M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Property Laws
22 “If a man steals a bull or a sheep and kills or sells it, he must pay back five bulls for the one bull he stole and four sheep for the one sheep he stole.
2-4 “The robber who is caught must pay back what he stole. If he owns nothing, he must be sold as a slave to pay for what he stole. If the stolen animal is found alive with the robber, he must give the owner two animals for every animal he stole, whether it was a bull, donkey, or sheep.
“If a thief is killed while breaking into a house at night, the one who killed him is not guilty of murder. But if this happens during the day, he is guilty of murder.
5 “If a man lets his farm animal graze in his field or vineyard, and it wanders into another man’s field or vineyard, the owner of the animal must pay back the loss from the best of his crop.
6 “Suppose a man starts a fire that spreads through the thornbushes to his neighbor’s field. If the fire burns his neighbor’s growing grain or grain that has been stacked, or if it burns his whole field, the person who started the fire must pay for what was burned.
7 “Suppose a man gives his neighbor money or other things to keep for him and those things are stolen from the neighbor’s house. If the thief is caught, he must pay back twice as much as he stole. 8 But if the thief is never found, the owner of the house must make a promise before God that he has not stolen his neighbor’s things.
9 “Suppose two men disagree about who owns something—whether ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or something else that is lost. If each says, ‘This is mine,’ each man must bring his case to God. God’s judges will decide who is guilty, and that person must pay the other man twice as much as the object is worth.
10 “Suppose a man asks his neighbor to keep his donkey, ox, sheep, or some other animal for him, and that animal dies, gets hurt, or is taken away, without anyone seeing what happened. 11 That neighbor must promise before the Lord that he did not harm or kill the other man’s animal, and the owner of the animal must accept his promise made before God. The neighbor does not have to pay the owner for the animal. 12 But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must pay the owner for it. 13 If wild animals killed it, the neighbor must bring the body as proof, and he will not have to pay for the animal that was killed.
14 “If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it gets hurt or dies while the owner is not there, the one who borrowed it must pay the owner for the animal. 15 But if the owner is with the animal, the one who borrowed it does not have to pay. If the animal was rented, the rental price covers the loss.
Laws and Relationships
16 “Suppose a man finds a woman who is not pledged to be married and has never had sexual relations with a man. If he tricks her into having sexual relations with him, he must give her family the payment to marry her, and she will become his wife. 17 But if her father refuses to allow his daughter to marry him, the man must still give the usual payment for a bride who has never had sexual relations.
18 “Put to death any woman who does evil magic.
19 “Put to death anyone who has sexual relations with an animal.
20 “Destroy completely any person who makes a sacrifice to any god except the Lord.
21 “Do not cheat or hurt a foreigner, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
22 “Do not cheat a widow or an orphan. 23 If you do, and they cry out to me for help, I certainly will hear their cry. 24 And I will be very angry and kill you in war. Then your wives will become widows, and your children will become orphans.
25 “If you lend money to one of my people who is poor, do not treat him as a moneylender would. Charge him nothing for using your money. 26 If your neighbor gives you his coat as a promise for the money he owes you, you must give it back to him by sunset, 27 because it is the only cover to keep his body warm. He has nothing else to sleep in. If he cries out to me for help, I will listen, because I am merciful.
28 “You must not speak against God or curse a leader of your people.
29 “Do not hold back your offering from the first of your harvest and the first wine that you make. Also, you must give me your firstborn sons. 30 You must do the same with your bulls and your sheep. Let the firstborn males stay with their mothers for seven days, and on the eighth day you must give them to me.
31 “You are to be my holy people. You must not eat the meat of any animal that has been killed by wild animals. Instead, give it to the dogs.
Christ Comes to the World
1 In the beginning there was the Word.[a] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered[b] it.
6 There was a man named John[c] who was sent by God. 7 He came to tell people the truth about the Light so that through him all people could hear about the Light and believe. 8 John was not the Light, but he came to tell people the truth about the Light. 9 The true Light that gives light to all was coming into the world!
10 The Word was in the world, and the world was made by him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to the world that was his own, but his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They did not become his children in any human way—by any human parents or human desire. They were born of God.
14 The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father—and he was full of grace and truth. 15 John tells the truth about him and cries out, saying, “This is the One I told you about: ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’”
16 Because he was full of grace and truth, from him we all received one gift after another. 17 The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father,[d] and he has shown us what God is like.
John Tells People About Jesus
19 Here is the truth John[e] told when the leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said, “I am not the Christ.”
21 So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”[f]
He answered, “No, I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”[g] they asked.
He answered, “No.”
22 Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am the voice of one
calling out in the desert:
‘Make the road straight for the Lord.’” Isaiah 40:3
24 Some Pharisees who had been sent asked John: 25 “If you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet, why do you baptize people?”
26 John answered, “I baptize with water, but there is one here with you that you don’t know about. 27 He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing people.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God,[h] who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the One I was talking about when I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ 31 Even I did not know who he was, although I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel would know who he is.”
32-33 Then John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven in the form of a dove and rest on him. Until then I did not know who the Christ was. But the God who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; he is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen this happen, and I tell you the truth: This man is the Son of God.”[i]
The First Followers of Jesus
35 The next day John[j] was there again with two of his followers. 36 When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”[k]
37 The two followers heard John say this, so they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he asked, “What are you looking for?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)
39 He answered, “Come and see.” So the two men went with Jesus and saw where he was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40 One of the two men who followed Jesus after they heard John speak about him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and say to him, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)
42 Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.”[l])
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
46 But Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47 As Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, “Here is truly an Israelite. There is nothing false in him.”
48 Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree, before Philip told you about me.”
49 Then Nathanael said to Jesus, “Teacher, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus said to Nathanael, “Do you believe simply because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that.” 51 And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and ‘angels of God going up and coming down’[m] on the Son of Man.”
40 The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the person who argues with the Almighty correct him?
Let the person who accuses God answer him.”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “I am not worthy; I cannot answer you anything,
so I will put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke one time, but I will not answer again;
I even spoke two times, but I will say nothing more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job from the storm:
7 “Be strong, like a man!
I will ask you questions,
and you must answer me.
8 Would you say that I am unfair?
Would you blame me to make yourself look right?
9 Are you as strong as God?
Can your voice thunder like his?
10 If so, then decorate yourself with glory and beauty;
dress in honor and greatness as if they were clothing.
11 Let your great anger punish;
look at the proud and bring them down.
12 Look at the proud and make them humble.
Crush the wicked wherever they are.
13 Bury them all in the dirt together;
cover their faces in the grave.
14 If you can do that, then I myself will praise you,
because you are strong enough to save yourself.
15 “Look at Behemoth,[a]
which I made just as I made you.
It eats grass like an ox.
16 Look at the strength it has in its body;
the muscles of its stomach are powerful.
17 Its tail is like a cedar tree;
the muscles of its thighs are woven together.
18 Its bones are like tubes of bronze;
its legs are like bars of iron.
19 It is one of the first of God’s works,
but its Maker can destroy it.
20 The hills, where the wild animals play,
provide food for it.
21 It lies under the lotus plants,
hidden by the tall grass in the swamp.
22 The lotus plants hide it in their shadow;
the poplar trees by the streams surround it.
23 If the river floods, it will not be afraid;
it is safe even if the Jordan River rushes to its mouth.
24 Can anyone blind its eyes and capture it?
Can anyone put hooks in its nose?
Paul Defends His Ministry
10 I, Paul, am begging you with the gentleness and the kindness of Christ. Some people say that I am easy on you when I am with you and bold when I am away. 2 They think we live in a worldly way, and I plan to be very bold with them when I come. I beg you that when I come I will not need to use that same boldness with you. 3 We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. 4 We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments 5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. 6 We are ready to punish anyone there who does not obey, but first we want you to obey fully.
7 You must look at the facts before you. If you feel sure that you belong to Christ, you must remember that we belong to Christ just as you do. 8 It is true that we brag freely about the authority the Lord gave us. But this authority is to build you up, not to tear you down. So I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want you to think I am trying to scare you with my letters. 10 Some people say, “Paul’s letters are powerful and sound important, but when he is with us, he is weak. And his speaking is nothing.” 11 They should know this: We are not there with you now, so we say these things in letters. But when we are there with you, we will show the same authority that we show in our letters.
12 We do not dare to compare ourselves with those who think they are very important. They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This shows that they know nothing. 13 But we will not brag about things outside the work that was given us to do. We will limit our bragging to the work that God gave us, and this includes our work with you. 14 We are not bragging too much, as we would be if we had not already come to you. But we have come to you with the Good News of Christ. 15 We limit our bragging to the work that is ours, not what others have done. We hope that as your faith continues to grow, you will help our work to grow much larger. 16 We want to tell the Good News in the areas beyond your city. We do not want to brag about work that has already been done in another person’s area. 17 But, “If people want to brag, they should brag only about the Lord.”[a] 18 It is not those who say they are good who are accepted but those the Lord thinks are good.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.