M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Rape of Dinah

34 One day, Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to see the women of that place. ² She was seen by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area. Shechem took Dinah and raped her. ³ But he was so attracted to her that he fell in love and began expressing his feelings to her. ⁴ He told his father, “Please get this girl for me so that I can marry her.”

⁵ Jacob learned that Shechem had done this very bad thing to his daughter. But all his sons were out in the fields with the cattle. So he did nothing until they came home. ⁶ Then Shechem’s father, Hamor, came out to talk with Jacob.

⁷ In the fields Jacob’s sons heard the news about what had happened. They were very angry because Shechem had brought shame to Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter. They came in from the fields as soon as they heard about the terrible thing Shechem had done.

⁸ But Hamor talked to Dinah’s brothers and said, “My son Shechem wants Dinah very much. Please let him marry her. ⁹ This marriage will show we have a special agreement. Then our men can marry your women, and your men can marry our women. ¹⁰ You can live in the same land with us. You will be free to own the land and to trade here.”

¹¹ Shechem also talked to Jacob and to Dinah’s brothers and said, “Please accept me. I will do anything you ask me to do. ¹² I will give you any gift^[a] you want if you will only allow me to marry Dinah. I will give you anything you ask, but let me marry her.”

¹³ Jacob’s sons decided to lie to Shechem and his father because Shechem had done such a bad thing to their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ The brothers said to them, “We cannot allow our sister to marry you because you are not yet circumcised. That would bring us shame. ¹⁵ But we will allow you to marry her if you do this one thing: Every man in your town must be circumcised like us. ¹⁶ Then your men can marry our women, and our men can marry your women. Then we will become one people. ¹⁷ If you refuse to be circumcised, we will take Dinah away.”

¹⁸ This agreement made Hamor and Shechem very happy. ¹⁹ Shechem was very happy to do what Dinah’s brothers asked.

Shechem was the most honored man in his family. ²⁰ Hamor and Shechem went to the meeting place of their city. They spoke to the men of the city and said, ²¹ “These people want to be friends with us. We want to let them live in our land and be at peace with us. We have enough land for all of us. We are free to marry their women, and we are happy to give them our women to marry. ²² But there is one thing that all our men must agree to do. They must agree to be circumcised as they are. ²³ If we do this, we will become rich from all their cattle and other animals. We should make this agreement with them so that they will stay here with us.” ²⁴ All the men who heard this in the meeting place agreed with Hamor and Shechem. And every man was circumcised at that time.

²⁵ Three days later the men who were circumcised were still sore. Two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, knew that the men would be weak at this time. So they went to the city and killed all the men there. ²⁶ Dinah’s brothers, Simeon and Levi, killed Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and left. ²⁷ Jacob’s sons went to the city and stole everything that was there because of what Shechem had done to their sister. ²⁸ So the brothers took all their animals, all their donkeys, and everything else in the city and in the fields. ²⁹ The brothers took everything those people owned. They even took their wives and children.

³⁰ But Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble. All the people in this place will hate me. All the Canaanites and the Perizzites will turn against me. There are only a few of us. If the people in this place gather together to fight against us, I will be destroyed. And all our people will be destroyed with me.”

³¹ But the brothers said, “Should we let these people treat our sister like a prostitute? They were wrong to do that to our sister!”

Jesus Frees a Man From Evil Spirits^(A)

5 Jesus and his followers went across the lake to the area where the Gerasene people^[a] lived. ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man came to him from the caves where the dead are buried. This man had an evil spirit living inside him. ³ He lived in the burial caves. No one could keep him tied up, even with chains. ⁴ Many times people had put chains on his hands and feet, but he broke the chains. No one was strong enough to control him. ⁵ Day and night he stayed around the burial caves and on the hills. He would scream and cut himself with rocks.

⁶ While Jesus was still far away, the man saw him. He ran to Jesus and bowed down before him. ^7-8 As Jesus was saying, “You evil spirit, come out of this man,” the man shouted loudly, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in God’s name not to punish me!”

⁹ Then Jesus asked the man, “What is your name?”

The man answered, “My name is Legion,^[b] because there are many spirits inside me.” ¹⁰ The spirits inside the man begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of that area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was eating on a hill near there. ¹² The evil spirits begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs. Let us go into them.” ¹³ So Jesus allowed them to do this. The evil spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of pigs ran down the hill and into the lake. They were all drowned. There were about 2000 pigs in that herd.

¹⁴ The men who had the work of caring for the pigs ran away. They ran to the town and to the farms and told everyone what happened. The people went out to see. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus, and they saw the man who had the many evil spirits. He was sitting down and was wearing clothes. He was in his right mind again. When they saw this, they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen what Jesus did told the others what happened to the man who had the demons living in him. And they also told about the pigs. ¹⁷ Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area.

¹⁸ Jesus was preparing to leave in the boat. The man who was now free from the demons begged to go with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus did not allow the man to go. He said, “Go home to your family and friends. Tell them about all that the Lord did for you. Tell them how the Lord was good to you.”

²⁰ So the man left and told the people in the Ten Towns about the great things Jesus did for him. Everyone was amazed.

Jesus Gives Life to a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman^(B)

²¹ Jesus went back to the other side of the lake in the boat. There, a large crowd of people gathered around him on the shore. ²² A leader of the synagogue came. His name was Jairus. He saw Jesus and bowed down before him. ²³ He begged Jesus again and again, saying, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and lay your hands on her. Then she will be healed and will live.”

²⁴ So Jesus went with Jairus. Many people followed Jesus. They were pushing very close around him.

²⁵ There among the people was a woman who had been bleeding for the past twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered very much. Many doctors had tried to help her, and all the money she had was spent, but she was not improving. In fact, her sickness was getting worse.

²⁷ The woman heard about Jesus, so she followed him with the other people and touched his coat. ²⁸ She thought, “If I can just touch his clothes, that will be enough to heal me.” ²⁹ As soon as she touched his coat, her bleeding stopped. She felt that her body was healed from all the suffering. ³⁰ Jesus immediately felt power go out from him, so he stopped and turned around. “Who touched my clothes?” he asked.

³¹ The followers said to Jesus, “There are so many people pushing against you. But you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

³² But Jesus continued looking for the one who touched him. ³³ The woman knew that she was healed, so she came and bowed at Jesus’ feet. She was shaking with fear. She told Jesus the whole story. ³⁴ He said to her, “Dear woman, you are made well because you believed. Go in peace. You will not suffer anymore.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still there speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. They said, “Your daughter is dead. There is no need to bother the Teacher.”

³⁶ But Jesus did not care what the men said. He said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷ Jesus let only Peter, James, and John the brother of James go with him. ³⁸ They went to the synagogue leader’s house, where Jesus saw many people crying loudly. There was a lot of confusion. ³⁹ He entered the house and said, “Why are you people crying and making so much noise? This child is not dead. She is only sleeping.” ⁴⁰ But everyone laughed at him.

Jesus told the people to leave the house. Then he went into the room where the child was. He brought the child’s father and mother and his three followers into the room with him. ⁴¹ Then Jesus held the girl’s hand and said to her, “Talitha, koum!” (This means “Little girl, I tell you to stand up!”) ⁴² The girl immediately stood up and began walking. (She was twelve years old.) The father and mother and the followers were amazed. ⁴³ Jesus gave the father and mother very strict orders not to tell people about this. Then he told them to give the girl some food to eat.

Job, the Good Man

1 There was a man named Job who lived in the country of Uz. He was a good, honest man. He respected God and refused to do evil. ² Job had seven sons and three daughters. ³ He owned 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 1000 oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He had many servants. He was the richest man in the east.

⁴ Job’s sons took turns having dinner parties in their homes, and they invited their sisters. ⁵ The day after each of these parties, Job got up early in the morning, sent for his children, and offered a burnt offering for each of them. He thought, “Maybe my children were careless and sinned against God at their party.” Job always did this so that his children would be forgiven of their sins.

⁶ Then the day came for the angels^[a] to meet with the Lord. Even Satan was there with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you been?”

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been roaming around the earth, going from place to place.”

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him. He is a good, faithful man. He respects God and refuses to do evil.”

⁹ Satan answered the Lord, “But Job has a good reason to respect you. ¹⁰ You always protect him, his family, and everything he has. You have blessed him and made him successful in everything he does. He is so wealthy that his herds and flocks are all over the country. ¹¹ But if you were to destroy everything he has, I promise you that he would curse you to your face.”

¹² The Lord said to Satan, “All right, do whatever you want with anything that he has, but don’t hurt Job himself.”

Then Satan left the meeting.

Job Loses Everything

¹³ One day Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house. ¹⁴ A messenger came to Job and said, “We were plowing the fields with the oxen and the donkeys were eating grass nearby, ¹⁵ when some Sabeans^[b] attacked us and took your animals! They killed the other servants. I am the only one who escaped to come and tell you the news!”

¹⁶ That messenger was still speaking when another one came in and said, “A bolt of lightning^[c] struck your sheep and servants and burned them up. I am the only one who escaped to come and tell you the news!”

¹⁷ That messenger was still speaking when another one came in and said, “The Chaldeans^[d] sent out three raiding parties that attacked us and took the camels! They killed the other servants. I am the only one who escaped to come and tell you the news!”

¹⁸ That messenger was still speaking when another one came in and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house. ¹⁹ A strong wind suddenly came in from across the desert and blew the house down. It fell on your sons and daughters, and they are all dead. I am the only one who escaped to come and tell you the news!”

²⁰ When Job heard this, he got up, tore his clothes, and shaved his head to show his sadness. Then he fell to the ground to bow down before God ²¹ and said,

²² Even after all this, Job did not sin. He did not accuse God of doing anything wrong.

Right With God

5 We have been made right with God because of our faith. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. ³ And we are also happy with the troubles we have. Why are we happy with troubles? Because we know that these troubles make us more patient. ⁴ And this patience is proof that we are strong. And this proof gives us hope. ⁵ And this hope will never disappoint us. We know this because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts through the Holy Spirit he gave us.

⁶ Christ died for us when we were unable to help ourselves. We were living against God, but at just the right time Christ died for us. ⁷ Very few people will die to save the life of someone else, even if it is for a good person. Someone might be willing to die for an especially good person. ⁸ But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us.

⁹ We have been made right with God by the blood sacrifice of Christ. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God’s anger. ¹⁰ I mean that while we were God’s enemies, he made friends with us through his Son’s death. And the fact that we are now God’s friends makes it even more certain that he will save us through his Son’s life. ¹¹ And not only will we be saved, but we also rejoice right now in what God has done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of Jesus that we are now God’s friends.

Adam and Christ

¹² Sin came into the world because of what one man did. And with sin came death. So this is why all people must die—because all people have sinned. ¹³ Sin was in the world before the Law of Moses. But God does not consider people guilty of sin if there is no law. ¹⁴ But from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, everyone had to die. Adam died because he sinned by not obeying God’s command. But even those who did not sin that same way had to die.

That one man, Adam, can be compared to Christ, the one who was coming in the future. ¹⁵ But God’s free gift is not like Adam’s sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But the grace that people received from God was much greater. Many received God’s gift of life by the grace of this other man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁶ After Adam sinned once, he was judged guilty. But the gift of God is different. His free gift came after many sins, and it makes people right with him. ¹⁷ One man sinned, and so death ruled all people because of that one man. But now some people accept God’s full grace and his great gift of being made right. Surely they will have true life and rule through the one man, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ So that one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people. But in the same way, Christ did something so good that it makes all people right with God. And that brings them true life. ¹⁹ One man disobeyed God and many became sinners. But in the same way, one man obeyed God and many will be made right. ²⁰ The law was brought in so that more people would sin the way Adam did. But where sin increased, there was even more of God’s grace. ²¹ Sin once used death to rule us. But God gave us more of his grace so that grace could rule by making us right with him. And this brings us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.