M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Locusts
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt. I have made him and his officers stubborn so I could show them my powerful miracles. 2 I also did this so you could tell your children and your grandchildren how I was hard on the Egyptians. Tell them about the miracles I did among them so that all of you will know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to be sorry for what you have done? Let my people go to worship me. 4 If you refuse to let my people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country. 5 They will cover the land so that no one will be able to see the ground. They will eat anything that was left from the hailstorm and the leaves from every tree growing in the field. 6 They will fill your palaces and all your officers’ houses, as well as the houses of all the Egyptians. There will be more locusts than your fathers or ancestors have ever seen—more than there have been since people began living in Egypt.’” Then Moses turned and walked away from the king.
7 The king’s officers asked him, “How long will this man make trouble for us? Let the Israelites go to worship the Lord their God. Don’t you know that Egypt is ruined?”
8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to the king. He said to them, “Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, just who is going?”
9 Moses answered, “We will go with our young and old people, our sons and daughters, and our flocks and herds, because we are going to have a feast to honor the Lord.”
10 The king said to them, “The Lord will really have to be with you if ever I let you and all of your children leave Egypt. See, you are planning something evil! 11 No! Only the men may go and worship the Lord, which is what you have been asking for.” Then the king forced Moses and Aaron out of his palace.
12 The Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come. They will spread all over the land of Egypt and will eat all the plants the hail did not destroy.”
13 So Moses raised his walking stick over the land of Egypt, and the Lord caused a strong wind to blow from the east. It blew across the land all that day and night, and when morning came, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 Swarms of locusts covered all the land of Egypt and settled everywhere. There were more locusts than ever before or after, 15 and they covered the whole land so that it was black. They ate everything that was left after the hail—every plant in the field and all the fruit on the trees. Nothing green was left on any tree or plant anywhere in Egypt.
16 The king quickly called for Moses and Aaron. He said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin this time. Pray to the Lord your God, and ask him to stop this punishment that kills.”
18 Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord. 19 So the Lord changed the wind. He made a very strong wind blow from the west, and it blew the locusts away into the Red Sea. Not one locust was left anywhere in Egypt. 20 But the Lord caused the king to be stubborn again, and he did not let the Israelites go.
The Darkness
21 Then the Lord told Moses, “Raise your hand toward the sky, and darkness will cover the land of Egypt. It will be so dark you will be able to feel it.” 22 Moses raised his hand toward the sky, and total darkness was everywhere in Egypt for three days. 23 No one could see anyone else, and no one could go anywhere for three days. But the Israelites had light where they lived.
24 Again the king of Egypt called for Moses. He said, “All of you may go and worship the Lord. You may take your women and children with you, but you must leave your flocks and herds here.”
25 Moses said, “You must let us have animals to use as sacrifices and burnt offerings, because we have to offer them to the Lord our God. 26 So we must take our animals with us; not a hoof will be left behind. We have to use some of the animals to worship the Lord our God. We won’t know exactly what we will need to worship the Lord until we get there.”
27 But the Lord made the king stubborn again, so he refused to let them go. 28 Then he told Moses, “Get out of here, and don’t come again! The next time you see me, you will die.”
29 Then Moses told the king, “I’ll do what you say. I will not come to see you again.”
Change Your Hearts
13 At that time some people were there who told Jesus that Pilate[a] had killed some people from Galilee while they were worshiping. He mixed their blood with the blood of the animals they were sacrificing to God. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think this happened to them because they were more sinful than all others from Galilee? 3 No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts and lives, you will be destroyed as they were! 4 What about those eighteen people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were more sinful than all the others who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts and lives, you will all be destroyed too!”
The Useless Tree
6 Jesus told this story: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for some fruit on the tree, but he found none. 7 So the man said to his gardener, ‘I have been looking for fruit on this tree for three years, but I never find any. Cut it down. Why should it waste the ground?’ 8 But the servant answered, ‘Master, let the tree have one more year to produce fruit. Let me dig up the dirt around it and put on some fertilizer. 9 If the tree produces fruit next year, good. But if not, you can cut it down.’”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
10 Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. 11 A woman was there who, for eighteen years, had an evil spirit in her that made her crippled. Her back was always bent; she could not stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are free from your sickness.” 13 Jesus put his hands on her, and immediately she was able to stand up straight and began praising God.
14 The synagogue leader was angry because Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. He said to the people, “There are six days when one has to work. So come to be healed on one of those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 The Lord answered, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you untie your work animals and lead them to drink water every day—even on the Sabbath day? 16 This woman that I healed, a daughter of Abraham, has been held by Satan for eighteen years. Surely it is not wrong for her to be freed from her sickness on a Sabbath day!” 17 When Jesus said this, all of those who were criticizing him were ashamed, but the entire crowd rejoiced at all the wonderful things Jesus was doing.
Stories of Mustard Seed and Yeast
18 Then Jesus said, “What is God’s kingdom like? What can I compare it with? 19 It is like a mustard seed that a man plants in his garden. The seed grows and becomes a tree, and the wild birds build nests in its branches.”
20 Jesus said again, “What can I compare God’s kingdom with? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and hid in a large tub of flour until it made all the dough rise.”
The Narrow Door
22 Jesus was teaching in every town and village as he traveled toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone said to Jesus, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
Jesus said, 24 “Try hard to enter through the narrow door, because many people will try to enter there, but they will not be able. 25 When the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you can stand outside and knock on the door and say, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in the streets of our town.’ 27 But he will say to you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Go away from me, all you who do evil!’ 28 You will cry and grind your teeth with pain when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s kingdom, but you yourselves thrown outside. 29 People will come from the east, west, north, and south and will sit down at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 There are those who are last now who will be first in the future. And there are those who are first now who will be last in the future.”
Jesus Will Die in Jerusalem
31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Go away from here! Herod wants to kill you!”
32 Jesus said to them, “Go tell that fox Herod, ‘Today and tomorrow I am forcing demons out and healing people. Then, on the third day, I will reach my goal.’ 33 Yet I must be on my way today and tomorrow and the next day. Surely it cannot be right for a prophet to be killed anywhere except in Jerusalem.
34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone to death those who are sent to you. Many times I wanted to gather your people as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me. 35 Now your house is left completely empty. I tell you, you will not see me until that time when you will say, ‘God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord.’”[b]
28 “There are mines where people dig silver
and places where gold is made pure.
2 Iron is taken from the ground,
and copper is melted out of rocks.
3 Miners bring lights
and search deep into the mines
for ore in thick darkness.
4 Miners dig a tunnel far from where people live,
where no one has ever walked;
they work far from people, swinging and swaying from ropes.
5 Food grows on top of the earth,
but below ground things are changed as if by fire.
6 Sapphires are found in rocks,
and gold dust is also found there.
7 No hawk knows that path;
the falcon has not seen it.
8 Proud animals have not walked there,
and no lions cross over it.
9 Miners hit the rocks of flint
and dig away at the bottom of the mountains.
10 They cut tunnels through the rock
and see all the treasures there.
11 They search for places where rivers begin
and bring things hidden out into the light.
12 “But where can wisdom be found,
and where does understanding live?
13 People do not understand the value of wisdom;
it cannot be found among those who are alive.
14 The deep ocean says, ‘It’s not in me;’
the sea says, ‘It’s not in me.’
15 Wisdom cannot be bought with gold,
and its cost cannot be weighed in silver.
16 Wisdom cannot be bought with fine gold
or with valuable onyx or sapphire gems.
17 Gold and crystal are not as valuable as wisdom,
and you cannot buy it with jewels of gold.
18 Coral and jasper are not worth talking about,
and the price of wisdom is much greater than rubies.
19 The topaz from Cush cannot compare to wisdom;
it cannot be bought with the purest gold.
20 “So where does wisdom come from,
and where does understanding live?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
even from the birds of the air.
22 The places of destruction and death say,
‘We have heard reports about it.’
23 Only God understands the way to wisdom,
and he alone knows where it lives,
24 because he looks to the farthest parts of the earth
and sees everything under the sky.
25 When God gave power to the wind
and measured the water,
26 when he made rules for the rain
and set a path for a thunderstorm to follow,
27 then he looked at wisdom and decided its worth;
he set wisdom up and tested it.
28 Then he said to humans,
‘The fear of the Lord is wisdom;
to stay away from evil is understanding.’”
Desire Spiritual Gifts
14 You should seek after love, and you should truly want to have the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 I will explain why. Those who have the gift of speaking in different languages[a] are not speaking to people; they are speaking to God. No one understands them; they are speaking secret things through the Spirit. 3 But those who prophesy are speaking to people to give them strength, encouragement, and comfort. 4 The ones who speak in different languages are helping only themselves, but those who prophesy are helping the whole church. 5 I wish all of you had the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages, but more, I wish you would prophesy. Those who prophesy are greater than those who can only speak in different languages—unless someone is there who can explain what is said so that the whole church can be helped.
6 Brothers and sisters, will it help you if I come to you speaking in different languages? No! It will help you only if I bring you a new truth or some new knowledge, or prophecy, or teaching. 7 It is the same as with lifeless things that make sounds—like a flute or a harp. If they do not make clear musical notes, you will not know what is being played. 8 And in a war, if the trumpet does not give a clear sound, who will prepare for battle? 9 It is the same with you. Unless you speak clearly with your tongue, no one can understand what you are saying. You will be talking into the air! 10 It may be true that there are all kinds of sounds in the world, and none is without meaning. 11 But unless I understand the meaning of what someone says to me, we will be like foreigners to each other. 12 It is the same with you. Since you want spiritual gifts very much, seek most of all to have the gifts that help the church grow stronger.
13 The one who has the gift of speaking in a different language should pray for the gift to interpret what is spoken. 14 If I pray in a different language, my spirit is praying, but my mind does nothing. 15 So what should I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 16 If you praise God with your spirit, those persons there without understanding cannot say amen[b] to your prayer of thanks, because they do not know what you are saying. 17 You may be thanking God in a good way, but the other person is not helped.
18 I thank God that I speak in different kinds of languages more than all of you. 19 But in the church meetings I would rather speak five words I understand in order to teach others than thousands of words in a different language.
20 Brothers and sisters, do not think like children. In evil things be like babies, but in your thinking you should be like adults. 21 It is written in the Scriptures:
“With people who use strange words and foreign languages
I will speak to these people.
But even then they will not listen to me,” Isaiah 28:11–12
says the Lord.
22 So the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages is a sign for those who do not believe, not for those who do believe. And prophecy is for people who believe, not for those who do not believe. 23 Suppose the whole church meets together and everyone speaks in different languages. If some people come in who do not understand or do not believe, they will say you are crazy. 24 But suppose everyone is prophesying and some people come in who do not believe or do not understand. If everyone is prophesying, their sin will be shown to them, and they will be judged by all that they hear. 25 The secret things in their hearts will be made known. So they will bow down and worship God saying, “Truly, God is with you.”
Meetings Should Help the Church
26 So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, and another has a teaching. Another has a new truth from God. Another speaks in a different language,[c] and another person interprets that language. The purpose of all these things should be to help the church grow strong. 27 When you meet together, if anyone speaks in a different language, it should be only two, or not more than three, who speak. They should speak one after the other, and someone should interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, then those who speak in a different language should be quiet in the church meeting. They should speak only to themselves and to God.
29 Only two or three prophets should speak, and the others should judge what they say. 30 If a message from God comes to another person who is sitting, the first speaker should stop. 31 You can all prophesy one after the other. In this way all the people can be taught and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are under the control of the prophets themselves. 33 God is not a God of confusion but a God of peace.
As is true in all the churches of God’s people, 34 women should keep quiet in the church meetings. They are not allowed to speak, but they must yield to this rule as the law says. 35 If they want to learn something, they should ask their own husbands at home. It is shameful for a woman to speak in the church meeting. 36 Did God’s teaching come from you? Or are you the only ones to whom it has come?
37 Those who think they are prophets or spiritual persons should understand that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38 Those who ignore this will be ignored by God.[d]
39 So my brothers and sisters, you should truly want to prophesy. But do not stop people from using the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages. 40 But let everything be done in a right and orderly way.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.