M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Gifts for Use in the Tent of Meeting(A)
25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to choose something to give me as a special contribution. You must accept whatever contribution each person freely gives. 3 This is the kind of contribution you will accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 violet, purple, and bright red yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, 5 rams’ skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood, 6 olive oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense, 7 onyx stones, and other precious stones to be set in the ⌞chief priest’s⌟ ephod [a] and his breastplate.
8 “Then have them make a holy place for me, and I will live among them. 9 Make the tent and all its furnishings exactly like the plans I am showing you.
The Ark(B)
10 “Make an ark of acacia wood 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 11 Cover it with pure gold inside and out, and put a gold molding around it. 12 Cast four gold rings for it, and fasten them to its four feet, two rings on each side. 13 Make poles of acacia wood, and cover them with gold. 14 Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it. 15 The poles must stay in the rings of the ark. Never remove them. 16 Then you will put into the ark the words of my promise which I will give you.
17 “Make a throne of mercy to cover the ark out of pure gold 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. 18 Make two angels [b] out of hammered gold for the two ends of the throne of mercy, 19 one on each end. Form the angels and the throne of mercy out of one piece of gold. 20 The angels should have their wings spread above the throne of mercy, overshadowing it. They should face each other, looking at the throne of mercy. 21 After you put into the ark the words of my promise which I will give you, place the throne of mercy on top. 22 I will be above the throne of mercy between the angels whenever I meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.
The Table(C)
23 “Make a table of acacia wood 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 24 Cover it with pure gold, and put a gold molding around it. 25 Make a rim three inches wide around it, and put a gold molding around the rim. 26 Make four gold rings for it, and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. 27 The rings are to be close to the rim. They are to hold the poles for carrying the table. 28 Make the poles out of acacia wood, cover them with gold, and use them to carry the table. 29 Make plates and dishes for the table out of pure gold, as well as pitchers and bowls to be used for pouring wine offerings. 30 Put the bread of the presence on this table so that it will be in front of me all the time.
The Lamp Stand(D)
31 “Make a lamp stand out of pure gold. The lamp stand, its base, and its shaft, as well as the flower cups, buds, and petals must be hammered out of one piece of gold. 32 Six branches are to come out of the sides, three branches on one side and three on the other. 33 Each of the six branches coming out of the lamp stand is to have three flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals. 34 The lamp stand itself is to have four flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals. 35 There should be a bud under each of the three pairs of branches coming out of the lamp stand. 36 The buds and branches should also be hammered out of the same piece of pure gold as the lamp stand.
37 “Make seven lamps, and set them on the lamp stand so that they light up ⌞the area⌟ in front of it. 38 The tongs and incense burners must be made of pure gold. 39 Use 75 pounds of pure gold to make the lamp stand and all the utensils. 40 Be sure to make them according to the plans you were shown on the mountain.”
A Samaritan Woman Meets Jesus at a Well
4 Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was making and baptizing more disciples than John. 2 (Actually, Jesus was not baptizing people. His disciples were.) 3 So he left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He arrived at a city in Samaria called Sychar. Sychar was near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s Well was there. Jesus sat down by the well because he was tired from traveling. The time was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman went to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” 8 (His disciples had gone into the city to buy some food.)
9 The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can a Jewish man like you ask a Samaritan woman like me for a drink of water?” (Jews, of course, don’t associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus replied to her, “If you only knew what God’s gift is and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him for a drink. He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have anything to use to get water, and the well is deep. So where are you going to get this living water? 12 You’re not more important than our ancestor Jacob, are you? He gave us this well. He and his sons and his animals drank water from it.”
13 Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water that I will give them will never become thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become in them a spring that gushes up to eternal life.”
15 The woman told Jesus, “Sir, give me this water! Then I won’t get thirsty or have to come here to get water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go to your husband, and bring him here.”
17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.”
Jesus told her, “You’re right when you say that you don’t have a husband. 18 You’ve had five husbands, and the man you have now isn’t your husband. You’ve told the truth.”
19 The woman said to Jesus, “I see that you’re a prophet! 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that people must worship in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus told her, “Believe me. A time is coming when you Samaritans won’t be worshiping the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You don’t know what you’re worshiping. We ⌞Jews⌟ know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews. 23 Indeed, the time is coming, and it is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for people like that to worship him. 24 God is a spirit. Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything.” (Messiah is the one called Christ.)
26 Jesus told her, “I am he, and I am speaking to you now.”
27 At that time his disciples returned. They were surprised that he was talking to a woman. But none of them asked him, “What do you want from her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back into the city. She told the people, 29 “Come with me, and meet a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could he be the Messiah?” 30 The people left the city and went to meet Jesus.
31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, have something to eat.”
32 Jesus told them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples asked each other, “Did someone bring him something to eat?”
34 Jesus told them, “My food is to do what the one who sent me wants me to do and to finish the work he has given me.
35 “Don’t you say, ‘In four more months the harvest will be here’? I’m telling you to look and see that the fields are ready to be harvested. 36 The person who harvests the crop is already getting paid. He is gathering grain for eternal life. So the person who plants the grain and the person who harvests it are happy together. 37 In this respect the saying is true: ‘One person plants, and another person harvests.’ 38 I have sent you to harvest a crop you have not worked for. Other people have done the hard work, and you have followed them in their work.”
39 Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman who said, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans went to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them. He stayed in Samaria for two days. 41 Many more Samaritans believed because of what Jesus said. 42 They told the woman, “Our faith is no longer based on what you’ve said. We have heard him ourselves, and we know that he really is the savior of the world.”
A Believing Official(A)
43 After spending two days in Samaria, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 Jesus had said that a prophet is not honored in his own country. 45 But when Jesus arrived in Galilee, the people of Galilee welcomed him. They had seen everything he had done at the festival in Jerusalem, since they, too, had attended the festival.
46 Jesus returned to the city of Cana in Galilee, where he had changed water into wine. A government official was in Cana. His son was sick in Capernaum. 47 The official heard that Jesus had returned from Judea to Galilee. So he went to Jesus and asked him to go to Capernaum with him to heal his son who was about to die.
48 Jesus told the official, “If people don’t see miracles and amazing things, they won’t believe.”
49 The official said to him, “Sir, come with me before my little boy dies.”
50 Jesus told him, “Go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and left.
51 While the official was on his way to Capernaum, his servants met him and told him that his boy was alive. 52 The official asked them at what time his son got better. His servants told him, “The fever left him yesterday evening at seven o’clock.” 53 Then the boy’s father realized that it was the same time that Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So the official and his entire family became believers.
54 This was the second miracle that Jesus performed after he had come back from Judea to Galilee.
The Reasons for Proverbs
1 The proverbs of Solomon, David’s son who was king of Israel, ⌞given⌟
2 to grasp wisdom and discipline,
to understand deep thoughts,
3 to acquire the discipline of wise behavior—
righteousness and justice and fairness—
4 to give insight to gullible people,
to give knowledge and foresight to the young—
5 a wise person will listen and continue to learn,
and an understanding person will gain direction—
6 to understand a proverb and a clever saying,
the words of wise people and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
Stubborn fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Listen to Wisdom
8 My son,
listen to your father’s discipline,
and do not neglect your mother’s teachings,
9 because discipline and teachings
are a graceful garland on your head
and a ⌞golden⌟ chain around your neck.
10 My son,
if sinners lure you, do not go along.
11 If they say,
“Come with us.
Let’s set an ambush to kill someone.
Let’s hide to ambush innocent people for fun.
12 We’ll swallow them alive like the grave,
like those in good health who go into the pit.
13 We’ll find all kinds of valuable possessions.
We’ll fill our homes with stolen goods.
14 Join us.
We’ll split the loot equally.”
15 My son,
do not follow them in their way.
Do not even set foot on their path,
16 because they rush to do evil
and hurry to shed blood.
17 It does no good to spread a net
within the sight of any bird.
18 But these people set an ambush for their own murder.
They go into hiding only to lose their lives.
19 This is what happens to everyone
who is greedy for unjust gain.
Greed takes away his life.
20 Wisdom sings her song in the streets.
In the public squares she raises her voice.
21 At the corners of noisy streets she calls out.
At the entrances to the city she speaks her words,
22 “How long will you gullible people love being so gullible?
How long will you mockers find joy in your mocking?
How long will you fools hate knowledge?
23 “Turn to me when I warn you.
I will generously pour out my spirit for you.
I will make my words known to you.
24 “I called, and you refused to listen.
I stretched out my hands to you, and no one paid attention.
25 You ignored all my advice.
You did not want me to warn you.
26 I will laugh at your calamity.
I will make fun of you
when panic strikes you,
27 when panic strikes you like a violent storm,
when calamity strikes you like a wind storm,
when trouble and anguish come to you.
28 “They will call to me at that time, but I will not answer.
They will look for me, but they will not find me,
29 because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
30 They refused my advice.
They despised my every warning.
31 They will eat the fruit of their lifestyle.
They will be stuffed with their own schemes.
32 “Gullible people kill themselves because of their turning away.
Fools destroy themselves because of their indifference.
33 But whoever listens to me will live without worry
and will be free from the dread of disaster.”
Paul Tells the Corinthians to Prepare for His Visit
13 This is the third time that I’ll be visiting you. Every accusation must be verified by two or three witnesses. 2 I already warned you when I was with you the second time, and even though I’m not there now, I’m warning you again. When I visit you again, I won’t spare you. That goes for all those who formerly led sinful lives as well as for all the others. 3 Since you want proof that Christ is speaking through me, that’s what you’ll get. Christ isn’t weak in dealing with you. Instead, he makes his power felt among you. 4 He was weak when he was crucified, but by God’s power he lives. We are weak with him, but by God’s power we will live for you with his help.
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are still in the Christian faith. Test yourselves! Don’t you recognize that you are people in whom Jesus Christ lives? Could it be that you’re failing the test? 6 I hope that you will realize that we haven’t failed the test. 7 We pray to God that you won’t do anything wrong. It’s not that we want to prove that we’ve passed the test. Rather, we want you to do whatever is right, even if we seem to have failed. 8 We can’t do anything against the truth but only to help the truth. 9 We’re glad when we are weak and you are strong. We are also praying for your improvement.
10 That’s why I’m writing this letter while I’m not with you. When I am with you I don’t want to be harsh by using the authority that the Lord gave me. The Lord gave us this authority to help you, not to hurt you.
Farewell
11 With that, brothers and sisters, I must say goodbye. Make sure that you improve. Accept my encouragement. Share the same attitude and live in peace. The God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All of God’s holy people greet you.[a]
13 May the Lord Jesus Christ’s good will,[b] God’s love, and the Holy Spirit’s presence be with all of you!
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