M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Dinah Is Defiled

34 Now Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ² When Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and defiled her. ³ He was very smitten by Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to her. ⁴ Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.

⁶ Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to commune with him. ⁷ The sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it, and the men were grieved and were very disturbed, because Shechem had disgraced Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing that should not be done.

⁸ Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. I pray that you will give her to him to marry. ⁹ Make marriages with us, and give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You may dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Dwell and trade in it and get possessions in it.”

¹¹ Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² You can make the dowry and gift I must bring high, and I will give according to what you say to me. Just give me the girl to marry.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this. To give our sister to one who is uncircumcised would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ But we will consent to you in this: If you will become as we are, that is, every one of your males be circumcised, ¹⁶ then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will leave.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹ The young man did not delay to do the thing, because he wanted Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father. ²⁰ So Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and they spoke with the men of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us and be one people: if every male among us will be circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock and their possessions and every animal of theirs be ours? Only, let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”

²⁴ All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ On the third day, when they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and went to the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of the house of Shechem and departed. ²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the fields. ²⁹ They took captive and looted all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, even all that was in each house.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me revolting among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Our being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I will be destroyed, both I and my household.”

³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

The Healing of the Gadarene Demoniac^(A)

5 They went to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gadarenes. ² When He had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. ³ He lived among the tombs. And no one could constrain him, not even with chains, ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. But he had pulled the chains apart and broken the shackles to pieces. And no one could subdue him. ⁵ Always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

⁶ But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran up and kneeled before Him, ⁷ and cried out with a loud voice, “What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For Jesus said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

⁹ Then He asked him, “What is your name?”

He answered, “My name is Legion. For we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Him repeatedly not to send them away out of the country.

¹¹ Now there was a great herd of swine feeding near the mountains. ¹² All the demons pleaded with Him, asking, “Send us to the swine, so that we may enter them.” ¹³ At once, Jesus gave them leave. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. And the herd, numbering about two thousand, ran wildly down a steep hill into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ Those who fed the swine fled and reported it in the city and in the country. And people went out to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw him who had been possessed with the legion of demons sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who saw it told them how it befell him who had been possessed with the demons and also concerning the swine. ¹⁷ Then they began to plead with Him to depart out of their region.

¹⁸ When He entered the boat, he who had been possessed with the demons prayed Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He has had compassion on you.” ²⁰ So he departed and began to proclaim in the Decapolis^[a] what great things Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.

Jairus’ Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus’ Garment^(B)

²¹ When Jesus had crossed again by boat to the other side, many people gathered to Him. And He was beside the sea. ²² One of the rulers of the synagogue, named Jairus, saw Jesus and came and fell at His feet ²³ and earnestly asked Him, “My little daughter is lying at the point of death. I ask You, come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may be healed. And she will live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

And many people followed Him and pressed in on Him. ²⁵ And a certain woman had a hemorrhage for twelve years, ²⁶ and had suffered much under many physicians. She had spent all that she had, and was not better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ When she had heard of Jesus, she came in the crowd behind Him and touched His garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I may touch His garments, I shall be healed.” ²⁹ And immediately her hemorrhage dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

³⁰ At once, Jesus knew within Himself that power had gone out of Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?”

³¹ His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ”

³² And He looked around to see her who had done it. ³³ But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the entire truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.”

³⁵ While He was still speaking, some came from the house of the synagogue ruler and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”

³⁶ As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid, only believe.”

³⁷ He let no one follow Him, except Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸ He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw the tumult, and those who wept and wailed loudly. ³⁹ When He came in, He said to them, “Why make this uproar and weep? The girl is not dead, but sleeping.” ⁴⁰ They laughed at Him in ridicule.

But when He had put them all out, He took the father and the mother of the girl and those who were with Him and entered where the girl was lying. ⁴¹ He took the girl by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴² Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were greatly astonished. ⁴³ He strictly ordered them to let no one know of it and directed them to give her something to eat.

The Prologue

1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil. ² Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. ³ His possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and very many servants. This man was the greatest of all the people of the East.

⁴ His sons used to go and make a feast in the house of each on his day, and they would send and call for their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ Now when the days of feasting had run their course, Job sent and sanctified them. He would rise up early in the morning, and he would offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all, because Job said: “It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job would do always.

⁶ Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Adversary also came among them. ⁷ And the Lord said to the Adversary, “From where have you come?”

Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “From roaming on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”

⁸ And the Lord said to the Adversary, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and an upright man, who fears God, and avoids evil?”

⁹ Then the Adversary answered the Lord, saying, “Has Job feared God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But stretch out Your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.”

¹² The Lord said to the Adversary, “Look, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against his person.”

So the Adversary departed from the presence of the Lord.

¹³ So a day came when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, ¹⁴ and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys were feeding beside them, ¹⁵ and the Sabeans attacked them, and took them away, and they killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and only I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three companies and made a raid on the camels and have taken them away. They killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, ¹⁹ and suddenly a great wind came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

²⁰ Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshipped. ²¹ He said,

²² In all this Job did not sin, and he did not accuse God of wrongdoing.

Results of Justification

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and so we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also boast in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces patience, ⁴ patience produces character, and character produces hope. ⁵ And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ While we were yet weak, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Rarely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ How much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, how much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. ¹¹ Furthermore, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Adam and Christ

¹² Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death has spread to all men, because all have sinned.

¹³ For until the law, sin was in the world. But sin is not counted when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam’s sin, who was a type of Him who was to come.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if through the trespass of one man many died, then how much more has the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. ¹⁶ The gift is not like the result that came through the one who sinned. For the judgment from one sin led to condemnation, but the free gift, which came after many trespasses, leads to justification. ¹⁷ For if by one man’s trespass death reigned through him, then how much more will those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ Therefore just as through the trespass of one man came condemnation for all men, so through the righteous act of One came justification of life for all men. ¹⁹ For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One the many will be made righteous.

²⁰ But the law entered, so that sin might increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded much more, ²¹ so that just as sin reigned in death, grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.