M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

He sends out the twelve apostles to preach. Herod hears about him. He feeds 5,000 men with five loaves and two fishes. The disciples confess him to be the Son of God. He transfigures himself upon the mount, delivers the possessed, and teaches his disciples to be lowly. They desire vengeance, but he reproves them.

9 Then he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to heal diseases. ² And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to cure the sick. ³ And he said to them, Take nothing to support you along the way; neither staff nor bag, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats. ⁴ And whatever house you enter into, there make your stay, and from there take your leave. ⁵ And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet, for a testimony against them.

⁶ And they went out, and went through the towns preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

⁷ And Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Jesus, and was disconcerted because it was said by some that John was risen again from death, ⁸ and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by some that one of the old prophets was risen up again. ⁹ And Herod said, John I have beheaded; who then is this of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.

¹⁰ And the apostles returned and told Jesus what great things they had done. And he took them and went aside into a solitary place near to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ But the people knew of it, and followed him. And he received them, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. ¹² And when the day began to wear away, then the twelve came and said to him, Send the people away, so that they can go into the towns and villages round about, and find lodging and get food, for we are in a remote place here. ¹³ But he said to them, You give them to eat. And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fishes, unless we go and buy food for all these people.

¹⁴ And there were about 5,000 men. And he said to his disciples, Have them sit down in groups of fifty. ¹⁵ And they did so, and made them all sit down. ¹⁶ And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looked up to heaven, and blessed them, and broke, and gave to the disciples to set before the people. ¹⁷ And they ate and were all satisfied. And there were taken up of what remained to them twelve baskets full of leftovers.

¹⁸ And it so was, as he was apart praying, that his disciples were with him, and he asked them, saying, Who do the people say I am? ¹⁹ They answered and said, John the Baptist, or some say Elijah, and some say one of the old prophets is risen again. ²⁰ He said to them, Who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, You are the Christ of God. ²¹ And Jesus warned and instructed them that they should tell no one this thing, ²² saying that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be reproved by the elders and by the high priests and scribes, and be slain, and the third day rise again.

²³ And he said to them all, If any person would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ Whosoever would save his life shall lose it, but whosoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it. ²⁵ For what does it profit a man to win the whole world, if he loses himself, or runs in harm’s way? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my sayings, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his own glory, and in the glory of his Father, and of the holy angels. ²⁷ And I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God.

²⁸ And it followed about eight days after those sayings that Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and went up into a mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was changed, and his garment was white and shone. ³⁰ And behold, two men talked with him; and they were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared gloriously, and spoke of his departing from this life, which he was to carry through to the end at Jerusalem.

³² Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep. And when they awoke, they saw his glory, and two men standing with him. ³³ And as the men were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us, being here. Let us make three tabernacles: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. But he did not know what he was saying. ³⁴ While he thus spoke, there came a cloud that covered them, and they were afraid when they came under the cloud. ³⁵ And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my dear Son. Hear him!

³⁶ And as soon as the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no one in those days any of those things that they had seen.

³⁷ And the next day, as they came down from the hill, a large crowd met him. ³⁸ And a man from the crowd cried out, saying, Teacher, I beg you, look upon my son, for he is all that I have. ³⁹ And see, a spirit takes him, and suddenly he shouts out. And it tears him so that he foams at the mouth, and with much pain departs from him when he has battered him. ⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.

⁴¹ Jesus answered and said, O generation without faith and perverse, how long shall I be with you and suffer you? Bring your son here.

⁴² And as the boy was yet coming, the fiend rent him and tore him. ⁴³ And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him to his father. And they were all amazed at the mighty power of God.

While everyone marvelled at all the things that he did, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴ Let these words sink down into your ears: the time will come when the Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men. ⁴⁵ But they did not comprehend what that saying meant. It was hid from them, so that they did not understand it. And they were afraid to ask him about it.

⁴⁶ Then there arose a dispute among them, who should be the greatest.  ⁴⁷ When Jesus perceived the thoughts of their hearts, he took a child and set him close by himself ⁴⁸ and said to them, Whoever receives this child in my name, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives him who sent me. For he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.

⁴⁹ And John answered and said, Master, we saw a man casting out devils in your name, and we told him not to, because he does not follow with us. ⁵⁰ And Jesus said to him, Forbid him not. For whoever is not against us, is with us.

⁵¹ And it followed, when the time was come that he should be received up, then he set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before him. ⁵² And they went and entered into a city of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. ⁵³ But the Samaritans would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When his disciples James and John saw that, they said, Lord, would you have us call fire down from heaven to consume them, even as Elijah did?

⁵⁵ Jesus turned about and rebuked them, saying, You know not what manner of spirit you are of. The Son of man has not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

⁵⁶ And they set off for another town. ⁵⁷ And as he walked in the road, a certain man said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. ⁵⁸ Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

⁵⁹ And he said to another, Follow me. And the man said, Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father. ⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their dead; but as for you, go and preach the kingdom of God.

⁶¹ And another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first go and bid farewell to the people who are at home at my house. ⁶² Jesus said to him, No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

He puts them in fear with examples from the Old Testament, and exhorts them to lead godly lives. Of the Lord’s Supper.

10 Brethren, I would not want you to be ignorant of this: that our fathers were all under a cloud, and all passed through the sea, ² and were all baptized under Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ and did all eat of the same spiritual food, ⁴ and did all drink of the same spiritual drink. And they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, which rock was Christ. ⁵ But in many of them, God had no delight. For they were overthrown in the wilderness. ⁶ These are examples for us, so that we will not lust after evil things like they did.

⁷ Neither be worshippers of images like some of them were, as it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up again to play. ⁸ Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and in one day 23,000 were destroyed. ⁹ Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. ¹⁰ Neither murmur as some of them murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer.

¹¹ All these things happened to them for examples, and were written to make us mindful – we upon whom the ends of the world have come. ¹² Therefore let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall.

¹³ No trial has taken you but such as follows the nature of man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tried above your strength, but will in the midst of the trial make a way to escape out.

¹⁴ And so, my dear beloveds, flee from the worshipping of idols. ¹⁵ I speak as to people who have discernment. Judge what I say. ¹⁶ Is not the cup of blessing that we bless, partaking of the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break, partaking of the body of Christ? ¹⁷ Because we, though we be many, yet are one bread and one body, inasmuch as we are all partakers of one bread. ¹⁸ Observe Israel which walks carnally; are not those who eat of the sacrifice, partakers of the altar?

¹⁹ What am I saying then? That the idol is anything? or that what is offered to idols is anything? ²⁰ No, but I say that these things that the Gentiles offer, they offer to devils, and not to God. And I do not want you to have fellowship with the devils. ²¹ You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and of the cup of the devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord’s Table and of the table of devils. ²² Or shall we provoke the Lord? Are we stronger than he?

All things are lawful to me, but all things are not helpful. ²³ All things are lawful to me, but all things do not edify. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own profit, but let each seek the welfare of the other. ²⁵ Whatever is sold in the market, eat it, and ask no questions for conscience’ sake. ²⁶ For the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it. ²⁷ If any unbelievers invite you to a feast and if you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience’ sake. ²⁸ But if anyone says to you, This is dedicated to idols, then do not eat of it – for the sake of the one who told you and for injury of conscience.

The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it.

²⁹ Conscience, I say: not yours, but the conscience of that other. For why should my liberty be judged by another man’s conscience? ³⁰ For if I share in the meal with thanks, why am I ill spoken of for the thing I give thanks for? ³¹ Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³² See that you give no occasion of evil, neither to the Jews nor yet to the Gentiles, nor to the congregation of God – ³³ even as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of many, so that they might be saved.