M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Laws about Servants

21 “Now these are the Laws which you are to give them. ² If you buy a Hebrew servant, he will work for six years. In the seventh year he will go free, paying nothing. ³ If he comes alone, he will leave by himself. If he is married, then his wife will leave with him. ⁴ If his owner gives him a wife and she gives birth to his sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her owner, and he will leave by himself. ⁵ But if the servant says, ‘I love my owner, my wife and my children; I do not care to go free,’ ⁶ then his owner will bring him to the judges. And he will bring him to the door or the side of the door. There his owner will make a hole in his ear with a sharp object. And he will serve him all his life.

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she is not to go free as the male servants do. ⁸ If she does not please her owner who has taken her for himself, he will take pay for her to be set free. He does not have the right to sell her to a strange people, because he has not been fair to her. ⁹ If he takes her for his son, he will act toward her as with a daughter. ¹⁰ If he marries again, her food, clothing and marriage rights are to stay the same. ¹¹ And if he will not do these three things for her, then she may go free, without paying any money.

Laws about Fighting and Killing

¹² “Whoever hits a man so that he dies will be put to death. ¹³ But if he did not plan to hurt him, but God allowed it to happen, then I will give you a place where he may run to be safe. ¹⁴ But if a man wants to hurt his neighbor and he plans to kill him, then you take him away from My altar and put him to death.

¹⁵ “Whoever hits his father or his mother will be put to death.

¹⁶ “Whoever steals a man and sells him, or keeps him for himself, will be put to death. ¹⁷ Whoever curses his father or his mother will be put to death.

¹⁸ “When men argue and one hits the other with a stone or with his hand, and he does not die but has to stay in bed because of it, ¹⁹ then if he gets up and walks around outside using his walking stick, the one who hit him will not be punished. He will only pay for the loss of his time. And he will take care of him until he is healed.

²⁰ “When a man hits his male or female servant with a stick so that he or she dies, he will be punished. ²¹ But if he or she lives a day or two, he will not be punished, for his servant belongs to him.

²² “If men fight with each other and hit a woman who is going to have a child so that she loses her baby but no other hurt comes to her, he must pay whatever the woman’s husband says he must, as agreed upon by the judges. ²³ But if there is other hurt also, then it is life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, cut for cut, sore for sore.

²⁶ “If a man hits the eye of his male or female servant and destroys it, he will let the person go free because of the eye. ²⁷ If he knocks out a tooth of his man or woman servant, he will let the person go free because of the tooth.

Laws about Owning Animals

²⁸ “When a bull kills a man or a woman with its horns, the bull will be killed with stones. And its flesh will not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be punished. ²⁹ But if a bull has tried to kill with its horns before, and the owner has been told but does not keep him shut up, and the bull kills a man or a woman, the bull will be killed with stones and the owner will be put to death. ³⁰ But if he is allowed to pay for his life, then he will pay whatever is asked of him. ³¹ If the bull kills a son or a daughter, it will be punished by the same law. ³² If the bull kills a male or female servant, the bull’s owner will give the servant’s owner thirty pieces of silver. And the bull will be killed with stones.

³³ “When a man leaves a deep hole open, or digs a deep hole and does not cover it, and a bull or donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the owner of the hole will pay for the loss. He will give money to the animal’s owner. And the dead animal will become his.

³⁵ “If one man’s bull hurts another’s so that it dies, they will sell the live bull and divide the price so they will each have the same. And they will divide the dead bull. ³⁶ Or if it is known that the bull has tried to kill with its horns in the past, but its owner has not kept it shut up, he will pay bull for bull. And the dead animal will become his.

Jesus Is Raised from the Dead ^(A)

24 Early in the morning on the first day of the week, the women went to the grave taking the spices they had made ready. ² They found the stone had been pushed away from the grave. ³ They went in but they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

⁴ While they wondered about what had happened, they saw two men standing by them in shining clothes. ⁵ They were very much afraid and got down with their faces to the ground. The men said to them, “Why do you look for the living One among those who are dead? ⁶ He is not here. He is risen. Do you not remember what He said to you when He was yet in Galilee? ⁷ He said, ‘The Son of Man must be given over into the hands of sinful men. He must be nailed to a cross. He will rise again three days later.’” ⁸ They remembered what He had said.

⁹ When they came back from the grave, they told all these things to the eleven followers and to all the others. ¹⁰ They were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James. Other women who were with them told these things to the followers also. ¹¹ Their words sounded like foolish talk. The followers did not believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the grave. He got down to look in and saw only the linen clothes. Then he went away, surprised about what had happened.

The Followers of Jesus Do Not Believe He Is Risen ^(B)

¹³ That same day two of His followers were going to the town of Emmaus. It was about a two-hour walk from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They talked of all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking together, Jesus Himself came and walked along with them. ¹⁶ Something kept their eyes from seeing Who He was.

¹⁷ He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk?” They stood still and looked sad. ¹⁸ One of them, whose name was Cleopas, said to Him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who has not heard of the things that have happened here these days?” ¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “What things?” They answered, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. He was the great One Who spoke for God. He did powerful works and spoke powerful words in the sight of God and the people. ²⁰ And the religious leaders and the leaders of the people gave Him over to be killed and nailed Him to a cross. ²¹ We were hoping He was the One Who was going to make the Jewish people free. But it was three days ago when these things happened.

²² “Some of the women of our group have surprised us and made us wonder. They went to the grave early this morning. ²³ They did not find His body. They came back saying they had seen angels in a special dream who said that He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the grave and found it as the women had said. But they did not see Him.”

²⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish men. How slow you are to believe what the early preachers have said. ²⁶ Did not Christ have to go through these hard things to come into His shining-greatness?” ²⁷ Jesus kept on telling them what Moses and all the early preachers had said about Him in the Holy Writings.

²⁸ When they came to the town where they were going, Jesus acted as if He were going farther. ²⁹ But they said to Him, “Stay with us. It will soon be evening. The day is about over.” He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ As He sat at the table with them, He took the bread and gave thanks and broke it. Then He gave it to them. ³¹ And their eyes were opened and they knew Him. Then He left them and could not be seen. ³² They said to each other, “Were not our hearts filled with joy when He talked to us on the road about what the Holy Writings said?”

³³ Then they got up at once and went back to Jerusalem. They found the eleven followers together and others with them. ³⁴ They said, “For sure the Lord is risen and was seen by Simon.” ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road and how they came to know Him when He broke the bread.

Jesus Is Seen by the Other Ten Followers

³⁶ As they talked, Jesus Himself stood among them. He said, “May you have peace.” ³⁷ But they were afraid and full of fear. They thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸ Jesus said to them, “Why are you afraid? Why do you have doubts in your hearts? ³⁹ Look at My hands and My feet. See! It is I, Myself! Touch Me and see for yourself. A spirit does not have flesh and bones as I have.” ⁴⁰ When Jesus had said this, He showed them His hands and feet.

⁴¹ They still wondered. It was hard for them to believe it and yet it made them happy. Then He said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave Jesus a piece of fish that had been cooked and some honey. ⁴³ He took it and ate it in front of them.

Jesus Sends His Followers to Teach ^(C)

⁴⁴ Jesus said to them, “These are the things I told you while I was yet with you. All things written about Me in the Law of Moses and in the Books of the early preachers and in the Psalms must happen as they said they would happen.” ⁴⁵ Then He opened their minds to understand the Holy Writings. ⁴⁶ He said to them, “It is written that Christ should suffer and be raised from the dead after three days. ⁴⁷ It must be preached that men must be sorry for their sins and turn from them. Then they will be forgiven. This must be preached in His name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are to tell what you have seen. ⁴⁹ See! I will send you what My Father promised. But you are to stay in Jerusalem until you have received power from above.”

Jesus Goes to Be Beside His Father ^(D)

⁵⁰ Jesus led them out as far as Bethany. Then He lifted up His hands and prayed that good would come to them. ⁵¹ And while He was praying that good would come to them, He went from them (*and was taken up to heaven and ⁵² they worshiped Him). Then they went back to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³ They spent all their time in the house of God honoring and giving thanks to God.

The Lord Is Speaking to Job

39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch the deer giving birth? ² Can you number the months that they carry their young? Or do you know the time when their young are born? ³ They get down and give birth to their young, and get rid of their pains. ⁴ Their young ones become strong. They grow up in the open field. They leave and do not return to them.

⁵ “Who has let the wild donkey go free? Who has taken off the ropes which held the fast donkey? ⁶ I gave him the desert for a home, and the salt land for a place to live. ⁷ He hates the noise of the city. He does not hear the calls of the man who drives him. ⁸ He goes looking for grass to eat on the mountains. He looks for every green thing. ⁹ Will the wild ox be willing to serve you? Will he stay through the night by the food you give him to eat? ¹⁰ Can you tie the wild ox to a plow in the field? Will he follow you to plow the valleys? ¹¹ Will you trust in him because he is very strong, and leave your work to him? ¹² Will you trust him to return and bring your grain to your grain-floor?

¹³ “The wings of the ostrich wave with joy, but are they the wings of love? ¹⁴ For she leaves her eggs to the earth and lets them get warm in the dust. ¹⁵ She forgets that a foot might crush them, or that the wild animal may step on them. ¹⁶ She is bad in the way she acts toward her young, as if they were not hers. Her work of giving birth is for nothing, for she does not care. ¹⁷ Because God has not given her wisdom or her share of understanding. ¹⁸ When she begins to run, she laughs at the horse and the horseman.

¹⁹ “Do you give the horse his strength? Do you dress his neck with long hair? ²⁰ Do you make him jump like the locust? The powerful noise he makes with his nostrils fills men with fear. ²¹ He hits his foot against the ground in the valley, and has joy in his strength. He goes out to meet the battle. ²² He laughs at fear and is not afraid. He does not turn back from the sword. ²³ The arrows and spears he carries make noise as they hit together. ²⁴ He runs fast over the ground with shaking and anger. He cannot stand still at the sound of the horn. ²⁵ When the horn sounds, he laughs without fear. He smells the battle from far away. He hears the thunder of the captains, and the war cry.

²⁶ “Is it by your understanding that the hawk flies, spreading his wings toward the south? ²⁷ Is it because the eagle is obeying you that he flies high and makes his nest in a high place? ²⁸ He lives on a high rock. His strong place is on the mountain-top that is hard to reach. ²⁹ From there he looks for his food. His eyes see it from far away. ³⁰ He is where dead bodies are and his young ones drink the blood.”

Giving to Help Other Christians

9 I do not need to write to you about helping those who belong to Christ. ² I know you want to do it. I have told the people in the country of Macedonia that you were ready to send money last year. Your desire has started most of them to give. ³ I am sending these Christian brothers so the words I said about you will prove to be true and you will be ready to help. ⁴ What if some of the people of Macedonia came with me and found you were not ready to send your gift of money? We would all be ashamed since we have talked of you so much. ⁵ That is why I asked these men to go ahead of me. They can see that the gift you promised is ready. In that way, it will be a true gift and not something you were made to do.

⁶ Remember, the man who plants only a few seeds will not have much grain to gather. The man who plants many seeds will have much grain to gather. ⁷ Each man should give as he has decided in his heart. He should not give, wishing he could keep it. Or he should not give if he feels he has to give. God loves a man who gives because he wants to give. ⁸ God can give you all you need. He will give you more than enough. You will have everything you need for yourselves. And you will have enough left over to give when there is a need. ⁹ The Holy Writings say, “He has given much to the poor. His right-standing with God lasts forever.” ^{(A) 10} It is God Who gives seed to the man to plant. He also gives the bread to eat. Then we know He will give you more seed to plant and make it grow so you will have more to give away. ¹¹ God will give you enough so you can always give to others. Then many will give thanks to God for sending gifts through us. ¹² This gift you give not only helps Christians who are in need, but it also helps them give thanks to God. ¹³ You are proving by this act of love what you are. They will give thanks to God for your gift to them and to others. This proves you obey the Good News of Christ. ¹⁴ They will pray for you with great love because God has given you His loving-favor. ¹⁵ Thank God for His great Gift.