M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob blesses his sons
49 Then Jacob called for all his sons. He said, ‘Come here to me. Then I can tell you what will happen to you, in future years. 2 You sons of Jacob, come together now and listen to your father, Israel.’[a]
Reuben
3 Jacob said, ‘Reuben you are my firstborn son. You were born first, when I was a strong young man. Of all my sons, you are the most famous and the strongest.
4 Yet you are as wild as the sea. You had sex with your father's slave wife. This bad thing brought me shame. So you will not become great.[b]
Simeon and Levi
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers. They use their swords as weapons to destroy people.[c]
6 I will not join them when they decide to do bad things. I will not meet with them. They have killed people when they are angry. They have hurt animals because it makes them happy.
7 Their anger is so strong that God will curse them. Their anger makes them do cruel things. So God will curse them. I will make your descendants separate from one another. They will live all over the country of Israel.
Judah
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will win against your enemies. Your father's sons will bend down towards the ground in front of you.
9 Judah is like a young lion who has eaten good food. He has eaten what he killed and now he rests. Nobody would want to try and wake him up!
10 Judah's descendants will always rule as king. They will continue to hold the stick and the sceptre that show the king's authority. They will do that until the man comes who truly has that authority. People from all nations will obey that king.[d]
11 Judah will tie his young donkey to a vine. It will be a vine that has the best grapes. He will wash his clothes in the red wine that is made from those grapes.[e]
12 His eyes will become red because he drinks so much wine. His teeth will become white because he drinks so much milk.[f]
Zebulun
13 Zebulun will live by the shore of the sea. His town will be a safe place for ships to stay. His land will go as far as Sidon.
Issachar
14 Issachar is like a strong donkey that is lying down between two of its bags.
15 He will see that he has a good place to live, with good land. Then he will agree to work hard. He will work like a slave for other people.[g]
Dan
16 Dan will be a ruler for his people. His descendants will be equal with the other tribes of Israel.[h]
17 He will be small and dangerous, like a snake that lies beside the road. He will be like a snake that bites the legs of horses so that the riders fall off.
18 I trust you to save me from trouble, Lord.[i]
Gad
19 Robbers will attack Gad, but he will fight back against them.
Asher
20 Asher will have much good food. It will be good enough for kings to eat.
Naphtali
21 Naphtali is like a deer that runs freely and gives birth to beautiful babies.
Joseph
22 Joseph is like a vine that has lots of fruit. It grows near a well and its branches go over a wall.[j]
23 His enemies will be angry with him. They will attack him with arrows. 24 But he will hold his own bow strongly. He will shoot his arrows well. The Mighty One of Jacob will give Joseph strength. God, who is Israel's Shepherd and Rock, will help him.[k]
25 The Almighty God, the God of your father, will help you and he will bless you. He will give you rain that comes from the sky above. He will give you springs of water from below the ground. He will cause you to have many descendants. That is how God will bless you.
26 The blessings that I, your father, give to you are great! They are greater than any good things that the old mountains or hills can give to you. They are special blessings for you, Joseph, because you are the leader of your brothers.
Benjamin
27 Benjamin is like a hungry wolf. He kills an animal and eats it in the morning. In the evening, he gives what remains to his people.’[l]
28 All these are ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He told each of his sons what was right for them and their descendants.[m]
Jacob dies and Joseph buries him
29 Then Jacob said to his 12 sons, ‘I will soon die. You must take my dead body back to Canaan. Bury me there with my ancestors. Bury me in the cave in the field that belonged to Ephron the Hittite. 30 The cave is at Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan. Abraham bought this cave from Ephron as a place to bury his family. 31 That is where they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah. They also buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah there. I buried Leah there too. 32 Abraham bought the cave and the field from the Hittites.’
33 Jacob finished telling his sons what they should do. Then he lay down on his bed again. He breathed for the last time and he died there.
Jesus is born
2 At that time, Caesar Augustus made a law. He told his men to count everyone who lived in the countries that he ruled.[a] 2 This was the first time that the Romans had made a list of everyone's names. Quirinius was the Roman ruler of Syria when it happened.
3 Everyone went to his own home town for the Romans to count them. 4 So Joseph went to his home town, Bethlehem. He was living in the town of Nazareth, in Galilee. Bethlehem was in Judea. King David had been born there, so Bethlehem was called the town of David. Joseph belonged to the family of David. That is why he went to Bethlehem.
5 Joseph took Mary with him so that the Romans could count them. She went because she had promised to marry him. She was pregnant.
6 While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 This was her first baby, and it was a boy. She put cloths around him. Then she put him in an animal's food box. She did this because the rooms for visitors were full of people.[b]
Some shepherds leave their sheep to go and see Jesus
8 That night some shepherds were living out in the fields near Bethlehem. They were keeping their sheep safe. 9 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to them. A bright light from God shone all around them. That frightened them very much. 10 The angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Listen! I bring you good news. This news will make everyone very happy. 11 Something happened today in the town of David. Someone special was born. He is the one who will save you. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord. 12 I will tell you how you will know this baby. You will find him with cloths around him. He is lying in an animal's food box.’
13 At that moment, a great crowd of angels appeared. They were praising God. They said:
14 ‘God is great! He lives in the highest place above.
He will bless the people on earth who please him.
They will have peace in their minds.’
15 After that, the angels went away and returned to heaven. Then the shepherds said to each other, ‘We should leave the sheep and go to Bethlehem immediately! The Lord God has sent his angels to tell us what has happened. We want to see this baby.’
16 So they went quickly to Bethlehem. When they got there, they found Mary and Joseph with the baby. The baby really was lying in a food box. 17 After they had seen the baby, they told everybody about him. They told them what the angel had said to them about him. 18 Many people heard what the shepherds said. They were very surprised. 19 Mary remembered everything that the shepherds had said. She thought about it all for a long time. 20 The shepherds then went back to their sheep. As they went they praised God. ‘How great you are!’ they said to him. ‘How good you are! Everything that the angel told us was true! We have heard good news. We have seen very special things!’
Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the temple
21 When the baby was eight days old, it was time for the priest to circumcise him. His parents gave him the name ‘Jesus’. The angel had told Mary that they must give him that name. He told her that before she had the baby inside her.
22 Long ago, God gave Moses rules for his people to obey. One rule told people how to become clean after a baby was born. The time came for Mary and Joseph to do this. So they took the baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to show him to the Lord.
23 This is the rule which the Lord gave to his people: ‘The first male baby born to a woman belongs to me. So you must bring him to me. 24 When you do this, also bring two special birds for the priest to kill.’ So that is what Mary and Joseph did.[c]
25 At this time, a man called Simeon was living in Jerusalem. He was a good man and he obeyed God. He had waited a long time to see the special person who would save Israel's people. The Holy Spirit was with him. 26 The Holy Spirit had told him, ‘You will not die yet. You know that the Lord God has promised to send his Messiah. You will see him before you die.’ 27 Now the day had come. The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he should go to the temple. Mary and Joseph were bringing the baby Jesus to do what God's rule said. 28 Simeon went to them. He took Jesus and he held him in his arms. Then he thanked God. He said:
29 ‘Master, I am your servant.
You have done what you promised to me.
Now I can die with no trouble in my mind.
30 I really have seen the person that you have sent to save your people.
31 You have sent him to the world and people everywhere will know about him.
32 He will bring light to people so that they can know you.
He will show you to those people who are not Jews.
He will also show that your people of Israel are very special.’
33 That is what Simeon said about Jesus. His message surprised Mary and Joseph very much.
34 Then Simeon asked God to be good and kind to Mary and to Joseph. After that, he spoke to Mary, the mother of Jesus. He said to her, ‘God has chosen this baby. Many people in Israel will become worse because of him. And many of them will become better again because of him. He will be like a sign that points to God. But many people will speak against him. 35 This will show their secret thoughts about God. This will make you very sad, too. It will seem like a sharp knife is cutting into you. That is how sad you will be’.
36 A very old woman called Anna was also there in the temple. She spoke messages that the Holy Spirit gave to her. She was the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher.[d] She had lived with her husband for seven years and then he had died.
37 After that, she had lived alone until she was 84 years old. Now she never left the temple. She stayed there day and night to worship God. She fasted and she prayed.
38 At that moment, Anna came to where Mary and Joseph were standing in the temple. When she saw the baby, she thanked God for him. Then she began to speak about him to other people there. Many people were waiting for God to make Jerusalem free. These were the people that she spoke to about the child, Jesus.
39 When Mary and Joseph had done everything that God's rules said, they returned home. That was in the town of Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up. God was good and kind to him and he became strong. He learned many things and he could understand them well.
Jesus visits the temple as a young boy
41 Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.[e]
42 When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the festival. 43 When the week finished, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem to return home. But Jesus stayed behind and his parents did not know this. 44 They thought that he was with their group on the way home. They travelled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends.
45 They could not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem. They looked for him there. 46 After three days, they found him in the temple. He was sitting there among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions. 48 When his parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. His mother said to him, ‘My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of troubles in our mind.’
49 Jesus answered them, ‘You should not have needed to look for me. I must be doing what my Father wants me to do. You should have known that.’ 50 But his parents did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with them. He did what they wanted. His mother, Mary, was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot. 52 Jesus grew up into a man. He became strong and he could understand more and more things. God was pleased with him, and people were pleased with him too.
Eliphaz speaks to Job again[a]
15 Then Eliphaz, the man from Teman, replied to Job. This is what he said:
2 ‘If you were wise,
you would not answer us with such silly ideas.
The words that come out from inside you are only a hot wind!
3 No wise man would argue in such a useless way.
The things that you say do not mean anything.
4 You show that you do not respect God.
You turn other people away from him.
5 It is your sin that causes you to speak like that.
You try to say clever things that will deceive people.
6 I do not need to show that you are guilty.
Your own words show that you are wrong.
7 You were not the first human to be born.
You were not alive when God made the hills.
8 You do not know God's secret plans.
You are not the only wise person in the world.
9 You do not know any more than we know.
We understand as much as you do.
10 The old men agree with us.
They are older and wiser even than your father.
11 You think that God's kind words are not important.
But they should be enough for you.
12 You have allowed your thoughts to confuse you.
We can see in your eyes that you are very angry.
13 Why are you so angry against God?
You should not say such wicked things.
14 No one who is human can be truly pure and righteous.
15 God does not even trust his own angels.
He knows that they make mistakes.
16 So he certainly will not trust people.
People are wicked and cannot think true thoughts.
They like to do evil things,
as if they are drinking water!
17 So listen to me. I will explain something to you.
I will tell you what I have seen.
18 These are things that wise men have taught me.
They did not hide the truth.
They learned these things from their ancestors.
19 They were the people who received the land.
No foreigners were there to deceive them.
20 They knew this:
A wicked person will have trouble all his life.
Anyone who is cruel will suffer every year that he lives.
21 He will hear things that frighten him.
He may think that he is safe,
but robbers will attack him.
22 He is afraid to go out in the dark.
He thinks that someone may kill him.
23 The wicked person walks about to look for food.
He says, “Where is it?”
He knows that he cannot escape from trouble.
24 He is afraid and confused.
Trouble is ready to attack him,
like a king with his army.
25 That happens to the person who turns against God.
He thinks that he is greater than Almighty God.
26 He is proud enough to attack God.
He holds a big shield as he runs to attack God!
27 He eats too much
and his whole body is very fat.[b]
28 He lives in a town that is empty.
No one else lives in the houses there.
The buildings will soon fall down
and they will become heaps of stones.
29 He will not be rich.
He will lose his valuable things.
Everything that he has will disappear.
30 When it becomes dark,
he will not be able to escape.
He will be like a tree that fire has burned.
God's breath will blow him away!
31 He may trust in useless things to save him.
But he is deceiving himself.
Any help that he receives will also be useless.
32 Before he is old,
his life will end.
Like a tree that makes no leaves,
he will have no success in life.
33 He will be like a vine that loses its grapes.
They fall off before they are ready to eat.
He will be like an olive tree that loses its flowers,
so that no olives grow on it.
34 People who turn away from God are like that.
They have no family to live after them.
If they use the money from bribes to build their homes,
fire will destroy those homes.
35 They make plans to cause trouble,
so that evil things happen.
Lies are what come out from inside them.’
God wants his people to grow as believers
3 My Christian friends, I could not teach you as I would teach people who have God's Spirit. I had to teach you as people who belong only to this world. You were like little children who could not understand the message about Christ very well. 2 I had to teach you things that were easy to understand, like a mother gives milk to a baby. You were not yet ready to receive proper food. And you are still not ready to receive God's complete message! 3 You still do what your human nature wants to do. You are jealous of each other, and you quarrel with each other. Yes! This shows that you do what your human nature wants to do. You live like people who do not know God. 4 Some of you say, ‘Paul is my leader.’ And other people say, ‘Apollos is my leader.’ When you speak like that, you are talking like people who belong to this world.
5 Is Apollos important? Is Paul important? No! We are God's servants. We told you God's good news and you believed it. Each of us is doing the job which the Lord has given to us. 6 When I told you God's good news, I was like someone who planted seeds. Then Apollos was like someone who gave water to the young plants. But it was God who caused everything to grow. 7 The person who plants the seeds is not important. The person who gives water to the plants is not important. The important person is God, because he causes everything to grow. 8 The person who plants and the person who gives water both have the same purpose. God will pay each person what is right for their work. 9 Apollos and I work together as God's servants. You are like God's field that we work in.
You are also like a building that belongs to God. 10 I am like a good builder. God has given that job to me and he has helped me to do it well. I was the person who built the foundation. Now other people are building on that foundation.[a] But each person must be careful how he builds. 11 God has already put Jesus Christ as the only foundation of this building. So nobody can put any other foundation there.
12 People may build on this foundation with gold, silver or valuable stones. Or they may build on it with wood, dry grass or leaves. 13 One day, God will show clearly how good each builder's work is. God will put each person's work into a fire on that great day.[b] The fire will show whether their work is good or bad. 14 If the fire does not destroy the work, then that builder will receive good things from God. 15 But if the fire destroys a builder's work, that person will lose everything. The person himself will be safe. But he will be like someone who has run through the fire to a safe place.
16 You surely know that you are like God's special house. As God's people, God's Spirit lives in you. 17 If anyone destroys God's special house, then God will destroy that person. And you are like that house. You belong to God in a special way.
18 Be careful! Do not think that you are better than you really are. Maybe you think that you are wise, like people today want to be wise. But if you want to become truly wise, be ready for other people to think that you are a fool. 19 People in this world think that some people are wise. But God thinks that those wise people are fools. It says in the Bible:
‘God causes the clever thoughts of wise people to confuse them.’[c]
20 In another place, the Bible says:
‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of wise people have no value.’[d]
21 Because of that, you should not be proud of any human leader. All leaders are there to serve you, as God's people. 22 Do not be proud of Paul, Apollos or Peter. We belong to you. All of this world, and life and death belong to you. The things of today and tomorrow belong to you. Everything belongs to you, 23 you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.