M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Dreams of Joseph
37 And Jacob settled in the land of the sojourning of his father, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations[a] of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers. Now he was a helper with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, for he was a son of his old age. And he made a robe with long sleeves[b] for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and were not able to speak peaceably to him.
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers. And they hated him even more.[c] 6 And he said to them, “Listen now to this dream that I dreamed. 7 Now behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field and, behold, my sheaf stood up and it remained standing. Then behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “Will you really rule over us?” And they hated him even more[d] on account of his dream and because of his words. 9 Then he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream again, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 And he told it to his father and to his brothers. And his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the ground to you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph Sold Into Slavery by his Brothers
12 Now his brothers went to pasture the flock of their father in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them.” And he said, “Here I am.” 14 Then he said to him, “Go now, see if it goes well for your brothers and for the flock,[e] then return word to me.” And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem. 15 And a man found him, and behold, he[f] was wandering about in a field. And the man asked him, “What do you seek?” 16 And he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing.” 17 And the man said, “They have moved on from here, for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 And each said to his brothers, “Look, this master of dreams is coming. 20 Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become.” 21 And Reuben heard it and delivered him from their hand and said, “We must not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father. 23 And it happened that as Joseph came to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his robe, the robe with long sleeves,[g] that was upon him. 24 And they took him and threw him into the pit (the pit was empty; there was no water in it). 25 Then they sat down to eat some food. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. And their camels were carrying aromatic gum and balm and spices on the way[h] to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they[i] drew Joseph up and brought him up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt. 29 Then Reuben returned to the pit and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone![j] Now I, what can I do?”[k] 31 Then they took the robe of Joseph and slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 Then they sent the robe with long sleeves[l] and they brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it. Is it the robe of your son or not?” 33 And he recognized it and said, “The robe of my son! A wild animal has devoured him! Joseph is surely torn to pieces!” 34 And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and daughters tried to console him, but he refused to be consoled. And he said, “No, I shall go down to my son, to Sheol, mourning.” And his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, a commander of the imperial guard.
Human Traditions and God’s Commandments
7 And the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to him. 2 And they saw that some of his disciples were eating their[a] bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands ritually,[b] thus[c] holding fast to the traditions of the elders. 4 And when they come[d] from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions[e] which they have received and[f] hold fast to—for example,[g] the washing of cups and pitchers and bronze kettles and dining couches.)[h] 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their[i] bread with unclean hands?” 6 So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with their[j] lips,
but their heart is far, far away from me.
7 And they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’[k]
8 Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”
9 And he said to them, “You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep[l] your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[m] and, ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die[n].’[o] 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his[p] father or to his[q] mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received[r] from me is corban”[s] (that is, a gift to God), 12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his[t] father or his[u] mother, 13 thus[v] making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and you do many similar things such as this.”
Defilement from Within
14 And summoning the crowd again, he said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside of a person that is able to defile him by[w] going into him. But the things that go out of a person are the things that defile a person.”[x] 17 And when he entered into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “So are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything that is outside that goes into a person is not able to defile him? 19 For it does not enter into his heart but into his[y] stomach, and goes out into the latrine”—thus[z] declaring all foods clean. 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person, that defiles a person. 21 For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, acts of greed, malicious deeds, deceit, licentiousness, envy,[aa] abusive speech, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”
A Syrophoenician Woman’s Great Faith
24 And from there he set out and[ab] went to the region of Tyre. And when he[ac] entered into a house, he wanted no one to know, and yet he was not able to escape notice. 25 But immediately a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, when she[ad] heard about him, came and[ae] fell down at his feet, 26 Now the woman was a Greek—a Syrophoenician by nationality—and she was asking him that he would expel the demon from her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it[af] to the dogs!” 28 But she answered and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “Because of this statement, go! The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And when she[ag] went to her home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.
A Man Deaf and Unable to Speak Healed
31 And again he went away from the region of Tyre and[ah] came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they were imploring him that he would place his[ai] hand on him. 33 And he took him away from the crowd by himself and[aj] put his fingers into his ears, and after[ak] spitting, he touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”). 35 And[al] his ears were opened and his difficulty in speaking was removed[am] and he began to speak normally. 36 And he ordered them that they should say nothing, but as much as he ordered them not to, they proclaimed it[an] even more instead. 37 And they were amazed beyond all measure, saying, “He has done all things well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
Job Regrets His Birth
3 Afterward[a] Job opened his mouth and cursed[b] his day. 2 Thus[c] Job spoke up[d] and said,
3 “Let the day perish on which I was born,
and the night that said, ‘A man-child is conceived.’
4 Let that day become[e] darkness;
may God not seek it from above,
nor may daylight shine on it.
5 Let darkness and deep shadow claim it;
let clouds[f] settle on it;
let them[g] terrify it with the blackness[h] of day.
6 Let darkness seize that night;[i]
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not enter among the number of the months.
7 Look, let that night become[j] barren;
let a joyful song not enter it.
8 Let those who curse the day curse it,
those who are skilled at rousing Leviathan.
9 Let the stars of its dawn be dark;
let it hope for light but[k] there be none,
and let it not see the eyelids of dawn
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor[l] did it hide trouble from my eyes.
Job Wishes He Had Died
11 “Why did I not die at[m] birth?
Why did I not come forth from the womb and expire?
12 Why did the knees receive me
and the breasts, that I could suck?
13 For now I would lie down, and I would be at peace;
I would be asleep; then I would be at rest[n]
14 with kings and counselors of the earth,
who rebuild [o] ruins for themselves,
15 or with high officials who have gold,[p]
who fill up their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a miscarriage,
like infants who did not see the light?
17 There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary[q] are at rest;
18 the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the oppressor’s voice.
19 The small and the great are there,
and the slave is free from his masters.[r]
Job Wishes He Might Die
20 “Why does he[s] give light to one in misery
and life to those bitter of soul,
21 who wait for death, but[t] it does not come,[u]
and search[v] for it more than for treasures,
22 who rejoice exceedingly,[w]
and they are glad when they find the grave?
23 Why does he[x] give light to a man whose way is hidden,
and God has fenced him in all around?
24 For[y] my sighing comes before[z] my bread,[aa]
and my groanings gush forth like water
25 because the dread that I feel[ab] has come upon me,
and what I feared befalls me.
26 I am not at ease, and I am not at peace,
and I do not have rest, thus[ac] turmoil has come.”
Released from the Law through Death
7 Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is master of a person for as long a time as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the husband. 3 Therefore as a result, if she belongs to another man while[a] her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she[b] belongs to another man. 4 So then, my brothers, you also were brought to death with respect to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, sinful desires were working through the law in our members, to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we[c] have died to that by which we were bound, so that we may serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter of the law.
Knowledge of Sin Comes through the Law
7 What then shall we say? Is the law sin? May it never be! But I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”[d] 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was alive once, apart from the law, but when[e] the commandment came, sin sprang to life 10 and I died, and this commandment which was to lead to life was found with respect to me to lead to death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Internal Conflict with Sin
13 Therefore, did that which is good become death to me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be recognized as sin, producing death through what is good for me, in order that sin might become sinful to an extraordinary degree through the commandment. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into slavery to sin[f]. 15 For what I am doing I do not understand, because what I want to do, this I do not practice, but what I hate, this I do. 16 But if what I do not want to do, this I do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know that good does not live in me, that is, in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but the evil that I do not want to do, this I do. 20 But if what I do not want to do, this I am doing, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that lives in me.
21 Consequently, I find the principle with me, the one who wants to do good, that evil is present with me.[g] 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in my inner person, 23 but I observe another law in my members, at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that exists in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be[h] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself with my mind am enslaved to the law of God, but with my flesh I am enslaved to the law of sin.
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