M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Meets Esau and Settles at Shechem
33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, Esau was coming and four hundred men were with him. And he[a] divided the children among Leah and among Rachel, and among the two of his female servants. 2 And he put the female slaves and their children first, then Leah and her children next, then Rachel with Joseph last. 3 And he himself passed on before them and bowed down to the ground seven times until he came to his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 Then Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children and said, “Who are these with you?” And he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the female servants drew near, they and their children, and they bowed down. 7 Then Leah and her children drew near and bowed down, and afterward Joseph and Rachel drew near and they bowed down. 8 And he[b] said, “What do you mean by[c] all this company that I have met?” Then he said, “To find favor in the eyes of my lord.” 9 Then Esau said, “I have enough[d] my brother; keep what you have.”[e] 10 And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have found favor in your eyes, you must take my gift from my hand, for then I have seen your face which is like seeing the face of God, and you have received me. 11 Please take my gift which has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.”[f] And he urged him, so he took it. 12 Then he[g] said, “Let us journey and go on, and I will go ahead of you.” 13 But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and the flocks and the cattle which are nursing are a concern to me. Now if they drove them hard for a day all the flocks would die. 14 Let my lord pass on before his servant and I will move along slowly at the pace[h] of the livestock that are ahead of me, and at the pace[i] of the children until I come to my lord in Seir.” 15 And Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.” But he said, “What need is there?[j] Let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.” 16 So Esau turned that day on his way to Seir. 17 But Jacob traveled on to Succoth, and he built for himself a house, and he made shelters for his livestock. Therefore he called the name of the place Succoth. 18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, on his way[k] from Paddan-Aram. And he camped before the city. 19 And he bought a piece of land where he pitched his tent for one hundred pieces of money[l] from the hand of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem. 20 And there he erected an altar and called it “El Elohe Israel.”[m]
The Parable of the Sower
4 And again he began to teach beside the sea,[a] and a very large crowd was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and[b] sat on the sea, and the whole crowd was at the sea on the land. 2 And he began to teach[c] them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, 3 “Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened that while he was sowing, some seed[d] fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once, because it did not have any depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. 7 And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it, and it did not produce grain.[e] 8 And other seed fell on the good soil, and produced grain,[f] coming up and increasing, and it bore a crop[g]—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.[h] 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Reason for the Parables
10 And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking[i] him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables, 12 so that
‘they may look closely[j] and not perceive,
and they may listen carefully[k] and not understand,
lest they turn and it be forgiven them.’”[l]
The Parable of the Sower Interpreted
13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones beside the path where the word is sown, and whenever they hear it,[m] immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 And these are like[n] the ones sown on the rocky ground, who whenever they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then when[o] affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and[p] choke the word and it becomes unproductive. 20 And those are the ones sown on the good soil, who hear the word and receive it[q] and bear fruit—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.”[r]
The Parable of the Lamp
21 And he said to them, “Surely a lamp is not brought so that it may be put under a bushel basket or under a bed, is it?[s] Is it not[t] so that it may be put on a lampstand? 22 For nothing is secret except so that it may be revealed, nor has become hidden except so that it will come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!” 24 And he said to them, “Take care what you hear! With the measure by which you measure out, it will be measured out to you, and will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
The Parable of the Seed that Grows by Itself
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is like this: like a man scatters seed on the ground. 27 And he sleeps and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—he does not know how.[u] 28 By itself the soil produces a crop: first the grass, then the head of grain, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he sends in the sickle right away, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable can we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that when sown on the ground, although it[v] is the smallest of all the seeds that are on the ground, 32 but when it is sown it grows up and becomes the largest of all the garden herbs, and sends out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to nest in its shade.” 33 And with many parables such as these he was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it.[w] 34 And he did not speak to them without a parable, but in private he explained everything to his own disciples.
Calming of a Storm
35 And on that day, when it[x] was evening, he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him along, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great storm of wind developed, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already being filled with water.[y] 38 And he was in the stern sleeping on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, is it not a concern to you that we are perishing?” 39 And he woke up and[z] rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Be silent!” And the wind abated and there was a great calm. 40 And he said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you not yet have faith?” 41 And they were terribly frightened[aa] and began to say[ab] to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
The Jews Destroy Their Enemies
9 In the twelfth month, that is the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, on which the edict of the king arrived and his law was enacted, on the day in which the enemies of the Jews had hoped to gain power over them but was overturned, and the Jews gained power against their enemies, 2 the Jews gathered in their cities in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to strike against[a] those who sought their destruction, and no one could withstand them,[b] as the fear of them fell on all the people. 3 All the officials of the provinces, the satraps, governors, and those who did the work of the king[c] were supporting the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai was high-ranking in the king’s palace[d] and his fame spread throughout all the provinces as Mordecai grew more and more powerful.[e] 5 The Jews struck down all their enemies with the sword,[f] killing and destroying them; and they did as they pleased with those that hated them. 6 And in the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, 7 and Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Portha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha, 10 the ten sons of Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews; but they did not touch[g] the plunder.
11 On that day the number of those being killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to[h] the king. 12 And the king said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? What is your petition? It will be granted to you. And what further is your request? It will be done.” 13 Esther replied, “If it is good to the king, let tomorrow also be granted to the Jews who are in Susa to do according to the edict of today; and let them hang Haman’s ten sons on the gallows.” 14 And the king said to do so. And a decree was issued in Susa and Haman’s ten sons were hanged. 15 And the Jews were gathered who were in Susa, and on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar and they killed in Susa three hundred men, but they did not touch[i] the plunder.
16 The rest of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces gathered and defended their lives[j] and found repose[k] from their enemies. And they killed seventy-five thousand of those that hated them, but they did not touch[l] the plunder. 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar. They rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and joy. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth and on the fourteenth day, and rested on the fifteenth day. And they made it a day of feasting and joy. 19 Therefore the Jews in the rural areas, living in the rural towns, made the fourteenth month of Adar a day of joy and feasting, a festive day of giving gifts to each other.
The Feast of Purim
20 Mordecai wrote down these things and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all of the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 to impose on them to keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day, every year,[m] 22 as the day that the Jews found relief[n] from their enemies, and the month which changed for them from sorrow to joy, and from a mourning ceremony to a festive day;[o] to make them days of feasting and joy, and giving gifts to each other and to the poor. 23 And the Jews adopted what they had begun to do and what Mordecai had written to them.
24 For Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and he had cast pur, that is the lot, to rout them out and destroy them. 25 But when it came[p] to the attention of[q] the king, he gave orders in writing[r] that his evil plot that he had devised against the Jews should return on his head, and they hung him and his sons on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, because of the name Pur. Thus because of all the words of this letter, and of what they faced concerning this, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews established and adopted it for themselves and for their offspring, and for all who joined them. They did not neglect to observe[s] these two days every year as it was written and appointed to them. 28 These days are to be remembered and are to be kept in every generation, and in family, province, and city; and these days of Purim are not to be neglected among the Jews, and their memory shall not come to an end among their offspring.
29 So Queen Esther the daughter of Abihail and Mordecai the Jew wrote in full authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. 30 He sent letters of words of peace and truth to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces[t] of Ahasuerus’ kingdom, 31 to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had imposed, and just as they had imposed on themselves and their offspring regulations of the fast and their lament. 32 And the command of Esther established these practices of Purim, and it was written on the scroll.
Title
10 King Ahasuerus imposed forced labor on the land and islands of the sea. 2 All the work of his authority and his powerful deeds,[u] and the full accounting of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written on the scroll of the chronicles[v] of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second-in-command to King Ahasuerus. He was great for the Jews and popular with many of his brothers, for he sought good for his people, interceding for the welfare of all his descendants.[w]
Abraham’s Faith Counted as Righteousness
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.”[a] 4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited according to grace, but according to his due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but who believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks about the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are they whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,
and whose sins are covered over.
8 Blessed is the person against whom the Lord will never count sin.”[b]
9 Therefore, is this blessing for those who are circumcised[c], or also for those who are uncircumcised[d]? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.”[e] 10 How then was it credited? While he[f] was circumcised[g] or uncircumcised[h]? Not while circumcised[i] but while uncircumcised[j]! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal[k] of the righteousness by faith which he had while uncircumcised[l], so that he could be the father of all who believe although they are uncircumcised[m], so that righteousness could be credited to them,[n] 12 and the father of those who are circumcised[o] to those who are not only from the circumcision, but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised[p].
The Promise to Abraham Secured through Faith
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants, that he would be heir of the world, was not through the law, but through the righteousness by faith. 14 For if those of the law are heirs, faith is rendered void and the promise is nullified. 15 For the law produces wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there transgression. 16 Because of this, it is by faith, in order that it may be according to grace, so that the promise may be secure to all the descendants, not only to those of the law, but also to those of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (just as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)[q] before God, in whom he believed, the one who makes the dead alive and who calls the things that are not as though they are, 18 who against hope believed in hope, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was said, “so will your descendants be.”[r] 19 And not being weak in faith, he considered his own body as good as dead, [s] because he[t] was approximately a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 And he did not waver in unbelief at the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God 21 and being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was also able to do. 22 Therefore[u] it was credited to him for righteousness. 23 But it was not written for the sake of him alone that it was credited to him, 24 but also for the sake of us to whom it is going to be credited, to those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over on account of our trespasses, and was raised up in the interest of our justification.[v]
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