M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
32 Jacob also left that place. While he was traveling, he saw God’s angels. 2 When he saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp!” So Jacob named that place Mahanaim.[a]
3 Jacob’s brother Esau was living in the area called Seir in the hill country of Edom. Jacob sent messengers to Esau. 4 He told them, “Tell this to my master Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have lived with Laban all these years. 5 I have many cattle, donkeys, flocks, and servants. Sir, I am sending you this message to ask you to accept us.’”
6 The messengers came back to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you. He has 400 men with him.”
7 Jacob was very frightened and worried. He divided the people who were with him and all the flocks, herds, and camels into two groups. 8 Jacob thought, “If Esau comes and destroys one group, the other group can run away and be saved.”
9 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham! God of my father Isaac! Lord, you told me to come back to my country and to my family. You said that you would do good to me. 10 You have been very kind to me. You did many good things for me. The first time I traveled across the Jordan River, I owned nothing—only my walking stick. But now I own enough things to have two full groups. 11 I ask you to please save me from my brother Esau. I am afraid that he will come and kill us all, even the mothers with the children. 12 Lord, you said to me, ‘I will be good to you. I will increase your family and make your children as many as the sands of the sea. There will be too many to count.’”
13 Jacob stayed in that place for the night. He prepared some things to give to Esau as a gift. 14 He took 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. 15 He took 30 camels and their colts, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. 16 He gave each flock of animals to his servants. Then he said to them, “Separate each group of animals. Go ahead of me and keep some space between each herd.” 17 Jacob gave them their orders. To the servant with the first group of animals he said, “When Esau my brother comes to you and asks you, ‘Whose animals are these? Where are you going? Whose servant are you?’ 18 then you should answer, ‘These animals belong to your servant Jacob. He sent them as a gift to you, my master Esau. And he also is coming behind us.’”
19 Jacob also ordered the second servant, the third servant, and all the other servants to do the same thing. He said, “You will say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 You will say, ‘This is a gift to you, and your servant Jacob is behind us.’”
Jacob thought, “If I send these men ahead with gifts, maybe Esau will forgive me and accept me.” 21 So Jacob sent the gifts to Esau, but he stayed that night in the camp.
22 During the night, Jacob got up and began moving his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven sons across the Jabbok River at the crossing. 23 After he sent his family across the river, he sent across everything he had.
The Fight With God
24 Jacob was left alone, and a man came and wrestled with him. The man fought with him until the sun came up. 25 When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he touched Jacob’s leg and put it out of joint.
26 Then the man said to Jacob, “Let me go. The sun is coming up.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go. You must bless me.”
27 And the man said to him, “What is your name?”
And Jacob said, “My name is Jacob.”
28 Then the man said, “Your name will not be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel.[b] I give you this name because you have fought with God and with men, and you have won.”
29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
But the man said, “Why do you ask my name?” Then the man blessed Jacob at that place.
30 So Jacob named that place Peniel.[c] He said, “At this place, I saw God face to face, but my life was spared.” 31 Then the sun came up as Jacob left Peniel. He was limping because of his leg. 32 So even today, the people of Israel don’t eat the muscle that is on the hip joint, because this is the muscle where Jacob was hurt.
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath Day(A)
3 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue. In the synagogue there was a man with a crippled hand. 2 Some Jews there were watching Jesus closely. They were waiting to see if he would heal the man on a Sabbath day. They wanted to see Jesus do something wrong so that they could accuse him. 3 Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Stand up here so that everyone can see you.”
4 Then Jesus asked the people, “Which is the right thing to do on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil? Is it right to save a life or to destroy one?” The people said nothing to answer him.
5 Jesus looked at the people. He was angry, but he felt very sad because they were so stubborn. He said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed. 6 Then the Pharisees left and made plans with the Herodians about a way to kill Jesus.
Many Follow Jesus
7 Jesus went away with his followers to the lake. A large crowd of people from Galilee followed them. 8 Many also came from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from the area across the Jordan River, and from the area around Tyre and Sidon. These people came because they heard about all that Jesus was doing.
9 Jesus saw how many people there were, so he told his followers to get a small boat and make it ready for him. He wanted the boat so that the crowds of people could not push against him. 10 He had healed many of them, so all the sick people were pushing toward him to touch him. 11 Some people had evil spirits inside them. When the evil spirits saw Jesus, they bowed before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But Jesus gave the spirits a strong warning not to tell anyone who he was.
Jesus Chooses His Twelve Apostles(B)
13 Then Jesus went up on a hill and invited those he wanted to go with him. So they joined him there. 14 And he chose twelve men and called them apostles. He wanted these twelve men to be with him, and he wanted to send them to other places to tell people God’s message. 15 He also wanted them to have the power to force demons out of people. 16 These are the names of the twelve men Jesus chose:
Simon (the one Jesus named Peter),
17 James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee (the ones Jesus named Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder”),
18 Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon, the Zealot,
19 Judas Iscariot (the one who handed Jesus over to his enemies).
Jesus’ Power Is From God(C)
20 Then Jesus went home, but again a large crowd gathered there. There were so many people that he and his followers could not eat. 21 His family heard about all these things. They went to get him because people said he was crazy.
22 And the teachers of the law from Jerusalem said, “Satan[a] is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.”
23 So Jesus called them together and talked to them using some stories. He said, “Satan will not force his own demons out of people. 24 A kingdom that fights against itself will not survive. 25 And a family that is divided will not survive. 26 If Satan is against himself and is fighting against his own people, he will not survive. That would be the end of Satan.
27 “Whoever wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things must first tie him up. Then they can steal the things from his house.
28 “I want you to know that people can be forgiven for all the sinful things they do. They can even be forgiven for the bad things they say against God. 29 But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. They will always be guilty of that sin.”
30 Jesus said this because the teachers of the law had accused him of having an evil spirit inside him.
Jesus’ Followers Are His True Family(D)
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came. They stood outside and sent someone in to tell him to come out. 32 Many people were sitting around Jesus. They said to him, “Your mother, your brothers, and your sisters[b] are waiting for you outside.”
33 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said, “These people are my mother and my brothers! 35 My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.”
The King’s Order to Help the Jews
8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther everything that belonged to Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was her cousin. Then Mordecai came to see the king. 2 The king had gotten his ring back from Haman. The king took the ring off his finger and gave it to Mordecai. Then Esther put Mordecai in charge of everything that belonged to Haman.
3 Then Esther spoke to the king again. She fell at the king’s feet and began crying. She begged the king to cancel the evil plan of Haman the Agagite. Haman had thought up the plan to hurt the Jews.
4 Then the king held out the gold scepter to Esther. Esther got up and stood in front of the king. 5 Then she said, “King, if you like me and if it pleases you, please do this for me. Please do this if you think it is a good idea. If the king is happy with me, please write a command that would stop the command Haman sent out. Haman the Agagite thought of a plan to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces, and he sent out commands for this to happen. 6 I am begging the king because I could not bear to see these terrible things happen to my people. I could not bear to see my family killed.”
7 King Xerxes answered Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Because Haman was against the Jews, I have given his property to Esther. And my soldiers have hanged him on the hanging post. 8 Now write another command by the authority of the king. Write it to help the Jews in a way that seems best to you. Then seal the order with the king’s special ring. No official letter written by the authority of the king and sealed with the king’s ring can be canceled.”
9 Very quickly the king’s secretaries were called. This was done on the 23rd day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all of Mordecai’s commands to the Jews, and to the satraps, the governors, and officials of the 127 provinces. These provinces reached from India to Ethiopia. The commands were written in the language of each province and translated into the language of each group of people. The commands were written to the Jews in their own language and alphabet. 10 Mordecai wrote commands by the authority of King Xerxes. Then he sealed the letters with the king’s ring and sent them by messengers on horses. The messengers rode fast horses, which were raised especially for the king.
11 The king’s commands in the letters said this: The Jews in every city have the right to gather together to protect themselves. They have the right to ruin, kill, and completely destroy any army from any group who might attack them and their women and children. And the Jews have the right to take and destroy the property of their enemies.
12 The day set for the Jews to do this was the 13th day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. They were permitted to do this in all King Xerxes’ provinces. 13 A copy of the letter with the king’s command was to be sent out. It became a law in every province. They announced it to all the people of every nation living in the kingdom. They did this so that the Jews would be ready for that special day. They would be allowed to pay their enemies back. 14 The messengers hurried out, riding on the king’s horses. The king commanded them to hurry. And the command was also put in the capital city of Susa.
15 Mordecai left the king. He was wearing special clothes from the king. His clothes were blue and white, and he had on a large gold crown. He also had a purple robe made of the best linen. There was a special celebration in Susa. The people were very happy. 16 It was an especially happy day for the Jews, a day of great joy and happiness.
17 Wherever the king’s command went in every province and every city, there was joy and gladness among the Jews. They were having parties and celebrating. Many of the common people from other groups became Jews. They did this because they were very afraid of the Jews.
3 So, do Jews have anything that others don’t have? Do they get any benefit from being circumcised? 2 Yes, the Jews have many benefits. The most important one is this: God trusted the Jews with his teachings. 3 It is true that some Jews were not faithful to God. But will that stop God from doing what he promised? 4 No, even if everyone else is a liar, God will always do what he says. As the Scriptures say about him,
“You will be proved right in what you say,
and you will win when people accuse you.” (A)
5 When we do wrong, that shows more clearly that God is right. So can we say that God does wrong when he punishes us? (That’s the way some people think.) 6 Of course not. If God could not punish us, how could he judge the world?
7 Someone might say, “When I lie, it really gives God glory, because my lie makes his truth easier to see. So why am I judged a sinner?” 8 It would be the same to say, “We should do evil so that good will come.” Many people criticize us, saying that’s what we teach. They are wrong, and they should be condemned for saying that.
All People Are Guilty
9 So are we Jews better than other people? No, we have already said that those who are Jews, as well as those who are not Jews, are the same. They are all guilty of sin. 10 As the Scriptures say,
“There is no one doing what is right,
not even one.
11 There is no one who understands.
There is no one who is trying to be with God.
12 They have all turned away from him,
and now they are of no use to anyone.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.” (B)
13 “Their words come from mouths that are like open graves.
They use their lying tongues to deceive others.” (C)
“Their words are like the poison of snakes.” (D)
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and angry words.” (E)
15 “They are always ready to kill someone.
16 Everywhere they go they cause trouble and ruin.
17 They don’t know how to live in peace.” (F)
18 “They have no fear or respect for God.” (G)
19 What the law says is for those who are under the law. It stops anyone from making excuses. And it brings the whole world under God’s judgment, 20 because no one can be made right with God by following the law. The law only shows us our sin.
How God Makes People Right
21 But God has a way to make people right, and it has nothing to do with the law. He has now shown us that new way, which the law and the prophets told us about. 22 God makes people right through their faith in[a] Jesus Christ. He does this for all who believe in Christ. Everyone is the same. 23 All have sinned and are not good enough to share God’s divine greatness. 24 They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. 25-26 God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in him. God can forgive them because the blood sacrifice of Jesus pays for their sins. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. He was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And in our own time he still does what is right. God worked all this out in a way that allows him to judge people fairly and still make right any person who has faith in Jesus.
27 So do we have any reason to boast about ourselves? No reason at all. And why not? Because we are depending on the way of faith, not on what we have done in following the law. 28 I mean we are made right with God through faith, not through what we have done to follow the law. This is what we believe. 29 God is not only the God of the Jews. He is also the God of those who are not Jews. 30 There is only one God. He will make Jews[b] right with him by their faith, and he will also make non-Jews[c] right with him through their faith. 31 So do we destroy the law by following the way of faith? Not at all! In fact, faith causes us to be what the law actually wants.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International