M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joseph the Dreamer
37 Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived. 2 This is the family history of Jacob:
Joseph was a young man, seventeen years old. He and his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, cared for the flocks. Joseph gave his father bad reports about his brothers. 3 Since Joseph was born when his father Israel[a] was old, Israel loved him more than his other sons. He made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves. 4 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, they hated their brother and could not speak to him politely.
5 One time Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more. 6 Joseph said, “Listen to the dream I had. 7 We were in the field tying bundles of wheat together. My bundle stood up, and your bundles of wheat gathered around it and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said, “Do you really think you will be king over us? Do you truly think you will rule over us?” His brothers hated him even more because of his dreams and what he had said.
9 Then Joseph had another dream, and he told his brothers about it also. He said, “Listen, I had another dream. I saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.”
10 Joseph also told his father about this dream, but his father scolded him, saying, “What kind of dream is this? Do you really believe that your mother, your brothers, and I will bow down to you?” 11 Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him, but his father thought about what all these things could mean.
12 One day Joseph’s brothers went to Shechem to graze their father’s flocks. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Go to Shechem where your brothers are grazing the flocks.”
Joseph answered, “I will go.”
14 His father said, “Go and see if your brothers and the flocks are all right. Then come back and tell me.” So Joseph’s father sent him from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph came to Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering in the field and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 Joseph answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing the flocks?”
17 The man said, “They have already gone. I heard them say they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph went to look for his brothers and found them in Dothan.
Joseph Sold into Slavery
18 Joseph’s brothers saw him coming from far away. Before he reached them, they made a plan to kill him. 19 They said to each other, “Here comes that dreamer. 20 Let’s kill him and throw his body into one of the wells. We can tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”
21 But Reuben heard their plan and saved Joseph, saying, “Let’s not kill him. 22 Don’t spill any blood. Throw him into this well here in the desert, but don’t hurt him!” Reuben planned to save Joseph later and send him back to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they pulled off his robe with long sleeves 24 and threw him into the well. It was empty, and there was no water in it.
25 While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. When they looked up, they saw a group of Ishmaelites traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and hide his death? 27 Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” And the other brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the Ishmaelites for eight ounces of silver. And the Ishmaelites took him to Egypt.
29 When Reuben came back to the well and Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes to show he was upset. 30 Then he went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there! What shall I do?” 31 The brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. 32 Then they brought the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, “We found this robe. Look it over carefully and see if it is your son’s robe.”
33 Jacob looked it over and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some savage animal has eaten him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and put on rough cloth to show that he was upset, and he continued to be sad about his son for a long time. 35 All of his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he could not be comforted. He said, “I will be sad about my son until the day I die.” So Jacob cried for his son Joseph.
36 Meanwhile the Midianites who had bought Joseph had taken him to Egypt. There they sold him to Potiphar, an officer to the king of Egypt and captain of the palace guard.
Obey God’s Law
7 When some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem, they gathered around Jesus. 2 They saw that some of Jesus’ followers ate food with hands that were not clean, that is, they hadn’t washed them. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat before washing their hands in the way required by their unwritten laws. 4 And when they buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash themselves in a special way. They also follow many other unwritten laws, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots.[a])
5 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law said to Jesus, “Why don’t your followers obey the unwritten laws which have been handed down to us? Why do your followers eat their food with hands that are not clean?”
6 Jesus answered, “Isaiah was right when he spoke about you hypocrites. He wrote,
‘These people show honor to me with words,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 Their worship of me is worthless.
The things they teach are nothing but human rules.’ Isaiah 29:13
8 You have stopped following the commands of God, and you follow only human teachings.”[b]
9 Then Jesus said to them, “You cleverly ignore the commands of God so you can follow your own teachings. 10 Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[c] and ‘Anyone who says cruel things to his father or mother must be put to death.’[d] 11 But you say a person can tell his father or mother, ‘I have something I could use to help you, but it is Corban—a gift to God.’ 12 You no longer let that person use that money for his father or his mother. 13 By your own rules, which you teach people, you are rejecting what God said. And you do many things like that.”
14 After Jesus called the crowd to him again, he said, “Every person should listen to me and understand what I am saying. 15 There is nothing people put into their bodies that makes them unclean. People are made unclean by the things that come out of them. [ 16 Let those with ears use them and listen.]”[e]
17 When Jesus left the people and went into the house, his followers asked him about this story. 18 Jesus said, “Do you still not understand? Surely you know that nothing that enters someone from the outside can make that person unclean. 19 It does not go into the mind, but into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body.” (When Jesus said this, he meant that no longer was any food unclean for people to eat.)
20 And Jesus said, “The things that come out of people are the things that make them unclean. 21 All these evil things begin inside people, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, adultery, 22 greed, evil actions, lying, doing sinful things, jealousy, speaking evil of others, pride, and foolish living. 23 All these evil things come from inside and make people unclean.”
Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman
24 Jesus left that place and went to the area around Tyre.[f] When he went into a house, he did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. 25 A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard that he was there. So she quickly came to Jesus and fell at his feet. 26 She was Greek, born in Phoenicia, in Syria. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter.
27 Jesus told the woman, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs. First let the children eat all they want.”
28 But she answered, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table can eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then Jesus said, “Because of your answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
30 The woman went home and found her daughter lying in bed; the demon was gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man
31 Then Jesus left the area around Tyre and went through Sidon to Lake Galilee, to the area of the Ten Towns.[g] 32 While he was there, some people brought a man to him who was deaf and could not talk plainly. The people begged Jesus to put his hand on the man to heal him.
33 Jesus led the man away from the crowd, by himself. He put his fingers in the man’s ears and then spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to the man, “Ephphatha!” (This means, “Be opened.”) 35 Instantly the man was able to hear and to use his tongue so that he spoke clearly.
36 Jesus commanded the people not to tell anyone about what happened. But the more he commanded them, the more they told about it. 37 They were completely amazed and said, “Jesus does everything well. He makes the deaf hear! And those who can’t talk he makes able to speak.”
Job Curses His Birth
3 After seven days Job cried out and cursed the day he had been born, 2 saying:
3 “Let the day I was born be destroyed,
and the night it was said, ‘A boy is born!’
4 Let that day turn to darkness.
Don’t let God care about it.
Don’t let light shine on it.
5 Let darkness and gloom have that day.
Let a cloud hide it.
Let thick darkness cover its light.
6 Let thick darkness capture that night.
Don’t count it among the days of the year
or put it in any of the months.
7 Let that night be empty,
with no shout of joy to be heard.
8 Let those who curse days curse that day.
Let them prepare to wake up the sea monster Leviathan.
9 Let that day’s morning stars never appear;
let it wait for daylight that never comes.
Don’t let it see the first light of dawn,
10 because it allowed me to be born
and did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why didn’t I die as soon as I was born?
Why didn’t I die when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did my mother’s knees receive me,
and my mother’s breasts feed me?
13 If they had not been there,
I would be lying dead in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest
14 with kings and wise men of the earth
who built places for themselves that are now ruined.
15 I would be asleep with rulers
who filled their houses with gold and silver.
16 Why was I not buried like a child born dead,
like a baby who never saw the light of day?
17 In the grave the wicked stop making trouble,
and the weary workers are at rest.
18 In the grave there is rest for the captives
who no longer hear the shout of the slave driver.
19 People great and small are in the grave,
and the slave is freed from his master.
20 “Why is light given to those in misery?
Why is life given to those who are so unhappy?
21 They want to die, but death does not come.
They search for death more than for hidden treasure.
22 They are very happy
when they get to the grave.
23 They cannot see where they are going.
God has hidden the road ahead.
24 I make sad sounds as I eat;
my groans pour out like water.
25 Everything I feared and dreaded
has happened to me.
26 I have no peace or quietness.
I have no rest, only trouble.”
An Example from Marriage
7 Brothers and sisters, all of you understand the law of Moses. So surely you know that the law rules over people only while they are alive. 2 For example, a woman must stay married to her husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law of marriage. 3 But if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, the law says she is guilty of adultery. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law of marriage. Then if she marries another man, she is not guilty of adultery.
4 In the same way, my brothers and sisters, your old selves died, and you became free from the law through the body of Christ. This happened so that you might belong to someone else—the One who was raised from the dead—and so that we might be used in service to God. 5 In the past, we were ruled by our sinful selves. The law made us want to do sinful things that controlled our bodies, so the things we did were bringing us death. 6 In the past, the law held us like prisoners, but our old selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way with the Spirit, and not in the old way with written rules.
Our Fight Against Sin
7 You might think I am saying that sin and the law are the same thing. That is not true. But the law was the only way I could learn what sin meant. I would never have known what it means to want to take something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “You must not want to take your neighbor’s things.”[a] 8 And sin found a way to use that command and cause me to want all kinds of things I should not want. But without the law, sin has no power. 9 I was alive before I knew the law. But when the law’s command came to me, then sin began to live, 10 and I died. The command was meant to bring life, but for me it brought death. 11 Sin found a way to fool me by using the command to make me die.
12 So the law is holy, and the command is holy and right and good. 13 Does this mean that something that is good brought death to me? No! Sin used something that is good to bring death to me. This happened so that I could see what sin is really like; the command was used to show that sin is very evil.
The War Within Us
14 We know that the law is spiritual, but I am not spiritual since sin rules me as if I were its slave. 15 I do not understand the things I do. I do not do what I want to do, and I do the things I hate. 16 And if I do not want to do the hated things I do, that means I agree that the law is good. 17 But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them. 18 Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me—I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. 19 I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do. 20 So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things.
21 So I have learned this rule: When I want to do good, evil is there with me. 22 In my mind, I am happy with God’s law. 23 But I see another law working in my body, which makes war against the law that my mind accepts. That other law working in my body is the law of sin, and it makes me its prisoner. 24 What a miserable man I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? 25 I thank God for saving me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So in my mind I am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful self I am a slave to the law of sin.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.