M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Meets Esau
33 Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 2 He put the female servants and their children in front, then Leah and her children next, and then Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he said, “Who are those with you?”
Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
6 Then the female servants came near, they and their children, and they bowed down. 7 Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed themselves.
8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?”
Jacob answered, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.”
9 Esau said, “I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”
10 Jacob said, “No, I pray you, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my gift from my hand. For I have seen your face, and it is as though I have seen the face of God, with you having received me favorably. 11 Please take my blessing that has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” So he urged him, and he took it.
12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”
13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds with young are with me. If they are driven too hard one day, all the flock will die. 14 Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the livestock that goes before me and the pace the children will be able to endure, until I come to my lord at Seir.”
15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of the people that are with me with you.”
But Jacob said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
16 So Esau returned that day making his way back to Seir. 17 But Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Sukkoth.
18 Jacob came peacefully to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan Aram, and camped before the city. 19 He bought a parcel of a field, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces[a] of silver. 20 He erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.
The Parable of the Sower(A)
4 Again He began to teach by the seaside. A large crowd was gathered before Him, so that He entered a boat and sat in it on the sea. And the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 He taught them many things in parables and said to them in His teaching: 3 “Listen! And take note: A sower went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell beside the path, and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and soon it sprang up because it did not have deep soil. 6 But when the sun rose, it was scorched. And because it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seed fell on good ground, and it yielded grain that sprang up and increased by thirty, sixty, or a hundred times as much.”
9 Then He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables(B)
10 When He was alone, those who were around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 He said to them, “To you is given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside, everything is said in parables, 12 so that
‘seeing they may see, and not perceive,
and hearing they may hear and not understand;
lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’[a]”
The Parable of the Sower Explained(C)
13 Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are those beside the path, where the word is sown. But when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word which is sown in their hearts. 16 Others, likewise, are seed sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness, 17 but have no root in themselves, and so endure for a time. Afterward, when affliction or persecution rises for the word’s sake, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are seed sown among thorns, the ones who hear the word. 19 But the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 Still others are seed sown on good ground, those who hear the word, and receive it, and bear fruit: thirty, sixty, or a hundred times as much.”
A Light Under a Basket(D)
21 He said to them, “Is a candle brought to be put under a basket or under a bed and not to be set on a candlestick? 22 For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed; neither is anything kept secret except to be proclaimed. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. The measure you give will be measured for you, and to you who hear will more be given. 25 For to him who has will more be given. And from him who has not will be taken, even what he has.”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he does not know how. 28 For the earth bears fruit by itself: first the blade, then the head, then the full seed in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, immediately he applies the sickle because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed(E)
30 He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God, or with what parable shall we compare it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed which, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest seed on earth. 32 Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all shrubs, and shoots out great branches, so that the birds of the air may nest in its shade.”
The Use of Parables(F)
33 With many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 Without a parable He did not speak to them. But when they were alone, He expounded on all things to His disciples.
The Calming of a Storm(G)
35 That same day, when the evening came, He said to them, “Let us go cross to the other side.” 36 When they had sent the crowd away, they took Him in the boat just as He was. There were also other little boats with Him. 37 A great wind storm arose, and the waves splashed into the boat, so that it was now filling the boat. 38 He was in the stern asleep on a pillow. They woke Him and said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 He rose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” Then the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is that you have no faith?”
41 They feared greatly and said to one another, “What kind of Man is He, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
The Jews Destroy Their Enemies
9 Now in the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar), on the thirteenth day, when the king’s edict and his decree were to be carried out on the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to have power over them, things were turned around. The Jews gained power over those who hated them. 2 The Jews had assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus in order to forcibly assault those seeking their injury. No man could stand before them because the dread of them had fallen on all people. 3 All the rulers of the provinces, and the satraps, and the governors, and all those doing the work of the king were helping the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai had fallen on them. 4 For Mordecai had become great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces because Mordecai grew more powerful.
5 So the Jews struck all their enemies by sword, slaughtering and destroying them, and doing to those who hated them as they pleased. 6 In the citadel of Susa, the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men, 7 along with Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspatha, 8 Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, 9 Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai, and Vaizatha. 10 These were the ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, whom they killed, but on their plunder none of the Jews attempted to take it.
11 On that day the number of those who were killed in the citadel of Susa was reported before the king. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in the citadel of Susa and the ten sons of Haman. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It shall be granted you! What is your request further? It shall be done!”
13 Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews in Susa to do again tomorrow according to this day’s decree. Let the ten sons of Haman be hanged on the gallows.”
14 So the king commanded that it be so done, and the decree was given at Susa, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman.
15 The Jews in Susa assembled again on the fourteenth day of the month Adar and killed three hundred more there, but on the plunder no one attempted to take it.
16 But the rest of the Jews in the king’s provinces assembled to defend their lives. Some had rest from their enemies, while others killed seventy-five thousand of those who hated them, but no one took from the plunder. 17 Because this occurred on the thirteenth day of the month Adar, they rested on the fourteenth day and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.
The Feast of Purim Established
18 Because the Jews in Susa had assembled on the thirteenth day and the fourteenth day of Adar, then on the fifteenth day they rested and made it a day of feasting and rejoicing.
19 Therefore, the Jews of the rural areas, who were living in the villages, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of rejoicing and feasting and a special day for sending portions of food to one another.
20 Mordecai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 in order to institute for them the celebration for the fourteenth day and the fifteenth day of the month of Adar, each and every year, 22 like the days when the Jews had rest from their enemies, and like the month when things turned around for them—changing from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a favorable day—so that they could celebrate a season of feasting and rejoicing and sending food portions to one another and gifts to the poor.
23 So the Jews accepted what had begun as tradition as Mordecai had written to them. 24 Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and destroy them. 25 But when Esther came before the king, he ordered by letter that the wicked plot which Haman had devised against the Jews should come upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Therefore, they call these days Purim on the basis of the name Pur. Furthermore, based on all the information of this letter, along with what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, 27 the Jews instituted and accepted as tradition for themselves, for their descendants, and for all joining with them not to fail in observing the celebration of these two days as prescribed and as specified in each and every year. 28 These days should be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, province, and city, so that these days of Purim will not lose their significance among the Jews, and the commemoration of these days will not cease among their descendants.
29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter about Purim. 30 He sent the letters to all the Jews, to the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, with instructions for peace and truth 31 in order to confirm these days of Purim at their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had instituted for themselves and for their offspring, with the instructions for their times of fasting and their lamenting. 32 The command of Esther confirmed these traditions of Purim, and it was written in the book.
Mordecai’s Greatness
10 Then King Ahasuerus charged a tribute on the land and on the coastal lands of the sea. 2 All the deeds of his power and of his might, and the detailed record of the greatness of Mordecai, after the king promoted him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 Indeed, Mordecai the Jew was second in power to King Ahasuerus. He was great among the Jews and popular with many of his countrymen, for he sought favor for his people, and spoke of peace and prosperity for all of his posterity.
The Example of Abraham
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our father according to the flesh, has found? 2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to him who works, wages are not given as a gift, but as a debt. 5 But to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 Even David describes the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness without works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man
to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”[b]
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? We are saying that faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it credited? When he was in circumcision? Or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith that he had while being uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham, which he had while still being uncircumcised.
The Promise Received Through Faith
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his descendants received the promise that he would be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law become heirs, faith would be made void and the promise nullified, 15 because the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, there is no sin.
16 Therefore the promise comes through faith, so that it might be by grace, that the promise would be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”[c]) before God whom he believed, and who raises the dead, and calls those things that do not exist as though they did.
18 Against all hope, he believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”[d] 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body to be dead (when he was about a hundred years old), nor yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was able to perform. 22 Therefore “it was credited to him as righteousness.”[e] 23 Now the words, “it was credited to him,” were not written for his sake only, 24 but also for us, to whom it shall be credited if we believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered for our transgressions, and was raised for our justification.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.