M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Gifts Given in Worship

25 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the people of Israel to take a gift for Me. Receive the gift for Me from every person whose heart makes him willing. ³ This is the gift you are to receive from them: Gold, silver and brass, ⁴ blue, purple and red cloth, fine linen, goat hair, ⁵ rams’ skins made red, badgers’ skins, acacia wood, ⁶ lamp oil, spices for the oil used in worship and for perfumes, ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the clothing of the religious leaders. ⁸ Let them make a holy place for Me, so I may live among them. ⁹ Make the meeting tent and all that is in it like the plans I am going to show you.

The Special Box of the Agreement

¹⁰ “They will make a special box of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits tall. ¹¹ Cover it inside and out with pure gold. And make a piece of gold to put on it all around. ¹² Make four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet. Put two rings on one side of it and two rings on the other side. ¹³ Cut long pieces of acacia wood for carrying and cover them with gold. ¹⁴ Then put the pieces of wood through the rings on the sides of the box, for carrying the box. ¹⁵ The long pieces will stay in the rings of the box. They must not be taken out. ¹⁶ Put into the special box the Law which I will give you. ¹⁷ Then make a mercy-seat from pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. ¹⁸ Make two cherubim out of beaten gold. Make them at the two ends of the mercy-seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end. Make the top of the mercy-seat, with the cherubim at each end, of one piece. ²⁰ The wings of the cherubim should spread up over the mercy-seat. Their faces should be toward each other, and toward the mercy-seat. ²¹ Put the mercy-seat on top of the box. Put the Law which I will give you into the box. ²² I will meet with you there. Between the two cherubim which are upon the special box of the Law, I will speak to you about all the Laws I will give you for the people of Israel.

The Table for the Holy Bread

²³ “Make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one and a half cubits tall. ²⁴ Cover it with pure gold and make a gold piece around it. ²⁵ Make a piece around it as wide as a hand and put gold on the side of this piece all around. ²⁶ Make four rings of gold for it. Put them on the four corners that are on the table’s four legs. ²⁷ The rings will be close to the sides, to hold the long pieces of wood used to carry the table. ²⁸ Cut the long, straight pieces of acacia wood and cover them with gold. The table will be carried with these. ²⁹ Make its plates, its pots and its jars, for pouring your gifts of drink. Make them of pure gold. ³⁰ And set the holy bread on the table before Me all the time.

³¹ “Then make a lamp-stand of pure gold. The lamp-stand and its base are to be made of beaten gold. Its cups, its buds, and its flowers will be of one piece with it. ³² Six branches will go out of its sides, three branches of the lamp-stand out of one side, and three branches out of its other side. ³³ Three cups will be made to look like almond flowers, each with bud and flower on one branch, and three on the next branch. This is to be done for all six branches going out of the lamp-stand. ³⁴ Four cups made to look like almond flowers, with their buds and flowers, will be put on the lamp-stand’s base. ³⁵ Make a bud under each of the six branches going out from the place where the lamp-stand is put. ³⁶ Their buds and their branches will all be one piece with the lamp-stand of pure, beaten gold. ³⁷ Then make the seven lamps and put them where they will give light to the space in front of it. ³⁸ The objects for putting out the light and their dishes will be of pure gold. ³⁹ Make it and all the objects for it out of a piece of gold about half the weight of a man. ⁴⁰ See that you make them by following the plan for them that was shown to you on the mountain.

A Woman of Samaria at the Well

4 Jesus knew the proud religious law-keepers had heard He was making and baptizing more followers than John. ² Jesus did not baptize anyone Himself but His followers did. ³ Then Jesus went from the country of Judea to the country of Galilee. ⁴ He had to go through the country of Samaria. ⁵ So He came to a town in Samaria called Sycar. It was near the piece of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from traveling so He sat down just as He was by the well. It was about noon.

⁷ A woman of Samaria came to get water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ His followers had gone to the town to buy food. ⁹ The woman of Samaria said to Him, “You are a Jew. I am of Samaria. Why do You ask me for a drink when the Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria?”

¹⁰ Jesus said to her, “You do not know what God has to give. You do not know Who said to you, ‘Give Me a drink.’ If you knew, you would have asked Him. He would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, the well is deep. You have nothing to get water with. Where will You get the living water? ¹² Are You greater than our early father Jacob? He gave us the well. He and his children and his cattle drank from it.”

Jesus Tells of the Living Water

¹³ Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again. ¹⁴ Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of life that lasts forever.”

¹⁵ The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty. Then I will not have to come all this way for water.”

The True Kind of Worship

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” ¹⁷ The woman said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said, “You told the truth when you said, ‘I have no husband.’ ¹⁸ You have had five husbands. The one you have now is not your husband. You told the truth.”

¹⁹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, I think You are a person Who speaks for God. ²⁰ Our early fathers worshiped on this mountain. You Jews say Jerusalem is the place where men should worship.”

²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me. The time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You people do not know what you worship. We Jews know what we worship. It is through the Jews that men are saved from the punishment of their sins. ²³ The time is coming, yes, it is here now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father wants that kind of worshipers. ²⁴ God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus Is the One the Jews Are Looking For

²⁵ The woman said to Him, “I know the Jews are looking for One Who is coming. He is called the Christ. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I am the Christ, the One talking with you!”

²⁷ Right then the followers came back and were surprised and wondered about finding Him talking with a woman. But no one said, “What do You want?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

²⁸ The woman left her water jar and went into the town. She said to the men, ²⁹ “Come and see a Man Who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Christ?” ³⁰ They went out of town and came to Him.

Jesus Tells Them of a New Kind of Food

³¹ During this time His followers were saying to Him, “Teacher, eat something.” ³² He said, “I have food to eat that you do not know of.” ³³ The followers said to each other, “Has someone taken food to Him?” ³⁴ Jesus said, “My food is to do what God wants Me to do and to finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘It is four months yet until the time to gather grain’? Listen! I say to you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are white now and waiting for the grain to be gathered in. ³⁶ The one who gathers gets his pay. He gathers fruit that lasts forever. The one who plants and the one who gathers will have joy together. ³⁷ These words are true, ‘One man plants and another man gathers.’ ³⁸ I sent you to gather where you have not planted. Others have planted and you have come along to gather in their fruit.”

The People of Samaria Believe in Jesus

³⁹ Many people in that town of Samaria believed in Jesus because of what the woman said about Him. She said, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So the people of Samaria came to Him. They asked Him to stay with them. Jesus stayed there two days. ⁴¹ Many more people believed because of what He said. ⁴² They said to the woman, “Now we believe! It is no longer because of what you said about Jesus but we have heard Him ourselves. We know, for sure, that He is the Christ, the One Who saves men of this world from the punishment of their sins.”

Jesus Goes to Galilee

⁴³ Two days later He went from there and came to the country of Galilee. ⁴⁴ Jesus Himself said that no one who speaks for God is respected in his own country. ⁴⁵ When He came to Galilee, the people there were glad. They had seen all the things He did in Jerusalem. It was at the time of the special religious gathering to remember how the Jews left Egypt. They had been there also.

Jesus Heals the Dying Boy in Capernaum

⁴⁶ Jesus came again to the town of Cana of Galilee where He had made water into wine. A man who worked with the king had a son who was sick in the city of Capernaum. ⁴⁷ This man went to Jesus. He had heard that Jesus had come from the country of Judea to Galilee. The man asked Jesus if He would go to Capernaum and heal his son who was dying. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see special things and powerful works done, you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The man said to Him, “Sir, come with me before my son dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son will live.” The man put his trust in what Jesus said and left.

⁵¹ As he was on his way home, his servants met him. They said to him, “Your son is living!” ⁵² He asked them what time his boy began to get well. They said to him, “Yesterday at one o’clock the sickness left.” ⁵³ The father knew it was the time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” He and everyone in his house put their trust in Jesus. ⁵⁴ This was the second powerful work that Jesus did after He came from the country of Judea to the country of Galilee.

Wise Sayings for Good Use

1 These are the wise sayings of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: ² They show you how to know wisdom and teaching, to find the words of understanding. ³ They help you learn about the ways of wisdom and what is right and fair. ⁴ They give wisdom to the child-like, and much learning and wisdom to those who are young. ⁵ A wise man will hear and grow in learning. A man of understanding will become able ⁶ to understand a saying and a picture-story, the words of the wise and what they mean.

⁷ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of much learning. Fools hate wisdom and teaching.

⁸ Hear your father’s teaching, my son, and do not turn away from your mother’s teaching. ⁹ For they are a glory to your head and a chain of beauty around your neck. ¹⁰ My son, if sinners try to lead you into sin, do not go with them. ¹¹ If they say, “Come with us. Let us lie in wait to kill someone. Let us set a trap for those who are without blame. ¹² Let us swallow them alive like death, as those who go down to the grave. ¹³ We will find all kinds of things of great worth. We will fill our houses with the stolen riches. ¹⁴ Throw in your share with us. We will all have one money bag.”

¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path. ¹⁶ For their feet run to sin and hurry to kill. ¹⁷ Yes, the net is spread for nothing if the bird is watching. ¹⁸ They set traps for their own lives and wait to die. ¹⁹ Such are the ways of all who get things by hurting others. Their desire for stolen riches takes away their own lives.

²⁰ Wisdom calls out in the street. She lifts her voice in the center of town. ²¹ There she cries out in the noisy streets. At the open gates of the city she speaks: ²² “O foolish ones, how long will you love being foolish? How long will those who laugh at others be happy in their laughing? How long will fools hate much learning? ²³ Listen to my strong words! See, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you. ²⁴ I called but you would not listen. I put out my hand and no one gave it a thought. ²⁵ You did not listen when I told you what you should do, and you would not hear any of my strong words. ²⁶ So I will laugh at your trouble. I will laugh when you are afraid. ²⁷ Fear will come to you like a storm. Hard times will come like a strong wind. When trouble and suffering come upon you, ²⁸ then they will call on me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me. ²⁹ Because they hated much learning, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. ³⁰ They would not listen when I told them what they should do. They laughed at all my strong words. ³¹ So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own plans. ³² For the foolish will be killed by their turning away. The trust that fools put in themselves will destroy them. ³³ But he who listens to me will live free from danger, and he will rest easy from the fear of what is sinful.”

13 This is my third visit to you. The Holy Writings tell us that when people think someone has done wrong, it must be proven by two or three people who saw the wrong being done. ² During my second visit I talked to you who have been sinning and to all the others. While I am away, I tell you this again. The next time I come I will be hard on those who sin. ³ Since you want to know, I will prove to you that Christ speaks through me. Christ is not weak when He works in your hearts. He uses His power in you. ⁴ Christ’s weak human body died on a cross. It is by God’s power that Christ lives today. We are weak. We are as He was. But we will be alive with Christ through the power God has for us.

⁵ Put yourselves through a test. See if you belong to Christ. Then you will know you belong to Christ, unless you do not pass the test. ⁶ I trust you see that we belong to Him and have passed the test. ⁷ We pray to God that you do no wrong. We do not pray this to show that our teaching is so great, but that you will keep on doing what is right, even if it looks as if we have done much wrong. ⁸ We cannot work against the truth of God. We only work for it. ⁹ We are glad when we are weak and you are strong. We pray that you will become strong Christians. ¹⁰ This is why I am writing these things while I am away from you. Then when I get there, I will not have to use strong words or punish you to show you that the Lord gives me this power. This power is to be used to make you stronger Christians, not to make you weak by hurting your faith.

¹¹ Last of all, Christian brothers, good-bye. Do that which makes you complete. Be comforted. Work to get along with others. Live in peace. The God of love and peace will be with you. ¹² Greet each other with a kiss of holy love. ¹³ All those here who belong to Christ say hello. ¹⁴ May you have loving-favor from our Lord Jesus Christ. May you have the love of God. May you be joined together by the Holy Spirit.