M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
2 1-2 There were at this time a Hebrew fellow and girl of the tribe of Levi who married and had a family, and a baby son was born to them. When the baby’s mother saw that he was an unusually beautiful baby, she hid him at home for three months. 3 Then, when she could no longer hide him, she made a little boat from papyrus reeds, waterproofed it with tar, put the baby in it, and laid it among the reeds along the river’s edge. 4 The baby’s sister watched from a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Well, this is what happened: A princess, one of Pharaoh’s daughters, came down to bathe in the river, and as she and her maids were walking along the riverbank, she spied the little boat among the reeds and sent one of the maids to bring it to her. 6 When she opened it, there was a baby! And he was crying. This touched her heart. “He must be one of the Hebrew children!” she said.
7 Then the baby’s sister approached the princess and asked her, “Shall I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 “Yes, do!” the princess replied. So the little girl rushed home and called her mother!
9 “Take this child home and nurse him for me,” the princess instructed the baby’s mother, “and I will pay you well!” So she took him home and nursed him.
10 Later, when he was older, she brought him back to the princess and he became her son. She named him Moses (meaning “to draw out”[a]) because she had drawn him out of the water.
11 One day, many years later[b] when Moses had grown up and become a man, he went out to visit his fellow Hebrews and saw the terrible conditions they were under. During his visit he saw an Egyptian knock a Hebrew to the ground—one of his own Hebrew brothers! 12 Moses looked this way and that to be sure no one was watching, then killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
13 The next day as he was out visiting among the Hebrews again, he saw two of them fighting. “What are you doing, hitting your own Hebrew brother like that?” he said to the one in the wrong.
14 “And who are you?” the man demanded. “I suppose you think you are our prince and judge! And do you plan to kill me as you did that Egyptian yesterday?” When Moses realized that his deed was known, he was frightened. 15 And sure enough, when Pharaoh heard about it he ordered Moses arrested and executed. But Moses ran away into the land of Midian. As he was sitting there beside a well, 16 seven girls who were daughters of the priest of Midian came to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father’s flocks. 17 But the shepherds chased the girls away. Moses then came to their aid and rescued them from the shepherds and watered their flocks.
18 When they returned to their father, Reuel, he asked, “How did you get the flocks watered so quickly today?”
19 “An Egyptian defended us against the shepherds,” they told him; “he drew water for us and watered the flocks.”
20 “Well, where is he?” their father demanded. “Did you just leave him there? Invite him home for supper.”
21 Moses eventually decided to accept Reuel’s invitation to live with them, and Reuel gave him one of the girls, Zipporah, as his wife. 22 They had a baby named Gershom (meaning “foreigner”), for he said, “I am a stranger in a foreign land.”
23 Several years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelis were groaning beneath their burdens, in deep trouble because of their slavery, and weeping bitterly before the Lord. He heard their cries from heaven, 24 and remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring their descendants back into the land of Canaan.[c] 25 Looking down upon them, he knew that the time had come for their rescue.[d]
5 One day as he was preaching on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the Word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats standing at the water’s edge while the fishermen washed their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push out a little into the water, so that he could sit in the boat and speak to the crowds from there.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets and you will catch a lot of fish!”
5 “Sir,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.”
6 And this time their nets were so full that they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.
8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, sir, please leave us—I’m too much of a sinner for you to have around.” 9 For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him, 10 and his partners too—James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus replied, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for the souls of men!”
11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and went with him.
12 One day in a certain village he was visiting, there was a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell to the ground before him, face downward in the dust, begging to be healed.
“Sir,” he said, “if you only will, you can clear me of every trace of my disease.”
13 Jesus reached out and touched the man and said, “Of course I will. Be healed.” And the leprosy left him instantly! 14 Then Jesus instructed him to go at once without telling anyone what had happened and be examined by the Jewish priest. “Offer the sacrifice Moses’ law requires for lepers who are healed,” he said. “This will prove to everyone that you are well.” 15 Now the report of his power spread even faster and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But he often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.
17 One day while he was teaching, some Jewish religious leaders[a] and teachers of the Law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was upon him.
18-19 Then—look! Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus but couldn’t reach him. So they went up on the roof above him, took off some tiles, and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his sleeping mat, right in front of Jesus.
20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “My friend, your sins are forgiven!”
21 “Who does this fellow think he is?” the Pharisees and teachers of the Law exclaimed among themselves. “This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he replied, “Why is it blasphemy? 23-24 I, the Messiah,[b] have the authority on earth to forgive sins. But talk is cheap—anybody could say that. So I’ll prove it to you by healing this man.” Then, turning to the paralyzed man, he commanded, “Pick up your stretcher and go on home, for you are healed!”
25 And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped to his feet, picked up his mat and went home praising God! 26 Everyone present was gripped with awe and fear. And they praised God, remarking over and over again, “We have seen strange things today.”
27 Later on as Jesus left the town he saw a tax collector—with the usual reputation for cheating—sitting at a tax collection booth. The man’s name was Levi. Jesus said to him, “Come and be one of my disciples!” 28 So Levi left everything, sprang up, and went with him.
29 Soon Levi held a reception in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests were there.
30 But the Pharisees and teachers of the Law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples about his eating with such notorious sinners.
31 Jesus answered them, “It is the sick who need a doctor, not those in good health. 32 My purpose is to invite sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think themselves already good enough.”
33 Their next complaint was that Jesus’ disciples were feasting instead of fasting. “John the Baptist’s disciples are constantly going without food and praying,” they declared, “and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are yours wining and dining?”
34 Jesus asked, “Do happy men fast? Do wedding guests go hungry while celebrating with the groom? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be killed;[c] then they won’t want to eat.”
36 Then Jesus used this illustration: “No one tears off a piece of a new garment to make a patch for an old one. Not only will the new garment be ruined, but the old garment will look worse with a new patch on it! 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the new wine bursts the old skins, ruining the skins and spilling the wine. 38 New wine must be put into new wineskins. 39 But no one after drinking the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. ‘The old ways are best,’ they say.”
19 The reply of Job:
2 “How long are you going to trouble me, and try to break me with your words? 3 Ten times now you have declared I am a sinner. Why aren’t you ashamed to deal with me so harshly? 4 And if indeed I was wrong, you have yet to prove it. 5 You think yourselves so great? Then prove my guilt!
6 “The fact of the matter is that God has overthrown me and caught me in his net. 7 I scream for help and no one hears me. I shriek, but get no justice. 8 God has blocked my path and turned my light to darkness. 9 He has stripped me of my glory and removed the crown from my head. 10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am done for. He has destroyed all hope. 11 His fury burns against me; he counts me as an enemy. 12 He sends his troops to surround my tent.
13 “He has sent away my brothers and my friends. 14 My relatives have failed me; my friends have all forsaken me. 15 Those living in my home, even my servants, regard me as a stranger. I am like a foreigner to them. 16 I call my servant, but he doesn’t come; I even beg him! 17 My own wife and brothers refuse to recognize me. 18 Even young children despise me. When I stand to speak, they mock.
19 “My best friends abhor me. Those I loved have turned against me. 20 I am skin and bones and have escaped death by the skin of my teeth.
21 “Oh, my friends, pity me, for the angry hand of God has touched me. 22 Why must you persecute me as God does? Why aren’t you satisfied with my anguish? 23-24 Oh, that I could write my plea with an iron pen in the rock forever.
25 “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. 26 And I know that after this body has decayed, this body shall see God![a] 27 Then he will be on my side! Yes, I shall see him, not as a stranger, but as a friend! What a glorious hope!
28 “How dare you go on persecuting me, as though I were proven guilty? 29 I warn you, you yourselves are in danger of punishment for your attitude.”
6 How is it that when you have something against another Christian, you “go to law” and ask a heathen court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other Christians to decide which of you is right? 2 Don’t you know that someday we Christians are going to judge and govern the world? So why can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves? 3 Don’t you realize that we Christians will judge and reward the very angels in heaven? So you should be able to decide your problems down here on earth easily enough. 4 Why then go to outside judges who are not even Christians?[a] 5 I am trying to make you ashamed. Isn’t there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these arguments? 6 But, instead, one Christian sues another and accuses his Christian brother in front of unbelievers.
7 To have such lawsuits at all is a real defeat for you as Christians. Why not just accept mistreatment and leave it at that? It would be far more honoring to the Lord to let yourselves be cheated. 8 But, instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong, cheating others, even your own brothers.
9-10 Don’t you know that those doing such things have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterers or homosexuals—will have no share in his Kingdom. Neither will thieves or greedy people, drunkards, slanderers, or robbers. 11 There was a time when some of you were just like that but now your sins are washed away, and you are set apart for God; and he has accepted you because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.
12 I can do anything I want to if Christ has not said no,[b] but some of these things aren’t good for me. Even if I am allowed to do them, I’ll refuse to if I think they might get such a grip on me that I can’t easily stop when I want to. 13 For instance, take the matter of eating. God has given us an appetite for food and stomachs to digest it. But that doesn’t mean we should eat more than we need. Don’t think of eating as important because someday God will do away with both stomachs and food.
But sexual sin is never right: our bodies were not made for that but for the Lord, and the Lord wants to fill our bodies with himself. 14 And God is going to raise our bodies from the dead by his power just as he raised up the Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts and members of Christ? So should I take part of Christ and join him to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don’t you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute she becomes a part of him and he becomes a part of her? For God tells us in the Scripture that in his sight the two become one person. 17 But if you give yourself to the Lord, you and Christ are joined together as one person.
18 That is why I say to run from sex sin. No other sin affects the body as this one does. When you sin this sin it is against your own body. 19 Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. 20 For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.