M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

2 But prophets who were not true were also among the people of Israel. Also there will be teachers who will not be true among you. They will bring in wrong teaching that leads to death. They will even say that they do not belong to the Master who bought them. And so they will quickly bring themselves to death.

² Many people will do the same wrong things they do. And because of them, men will say wrong things about the true way.

³ Because they are greedy for money, they will trick you with lies. For a long time God has planned to punish them. They will be punished at the right time.

⁴ God punished the angels who did wrong. He put them into the darkest part of hell. They must be kept there until the time when they will be judged.

⁵ In the days long ago, God punished the world. But he saved Noah who told people what was right. And God saved seven other people. But he made water cover the world full of bad people.

⁶ God burned up the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He punished them so that no cities were left. He did this to show what would happen to bad people.

⁷ But God saved Lot out of the trouble. Lot was a good man. He did not like the wrong way the bad people lived.

⁸ That good man lived among the bad people and he saw and heard what they did. Day after day, the bad things they did troubled his heart because he was a good man.

⁹ The Lord knows how to save good people out of the trouble that tests them. And he knows how to keep bad people until the day when he will judge them. And they are being punished even now.

¹⁰ Most of all, he will punish people who do the wrong things they want to do and who will not obey the men who rule over them. They are very bold and proud. They do not fear to say wrong things about those who are great, even about the angels.

¹¹ Angels have more strength and power than they. And yet the angels do not judge them and say wrong things about them to the Lord.

¹² These people are like animals that cannot think. They are like animals that are born to be caught and killed. They say wrong things about things they do not understand. They will die like the animals.

¹³ Bad things will happen to them because they have done wrong things. They think it is fun to have a good time during the day. They are like spots and sores. They like to eat and drink at the love feasts with you. They are trying to fool you.

¹⁴ They are always looking for women to have sex with them. They never stop their wrong ways. They fool people whose hearts are not strong to do right. They always want more and more money. God's curse is on them!

¹⁵ They have left the right road and have done wrong. They follow the same road that Balaam walked. He was the son of Beor. He loved the pay he would get for doing a wrong thing.

¹⁶ But he was told to stop doing wrong. The animal he was riding talked with a man's voice. It tried to make the prophet stop his foolish way.

¹⁷ These men are like wells with no water in them. They are like fog that is blown away by a strong wind. A very dark place has been kept to put them in.

¹⁸ They say big and foolish things. They fool people who have just left those who live in wrong ways. They fool them by making them want to do wrong things with their bodies.

¹⁹ They promise them that they will be free. But they themselves are slaves of death. A man is a slave of anything that rules over him.

²⁰ They left the wrong ways of the world because they knew our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Then when they went back to the wrong ways again, they were ruled by them. Then they will have more trouble than they had at first.

²¹ It would have been better for them if they had never known the right way! Because they knew the right way, it was very wrong for them to turn from the holy law God gave them.

²² They show that this saying is true, `The dog goes back to eat what his own stomach threw up!' and, `A pig that is washed rolls in the mud again!'

14 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat at the house of a ruler. He was a ruler of the Pharisees. They were watching Jesus.

² man stood in front of him. He was sick. His body was filled with water.

³ Jesus asked the teachers of God's law and the Pharisees, `Is it right to heal a person on the Sabbath day or not?'

⁴ They did not answer. So he took the man and healed him. Then he sent him away.

⁵ Jesus said to them, `If your horse or cow falls into a hole, which one of you will not pull him out right away on the Sabbath day?'

⁶ They could not answer that.

⁷ Jesus told a story to the people who were asked to eat at the house. He saw that they chose to sit at the best places.

⁸ He said to them, `When you are called to a wedding, do not sit in the best place. It may be that a better man than you has been called.

⁹ Then the man who called you both will come and say to you, "Get up and let this man sit here." Then you will be ashamed. And you will go and sit down in the last place.

¹⁰ But when you are asked to go to a wedding, go and sit down in the last place. Then when the man who called you comes, he will say to you, "Friend, come to a better place." Then all the people who sit at the table will see how he respects you.

¹¹ `Everyone who puts himself up in a high place will be brought down to a low place. And everyone who puts himself down in a low place will be brought up to a high place.'

¹² Then Jesus said to the man who had asked him to come, `When you make a dinner or a feast, do not ask your friends, or your brothers, or the people in your family, or your rich neighbours. They will repay you by making a dinner for you.

¹³ But when you make a dinner, ask the people who are poor, hurt, lame, or blind.

¹⁴ You will be made happy because they cannot pay you. You will be repaid when all good people are raised from death.'

¹⁵ One of those who was sitting at the table heard this. He said, `Happy is the person who will eat in the kingdom of God!'

¹⁶ But Jesus said to him, `A man made a big feast and asked many people to come.

¹⁷ When the feast was ready, he sent his servant to tell the people who had been asked. He said, "Come. Everything is ready."

¹⁸ But the people all began to make excuses. The first one said, `I have bought a farm. I must go and see it. I beg you, excuse me from the feast."

¹⁹ Another man said, "I have bought ten oxen. I am going to see them. I beg you, excuse me from the feast."

²⁰ Another one said, "I have married a woman, and so I cannot come."

²¹ `The servant came and told his master. Then the master was very angry. He said to his servant, "Go out quickly. Go on all the streets in the city. Bring here people who are poor, hurt, blind, or lame."

²² `The servant came back and said, "Sir, I have done what you told me to do. There is still room for more people."

²³ Then the master said to the servant, "Go out onto the roads and behind bushes. Find people and make them come in so that my house will be full.

²⁴ I tell you, not one of the men who were called first will eat any of my feast.'

²⁶ Many people were going with Jesus. He turned to them and said, `If any man comes to me, he must hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sister. Yes, he must hate himself too. If he does not, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁷ If anyone does not carry his cross [is not ready to die] and come with me, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ `When any of you wants to build a high house, you sit down first and see how much it will cost. You want to see if you have enough money to finish it.

²⁹ If you do not have enough money, you will not be able to finish it after you have made the foundation. Then all the people who see it will laugh at you.

³⁰ They will say, "This man started to build a house and could not finish it."

³¹ `When a king goes to fight against another king, he sits down first and thinks about the matter. He will ask himself, "Can I fight him with ten thousand soldiers? He has twenty thousand soldiers."

³² If he cannot fight him, he will send some men to meet the other king while he is still far away. He will try to make peace with him.

³³ `In the same way, any one of you who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple.'

³⁴ `Salt is good. But if the salt has lost its taste, how can it be made salty again?

³⁵ It is not good for the land or the dirt pile. People throw it away. `Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!"