M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Pharaoh’s Dreams

41 At the end of two full years Pharaoh also had a dream. In the dream he was standing beside the river. ² There, right in front of him, seven beautiful, fat cows came up out of the river and were grazing in the marsh grass. ³ Just then seven ugly, thin cows came up out of the river behind them, and they stood beside the other cows on the bank of the river. ⁴ The ugly, thin cows ate up the seven beautiful, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

⁵ Pharaoh fell asleep again and dreamed a second time. He saw seven healthy, good heads of grain come up on one stalk. ⁶ Right after that, seven thin heads of grain, blasted by the east wind, sprang up after them. ⁷ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Pharaoh woke up and realized that it was a dream. ⁸ The next morning he was very troubled, so he sent for all of Egypt’s magicians^[a] and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I remember my faults. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard—me and the chief baker. ¹¹ We each had a dream during the same night—he and I. Each of us dreamed a dream that had its own interpretation. ¹² There was a young man with us, a Hebrew, a servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each man he gave the interpretation of his dream. ¹³ It turned out exactly as he interpreted them for us. Pharaoh restored me to my office but hanged the chief baker.”

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. Joseph shaved, changed his clothing, and went to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in my power. God will give Pharaoh an answer to give him peace of mind.”

¹⁷ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph: “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Suddenly seven fat, beautiful cows came up out of the river and were grazing in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ Just then seven poor cattle, very ugly and thin, came up after them. They were uglier than any I had ever seen in the whole land of Egypt. ²⁰ The thin, ugly cattle ate up the first seven cattle, the fat ones, ²¹ and when they had eaten them up, you could not even tell that they had eaten them, because they were still as ugly as they were at the beginning. Then I woke up.

²² “Later I had another dream, in which I saw seven heads of grain grow on one stalk. They were full and good. ²³ Then I saw seven heads of grain spring up after them. They were withered, thin, and blasted by the east wind. ²⁴ The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told the dream to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. God has declared to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cattle are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. It is one dream. ²⁷ The seven thin, ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted by the east wind. They will be seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the very thing that I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Look, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. ³⁰ Seven years of famine will come up after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will consume the land, ³¹ and the abundance will not be remembered in the land because of the famine that follows, for it will be very severe. ³² The double dream was shown to Pharaoh, because this matter is established by God, and God will bring it to pass very soon.”

Joseph Comes to Power

³³ “Let Pharaoh, therefore, look for a man who is wise and discerning, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ When Pharaoh does this, let him appoint overseers over the land to collect one fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Let them collect all this food from these good years that are coming. Accumulate grain under the authority of Pharaoh to provide food for the cities, and let them store it. ³⁶ The food will be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that will take place in the land of Egypt so that the land does not perish because of the famine.”

³⁷ The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. ³⁸ Pharaoh said to his officials, “Can we find anyone else like this man, a man who has the spirit of God?”

³⁹ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. ⁴⁰ You shall be in charge of my house, and all my people will submit to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “Look, I have appointed you over the whole land of Egypt.”

⁴² Pharaoh took his signet ring off of his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand. He dressed Joseph in robes made from the best linen and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ He had him ride in the second best chariot that he had. Men went ahead of him crying out, “Kneel down!”^[b] Pharaoh appointed him over the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but in the whole land of Egypt no one will lift up his hand or his foot without your permission.” ⁴⁵ Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as a wife. Joseph went out and began to rule over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and traveled throughout the whole land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of abundance the earth produced plentiful harvests. ⁴⁸ He collected all the food during the seven good years in the land of Egypt, and he stored up the food in the cities. In every city he stored the food from the fields that were around the city. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up a huge amount of grain, like the sand of the sea. Finally he stopped keeping track, because it was too much to measure.

⁵⁰ Two sons were born to Joseph before the first year of famine arrived. Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, gave birth to them. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, because he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”^{[c] 52} He named the second son Ephraim. He said, “Yes, God has made me fruitful in the land where I was afflicted.”^[d]

⁵³ So the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. ⁵⁴ The seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every land, but in the whole land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ When the whole land of Egypt was starving, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do whatever he tells you.” ⁵⁶ The famine spread over the face of the whole earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ The whole world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe all over the whole world.

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

11 As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ² and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it, and he will send it back here without delay.’”

⁴ They left and found a colt on the street, tied at a door; and they untied it. ⁵ Some who were standing there asked them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ The disciples answered them just as Jesus had instructed them, and the men let them go.

⁷ They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their garments on the road. Others spread branches that they had cut from the fields. ⁹ Those who went in front and those who followed were crying out,

¹¹ Jesus went into the temple courts in Jerusalem and looked around at everything. Since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

¹² The next day, after they had set out from Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ When he saw a fig tree in leaf in the distance, he went to see if he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, since it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ Jesus said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples were listening.

Jesus Cleanses His Father’s House

¹⁵ They came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶ He would not allow anyone to carry any merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷ He began to teach them: “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?^[c] But you have made it ‘a den of robbers’!”^[d]

¹⁸ The chief priests and the experts in the law heard this and were looking for a way to kill him. Indeed they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples would leave the city.

The Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered down to the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

²² Jesus replied, “Have faith in God. ²³ Amen I tell you: Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, everything that you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.”^[e]

Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned

²⁷ They went into Jerusalem again. As he was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the experts in the law, and the elders came to him. ²⁸ They asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.”

³¹ They discussed this with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’. . . .” (They feared the crowd, because everybody held that John really was a prophet.) ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Job Addresses God

God Graciously Chose a Remnant

11 So I say, did God reject his people? Absolutely not! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. ² God did not reject his people whom he foreknew—or don’t you know what Scripture says about Elijah, how he was pleading with God against Israel: ³ “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.”^{[a] 4} But what did God’s answer tell him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”^[b]

⁵ So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.^{[c] 6} Now if it is by grace, then it is not the result of works—otherwise grace would no longer be grace.^[d]

God Planned a Way to Recover Some Hardened Jews

⁷ What then? Israel did not receive what it was striving to get. The elect did, but the rest were hardened. ⁸ Just as it is written:

⁹ And David says:

¹¹ So I ask, “Did they stumble in order to fall permanently?” Absolutely not! Rather, by their trespass, salvation came to the Gentiles to make the Israelites jealous. ¹² Now if their trespass meant riches for the world, and their failure meant riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean!

¹³ I am speaking to you Gentiles. For as long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I am going to speak highly of my ministry. ¹⁴ Perhaps I may make my own people jealous, and so save some of them. ¹⁵ For if their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, what does their acceptance mean other than the dead coming to life?

Gentiles Should Not Become Proud

¹⁶ If the part offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you—a wild olive branch—were grafted in among them and share in the rich sap from the root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not boast that you are better than the branches. If you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, but the root is supporting you. ¹⁹ Then you will say: “Branches were broken off so that I am grafted in.” ²⁰ That is true—but remember that they were broken off because of unbelief, and you remain in place by faith. Do not be conceited, but stand in awe. ²¹ For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you. ²² So take note of God’s kindness and his severity: severity on those who have fallen, but God’s kindness on you—if you remain in his kindness; otherwise, you also will be cut off.

Some Jews Will Be Grafted in Again

²³ And if they do not remain in unbelief, those branches will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴ For if you were cut off from a wild olive tree and, contrary to nature, were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more easily will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

²⁵ For I do not want you to be uninformed about this mystery, brothers, so that you are not conceited in your opinion of yourselves. There has been a hardening of part of Israel until the full number of Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

The Paradox of How God Shows Mercy

²⁸ In regard to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But, in regard to election, they are especially dear for the sake of the patriarchs, ²⁹ because God’s gracious gifts and call are not regretted. ³⁰ For just as you were once disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy due to their disobedience, ³¹ so also now they have become disobedient, so that by the mercy shown to you they may be shown mercy too. ³² For God imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may show mercy to all.