M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Animals Owned by Egyptians Die

9 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says this: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me. ² For if you will not let them go, and still hold them, ³ the hand of the Lord will come with a very bad disease on your animals in the field: on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the cattle and the flocks. ⁴ But the Lord will divide the animals of Israel from the animals of Egypt. So nothing will die of all that belongs to the people of Israel.”’” ⁵ The Lord made a time for this, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this in the land.” ⁶ So the Lord did this on the next day. All the animals of Egypt died. But not one of the animals died that belonged to the people of Israel. ⁷ Pharaoh learned that not one of the animals of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard. He did not let the people go.

Bad Sores Come on Egyptians and Their Animals

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Fill your hands with ashes from a stove. Let Moses throw them toward the sky in front of Pharaoh. ⁹ And it will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt and will become bad sores on man and animal through all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ So they took ashes from a stove. Moses stood in front of Pharaoh and threw the ashes toward the sky. And it became sores on man and animal. ¹¹ The wonder-workers could not stand in front of Moses because of the sores. For the sores were on the wonder-workers and on all the Egyptians. ¹² But the Lord made the heart of Pharaoh hard. He did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said to Moses.

Large Hail and Fire

¹³ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and stand in front of Pharaoh and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says this: “Let My people go, so they may worship Me. ¹⁴ For this time I will send all My troubles on you and your servants and your people. So you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth. ¹⁵ For by now I could have put out My hand and hit you and your people with much trouble and great suffering. You would then have been destroyed from the earth. ¹⁶ But I have let you live so you could see My power and so My name may be honored through all the earth. ¹⁷ But you still use your power against My people by not letting them go. ¹⁸ About this time tomorrow I will send a very heavy hail such as has never been seen in Egypt from the day it began until now. ¹⁹ Have your cattle and whatever you have in the field brought to a safe place. For the hail will come down upon every man and animal that is in the field and is not brought home. And they will die.”’” ²⁰ Any of the people of Egypt who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and animals run to the houses. ²¹ But he who did not listen to the word of the Lord left his servants and animals in the field.

²² The Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand toward the sky and hail will fall on all the land of Egypt. Hail will fall on man and animal and every plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.” ²³ Moses put out his special stick toward the sky. Then the Lord sent thunder and hail. And lightning struck the ground. The Lord poured hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴ So there was hail and lightning striking through the hail without stopping. It was very bad, worse than had ever been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵ The hail hit all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, both man and animal. The hail hit every plant of the field and broke down every tree of the field. ²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen where the people of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. He said to them, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is right. I and my people are guilty. ²⁸ Pray to the Lord. For there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. And I will let you go. You will stay here no longer.” ²⁹ Moses said to him, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord. The thunder will stop. There will be no more hail. Then you may know that the earth is the Lord’s. ³⁰ But I know that you and your servants do not yet fear the Lord God.” ³¹ The flax and the barley were destroyed. For these plants had just begun to grow. ³² But the other grains were not destroyed, because they grow later.

³³ So Moses left the city and Pharaoh. He spread out his hands to the Lord. And the thunder and the hail stopped. The rain no longer poured on the earth. ³⁴ But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again. He and his servants made their hearts hard. ³⁵ Pharaoh’s heart was not changed. He did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had said by Moses.

Jesus Teaches His Followers and Thousands of Other People

12 At that time thousands of people gathered together. There were so many that they walked on each other. Jesus spoke to His twelve followers first, saying, “Look out! Have nothing to do with the yeast of the proud religious law-keepers which is pretending to be something it is not. ² For there is nothing covered up that will not be seen. There is nothing hidden that will not be known. ³ What you have said in the dark will be heard in the light. What you have said in a low voice in a closed room will be spoken with a loud voice from the top of houses.

⁴ “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and then can do no more. ⁵ I will tell you the one to be afraid of. Be afraid of Him Who has power to put you into hell after He has killed you. Yes, I say to you, be afraid of Him!

⁶ “Are not five small birds sold for two small pieces of money? God does not forget even one of the birds. ⁷ God knows how many hairs you have on your head. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many small birds.

⁸ “Also, I tell you, everyone who makes Me known to men, the Son of Man will make him known to the angels of God. ⁹ But whoever acts as if he does not know Me and does not make Me known to men, he will not be spoken of to the angels of God.

The Sin That Cannot Be Forgiven

¹⁰ “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ¹¹ When they take you to the places of worship and to the courts and to the leaders of the country, do not be worried about what you should say or how to say it. ¹² The Holy Spirit will tell you what you should say at that time.”

¹³ One of the people said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the riches that our father left us.” ¹⁴ Jesus said to him, “Friend, who has told Me to say who should get what?” ¹⁵ Then Jesus said to them all, “Watch yourselves! Keep from wanting all kinds of things you should not have. A man’s life is not made up of things, even if he has many riches.”

The Picture-Story of the Rich Fool

¹⁶ Then He told them a picture-story, saying, “The fields of a rich man gave much grain. ¹⁷ The rich man thought to himself, ‘What will I do? I have no place to put the grain.’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘I know what I will do. I will take down my grain building and I will build a bigger one. I will put all my grain and other things I own into it. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many good things put away in your building. It will be all you need for many years to come. Now rest and eat and drink and have lots of fun.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘You fool! Tonight your soul will be taken from you. Then who will have all the things you have put away?’ ²¹ It is the same with a man who puts away riches for himself and does not have the riches of God.”

Jesus Teaches about the Cares of This Life

²² Jesus said to His followers, “Because of this, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you are going to eat. Do not worry about your body, what you are going to wear. ²³ Life is worth more than food. The body is worth more than clothes. ²⁴ Look at the birds. They do not plant seeds. They do not gather grain. They have no grain buildings for keeping grain. Yet God feeds them. Are you not worth more than the birds?

²⁵ “Which of you can make yourself a little taller by worrying? ²⁶ If you cannot do that which is so little, why do you worry about other things? ²⁷ Think how the flowers grow. They do not work or make cloth. Yet, I tell you, that King Solomon in all his greatness was not dressed as well as one of these flowers. ²⁸ God puts these clothes on the grass of the field. The grass is in the field today and put into the fire tomorrow. How much more would He want to give you clothing? You have so little faith! ²⁹ Do not give so much thought to what you will eat or drink. Do not be worried about it. ³⁰ For all the nations of the world go after these things. Your Father knows you need these things. ³¹ Instead, go after the holy nation of God. Then all these other things will be given to you. ³² Do not be afraid, little flock. Your Father wants to give you the holy nation of God. ³³ Sell what you have and give the money to poor people. Have money-bags for yourselves that will never wear out. These money-bags are riches in heaven that will always be there. No robber can take them and no bugs can eat them there. ³⁴ Your heart will be wherever your riches are.

Jesus Says to Watch and Be Ready for His Second Coming Be Ready for His Second Coming

³⁵ “Be ready and dressed. Have your lights burning. ³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their owner to come home from a wedding supper. When he comes and knocks on the door, they will open it for him at once. ³⁷ Those servants are happy when their owner finds them watching when he comes. For sure, I tell you, he will be dressed and ready to care for them. He will have them seated at the table. ³⁸ The owner might come late at night or early in the morning. Those servants are happy if their owner finds them watching whenever he comes. ³⁹ But understand this, that if the owner of a house had known when the robber was coming, he would have been watching. He would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You must be ready also. The Son of Man is coming at a time when you do not think He will come.”

Faithful Servants and Servants Who Are Not Faithful

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this picture-story to us or to all the people?” ⁴² The Lord said, “Who is the faithful and wise servant his owner made boss over the others? He is the one who is to have food ready at the right time. ⁴³ That servant is happy who is doing his work when the owner comes. ⁴⁴ For sure, I tell you, he will make him boss over all he has.

⁴⁵ “But what if that servant says to himself, ‘The owner will not be coming soon,’ and then beats the other servants and eats and drinks and gets drunk? ⁴⁶ The owner of that servant will come on a day and at an hour when he is not looking for him. He will cut him in pieces and will put him with those who do not believe.

⁴⁷ “The servant who knew what the owner wanted done, but did not get ready for him, or did not do what he wanted done, will be beaten many times. ⁴⁸ But the servant who did not know what his owner wanted done, but did things that would be reason to be beaten, will be beaten only a few times. The man who receives much will have to give much. If much is given to a man to take care of, men will expect to get more from him.

Men Are Divided When They Follow Christ

⁴⁹ “I have come to bring fire down to the earth. I wish it were already started! ⁵⁰ I have a baptism to go through. How troubled I am until it is over! ⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring peace on the earth? I tell you, no! I came to divide. ⁵² From now on there will be five in one house divided. Three will be against two and two will be against three. ⁵³ The father will be against the son. The son will be against the father. The mother will be against the daughter. The daughter will be against the mother. The mother-in-law will be against the daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law will be against the mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ Then Jesus also said to the people, “When you see a cloud coming in the west, you say at once, ‘It is going to rain.’ And it does. ⁵⁵ When you see the wind blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day.’ And it is. ⁵⁶ You who pretend to be someone you are not, you know all about the sky and the earth. But why do you not know what is happening these days? ⁵⁷ Why do you not know for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ When a person says you are wrong and takes you to court, try to make it right with him as you go, or he will take you to the head of the court. Then he will take you to the police and you will be put in prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not be let out of prison until you have paid the last piece of money of the fine.”

Job Keeps On Talking

27 Job kept on speaking, and said, ² “As God lives, Who has taken away my right, and the All-powerful, Who has troubled my soul, ³ as long as life is in me, and the breath of God is in my nose, ⁴ my lips will not speak what is not true, and my tongue will not lie. ⁵ Far be it from me to say that you are right. Until I die I will not put away my honor. ⁶ I hold on to what is right and good and will not let it go. My heart does not put me to shame for any of my days.

⁷ “May the one who hates me be as the sinful. And may the one who is against me be as those who are not right and good. ⁸ For what is the hope of the man without God when he dies, when God takes away his life? ⁹ Will God hear his cry when trouble comes upon him? ¹⁰ Will he be glad in the All-powerful? Will he call on God at all times? ¹¹ I will teach you about the power of God. I will not hide the ways of the All-powerful. ¹² All of you have seen it yourselves. Why then do you speak in a foolish way?

¹³ “This is what God gives to a sinful man, the gift that a man who makes it hard for others receives from the All-powerful. ¹⁴ If he has many sons, they will be killed by the sword. And his children will not have enough bread to eat. ¹⁵ Those who are left to him will be buried because of disease. And the wives who have lost their husbands will not be able to cry. ¹⁶ He may gather up silver like dust, and gather so much clothing as if they were clay. ¹⁷ He may have it, but those who are right with God will wear it. And those who are without guilt will divide the silver. ¹⁸ He builds his house like the home of a spider, or like a tent which a watchman has made. ¹⁹ He goes to bed rich, but will never again. When he opens his eyes, his riches are gone. ²⁰ Fears come over him like a flood. A storm carries him away in the night. ²¹ The east wind carries him away, and he is gone. It carries him away from his place. ²² It comes at him without pity. He tries to run from its power as fast as he can. ²³ Men clap their hands at him, and drive him from his place with sounds of shame.

Love—the Greatest of All

13 I may be able to speak the languages of men and even of angels, but if I do not have love, it will sound like noisy brass. ² If I have the gift of speaking God’s Word and if I understand all secrets, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I know all things and if I have the gift of faith so I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give everything I have to feed poor people and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it will not help me.

⁴ Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. ⁵ Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. ⁶ Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. ⁷ Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things.

⁸ Love never comes to an end. The gift of speaking God’s Word will come to an end. The gift of speaking in special sounds will be stopped. The gift of understanding will come to an end. ⁹ For we only know a part now, and we speak only a part. ¹⁰ When everything is perfect, then we will not need these gifts that are not perfect.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child. I thought like a child. I understood like a child. Now I am a man. I do not act like a child anymore. ¹² Now that which we see is as if we were looking in a broken mirror. But then we will see everything. Now I know only a part. But then I will know everything in a perfect way. That is how God knows me right now. ¹³ And now we have these three: faith and hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.