M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Offerings for the Holy Tent
25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to bring me an offering. You must receive the offering for me from everyone whose hearts move them to give.
3 “Here are the offerings you must receive from them.
“gold, silver and bronze
4 blue, purple and bright red yarn and fine linen
goat hair
5 ram skins that are dyed red
another kind of strong leather
acacia wood
6 olive oil for the lights
spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense
7 onyx stones and other jewels for the linen apron and chest cloth
8 “Have them make a sacred tent for me. I will live among them. 9 Make the holy tent and everything that belongs to it. Make them exactly like the pattern I will show you.
The Ark of the Covenant Law
10 “Have them make an ark out of acacia wood. It must be a chest three feet nine inches long and two feet three inches wide and high. 11 Cover it inside and outside with pure gold. Put a strip of gold around it. 12 Make four gold rings for it. Join them to its four bottom corners. Put two rings on one side and two rings on the other. 13 Then make poles out of acacia wood. Cover them with gold. 14 Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. 15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark. Do not remove them. 16 I will give you the tablets of the covenant law. When I do, put them into the ark.
17 “Make its cover out of pure gold. The cover is the place where sin will be paid for. Make it three feet nine inches long and two feet three inches wide. 18 Make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Put one of the cherubim on each end of it. Make the cherubim part of the cover itself. 20 They must have their wings spread up over the cover. The cherubim must face each other and look toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark. I will give you the tablets of the covenant law. Put them in the ark. 22 The ark is where the tablets of the covenant law are kept. I will meet with you above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark. There I will give you all my commands for the Israelites.
The Table for the Holy Bread
23 “Make a table out of acacia wood. Make it three feet long, one foot six inches wide and two feet three inches high. 24 Cover it with pure gold. Put a strip of gold around it. 25 Also make a rim around it three inches wide. Put a strip of gold around the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for the table. Join them to the four corners, where the four legs are. 27 The rings must be close to the rim. They must hold the poles that will be used to carry the table. 28 Make the poles out of acacia wood. Cover them with gold. Use them to carry the table. 29 Make its plates and dishes out of pure gold. Also make its pitchers and bowls out of pure gold. Use the pitchers and bowls to pour out drink offerings. 30 Put the holy bread on the table. It must be near my holy throne on the ark of the covenant law at all times.
The Gold Lampstand
31 “Make a lampstand out of pure gold. Hammer out its base and stem. Its buds, blossoms and cups must branch out from it. They must be part of the lampstand itself. 32 Six branches must come out from the sides of the lampstand. Make three on one side and three on the other. 33 On one branch make three cups that are shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. Then put three on the next branch. Do the same with all six branches that come out from the lampstand. 34 On the lampstand there must be four cups that are shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 35 One bud must be under the first pair of branches that come out from the lampstand. Put a second bud under the second pair. And put a third bud under the third pair. Make a total of six branches. 36 The buds and branches must come out from the lampstand. The whole lampstand must be one piece hammered out of pure gold.
37 “Then make its seven lamps. Set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. 38 The trays and wick cutters must be made out of pure gold. 39 Use 75 pounds of pure gold to make the lampstand and everything used with it. 40 Be sure to make everything just like the pattern I showed you on the mountain.
Jesus Talks With a Woman From Samaria
4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard about him. They had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John. 2 But in fact Jesus was not baptizing. His disciples were. 3 So Jesus left Judea and went back again to Galilee.
4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the piece of land Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from the journey. So he sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 A woman from Samaria came to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew. I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” She said this because Jews don’t have anything to do with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered her, “You do not know what God’s gift is. And you do not know who is asking you for a drink. If you did, you would have asked him. He would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you don’t have anything to get water with. The well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Our father Jacob gave us the well. He drank from it himself. So did his sons and his livestock. Are you more important than he is?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But anyone who drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty. In fact, the water I give them will become a spring of water in them. It will flow up into eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty. And I won’t have to keep coming here to get water.”
16 He told her, “Go. Get your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands. And the man you live with now is not your husband. What you have just said is very true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our people have always worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus said, “Woman, believe me. A time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know. Salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But a new time is coming. In fact, it is already here. True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. They are the kind of worshipers the Father is looking for. 24 God is spirit. His worshipers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah is coming.” Messiah means Christ. “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said, “The one you’re talking about is the one speaking to you. I am he.”
The Disciples Join Jesus Again
27 Just then Jesus’ disciples returned. They were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want from her?” No one asked, “Why are you talking with her?”
28 The woman left her water jar and went back to the town. She said to the people, 29 “Come. See a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 The people came out of the town and made their way toward Jesus.
31 His disciples were saying to him, “Rabbi, eat something!”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples asked each other, “Did someone bring him food?”
34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what my Father sent me to do. My food is to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying? You say, ‘It’s still four months until harvest time.’ But I tell you, open your eyes! Look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest right now. 36 Even now the one who gathers the crop is getting paid. They are already harvesting the crop for eternal life. So the one who plants and the one who gathers can now be glad together. 37 Here is a true saying. ‘One plants and another gathers.’ 38 I sent you to gather what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work. You have gathered the benefits of their work.”
Many Samaritans Believe in Jesus
39 Many of the Samaritans from the town of Sychar believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had said about him. She said, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 Then the Samaritans came to him and tried to get him to stay with them. So he stayed two days. 41 Because of what he said, many more people became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said. We have now heard for ourselves. We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
43 After the two days, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 He himself had pointed out that a prophet is not respected in his own country. 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the people living there welcomed him. They had seen everything he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. That was because they had also been there.
46 Once more, Jesus visited Cana in Galilee. Cana is where he had turned the water into wine. A royal official was there. His son was sick in bed at Capernaum. 47 The official heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea. So he went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son. The boy was close to death.
48 Jesus told him, “You people will never believe unless you see signs and wonders.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied. “Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said, and so he left. 51 While he was still on his way home, his slaves met him. They gave him the news that his boy was living. 52 He asked what time his son got better. They said to him, “Yesterday, at one o’clock in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized what had happened. That was the exact time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole family became believers.
54 This was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Purpose
1 These are the proverbs of Solomon. He was the son of David and the king of Israel.
2 Proverbs teach you wisdom and instruct you.
They help you understand wise sayings.
3 They provide you with instruction and help you live wisely.
They lead to what is right and honest and fair.
4 They give understanding to childish people.
They give knowledge and good sense to those who are young.
5 Let wise people listen and add to what they have learned.
Let those who understand what is right get guidance.
6 What I’m teaching also helps you understand proverbs and stories.
It helps you understand the sayings and riddles of those who are wise.
7 If you really want to gain knowledge, you must begin by having respect for the Lord.
But foolish people hate wisdom and instruction.
Think and Live Wisely
A Warning Against Sinful Men
8 My son, listen to your father’s advice.
Don’t turn away from your mother’s teaching.
9 What they teach you will be like a beautiful crown on your head.
It will be like a chain to decorate your neck.
10 My son, if sinful men tempt you,
don’t give in to them.
11 They might say, “Come along with us.
Let’s hide and wait to kill someone who hasn’t done anything wrong.
Let’s catch some harmless person in our trap.
12 Let’s swallow them alive, as the grave does.
Let’s swallow them whole, like those who go down into the pit.
13 We’ll get all kinds of valuable things.
We’ll fill our houses with what we steal.
14 Cast lots with us for what they own.
We’ll share everything we take from them.”
15 My son, don’t go along with them.
Don’t even set your feet on their paths.
16 They are always in a hurry to sin.
They are quick to spill someone’s blood.
17 How useless it is to spread a net
where every bird can see it!
18 Those who hide and wait will spill their own blood.
They will be caught in their own trap.
19 That’s what happens to everyone
who goes after money in the wrong way.
That kind of money takes away
the life of those who get it.
Wisdom’s Warning
20 Out in the open wisdom calls out.
She raises her voice in a public place.
21 On top of the city wall she cries out.
Here is what she says near the gate of the city.
22 “How long will you childish people love your childish ways?
How long will you rude people enjoy making fun of God and others?
How long will you foolish people hate knowledge?
23 Pay attention to my warning!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you.
I will make known to you my teachings.
24 But you refuse to listen when I call out to you.
No one pays attention when I reach out my hand.
25 You turn away from all my advice.
And you do not accept my warning.
26 So I will laugh at you when you are in danger.
I will make fun of you when hard times come.
27 I will laugh when hard times hit you like a storm.
I will laugh when danger comes your way like a windstorm.
I will make fun of you when suffering and trouble come.
28 “Then you will call to me. But I won’t answer.
You will look for me. But you won’t find me.
29 You hated knowledge.
You didn’t choose to have respect for the Lord.
30 You wouldn’t accept my advice.
You turned your backs on my warnings.
31 So you will eat the fruit of the way you have lived.
You will choke on the fruit of what you have planned.
32 “The wrong path that childish people take will kill them.
Foolish people will be destroyed by being satisfied with the way they live.
33 But those who listen to me will live in safety.
They will be at ease and have no fear of being harmed.”
Final Warnings
13 This will be my third visit to you. Scripture says, “Every matter must be proved by the words of two or three witnesses.” (Deuteronomy 19:15) 2 I already warned you during my second visit. I now say it again while I’m away. When I return, I won’t spare those who sinned earlier. I won’t spare any of the others either. 3 You are asking me to prove that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you. He is powerful among you. 4 It is true that Christ was nailed to the cross because he was weak. But Christ lives by God’s power. In the same way, we share his weakness. But by God’s power we will live with Christ as we serve you.
5 Take a good look at yourselves to see if you are really believers. Test yourselves. Don’t you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Unless, of course, you fail the test! 6 I hope you will discover that I haven’t failed the test. 7 I pray to God that you won’t do anything wrong. I don’t pray so that people will see that I have passed the test. Instead, I pray this so that you will do what is right, even if it seems I have failed. 8 I can’t do anything to stop the truth. I can only work for the truth. 9 I’m glad when I am weak but you are strong. I pray that there will be no more problems among you. 10 That’s why I write these things before I come to you. Then when I do come, I won’t have to be hard on you when I use my authority. The Lord gave me the authority to build you up. He didn’t give it to me to tear you down.
Final Greetings
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, be joyful! Work to make things right with one another. Help one another and agree with one another. Live in peace. And the God who gives love and peace will be with you.
12 Greet one another with a holy kiss.
13 All God’s people here send their greetings.
14 May the grace shown by the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. May the love that God has given us be with you. And may the sharing of life brought about by the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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