M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Different Laws

23 “Do not tell a lie about someone else. Do not join with the sinful to say something that will hurt someone. ² Do not follow many people in doing wrong. When telling what you know in a trial, do not agree with many people by saying what is not true. ³ And do not show favor to a poor man when he has a problem.

⁴ “If you meet a bull or donkey that belongs to a man who hates you, be sure to return the animal to him. ⁵ If you see the donkey of one who hates you falling under its load, do not leave the problem to him. Help him to free the animal. ⁶ Do not keep from doing what is right and fair in trying to help a poor brother when he has a problem. ⁷ Do not lie against someone. And do not kill those who are right and good or those who are not guilty. For I will not free the guilty. ⁸ Do not take pay in secret for wrong-doing. For such pay blinds the one who sees well and destroys the words of a good man. ⁹ Do not make it hard for a stranger because you know how a stranger feels. You were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Seventh Year and Seventh Day

¹⁰ “You will plant seeds in your land for six years, and gather the grain. ¹¹ But in the seventh year you will let the land rest without planting. So your people who are in need may eat. Whatever they leave, the animals may eat. You are to do the same with your grape-fields and olive trees. ¹² You will work six days and rest on the seventh day. So your bull and your donkey may rest. And the son of your female servant, and the stranger, may get their strength again. ¹³ Be careful to do all I have said to you. Never speak the name of other gods. Do not let them be heard from your mouth.

Three Great Suppers

¹⁴ “Three times a year you will have a special supper to honor Me. ¹⁵ You will have the special supper of bread without yeast. For seven days you are to eat bread without yeast at the time I tell you in the month of Abib. For you came out of Egypt during this month. And no one will come before Me with nothing in his hands. ¹⁶ You will have the special supper of the gathering time of the first-fruits of your work, of all you plant in the field. And you will have the special supper of gathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your work from the field. ¹⁷ Three times a year all your males will come before the Lord God.

¹⁸ “Do not give the blood of My gift of worship with bread made with yeast. And the fat of My special supper is not to be kept all night until morning. ¹⁹ Bring the best first-fruits of your land to the house of the Lord your God. Do not boil the meat of a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The Angel and the Promises

²⁰ “See, I am sending an angel before you to keep you safe on the way. He will bring you to the place I have made ready. ²¹ Listen to him and obey his voice. Do not turn against him, for he will not forgive your sins, because My name is in him. ²² But if you obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will hate those who hate you and fight against those who fight against you. ²³ For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. And I will destroy them. ²⁴ Do not worship their gods, or serve them, or act like them. But you are to destroy them and break their pillars of worship to pieces. ²⁵ Serve the Lord your God and He will give you bread and water. And I will take sickness from among you. ²⁶ Women in your land will not lose their babies before they are born, and will be able to give birth. I will give you a full life. ²⁷ I will send My fear before you. The people you meet will be afraid. And I will make all those who hate you run away from you. ²⁸ I will send hornets before you. They will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites and the Hittites before you come. ²⁹ I will not move them out of your way in one year. So the land will not become a waste, and the animals of the field become too many for you. ³⁰ I will drive them out a few at a time, until you become many and take the land for your own. ³¹ I will give you the land from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. For I will give you power over the people of the land. And you will drive them away from you. ³² Make no agreement with them or their gods. ³³ They are not to live in your land, or they will make you sin against Me. If you worship their gods, for sure it will be a trap to you.”

The Powerful Work at the Wedding of Cana

2 Three days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in the country of Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus and His followers were asked to come to the wedding. ³ When the wine was all gone, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no more wine.” ⁴ Jesus said to her, “Woman, what is that to you and to Me. It is not time for Me to work yet.” ⁵ His mother said to the helpers, “Do whatever He says.”

⁶ Six stone water jars were there. Each one held about one-half barrel of water. These water jars were used in the Jewish worship of washing. ⁷ Jesus said to the helpers, “Fill the jars with water.” They filled them to the top. ⁸ Then He said, “Take some out and give it to the head man who is caring for the people.” They took some to him. ⁹ The head man tasted the water that had become wine. He did not know where it came from but the helpers who took it to him knew. He called the man who had just been married. ¹⁰ The head man said to him, “Everyone puts out his best wine first. After people have had much to drink, he puts out the wine that is not so good. You have kept the good wine until now!”

¹¹ This was the first powerful work Jesus did. It was done in Cana of Galilee where He showed His power. His followers put their trust in Him. ¹² After this He went down to the city of Capernaum. His mother and brothers and followers went with Him. They stayed there a few days.

Jesus Stops the Buying and the Selling in the House of God ^(A)

¹³ It was time for the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ He went into the house of God and found cattle and sheep and doves being sold. Men were sitting there changing money. ¹⁵ Jesus made a whip of small ropes. He used it to make them all leave the house of God along with the sheep and cattle. He pushed their money off the tables and turned the tables over. ¹⁶ He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things out of here! You must not make My Father’s house a place for buying and selling!” ¹⁷ Then His followers remembered that it was written in the Holy Writings, “I am jealous for the honor of Your house.” ^(B)

The Jews Ask for Something Special to See

¹⁸ Then the Jews asked Him, “What can You do to show us You have the right and the power to do these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this house of God and in three days I will build it again.” ²⁰ Then the Jews said, “It took forty-six years to build this house of God. Will You build it up in three days?” ²¹ Jesus was speaking of His body as the house of God. ²² After Jesus had been raised from the dead, His followers remembered He said this. They believed the Holy Writings and what He had said.

²³ Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. Many people put their trust in Him when they saw the powerful works He did. ²⁴ But Jesus did not trust them because He knew all men. ²⁵ He did not need anyone to tell Him about man. He knew what was in man.

The Lord Is Speaking to Job

41 “Can you pull the crocodile out with a fish-hook? Can you tie his tongue down with a rope? ² Can you put a rope in his nose, or put a hook through his jaw? ³ Will he beg you to be good to him? Will he speak soft words to you? ⁴ Will he make an agreement with you to take him and make him your servant forever? ⁵ Will you play with him as if he were a bird? Or will you put him on a rope for your young women? ⁶ Will traders talk about buying and selling him? Will they divide him among the store-keepers? ⁷ Can you fill his skin or his head with fish spears? ⁸ Lay your hand on him, and remember the battle. You will not do it again! ⁹ See, the hope of man is false. One is laid low even when seeing him. ¹⁰ No one is so powerful that he would wake him. Who then can stand before Me? ¹¹ Who has given Me everything, that I should pay him back? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

¹² “I will not keep quiet about his legs, or his powerful strength, or the good way he is made. ¹³ Who can take off his outside clothing? Who can get through his hard skin? ¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his mouth? Around his teeth is much fear. ¹⁵ His hard covering is his pride. He is shut up as with a lock. ¹⁶ One piece of his hard skin is so close to another that no air can come between them. ¹⁷ They are joined one to another. They hold on to each other and cannot be separated. ¹⁸ His breath gives out light. And his eyes are like those of the first light of day. ¹⁹ Burning light goes out of his mouth. Fire comes out. ²⁰ Smoke goes out of his nostrils, as from a boiling pot and burning grass. ²¹ His breath sets fire to coals. A fire goes out of his mouth. ²² Strength is in his neck, and fear jumps in front of him. ²³ The folds of his flesh are joined together. They are set in place and cannot be moved. ²⁴ His heart is as hard as a stone, even as hard as a grinding-stone. ²⁵ When he raises himself up, the powerful are afraid. They are troubled because of his noise. ²⁶ The sword that hits him cannot cut. And spears are of no use. ²⁷ He thinks of iron as straw, and brass as soft wood. ²⁸ The arrow cannot make him run away. Stones thrown at him are like dry grass to him. ²⁹ He thinks of heavy sticks as dry grass. He laughs at the noise of the spear. ³⁰ The parts under him are like sharp pieces of a pot. He spreads out like a grain crusher on the mud. ³¹ He makes the sea boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a jar of oil. ³² He makes his way shine behind him. One would think that the sea has white hair. ³³ Nothing on earth is like him, one made without fear. ³⁴ He looks on everything that is high. He is king over all that are proud.”

Paul—the True Missionary

11 I wish you would listen to a little foolish talk from me. Now listen. ² I am jealous for you with a God-like jealousy. I have given you, as a woman who has never had a man, to one Husband, Who is Christ. ³ Eve was fooled by the snake in the garden of Eden. In the same way, I am afraid that you will be fooled and led away from your pure love for Christ. ⁴ You listen when someone comes and preaches a different Jesus than the One we preached. You believe what you hear about a different spirit and different good news than that which we preached.

⁵ I do not think I am less than those special missionaries who are coming to you. ⁶ Even if it is hard for me to speak, I know what I am talking about. You know this by now. ⁷ Did I do wrong? I did not ask you for anything when I preached the Good News to you. I made myself poor so you would be made rich. ⁸ I did take money from other churches. I used it while I worked with you so you would not have to pay me. ⁹ Some of the time I had no money when I was with you. But I did not ask you for money. The Christians from the country of Macedonia brought me what I needed. I did not ask you and I will not ask you for anything. ¹⁰ As sure as the truth of Christ is in me, I will not stop telling those in the country of Greece that I am proud of this. ¹¹ Does it mean I do not love you? God knows I do.

¹² What I am doing now, I will keep on doing. I will do it to stop those who say they work as we do. ¹³ Those men are false missionaries. They lie about their work. But they make themselves look like true missionaries of Christ. ¹⁴ It is no surprise! The devil makes himself look like an angel of light. ¹⁵ And so it is no surprise if his servants also make themselves look like preachers of the Good News. They and their work will come to the same end.

What Paul Suffered as a Missionary

¹⁶ Let me say it again. Do not think of me as a fool. But if you do, then let this foolish man speak a little about himself. ¹⁷ The Lord has not told me to talk about myself. I am foolish when I do talk about myself like this. ¹⁸ Since the other men tell you all about themselves, I will talk about myself also. ¹⁹ You are so wise! You put up with fools! ²⁰ You listen to anyone who tells you what to do or makes money off of you or sets a trap for you. You will listen to anyone who makes himself bigger than you or hits you in the face. ²¹ I am ashamed to say that I am weak! But I do not do as they do. Whatever they say about themselves, I can say about myself also. (I know what I am saying sounds foolish.)

²² Are they Jews? So am I. Are they from the family of Israel? So am I. Are they from the family of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Do they work for Christ? I have worked for Him much more than they have. (I speak as if I am crazy.) I have done much more work. I have been in prison more times. I cannot remember how many times I have been whipped. Many times I have been in danger of death. ²⁴ Five different times the Jews whipped me across my back thirty-nine times. ²⁵ Three times they beat me with sticks. One time they threw stones at me. Three times I was on ships that were wrecked. I spent a day and a night in the water. ²⁶ I have made many hard trips. I have been in danger from high water on rivers. I have been in danger from robbers. I have been in danger from the Jews. I have been in danger from people who do not know God. I have been in danger in cities and in the desert. I have been in danger on the sea. I have been in danger among people who say they belong to Christ but do not. ²⁷ I have worked hard and have been tired and have had pain. I have gone many times without sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty. I have gone without food and clothes. I have been out in the cold. ²⁸ More than all these things that have happened to my body, the care of all the churches is heavy on me. ²⁹ When someone is weak, I feel weak also. When someone is led into sin, I have a strong desire to help him. ³⁰ If I must talk about myself, I will do it about the things that show how weak I am. ³¹ The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is to be honored and thanked forever. He knows I am telling the truth. ³² In the city of Damascus the leader of the people under King Aretas put soldiers at the gates to take me. ³³ But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and I got away.