M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 17
Water from the Rock. 1 From the wilderness of Sin the whole Israelite community journeyed by stages, as the Lord directed, and encamped at Rephidim.(A)
But there was no water for the people to drink, 2 (B)and so they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to a test?” 3 Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why then did you bring us up out of Egypt? To have us die of thirst with our children and our livestock?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” 5 The Lord answered Moses: Go on ahead of the people, and take along with you some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the Nile. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.(C) Moses did this, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 The place was named Massah and Meribah,[a] because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”(D)
Battle with Amalek. 8 Then Amalek[b] came and waged war against Israel in Rephidim.(E) 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us, and tomorrow go out and engage Amalek in battle. I will be standing on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle while Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. 12 Moses’ hands, however, grew tired; so they took a rock and put it under him and he sat on it. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady until sunset. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses: Write this down in a book as something to be remembered, and recite it to Joshua:(F) I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. 15 Moses built an altar there, which he named Yahweh-nissi;[c] 16 for he said, “Take up the banner of the Lord![d] The Lord has a war against Amalek through the ages.”
Chapter 20[a]
The Authority of Jesus Questioned.(A) 1 One day as he was teaching the people in the temple area and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and scribes, together with the elders, approached him 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Or who is the one who gave you this authority?”(B) 3 He said to them in reply, “I shall ask you a question. Tell me, 4 was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin?”(C) 5 They discussed this among themselves, and said, “If we say, ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’(D) 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ then all the people will stone us, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know from where it came. 8 Then Jesus said to them, “Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
The Parable of the Tenant Farmers.[b] 9 (E)Then he proceeded to tell the people this parable. “[A] man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and then went on a journey for a long time.(F) 10 At harvest time he sent a servant(G) to the tenant farmers to receive some of the produce of the vineyard. But they beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. 11 So he proceeded to send another servant, but him also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. 12 Then he proceeded to send a third, but this one too they wounded and threw out. 13 The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I shall send my beloved son; maybe they will respect him.’(H) 14 But when the tenant farmers saw him they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him that the inheritance may become ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.[c] What will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and put those tenant farmers to death and turn over the vineyard to others.” When the people heard this, they exclaimed, “Let it not be so!” 17 But he looked at them and asked, “What then does this scripture passage mean:
‘The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?(I)
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be dashed to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 19 The scribes and chief priests sought to lay their hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people, for they knew that he had addressed this parable to them.(J)
Paying Taxes to the Emperor.(K) 20 [d]They watched him closely and sent agents pretending to be righteous who were to trap him in speech,(L) in order to hand him over to the authority and power of the governor. 21 They posed this question to him, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is correct, and you show no partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.(M) 22 Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar or not?”[e] 23 Recognizing their craftiness he said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius;[f] whose image and name does it bear?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” 25 So he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”(N) 26 They were unable to trap him by something he might say before the people, and so amazed were they at his reply that they fell silent.
The Question About the Resurrection.(O) 27 Some Sadducees,[g] those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to him,(P) 28 [h]saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’(Q) 29 Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. 30 Then the second 31 and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” 34 Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage; 35 but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.[i] 37 That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;(R) 38 and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”(S) 39 Some of the scribes said in reply, “Teacher, you have answered well.” 40 And they no longer dared to ask him anything.(T)
The Question About David’s Son.[j] 41 (U)Then he said to them, “How do they claim that the Messiah is the Son of David? 42 For David himself in the Book of Psalms says:(V)
‘The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand
43 till I make your enemies your footstool.”’
44 Now if David calls him ‘lord,’ how can he be his son?”
Denunciation of the Scribes.(W) 45 Then, within the hearing of all the people, he said to [his] disciples, 46 “Be on guard against the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and love greetings in marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.(X) 47 They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
Chapter 35
1 [a]Then Elihu answered and said:
2 Do you think it right to say,
“I am in the right, not God”?(A)
3 When you ask what it profits you,
“What advantage do I have from not sinning?”(B)
4 I have words for a reply to you[b]
and your friends as well.
5 Look up to the skies and see;
behold the heavens high above you.
6 If you sin, what do you do to God?
Even if your offenses are many, how do you affect him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give him,
or what does he receive from your hand?(C)
8 Your wickedness affects only someone like yourself,
and your justice, only a fellow human being.
9 In great oppression people cry out;
they call for help because of the power of the great,
10 No one says, “Where is God, my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 Teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?”
12 Though thus they cry out, he does not answer
because of the pride of the wicked.
13 But it is idle to say God does not hear
or that the Almighty does not take notice.
14 Even though you say, “You take no notice of it,”[c]
the case is before him; with trembling wait upon him.
15 But now that you have done otherwise, God’s anger punishes,
nor does he show much concern over a life.
16 Yet Job to no purpose opens his mouth,
multiplying words without knowledge.(D)
Chapter 5
Our Future Destiny. 1 (A)For we know that if our earthly dwelling,[a] a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven. 2 [b]For in this tent we groan, longing to be further clothed with our heavenly habitation(B) 3 if indeed, when we have taken it off,[c] we shall not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent we groan and are weighed down, because we do not wish to be unclothed[d] but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.(C) 5 Now the one who has prepared us for this very thing is God,(D) who has given us the Spirit as a first installment.[e]
6 [f]So we are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.(E) 9 Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. 10 For we must all appear[g] before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.(F)
The Ministry of Reconciliation. 11 [h]Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we are clearly apparent to God, and I hope we are also apparent to your consciousness.(G) 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you an opportunity to boast of us, so that you may have something to say to those who boast of external appearance rather than of the heart.(H) 13 For if we are out of our minds,[i] it is for God; if we are rational, it is for you. 14 [j]For the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all; therefore, all have died.(I) 15 He indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.(J)
16 Consequently,[k] from now on we regard no one according to the flesh; even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him so no longer. 17 (K)So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 [l]And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.(L) 20 So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.(M) 21 [m]For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,(N) so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
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.