M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons
48 After these things, Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph is coming to you,” Israel strengthened himself and sat up in the bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me. 4 And He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into a multitude of people and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’
5 “Now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 Any children you have after them will be yours and will be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to get to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Whose are these?”
9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.”
And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face, but here God has also shown me your children.”
12 So Joseph took them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15 He blessed Joseph and said,
“God, before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who fed me
all my life long to this day,
16 the angel who redeemed me from all evil,
bless the boys;
let them be called by my name,
and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude
in the midst of the earth.”
17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
19 His father refused and said, “I know it, my son, I know it. He will also become a people, and he will also be great, but truly his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will bless, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”
So he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and return you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to you one portion more than your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary arose and quickly went into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 She spoke out with a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 Indeed, as soon as the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a completion to those things which were told her by the Lord.”
The Song of Mary
46 And Mary said:
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded
the low estate of His servant;
surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His name.
50 His mercy is on those who fear Him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has pulled down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of low degree.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
in remembrance of His mercy,
55 as He spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”[a]
56 Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her own house.
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 Now Elizabeth’s time had come to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and cousins heard how the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they were calling him Zechariah, after the name of his father. 60 But his mother answered, “Not so! He shall be called John.”
61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.”
62 They made signs to his father, asking what he would have him called. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he spoke and praised God. 65 Fear came on all who lived around them. And all these facts were talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66 All those who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What kind of child will he be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.
The Prophecy of Zechariah
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,
70 as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets of long ago,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us,
72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember His holy covenant,
73 the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,
74 to grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,
might serve Him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our lives.
76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to His people
by the remission of their sins,
78 through the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise from on high has visited us;
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he remained in the wilderness until the day of his appearance to Israel.
14 “Man who is born of a woman
is of few days and full of trouble.
2 He comes forth like a flower and withers;
he flees like a shadow and does not continue.
3 Do You open Your eyes on such a one,
and bring me into judgment with You?
4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
There is no one.
5 Seeing his days are determined,
the number of his months are with You;
You have appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
6 turn from him, that he may rest,
until he, as a hired man, finishes his day.
7 “For there is hope for a tree,
if it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
and that its tender shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root may grow old in the earth,
and its stump may die in the ground,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and bring forth boughs like a plant.
10 But man dies and wastes away;
yes, man gives up his breath, and where is he?
11 As the waters disappear from the sea,
and the flood shrivels and dries up,
12 so man lies down and does not rise;
until the heavens are no more, he will not awake,
nor be raised out of his sleep.
13 “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave,
that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past,
that You would appoint me a set time
and remember me!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my service I will wait,
until my relief comes.
15 You will call, and I will answer You;
You will long for the work of Your hands.
16 For now You number my steps;
do You not observe my sin?
17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag,
and You plaster over my iniquity.
18 “Surely the mountain falling comes to nothing,
and the rock is removed out of its place.
19 The waters wear away the stones;
its overflow washes away the dust of the earth;
and You destroy the hope of man.
20 You prevail forever against him, and he passes on;
changing his countenance, You send him away.
21 His sons come to honor, and he does not know it;
and they are brought low, but he does not perceive it.
22 But his flesh on him will have pain,
and his soul within him will mourn.”
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
2 Brothers, when I came to you, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The Revelation by God’s Spirit
6 Yet we speak wisdom among those who are mature, although not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age knew it. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written,
“Eye has not seen,
nor ear heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[a]
10 But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God. 13 These things also we proclaim, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things. Yet he himself is not judged by anyone. 16 For
“who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct Him?”[b]
But we have the mind of Christ.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.