, trapped by the desert.’ 4 I will make the king stubborn again so he will chase after them. But I will defeat the king and his army. This will bring honor to me. Then the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord.” The people of Israel did just as they were told.
The King Chases the Israelites
5 The king of Egypt was told that the people of Israel had already left. Then he and his officers changed their minds about them. They said, “What have we done? We have let the people of Israel leave. We have lost our slaves!” 6 So the king prepared his war chariot and took his army with him. 7 He took 600 of his best chariots. He also took all the other chariots of Egypt. Each chariot had an officer in it. 8 The Lord made the king of Egypt stubborn. So he chased the Israelites, who were leaving victoriously. 9 The king of Egypt came with his horses, chariot drivers and army. And they chased the Israelites. They caught up with the Israelites while they were camped by the Red Sea. This was near Pi Hahiroth and Baal Zephon.
10 The Israelites saw the king and his army coming after them. They were very frightened and cried to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, “What have you done to us? Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the desert? There were plenty of graves for us in Egypt. 12 We told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone! Let us stay and serve the Egyptians.’ Now we will die in the desert.”
13 But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still and see the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again after today. 14 You will only need to remain calm. The Lord will fight for you.”
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Command the people of Israel to start moving. 16 Raise your walking stick and hold it over the sea. The sea will split. Then the people can cross the sea on dry land. 17 I have made the Egyptians stubborn so they will chase the Israelites. But I will be honored when I defeat the king and all of his chariot drivers and chariots. 18 I will defeat the king, his chariot drivers and chariots. Then Egypt will know that I am the Lord.”
19 The angel of God usually traveled in front of Israel’s army. Now the angel of God moved behind them. Also, the pillar of cloud moved from in front of the people and stood behind them. 20 So the cloud came between the Egyptians and the people of Israel. The cloud made it dark for the Egyptians. But it gave light to the Israelites. So the cloud kept the two armies apart all night.
21 Moses held his hand over the sea. All that night the Lord drove back the sea with a strong east wind. And so he made the sea become dry ground. The water was split. 22 And the Israelites went through the sea on dry land. A wall of water was on both sides.
23 Then all the king’s horses, chariots and chariot drivers followed them into the sea. 24 Between two and six o’clock in the morning, the Lord looked down from the pillar of cloud and fire at the Egyptian army. He made them panic. 25 He kept the wheels of the chariots from turning. This made it hard to drive the chariots. The Egyptians shouted, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them and against us Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord told Moses, “Hold your hand over the sea. Then the water will come back over the Egyptians, their chariots and chariot drivers.” 27 So Moses raised his hand over the sea. And at dawn the water became deep again. The Egyptians were trying to run from it. But the Lord swept them away into the sea. 28 The water became deep again. It covered the chariots and chariot drivers. So all the king’s army that had followed the Israelites into the sea was covered. Not one of them survived.
29 But the people of Israel crossed the sea on dry land. There was a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 So that day the Lord saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. And the Israelites saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore. 31 When the people of Israel saw the great power that the Lord had used against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord. And they trusted the Lord and his servant Moses.
Sin and Forgiveness
17 Jesus said to his followers, “Things will surely happen that cause people to sin. But how terrible for the one who causes them to happen. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large stone around his neck than to cause one of these weak people to sin. 3 So be careful!
“If your brother sins, tell him he is wrong. But if he is sorry and stops sinning, forgive him. 4 If your brother sins against you seven times in one day, but he says that he is sorry each time, then forgive him.”
How Big Is Your Faith?
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”
6 The Lord said, “If your faith is as big as a mustard seed,[a] then you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Dig yourself up and plant yourself in the sea!’ And the tree will obey you.
Be Good Servants
7 “Suppose one of you has a servant who has been plowing the ground or caring for the sheep. When the servant comes in from working in the field, would you say, ‘Come in and sit down to eat’? 8 No, you would say to your servant, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Then get yourself ready and serve me. When I finish eating and drinking, then you can eat and drink.’ 9 The servant does not get any special thanks for doing what his master told him to do. 10 It is the same with you. When you do everything you are told to do, you should say, ‘We don’t deserve any special thanks. We have only done the work we should do.’”
Be Thankful
11 Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. Traveling from Galilee to Samaria, 12 he came into a small town. Ten men met him there. These men did not come close to Jesus, because they all had a harmful skin disease. 13 But they called to him, “Jesus! Master! Please help us!”
14 When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”[b]
While the ten men were going, they were healed. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God in a loud voice. 16 Then he bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (This man was a Samaritan.) 17 Jesus asked, “Ten men were healed; where are the other nine? 18 Is this Samaritan the only one who came back to thank God?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go on your way. You were healed because you believed.”
God’s Kingdom Is Within You
20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”
Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, God’s kingdom is here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ No, God’s kingdom is within you.”
22 Then Jesus said to his followers, “The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you will not be able to see it. 23 People will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or, ‘Look, here he is!’ Stay where you are; don’t go away and search.
When Jesus Comes Again
24 “The Son of Man will come again. On the day he comes he will shine like lightning, which flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other. 25 But first, the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the people of this time. 26 When the Son of Man comes again, it will be as it was when Noah lived. 27 In the time of Noah, people were eating, drinking, and getting married even on the day when Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed all the people. 28 It will be the same as during the time of Lot. Those people were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. 29 They were doing these things even on the day Lot left Sodom.[c] Then fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and killed them all. 30 This is exactly how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.
31 “On that day, if a man is on his roof, he will not have time to go inside and get his things. If a man is in the field, he cannot go back home. 32 Remember what happened to Lot’s wife?[d] 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will give up true life. But whoever gives up his life will have true life. 34 At the time when I come again, there may be two people sleeping in one bed. One will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There may be two women grinding grain together. One will be taken and the other will be left. 36 [Two men will be in the same field. One man will be taken, but the other man will be left behind.]”[e]
37 The followers asked Jesus, “Where will this be, Lord?”
Jesus answered, “People can always find a dead body by looking for the vultures.”
Elihu Speaks
32 These three men stopped answering Job. This is because Job was so sure he was right. 2 But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite became very angry with Job. (Elihu was from the family of Ram.) He was angry because Job claimed he was right instead of God. 3 Elihu was also angry with Job’s three friends. They had no answer to show that Job was wrong. And yet they continued to blame him. 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job. This is because the three friends were older than he was. 5 But when Elihu saw that the three men had nothing more to say, he became very angry.
6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite said this:
“I am young,
and you are old.
That is why I was afraid
to tell you what I know.
7 I thought, ‘Older people should speak.
Those who have lived many years should teach wisdom.’
8 But it is the spirit in a person that gives him understanding.
It is the breath of God All-Powerful in him.
9 It is not just older people who are wise.
Older people are not the only ones who understand what is right.
10 So I say, listen to me!
I will also tell you what I know.
11 I waited while you spoke.
I listened to your explanations.
I waited while you looked for words to use.
12 I paid close attention to you.
But not one of you has proved Job wrong.
Not one of you has answered his arguments.
13 Don’t you say, ‘We have found wisdom.
Only God will show Job to be wrong, not people.’
14 Job has not spoken his words against me.
So I will not use your arguments to answer Job.
15 “These three friends are defeated and have no more to say.
Words have failed them.
16 Now they are standing there with no answer for Job.
Now that they are quiet, must I wait to speak?
17 No, I also will speak.
I will also tell what I know.
18 I am full of words.
And the spirit in me causes me to speak.
19 I am like wine that has been bottled up.
I am ready to burst like a new leather bag for holding wine.
20 I must speak. Then I will feel relief.
I must open my mouth and answer.
21 I will be fair to everyone.
I will not flatter anyone.
22 I don’t know how to flatter.
If I did, God, my Maker, would quickly take me away.
2 So I decided that my next visit to you would not be another visit to make you sad. 2 If I make you sad, who will make me happy? Only you can make me happy—you whom I made sad. 3 I wrote you a letter for this reason: that when I came to you I would not be made sad by the people who should make me happy. I felt sure of all of you. I felt sure that you would share my joy. 4 When I wrote to you before, I was very troubled and unhappy in my heart. I wrote with many tears. I did not write to make you sad, but to let you know how much I love you.
Forgive the Sinner
5 Someone there among you has caused sadness. He caused this not to me, but to all of you—I mean he caused sadness to all in some way. (I do not want to make it sound worse than it really is.) 6 The punishment that most of you gave him is enough for him. 7 But now you should forgive him and comfort him. This will keep him from having too much sadness and giving up completely. 8 So I beg you to show him that you love him. 9 This is why I wrote to you. I wanted to test you and see if you obey in everything. 10 If you forgive someone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if I had anything to forgive—I forgave it for you, and Christ was with me. 11 I did this so that Satan would not win anything from us. We know very well what Satan’s plans are.
Paul’s Concern in Troas
12 I went to Troas to preach the Good News of Christ. The Lord gave me a good opportunity there. 13 But I had no peace because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye and went to Macedonia.
Victory Through Christ
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume. 15 Our offering to God is this: We are the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost. 16 To those who are lost, we are the smell of death that brings death. But to those who are being saved, we are the smell of life that brings life. So who is able to do this work? 17 We do not sell the word of God for a profit as many other people do. But in Christ we speak the truth before God. We speak as men sent from God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.