M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joseph’s Dream
37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the children of Jacob and of their children.
When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was caring for the flock with his brothers. The boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph told his father about how bad they were. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because Joseph was born when he was an old man. And Israel made him a long coat of many colors. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers. So they hated Joseph and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to the dream that I have had. 7 We were gathering grain in the field. My bundle of grain stood up. Your bundles of grain gathered around it and bowed down to my bundle.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you going to be our king? Are you going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for what he said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. He said, “I have had another dream. The sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father spoke sharp words to him, saying, “What is this dream you have had? Will I and your mother and brothers come to bow ourselves down to the ground in front of you?” 11 Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. But his father thought about what he said.
Joseph Is Sold and Taken to Egypt
12 Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And Joseph said to him, “I will go.” 14 Then Israel said, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock. Then come and tell me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 A man found him walking through a field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?” 16 Joseph said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me where they are feeding the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have moved from here. For I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18 When they saw him far away, before he came near them, they made plans to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer! 20 Now come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the deep holes. Then we will say that a wild animal ate him. And we will see what becomes of his dreams!”
21 But Reuben heard this and saved him from their hands, saying, “Let us not kill him.” 22 Reuben then said, “Do not put him to death. Throw him into this hole here in the desert. But do not lay a hand on him.” He wanted to be able to save Joseph and return him to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they tore off his coat, the coat of many colors that he was wearing. 24 And they took him and threw him into the hole. The hole was empty and had no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat. When they looked up, they saw a group of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. They were taking spices and perfumes on their camels to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What do we get by killing our brother and covering his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him. For he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Some Midianite traders were passing by. So the brothers pulled Joseph up out of the hole. And they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they took Joseph to Egypt.
29 Then Reuben returned to the hole. When he saw that Joseph was not in the hole, he tore his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there! What can I do?” 31 So they took Joseph’s coat, killed a male goat, and put the blood on the coat. 32 They sent the coat of many colors to their father. And they said, “We found this. Is it your son’s coat or not?”
33 Jacob looked at it and said, “It is my son’s coat! A wild animal has eaten him! For sure Joseph has been torn to pieces!” 34 So Jacob tore his clothes and dressed in clothes made from hair. He had sorrow for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him. But he would not be comforted. He said, “I will go down to the grave in sorrow for my son.” And his father cried for him.
36 The Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, the head of the soldiers of Pharaoh’s house.
Jesus Speaks Sharp Words to the Leaders (A)
7 The proud religious law-keepers and some of the teachers of the Law had come from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. 2 They had seen some of His followers eat bread without washing their hands. 3 The proud religious law-keepers and all the Jews never eat until they wash their hands. They keep the teaching that was given to them by their early fathers. 4 When they come from the stores, they never eat until they wash. There are many other teachings they keep. Some are the washing of cups and pots and pans in a special way.
5 Then the proud religious law-keepers and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why do Your followers not obey the teaching given to them by their early fathers? They eat bread without washing their hands.” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah told about you who pretend to be someone you are not. Isaiah wrote, ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 7 Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach what men say must be done.’ (B) 8 You put away the Laws of God and obey the laws made by men.”
9 Jesus said to them, “You put away the Laws of God but keep your own teaching. 10 Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother.’ (C) ‘He who curses his father and mother will be put to death!’ (D) 11 But you say that it is right if a man does not help his father and mother because he says he has given to God what he could have given to them. 12 You are not making him do anything for his father and mother. 13 You are putting away the Word of God to keep your own teaching. You are doing many other things like this.”
14 Jesus called the people to Him again. He said, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand this. 15 It is not what goes into a man’s mouth from the outside that makes his mind and heart sinful. It is what comes out from the inside that makes him sinful. 16 You have ears, then listen!”
17 He went into the house away from all the people. His followers began to ask about the picture-story. 18 He said to them, “Do you not understand yet? Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man cannot make him sinful? 19 It does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and then on out of his body.” In this way, He was saying that all food is clean. 20 He said, “Whatever comes out of a man is what makes the man sinful. 21 From the inside, out of the heart of men come bad thoughts, sex sins of a married person, sex sins of a person not married, killing other people, 22 stealing, wanting something that belongs to someone else, doing wrong, lying, having a desire for sex sins, having a mind that is always looking for sin, speaking against God, thinking you are better than you are and doing foolish things. 23 All these bad things come from the inside and make the man sinful.”
Jesus Puts a Demon out of a Girl (E)
24 Jesus went from their towns and cities to the cities of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house and wanted to stay there without people knowing where He was. But He could not hide Himself. 25 A woman who had a daughter with a demon heard of Him. She came and got down at His feet. 26 The woman was not a Jew. She was from the country of Syrophenicia. She asked Jesus if He would put the demon out of her daughter. 27 Jesus said to her, “Let the children have what they want first. It is wrong to take children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” 28 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces that fall from the children’s table.” 29 He said to her, “Because of what you have said, go your way. The demon is gone out of your daughter.” 30 So she went to her house and found the demon was gone and her daughter was lying on the bed.
Jesus Heals the Man Who Could Not Hear or Speak Well
31 Then Jesus left the cities of Tyre and Sidon. He came back to the Sea of Galilee by way of the land of Decapolis. 32 They took a man to Him who could not hear or speak well. They asked Jesus to put His hand on him. 33 Jesus took him away from the other people. He put His fingers into the man’s ears. He spit and put His finger on the man’s tongue. 34 Then Jesus looked up to heaven and breathed deep within. He said to the man, “Be opened!” 35 At once his ears were opened. His tongue was made loose and he spoke as other people. 36 Then Jesus told them they should tell no one. The more He told them this, the more they told what He had done. 37 They were very much surprised and wondered about it. They said, “He has done all things well. He makes those who could not hear so they can hear. He makes those who could not speak so they can speak.”
Job Speaks Angry Words to God
3 After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 2 He said, 3 “Let the day be lost on which I was born, and the night which said, ‘A boy is born.’ 4 May that day be darkness. May God above not care for it. May light not shine on it. 5 Let darkness and a heavy shadow take it for their own. Let a cloud come upon it. Let the darkness of the day bring fear upon it. 6 As for that night, let darkness take hold of it. Let it not have joy among the days of the year. Let it not come into the number of months. 7 Yes, let that night be alone and empty. Let no sound of joy come into it. 8 Let those curse it who curse the day, who are able to wake up the Leviathan. 9 Let the early morning stars be made dark. Let it wait for light but have none. Do not let it see the light of day. 10 Because it did not keep my mother from giving birth to me, or hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not come from my mother and die? 12 Why did the knees receive me, or why the breasts, that I should have milk? 13 For now I would have lain down and been quiet. I would have slept then. I would have been at rest, 14 with kings and wise men of the earth who built cities for themselves that are now destroyed. 15 I would have been at rest with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. 16 Why did I not die before I was born, hidden and put away, as babies that never see the light? 17 There the troubles of the sinful stop. There the tired are at rest. 18 Those in prison are at rest together. They do not hear the voice of the one who rules over their work. 19 The small and the great are there. And the servant is free from his owner.
20 “Why is light given to him who suffers? Why is life given to those who feel sad in their soul? 21 They wait for death, but there is none. They dig for it more than for hidden riches. 22 They are filled with much joy and are glad, when they find the grave. 23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and around whom God has built a wall? 24 For I cry inside myself in front of my food. My cries pour out like water. 25 What I was afraid of has come upon me. What filled me with fear has happened. 26 I am not at rest, and I am not quiet. I have no rest, but only trouble.”
7 Christian brothers, I am sure you understand what I am going to say. You know all about the Law. The Law has power over a man as long as he lives. 2 A married woman is joined by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if he dies, she is free from the law that joined her to him. 3 If she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is sinning by not being faithful in marriage. If her husband dies, she is free from the law that joined her to him. After that she can marry someone else. She does not sin if she marries another man.
4 My Christian brothers, that is the way it is with you. You were under the power of the Law. But now you are dead to it because you are joined to another. You are joined to Christ Who was raised from the dead. This is so we may be what God wants us to be. Our lives are to give fruit for Him. 5 When we lived to please our bodies, those sinful desires were pulling at us all the time. We always wanted to do what the Law said not to do. Living that kind of life brings death, 6 but now we are free from the Law. We are dead to sin that once held us in its power. No longer do we follow the Law which is the old way. We now follow the new way, the way of the Spirit.
7 Then what are we saying? Is the Law sinful? No, not at all! But it was the Law that showed me what sin is. I did not know it was sin to follow wrong desires, but the Law said, “You must not follow wrong desires.” 8 The Law made me know how much I was sinning. It showed me how I had a desire for all kinds of things. For without the Law, sin is dead. 9 I was once alive. That was when I did not know what the Law said I had to do. Then I found that I had broken the Law. I knew I was a sinner. Death was mine because of the Law. 10 The Law was supposed to give me new life. Instead, it gave me death. 11 Sin found a way to trap me by working through the Law. Then sin killed me by using the Law.
12 The Law is holy. Each one of the Laws is holy and right and good. 13 Then does it mean that the Law, which is good, brought death to me? No, not at all! It was sin that did it. Sin brought death to me by the Law that is good. In that way, sin was shown to be what it is. So because of the Law, sin becomes much more sinful.
14 We know that the Law is right and good, but I am a person who does what is wrong and bad. I am not my own boss. Sin is my boss. 15 I do not understand myself. I want to do what is right but I do not do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. 16 When I do the thing I do not want to do, it shows me that the Law is right and good. 17 So I am not doing it. Sin living in me is doing it. 18 I know there is nothing good in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do good but I do not. 19 I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I am always doing the sinful things I do not want to do. 20 If I am always doing the very thing I do not want to do, it means I am no longer the one who does it. It is sin that lives in me. 21 This has become my way of life: When I want to do what is right, I always do what is wrong. 22 My mind and heart agree with the Law of God. 23 But there is a different law at work deep inside of me that fights with my mind. This law of sin holds me in its power because sin is still in me. 24 There is no happiness in me! Who can set me free from my sinful old self? 25 God’s Law has power over my mind, but sin still has power over my sinful old self. I thank God I can be free through Jesus Christ our Lord!
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