M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
1 This is the beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, God's Son.
2 The men of God, called prophets, long ago wrote about it this way: God said, `See, I send my man ahead of you to tell about you. He will make the way ready for you.
3 A man is calling out in the desert, "Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for him." '
4 John baptised people in the desert. He told them to stop doing wrong things and be baptised, and God would forgive them for the wrong things they did.
5 People from all the land of Judea and all the city of Jerusalem went out to John. He baptised them in the Jordan River when they told about the wrong things they did.
6 John wore clothes made of camel's hair and a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild honey.
7 He told the people, `Another person is coming. He is greater than I am. I am not good enough to bend down and untie his shoe strings.
8 I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.'
9 At that time Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee. John baptised him in the Jordan River.
10 As soon as he came up out of the water, Jesus saw the sky open. He saw God's Holy Spirit come down on him like a bird called a dove.
11 A voice from the sky said, `You are my dear Son. I am very pleased with you.'
12 Right away, the Spirit made Jesus go into the desert.
13 Jesus was in the desert for forty days. All that time Satan tried to make Jesus do wrong. Jesus was with wild animals. Angels came and took care of him.
14 John was put in prison. Then Jesus went to Galilee. He told people the good news of God's kingdom.
15 `The time has come,' he said. `The kingdom of God is here. Stop your wrong ways, turn back to God and believe the good news.'
16 Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. There he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a fishing net into the water. Their work was to catch fish.
17 Jesus said to them, `Come with me. The work I give you will be to catch people.'
18 Right away they left their nets and went with him.
19 Jesus went on from there and saw James and his brother John. Their father's name was Zebedee. They were in a boat mending their nets.
20 Jesus called them. Right away they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the workmen and went with Jesus.
21 They went to the town of Capernaum. As soon as it was the Sabbath day, Jesus went into their meeting house and taught the people.
22 They were very much surprised at his teaching because he taught them as if he had the right to teach them. He did not teach them like their teachers called scribes.
23 A man who had a bad spirit in him was in the meeting house at that time.
24 He called out, `Jesus of Nazareth, what do you want to do to us? Have you come to kill us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God.'
25 Jesus said to the spirit, `Be quiet! Come out of him!'
26 The bad spirit threw the man around. It called out loud and then it came out of the man.
27 The people were all surprised. They said one to another, `What is this? Is not this a new teaching? He tells the bad spirits what to do and even they obey him'
28 The people all around Galilee heard right away about Jesus.
29 As soon as they came out of the meeting house, they went to the home of Simon and Andrew. James and John went also.
30 Simon's wife's mother was sick and was lying down. She had a fever. Right away they told Jesus about her.
31 Jesus went to her. He took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her right away, and she began to do things to help them.
32 That evening when the sun went down, people brought to Jesus all the sick people and those who had bad spirits.
33 All the people in the city crowded around the door.
34 He healed many sick people. He drove the bad spirits out of people. And he did not let them speak because they knew who he was.
35 The next morning Jesus got up long before daylight. He went out to a place by himself. There he talked with God.
36 Simon and his friends went out after Jesus.
37 When they found him they said, `Everyone is looking for you.'
38 Jesus said, `We must go to the next towns. I must tell the good news to the people there too. That is why I came here.'
39 Then Jesus talked to the people in all the meeting houses in all the country of Galilee. He also made the bad spirits come out of people.
40 A man who was sick with leprosy [a bad skin disease] came to him. He kneeled down and begged Jesus saying, `I know you can heal me if you want to.'
41 Jesus was very sorry for him. He put out his hand and touched him. He said, `I want to. Be healed.'
42 As soon as he said this, the disease left the man and he was healed.
43 Jesus talked strongly to him and sent him away.
44 He said, `Do not tell anyone about this. But go and let the priest look at you. Moses gave a law about the gift you must give to God when you are healed. Give it to prove to people that you are healed.'
45 But the man went out and told everyone everywhere what had happened to him. Because he did this, Jesus could not go into any large town freely. He stayed in places where only a few people were. There people came to him from everywhere.
1 I am Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. He called me to be an apostle and to tell God's good news.
2 Through his prophets long ago God promised this good news to people, in the holy writings.
3 The good news was about his Son. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. He was a man born in David's family.
4 He came alive from death. That showed he was God's Son. He had God's power. God's Holy Spirit did all this.
5 This same Jesus Christ was kind to me. And he made me an apostle. I am sent in his name so that people in all nations will obey him.
6 You are some of them. You were called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 I send greetings to all the Christians who live in the city of Rome. God loves you and has called you to be his people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ bless you. In their kindness may they give you peace.
8 People in all the world have heard that you believe. I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you.
9 God knows that I always talk to him about you. I worship him in my heart while I tell the good news about his Son.
10 I ask God that in some way now I may be able to visit you, if he wishes me to do it.
11 I want very much to see you. I want to give you some gift from the Holy Spirit to make you stronger.
12 I mean to say that we will both be helped. I will be helped because you believe, and you will be helped because I believe.
13 My brothers, I want you to know that I have often planned to come to you. But something has stopped me until now. I planned to come so that I might see good things happen among you. I have done this in the other nations which are not Jewish.
14 This is something I must do for the Greek people and for all other people. I must do it for people who are wise and for people who are not wise.
15 That is why I want so much to tell the good news to you people in the city of Rome also.
16 I am not ashamed of the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news is the power God uses to save every one who believes. The good news was for the Jews first, but also for those who are not Jews.
17 The good news shows how God puts a person right. God puts a person right when that person believes in his Son and keeps on believing. The holy writings say, `A person who is put right because he believes, will live for ever.'
18 God is angry. He has shown it from heaven. He is angry because of all the bad and wrong things people do. These people hold back God's truth by the wrong things they do.
19 They know about God. God himself has shown them.
20 People cannot see that God has power which lasts for ever. They cannot see that he is really God. But ever since he made the world, he has clearly shown this by the things he made. So they cannot say, `I did not know about God.'
21 Even though they knew he was God, they did not worship him as God. They did not thank him. Their thoughts were no good. Their foolish minds became dark.
22 They said they were wise people, but they were foolish people.
23 They did not worship God who cannot die. But they worshipped things made to look like a man who does die. They worshipped things made to look like birds and animals and snakes.
24 So God left them to do the things their hearts wanted to do. They did the things that are not right to do with their bodies. They did not respect their own bodies.
25 They would not believe what was true about God. They believed a lie. They worshipped and worked for something that was made by God. They did not worship God - God who made all things. He is the one to worship for ever. Amen. May it be so!
26 That is why God left them to do the wrong things they wanted to do. Their women left the right way for women and did things that are wrong for women to do.
27 Their men also left the right way with women. They wanted to have sex with one another. They did wrong things with other men. Their own bodies were punished because of the wrong things they did.
28 They did not want to know God. So he left them to their wrong thoughts and to do things that are not right.
29 They were very bad. They did every kind of wrong thing. They were greedy. They hated people. They were very jealous. They killed many people. They fought. They fooled people. They told lies about people. They carried stories from one person to another.
30 They said wrong things about people. They hated God. They did not respect people. They were proud. They talked big. They even thought of new wrong things to do. They did not obey their parents.
31 .They were foolish. They did not do what they said they would do. They did not love people. They were not kind.
32 They know that God says that people who do such things should die. Even so, they not only do them, but they praise other people who do them.
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