M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The day of the Lord

3 My dear family, this is now the second time I am writing you a letter. Your motives are pure, and what I’m trying to do in reminding you is to stir them into action, ² so that you’ll remember the words spoken earlier by the holy prophets, and by the command of the Lord and savior which you received from your apostles. ³ But you must first know this. Deceivers will come in the last days, with deceitful ways, behaving according to their own desires. ⁴ This is what they will say: “Where is the promise of his royal arrival? Ever since the previous generation died, everything has continued just as it has from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ They willingly overlook this one thing, you see: the ancient heavens and earth were formed out of water and through water, by God’s word— ⁶ and it was destroyed by flooding the world of that time with water. ⁷ The heavens and earth that we now have are being preserved for fire by the same word, being kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of the wicked. ⁸ So, beloved, don’t forget this one thing, that a single day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a single day. ⁹ The Lord is not delaying his promise, in the way that some think of delay, but he is very patient towards you. He does not want anyone to be destroyed. Rather, he wants everyone to arrive at repentance.

¹⁰ But the Lord’s day will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a great rushing sound, the elements will be dissolved in fire, and the earth and all the works on it will be disclosed.

God’s patience

¹¹ Since everything is going to dissolve in this way, what sort of people should you be? You should live lives that are holy and godly, ¹² as you look for God’s day to appear, and indeed hurry it on its way—the day because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the elements will melt with heat. ¹³ But we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which justice will be at home. That is what he has promised.

¹⁴ So, my dear family, as you wait for these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, in peace. ¹⁵ And when our Lord waits patiently to act, see that for what it is—salvation! Our beloved brother Paul has written to you about all this, according to the wisdom that has been given him, ¹⁶ speaking about these things as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them which are difficult to understand. Untaught and unstable people twist his words to their own destruction, as they do with the other scriptures.

¹⁷ But as for you, my dear family, be on your guard, since you have been warned in advance. That way you won’t be led astray through the error of lawless people and fall away from your own solid grounding. ¹⁸ Instead, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus the Messiah. To him be glory both now and in the day when God’s new age dawns. Amen.

The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin

15 All the tax-collectors and sinners were coming close to listen to Jesus. ² The Pharisees and the legal experts were grumbling. “This fellow welcomes sinners!” they said. “He even eats with them!”

³ So Jesus told them this parable. ⁴ “Supposing one of you has a hundred sheep,” he said, “and you lose one of them. What will you do? Why, you’ll leave the ninety-nine out in the countryside, and you’ll go off looking for the lost one until you find it! ⁵ And when you find it, you’ll be so happy—you’ll put it on your shoulders ⁶ and come home, and you’ll call your friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ you’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’

⁷ “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad they will be in heaven over one sinner who repents—more than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.

⁸ “Or supposing a woman has ten drachmas and loses one of them. What will she do? Why, she’ll light a lamp, and sweep the house, and hunt carefully until she finds it! ⁹ And when she finds it she’ll call her friends and neighbors in. ‘Come and have a party!’ she’ll say. ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost coin!’

¹⁰ “Well, let me tell you: that’s how glad God’s angels feel when a single sinner repents.”

The parable of the Prodigal: the father and the younger son

¹¹ Jesus went on: “Once there was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger son said to the father, ‘Father, give me my share in the property.’ So he divided up his livelihood between them. ¹³ Not many days later the younger son turned his share into cash, and set off for a country far away, where he spent his share in having a riotous good time.

¹⁴ “When he had spent it all, a severe famine came on that country, and he found himself destitute. ¹⁵ So he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into the fields to feed his pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to satisfy his hunger with the pods that the pigs were eating, and nobody gave him anything.

¹⁷ “He came to his senses. ‘Just think!’ he said to himself. ‘There are all my father’s hired hands with plenty to eat—and here am I, starving to death! ¹⁸ I shall get up and go to my father, and I’ll say to him: “Father; I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹ I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer. Make me like one of your hired hands.” ’ ²⁰ And he got up and went to his father.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and his heart was stirred with love and pity. He ran to him, hugged him tight, and kissed him. ²¹ ‘Father,’ the son began, ‘I have sinned against heaven and before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son any longer.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him! Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet! ²³ And bring the calf that we’ve fattened up, kill it, and let’s eat and have a party! ²⁴ This son of mine was dead, and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ And they began to celebrate.”

The parable of the Prodigal: the father and the older son

²⁵ “The older son was out in the fields. When he came home, and got near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ He called one of the servants and asked what was going on.

²⁷ “ ‘Your brother’s come home!’ he said. ‘And your father has thrown a great party—he’s killed the fattened calf!—because he’s got him back safe and well!’

²⁸ “He flew into a rage, and wouldn’t go in.

“Then his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ ‘Look here!’ he said to his father, ‘I’ve been slaving for you all these years! I’ve never disobeyed a single commandment of yours. And you never even gave me a young goat so I could have a party with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours comes home, once he’s finished gobbling up your livelihood with his whores, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹ “ ‘My son,’ he replied, ‘you’re always with me. Everything I have belongs to you. ³² But we had to celebrate and be happy! This brother of yours was dead and is alive again! He was lost, and now he’s found!’ ”