M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joseph Tells Who He Is
45 Joseph could not control himself any longer. He cried in front of all the people who were there. Joseph said, “Tell everyone to leave here.” So all the people left. Only the brothers were left with Joseph. Then he told them who he was. 2 Joseph continued to cry, and all the Egyptian people in Pharaoh’s house heard it. 3 He said to his brothers, “I am your brother Joseph. Is my father doing well?” But the brothers did not answer him because they were confused and afraid.
4 So Joseph said to his brothers again, “Come here to me. I beg you, come here.” When the brothers went to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph. I am the one you sold as a slave to Egypt. 5 Now don’t be worried. Don’t be angry with yourselves for what you did. It was God’s plan for me to come here. I am here to save people’s lives. 6 This terrible famine has continued for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. 7 So God sent me here ahead of you so that I can save your people in this country. 8 It was not your fault that I was sent here. It was God’s plan. God made me like a father to Pharaoh. I am the governor over all his house and over all Egypt.”
Israel Invited to Egypt
9 Joseph said, “Hurry up and go to my father. Tell him his son Joseph sent this message: ‘God made me the governor of Egypt. So come here to me quickly. Don’t wait. 10 You can live near me in the land of Goshen. You, your children, your grandchildren, and all of your animals are welcome here. 11 I will take care of you during the next five years of hunger. So you and your family will not lose everything you own.’
12 “Surely you can see that I really am Joseph. Even my brother Benjamin knows it is me, your brother, talking to you. 13 So tell my father about the honor I have received here in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen here. Now hurry, go bring my father back to me.” 14 Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin, and they both began crying. 15 Then Joseph cried as he kissed all his brothers. After this, the brothers began talking with him.
16 Pharaoh learned that Joseph’s brothers had come to him. This news spread throughout Pharaoh’s house. Pharaoh and his servants were very excited! 17 So Pharaoh told Joseph, “Tell your brothers to take all the food they need and go back to the land of Canaan. 18 Tell them to bring your father and their families back here to me. I will give you the best land in Egypt to live on. And your family can eat the best food we have here. 19 Also give your brothers some of our best wagons. Tell them to go to Canaan and bring your father and all the women and children back in the wagons. 20 Don’t worry about bringing all of their belongings. We can give them the best of Egypt.”
21 So the sons of Israel did this. Joseph gave them good wagons just as Pharaoh had promised. And Joseph gave them enough food for their trip. 22 He gave each brother a suit of beautiful clothes. But to Benjamin he gave five suits of beautiful clothes and 300 pieces of silver. 23 Joseph also sent gifts to his father. He sent ten donkeys with bags full of many good things from Egypt. And he sent ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and other food for his father on his trip back. 24 Then Joseph told his brothers to go. While they were leaving, he said to them, “Go straight home, and don’t fight on the way.”
25 So the brothers left Egypt and went to their father in the land of Canaan. 26 They told him, “Father, Joseph is still alive! And he is the governor over the whole country of Egypt.”
Their father did not know what to think. At first he didn’t believe them. 27 But then they told him everything Joseph had said. Then their father saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to bring him back to Egypt, and he became excited and very happy. 28 Israel said, “Now I believe you. My son Joseph is still alive! I am going to see him before I die!”
Governor Pilate Questions Jesus(A)
15 Very early in the morning, the leading priests, the older Jewish leaders, the teachers of the law, and the whole high council decided what to do with Jesus. They tied him, led him away, and handed him over to Governor Pilate.
2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “Yes, that is right.”
3 The leading priests accused Jesus of many things. 4 So Pilate asked Jesus another question. He said, “You can see that these people are accusing you of many things. Why don’t you answer?”
5 But Jesus still did not answer, and this really surprised Pilate.
Pilate Tries but Fails to Free Jesus(B)
6 Every year at the Passover time the governor would free one prisoner—whichever one the people wanted. 7 There was a man in prison at that time named Barabbas. He and the rebels with him had been put in prison for committing murder during a riot.
8 The people came to Pilate and asked him to free a prisoner as he always did. 9 Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?” 10 Pilate knew that the leading priests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous of him. 11 But the leading priests persuaded the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.
12 Pilate asked the people again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
13 The people shouted, “Kill him on a cross!”
14 Pilate asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?”
But the people shouted louder and louder, “Kill him on a cross!”
15 Pilate wanted to please the people, so he set Barabbas free for them. And he told the soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then he handed him over to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.
16 Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s palace (called the Praetorium). They called all the other soldiers together. 17 They put a purple robe on Jesus, made a crown from thorny branches, and put it on his head. 18 Then they began shouting, “Welcome, king of the Jews!” 19 They kept on beating his head with a stick and spitting on him. Then they bowed down on their knees and pretended to honor him as a king. 20 After they finished making fun of him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him out of the palace to be killed on a cross.
Jesus Is Nailed to a Cross(C)
21 There was a man from Cyrene named Simon walking into the city from the fields. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. The soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 22 They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means “The Place of the Skull.”) 23 There they gave him some wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused to drink it. 24 The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then they divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to see who would get what.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross. 26 There was a sign with the charge against him written on it. It said, “ the king of the jews.” 27 They also nailed two criminals to crosses beside Jesus—one on the right and the other on the left. 28 [a]
29 People walked by and said bad things to Jesus. They shook their heads and said, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. 30 So save yourself! Come down from that cross!”
31 The leading priests and the teachers of the law were also there. They made fun of Jesus the same as the other people did. They said to each other, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! 32 If he is really the Messiah, the king of Israel, he should come down from the cross now. When we see this, then we will believe in him.” The criminals on the crosses beside Jesus also said bad things to him.
Jesus Dies(D)
33 At noon the whole country became dark. This darkness continued until three o’clock. 34 At three o’clock Jesus cried out loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.” This means “My God, my God, why have you left me alone?”[b]
35 Some of the people standing there heard this. They said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.”[c]
36 One man there ran and got a sponge. He filled the sponge with sour wine and tied it to a stick. Then he used the stick to give the sponge to Jesus to get a drink from it. The man said, “We should wait now and see if Elijah will come to take him down from the cross.”
37 Then Jesus cried out loudly and died.
38 When Jesus died, the curtain in the Temple was torn into two pieces. The tear started at the top and tore all the way to the bottom. 39 The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw what happened when Jesus died. The officer said, “This man really was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were standing away from the cross, watching. Among these women were Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James and Joses. (James was her youngest son.) 41 These were the women who had followed Jesus in Galilee and cared for him. Many other women who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem were also there.
Jesus Is Buried(E)
42 This day was called Preparation day. (That means the day before the Sabbath day.) It was becoming dark. 43 A man named Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Joseph was an important member of the high council. He was one of the people who wanted God’s kingdom to come.
44 Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. So he called for the army officer in charge and asked him if Jesus was already dead. 45 When Pilate heard it from the officer, he told Joseph he could have the body.
46 Joseph bought some linen cloth. He took the body from the cross, wrapped it in the linen, and put the body in a tomb that was dug in a wall of rock. Then he closed the tomb by rolling a large stone to cover the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw the place where Jesus was put.
Zophar Speaks to Job
11 Then Zophar from Naamah answered Job and said,
2 “This flood of words should be answered!
Does all this talking make Job right?
3 Do you think we don’t have
an answer for you?
Do you think no one will warn you
when you laugh at God?
4 You say to God,
‘My arguments are right,
and you can see I am pure.’
5 I wish God would answer you
and tell you that you are wrong.
6 He could tell you the secret of wisdom.
He would tell you that every story has two sides.
You can be sure of this:
God is not punishing you as much as he should.
7 “Do you think you really understand God?
Do you completely understand God All-Powerful?
8 That knowledge is higher than the heavens
and deeper than the place of death.
So what can you do?
How can you learn it all?
9 It is greater than the earth
and bigger than the seas.
10 “If God decides to arrest you and take you to court,
no one could stop him.
11 God knows who is worthless.
When he sees evil, he remembers it.
12 A wild donkey cannot give birth to a man,
and a stupid person will never become wise.
13 Prepare your heart to serve only God.
Lift your arms and pray to him.
14 Put away the sin that you still hold on to.
Don’t keep evil in your tent.
15 If you will do that, you could look to God without shame.
You can stand strong and not be afraid.
16 Then you can forget your troubles,
like water that has already passed by.
17 Your life will be brighter than the sunshine at noon.
Life’s darkest hours will shine like the morning sun.
18 You will feel safe because there is hope.
God will protect you and give you rest.
19 You will lie down without fear of anyone.
Many people will come to you for help.
20 Evil people might look for help,
but they will not escape their troubles.
Their hope leads only to death.”
15 Some of us have no problem with these things. So we should be patient with those who are not so strong and have doubts. We should not do what pleases us 2 but do what pleases them and is for their good. We should do whatever helps everyone grow stronger in faith. 3 Even Christ did not live trying to please himself. As the Scriptures say about him, “Those people who insulted you have also insulted me.”[a] 4 Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. Those things were written so that we could have hope. That hope comes from the patience and encouragement that the Scriptures give us. 5 All patience and encouragement come from God. And I pray that God will help you all agree with each other, as Christ Jesus wants. 6 Then you will all be joined together. And all together you will give glory to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Christ accepted you, so you should accept each other. This will bring honor[b] to God. 8 I tell you that Christ became a servant of the Jews to show that God has done what he promised their great ancestors. 9 Christ also did this so that the non-Jewish people could praise God for the mercy he gives to them. The Scriptures say,
“So I will give thanks to you among the people of other nations;
I will sing praise to your name.” (A)
10 And the Scriptures say,
“You people of other nations should be happy together with God’s people.” (B)
11 The Scriptures also say,
“Praise the Lord all you people of other nations;
all people should praise the Lord.” (C)
12 And Isaiah says,
“Someone will come from Jesse’s family.[c]
He will come to rule over the nations,
and they will put their hope in him.” (D)
13 I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul Talks About His Work
14 My brothers and sisters, I know without a doubt that you are full of goodness and have all the knowledge you need. So you are certainly able to counsel each other. 15 But I have written to you very openly about some things that I wanted you to remember. I did this because God gave me this special gift: 16 to be a servant of Christ Jesus for those who are not Jews. I serve like a priest whose duty it is to tell God’s Good News. He gave me this work so that you non-Jewish people could be an offering that he will accept—an offering made holy by the Holy Spirit.
17 That is why I feel so good about what I have done for God in my service to Christ Jesus. 18 I will not talk about anything I did myself. I will talk only about what Christ has done with me in leading the non-Jewish people to obey God. They have obeyed him because of what I have said and done. 19 And they obeyed him because of the power of the miraculous signs and wonders that happened—all because of the power of God’s Spirit. I have told people the Good News about Christ in every place from Jerusalem to Illyricum. And so I have finished that part of my work. 20 I always want to tell the Good News in places where people have never heard of Christ. I do this because I don’t want to build on the work that someone else has already started. 21 But as the Scriptures say,
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard about him will understand.” (E)
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome
22 That’s what has kept me so busy and prevented my coming to see you even though I have wanted to come many times.
23 Now I have finished my work in these areas. And for many years I have wanted to visit you. 24 So I will visit you when I go to Spain. Yes, I hope to visit you while I am traveling to Spain, and I will stay and enjoy being with you. Then you can help me continue on my trip.
25 Now I am going to Jerusalem to help God’s people there. 26 Some of them are poor, and the believers in Macedonia and Achaia wanted to help them. So they gathered some money to send them. 27 They were happy to do this. And it was like paying something they owed them, because as non-Jews they have been blessed spiritually by the Jews. So now they should use the material blessings they have to help the Jews. 28 I am going to Jerusalem to make sure the poor get this money that has been given for them.
After I finish that, I will leave for Spain and stop to visit you on the way. 29 And I know that when I visit you, I will bring you Christ’s full blessing.
30 Brothers and sisters, I beg you to help me in my work by praying to God for me. Do this because of our Lord Jesus and the love that the Spirit gives us. 31 Pray that I will be saved from those in Judea who refuse to accept our message. And pray that this help I am bringing to Jerusalem will please God’s people there. 32 Then, if God wants me to, I will come to you. I will come with joy, and together you and I will have a time of rest. 33 The God who gives peace be with you all. Amen.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International