M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
I. Introduction: The Oppression of the Israelites in Egypt
Chapter 1
Jacob’s Descendants in Egypt. 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel[a] who, accompanied by their households, entered into Egypt with Jacob: 2 [b]Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants[c] was seventy.(A) Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and that whole generation died.(B) 7 But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific. They multiplied and became so very numerous that the land was filled with them.[d]
The Oppression. 8 (C)Then a new king, who knew nothing of Joseph,[e] rose to power in Egypt. 9 He said to his people, “See! The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are! 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase;[f] otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.”
11 Accordingly, they set supervisors over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor.(D) Thus they had to build for Pharaoh[g] the garrison cities of Pithom and Raamses. 12 Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians began to loathe the Israelites. 13 So the Egyptians reduced the Israelites to cruel slavery, 14 making life bitter for them with hard labor, at mortar[h] and brick and all kinds of field work—cruelly oppressed in all their labor.
Command to the Midwives. 15 The king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives for the Hebrew women, look on the birthstool:[i] if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she may live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt had ordered them, but let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this, allowing the boys to live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are robust and give birth before the midwife arrives.” 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and grew very numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, God built up families for them. 22 Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “Throw into the Nile every boy that is born,(E) but you may let all the girls live.”
Chapter 4
The Temptation of Jesus.[a] 1 (A)Filled with the holy Spirit,[b] Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert 2 for forty days,[c] to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.(B) 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’”(C) 5 Then he took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a single instant. 6 The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.(D) 7 All this will be yours, if you worship me.” 8 Jesus said to him in reply, “It is written:
‘You shall worship the Lord, your God,
and him alone shall you serve.’”(E)
9 [d]Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written:
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’(F)
11 and:
‘With their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”(G)
12 Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’”(H) 13 [e]When the devil had finished every temptation,(I) he departed from him for a time.
IV. The Ministry in Galilee
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry. 14 (J)Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread[f] throughout the whole region.(K) 15 He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
The Rejection at Nazareth.[g](L) 16 He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom[h] into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read 17 and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,[i]
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.(M)
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”
20 Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him. 21 He said to them, “Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”[j] 22 And all spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”(N) 23 He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb, ‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say, ‘Do here in your native place the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”[k] 24 And he said, “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. 25 [l]Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land.(O) 26 [m]It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath(P) in the land of Sidon. 27 Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”(Q) 28 When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. 29 They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
The Cure of a Demoniac. 31 [n]Jesus then went down to Capernaum,(R) a town of Galilee.(S) He taught them on the sabbath, 32 and they were astonished at his teaching because he spoke with authority.(T) 33 In the synagogue there was a man with the spirit of an unclean demon,(U) and he cried out in a loud voice, 34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?[o] I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”(V) 35 Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet! Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm. 36 They were all amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” 37 And news of him spread everywhere in the surrounding region.
The Cure of Simon’s Mother-in-Law. 38 (W)After he left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.[p] Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever, and they interceded with him about her. 39 He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately and waited on them.
Other Healings.(X) 40 At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him. He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. 41 [q]And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.”(Y) But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Messiah.
Jesus Leaves Capernaum.(Z) 42 [r]At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. 43 But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent.”(AA) 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.[s]
Chapter 18
Bildad’s Second Speech. 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 When will you put an end to words?
Reflect, and then we can have discussion.
3 Why are we accounted like beasts,
equal to them in your sight?
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
shall the earth be neglected on your account
or the rock be moved out of its place?
5 Truly, the light of the wicked is extinguished;
the flame of his fire casts no light.
6 In his tent light is darkness;
the lamp above him goes out.(A)
7 His vigorous steps are hemmed in,
his own counsel casts him down.
8 A net catches him by the feet,
he wanders into a pitfall.
9 A trap seizes him by the heel,
a snare lays hold of him.
10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground,
a netting for him on the path.
11 On every side terrors frighten him;(B)
they harry him at each step.
12 His strength is famished,
disaster is ready at his side,
13 His skin is eaten to the limbs,
the firstborn of Death[a] eats his limbs.
14 He is plucked from the security of his tent;
and marched off to the king of terrors.[b]
15 Fire lodges in his tent,
over his abode brimstone is scattered.
16 Below, his roots dry up,
and above, his branches wither.
17 His memory perishes from the earth,(C)
and he has no name in the countryside.
18 He is driven from light into darkness,
and banished from the world.
19 He has neither offshoot nor offspring among his people,
no survivor where once he dwelt.
20 Those who come after shall be appalled at his fate;
those who went before are seized with horror.
21 So is it then with the dwelling of the impious;
such is the place of the one who does not know God!
B. Moral Disorders[a]
Chapter 5
A Case of Incest.[b] 1 It is widely reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans—a man living with his father’s wife.(A) 2 And you are inflated with pride.[c] Should you not rather have been sorrowful? The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst. 3 I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit, have already, as if present, pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed,(B) 4 in the name of [our] Lord Jesus: when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan[d] for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.(C)
6 (D)Your boasting is not appropriate. Do you not know that a little yeast[e] leavens all the dough? 7 [f]Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough, inasmuch as you are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.(E) 8 Therefore, let us celebrate the feast, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.(F)
9 [g]I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people, 10 not at all referring to the immoral of this world or the greedy and robbers or idolaters; for you would then have to leave the world.(G) 11 But I now write to you not to associate with anyone named a brother, if he is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber, not even to eat with such a person.(H) 12 For why should I be judging outsiders? Is it not your business to judge those within? 13 God will judge those outside. “Purge the evil person from your midst.”(I)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.