M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Lord Provides Water for the Israelites from a Rock
17 The whole community of Israelites left the desert of Sin and traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded them. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they complained to Moses by saying, “Give us water to drink!”
Moses said to them, “Why are you complaining to me? Why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But the people were thirsty for water there. They complained to Moses and asked, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to make us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst?”
4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They’re almost ready to stone me!”
5 The Lord answered Moses, “Bring some of the leaders of Israel with you, and go to where the people can see you. Take the staff you used to strike the Nile River. 6 I’ll be standing in front of you there by a rock at Mount Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”
Moses did this while the leaders of Israel watched him.
7 He named that place Massah [Testing] and Meribah [Complaining] because the Israelites complained and because they tested the Lord, asking, “Is the Lord with us or not?”
God Defeats the Amalekites
8 The Amalekites fought Israel at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men. Then fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill. I will hold in my hand the staff God told me to take along.”
10 Joshua did as Moses told him and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel would win, but as soon as he put his hands down, the Amalekites would start to win. 12 Eventually, Moses’ hands felt heavy. So Aaron and Hur took a rock, put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron held up one hand, and Hur held up the other. His hands remained steady until sunset. 13 So Joshua defeated the Amalekite army in battle.
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this reminder on a scroll, and make sure that Joshua hears it, too: I will completely erase any memory of the Amalekites from the earth.”
15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord Is My Banner. 16 He said, “Because a hand was lifted against the Lord’s throne, he will be at war against the Amalekites from one generation to the next.”
Jesus’ Authority Challenged(A)
20 One day Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courtyard and telling them the Good News. The chief priests, the experts in Moses’ Teachings, and the leaders came up to him. 2 They asked him, “Tell us, what gives you the right to do these things? Who told you that you could do this?”
3 Jesus answered them, “I, too, have a question for you. Tell me, 4 did John’s right to baptize come from heaven or from humans?”
5 They talked about this among themselves. They said, “If we say, ‘from heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘from humans,’ everyone will stone us to death. They’re convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they didn’t know who gave John the right to baptize.
8 Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you why I have the right to do these things.”
A Story about a Vineyard(B)
9 Then, using this illustration, Jesus spoke to the people: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to vineyard workers, and went on a long trip.
10 “At the right time he sent a servant to the workers to obtain from them a share of the grapes from the vineyard. But the workers beat the servant and sent him back with nothing. 11 So he sent a different servant. The workers beat him, treated him shamefully, and sent him back with nothing. 12 Then he sent a third servant. But they injured this one and threw him out ⌞of the vineyard⌟.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I’ll send my son, whom I love. They’ll probably respect him.’
14 “When the workers saw him, they talked it over among themselves. They said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will destroy these workers and give the vineyard to others.”
Those who heard him said, “That’s unthinkable!”
17 Then Jesus looked straight at them and asked, “What, then, does this Scripture verse mean:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on anyone, it will crush that person.”
19 The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the chief priests wanted to arrest him right there, but they were afraid of the people. They knew that he had directed this illustration at them.
A Question about Taxes(C)
20 So they watched for an opportunity to send out some spies. The spies were to act like sincere religious people. They wanted to catch him saying the wrong thing so that they could hand him over to the governor. 21 They asked him, “Teacher, we know that you’re right in what you say and teach. Besides, you don’t play favorites. Rather, you teach the way of God truthfully. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to the emperor or not?”
23 He saw through their scheme, so he said to them, 24 “Show me a coin. Whose face and name is this?”
They answered, “The emperor’s.”
25 He said to them, “Well, then give the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and give God what belongs to God.”
26 They couldn’t make him say anything wrong in front of the people. His answer surprised them, so they said no more.
The Dead Come Back to Life(D)
27 Some Sadducees, who say that people will never come back to life, came to Jesus. They asked him, 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry his widow and have children for his brother.’ 29 There were seven brothers. The first got married and died without having children. 30 Then the second brother married the widow, 31 and so did the third. In the same way all seven brothers married the widow, died, and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died. 33 Now, when the dead come back to life, whose wife will she be? The seven brothers had married her.”
34 Jesus said to them, “In this world people get married. 35 But people who are considered worthy to come back to life and live in the next world will neither marry 36 nor die anymore. They are the same as the angels. They are God’s children who have come back to life.
37 “Even Moses showed in the passage about the bush that the dead come back to life. He says that the Lord is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 38 He’s not the God of the dead but of the living. In God’s sight all people are living.”
39 Some experts in Moses’ Teachings responded, “Teacher, that was well said.” 40 From that time on, no one dared to ask him another question.
How Can David’s Son Be David’s Lord?(E)
41 Jesus said to them, “How can people say that the Messiah is David’s son? 42 David says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Take the honored position—the one next to me [God the Father] on the heavenly throne—
43 until I put your enemies under your control.” ’
44 David calls him Lord. So how can he be his son?”
Jesus Disapproves of the Example Set by the Experts in Moses’ Teachings(F)
45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to the disciples, 46 “Beware of the experts in Moses’ Teachings! They like to walk around in long robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces, to have the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at dinners. 47 They rob widows by taking their houses and then say long prayers to make themselves look good. The experts in Moses’ Teachings will receive the most severe punishment.”
Elihu Continues: I Will Answer You and Your Friends, Job
35 Elihu continued to speak ⌞to Job and his friends⌟,
2 “Do you think this is right
when you say, ‘My case is more just than God’s,’
3 when you ask, ‘What benefit is it to you?’
and, ‘What would I gain by sinning?’
4 I will answer you and your friends.
Human Behavior Cannot Change God
5 “Look at the heavens and see.
Observe the clouds high above you.
6 If you’ve sinned, what effect can you have on God?
If you’ve done many wrongs, what can you do to him?
7 If you’re righteous, what can you give him,
or what can he get from you?
8 Your wickedness affects only someone like yourself.
Your righteousness affects only the descendants of Adam.
9 The weight of oppression makes them cry out.
The power of mighty people makes them call for help.
10 But no one asks,
‘Where is God, my Creator,
who inspires songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than he teaches the animals of the earth,
who makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?’
12 Then they cry out, but he doesn’t answer them
because of the arrogance of ⌞those⌟ evil people.
13 “Surely, God doesn’t listen to idle complaints.
The Almighty doesn’t even pay attention to them.
14 Although you say that you pay attention to him,
your case is in front of him, but you’ll have to wait for him.
15 And now ⌞you say⌟ that his anger doesn’t punish ⌞anyone⌟
and he isn’t too concerned about evil.
16 Job opens his mouth for no good reason
and talks a lot without having any knowledge.”
Faith Guides Our Lives
5 We know that if the life we live here on earth is ever taken down like a tent, we still have a building from God. It is an eternal house in heaven that isn’t made by human hands. 2 In our present tent-like existence we sigh, since we long to put on the house we will have in heaven. 3 After we have put it on,[a] we won’t be naked. 4 While we are in this tent, we sigh. We feel distressed because we don’t want to take off the tent, but we do want to put on the eternal house. Then ⌞eternal⌟ life will put an end to our mortal existence. 5 God has prepared us for this and has given us his Spirit to guarantee it.
6 So we are always confident. We know that as long as we are living in these bodies, we are living away from the Lord. 7 Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident and prefer to live away from this body and to live with the Lord. 9 Whether we live in the body or move out of it, our goal is to be pleasing to him. 10 All of us must appear in front of Christ’s judgment seat. Then all people will receive what they deserve for the good or evil they have done while living in their bodies.
Christ’s Love Guides Us
11 As people who know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. God already knows what we are, and I hope that you also know what we are. 12 We are not trying to show you our qualifications again, but we are giving you an opportunity to be proud of us. Then you can answer those who are proud of their appearance rather than their character. 13 So if we were crazy, it was for God. If we are sane, it is for you. 14 Clearly, Christ’s love guides us. We are convinced of the fact that one man has died for all people. Therefore, all people have died. 15 He died for all people so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the man who died and was brought back to life for them.
16 So from now on we don’t think of anyone from a human point of view. If we did think of Christ from a human point of view, we don’t anymore. 17 Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. 18 God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships. 19 In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. 20 Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. 21 God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him.
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