M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Gifts for the Holy Things
25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me gifts. You will accept gifts for me from everyone who is willing to give. 3 Here is the list of the things that you should accept from the people: gold, silver, and bronze; 4 blue, purple, and red yarn and fine linen; goat hair, 5 ram skins dyed red, and fine leather; acacia wood; 6 oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and spices for the sweet-smelling incense. 7 Also accept onyx stones and other jewels to be put on the ephod and the judgment pouch.
The Holy Tent
8 “The people will build a holy place for me. Then I can live among them. 9 I will show you what the Holy Tent and everything in it should look like. Build everything exactly as I show you.
The Box of the Agreement
10 “Use acacia wood and build a special box. This Holy Box must be 2 1/2 cubits[a] long, 1 1/2 cubits[b] wide, and 1 1/2 cubits high. 11 Use pure gold to cover the Box inside and out. Put gold trim around the edges of the Box. 12 Make four gold rings for carrying the Box. Put the gold rings on the four corners, two rings on each side. 13 Then make poles for carrying the Box. These poles should be made from acacia wood and covered with gold. 14 Put the poles through the rings on the corners of the Box. Use these poles to carry the Box. 15 These poles should always stay in the rings of the Box. Don’t take the poles out.
16 “I will give you the Agreement. Put it into this Box. 17 Then make a lid, the mercy-cover. Make it from pure gold. Make it 2 1/2 cubits long and 1 1/2 cubits wide. 18 Then make two Cherub angels and put them on each end of the mercy-cover. Hammer gold to make these angels. 19 Put one angel on one end of the mercy-cover, and put the other angel on the other end. Join the angels together with the mercy-cover to make one piece. 20 The wings of these angels should spread up toward the sky. The angels should cover the Box with their wings and should face each other, looking toward the mercy-cover.
21 “I will give you the Agreement. Put it in the Box, and put the mercy-cover on the Box. 22 When I meet with you, I will speak from between the Cherub angels on the mercy-cover that is on the Box of the Agreement. From that place, I will give all my commands to the Israelites.
The Table
23 “Make a table from acacia wood. The table must be 2 cubits[c] long, 1 cubit[d] wide, and 1 1/2 cubits high. 24 Cover the table with pure gold and put gold trim around it. 25 Then make a frame 1 handbreadth[e] wide around the table. And put gold trim on the frame. 26 Then make four gold rings and put them on the four corners of the table, where the four legs are. 27 Put the rings close to the frame around the top of the table. These rings will hold the poles used to carry the table. 28 Use acacia wood to make the poles, and cover them with gold. The poles are for carrying the table. 29 Make the plates, the spoons, the pitchers, and the bowls from pure gold. The pitchers and bowls will be used for pouring the drink offerings. 30 Put the special bread[f] before me on the table. It must always be there in front of me.
The Lampstand
31 “Then you must make a lampstand. Use pure gold and hammer it to make the base and the shaft.[g] Make flowers, buds, and petals from pure gold. Join all these things together into one piece.
32 “The lampstand must have six branches—three branches on one side and three branches on the other. 33 Each branch must have three flowers. Make these flowers like almond flowers with buds and petals. 34 Make four more flowers for the lampstand. These flowers must be made like almond flowers with buds and petals. 35 There will be six branches on the lampstand—three branches coming out from each side of the shaft. Make a flower with buds and petals below each of the three places where the branches join the shaft. 36 The whole lampstand with the flowers and branches must be made from pure gold. All this gold must be hammered and joined together into one piece. 37 Then make seven lamps[h] to go on the lampstand. These lamps will give light to the area in front of the lampstand. 38 Use pure gold to make the lamp snuffers and trays. 39 Use 75 pounds[i] of pure gold to make the lampstand and the things to be used with it. 40 Be very careful to make everything exactly the way I showed you on the mountain.
Jesus Talks to a Woman in Samaria
4 Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard the report that he was making and baptizing more followers than John. 2 (But really, Jesus himself did not baptize anyone; his followers baptized people for him.) 3 So he left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 On the way to Galilee, he had to go through the country of Samaria.
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar, which is near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his long trip, so he sat down beside the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 This happened while his followers were in town buying some food.
9 The woman answered, “I am surprised that you ask me for a drink! You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman!” (Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered, “You don’t know what God can give you. And you don’t know who I am, the one who asked you for a drink. If you knew, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get that living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with. 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob? He is the one who gave us this well. He drank from it himself, and his sons and all his animals drank from it too.”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But anyone who drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give people will be like a spring flowing inside them. It will bring them eternal life.”
15 The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again and won’t have to come back here to get more water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go get your husband and come back.”
17 The woman answered, “But I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 That’s because, although you have had five husbands, the man you live with now is not your husband. That much was the truth.”
19 The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.[b] 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship.”
21 Jesus said, “Believe me, woman! The time is coming when you will not have to be in Jerusalem or on this mountain to worship the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship something you don’t understand. We Jews understand what we worship, since salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. In fact, that time is now here. And these are the kind of people the Father wants to be his worshipers. 24 God is spirit. So the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (He is the one called Christ.) “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said, “He is talking to you now—I am the Messiah.”
27 Just then Jesus’ followers came back from town. They were surprised because they saw Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told the people there, 29 “A man told me everything I have ever done. Come see him. Maybe he is the Messiah.” 30 So the people left the town and went to see Jesus.
31 While the woman was in town, Jesus’ followers were begging him, “Teacher, eat something!”
32 But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 So the followers asked themselves, “Did someone already bring him some food?”
34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what the one who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do. 35 When you plant, you always say, ‘Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.’ But I tell you, open your eyes, and look at the fields. They are ready for harvesting now. 36 Even now, the people who harvest the crop are being paid. They are gathering crops for eternal life. So now the people who plant can be happy together with those who harvest. 37 It is true when we say, ‘One person plants, but another person harvests the crop.’ 38 I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work for. Others did the work, and you get the profit from their work.”
39 Many of the Samaritan people in that town believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had told them about him. She had told them, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 The Samaritans went to Jesus. They begged him to stay with them. So he stayed there two days. 41 Many more people became believers because of the things he said.
42 The people said to the woman, “First we believed in Jesus because of what you told us. But now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know now that he really is the one who will save the world.”
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son(A)
43 Two days later Jesus left and went to Galilee. 44 (Jesus had said before that a prophet is not respected in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the people there welcomed him. They had been at the Passover festival in Jerusalem and had seen everything he did there.
46 Jesus went to visit Cana in Galilee again. Cana is where he had changed the water into wine. One of the king’s important officials lived in the city of Capernaum. This man’s son was sick. 47 The man heard that Jesus had come from Judea and was now in Galilee. So he went to Jesus and begged him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, who was almost dead. 48 Jesus said to him, “You people must see miraculous signs and wonders before you will believe in me.”
49 The king’s official said, “Sir, come before my little son dies.”
50 Jesus answered, “Go. Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus told him and went home. 51 On the way home, the man’s servants came and met him. They said, “Your son is well.”
52 The man asked, “What time did my son begin to get well?”
They answered, “It was about one o’clock yesterday when the fever left him.”
53 The father knew that one o’clock was the same time that Jesus had said, “Your son will live.” So the man and everyone in his house believed in Jesus.
54 That was the second miraculous sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Introduction
1 These are the proverbs of Solomon, the son of David and king of Israel. 2 They will help you learn to be wise, to accept correction, and to understand wise sayings. 3 They will teach you to develop your mind in the right way. You will learn to do what is right and to be honest and fair. 4 These proverbs will make even those without education smart. They will teach young people what they need to know and how to use what they have learned. 5 Even the wise could become wiser by listening to these proverbs. They will gain understanding and learn to solve difficult problems. 6 These sayings will help you understand proverbs, stories with hidden meanings, words of the wise, and other difficult sayings.
7 Knowledge begins with fear and respect for the Lord, but stubborn fools hate wisdom and refuse to learn.
Advice to a Son
8 My son,[a] listen to your father when he corrects you, and don’t ignore what your mother teaches you. 9 What you learn from your parents will bring you honor and respect, like a crown or a gold medal.[b]
10 My son, those who love to do wrong will try to trick you. Don’t listen to them. 11 They will say, “Come with us. Let’s hide and beat to death anyone who happens to walk by. 12 We will swallow them whole, as the grave swallows the dying. 13 We will take everything they have and fill our houses with stolen goods. 14 So join us, and you can share everything we get.”
15 My son, don’t follow them. Don’t even take the first step along that path. 16 They run to do something evil, and they cannot wait to kill someone.
17 You cannot trap birds with a net if they see you spreading it out. 18 But evil people cannot see the trap they set for themselves. 19 This is what happens to those who are greedy. Whatever they get destroys them.
The Good Woman—Wisdom
20 Listen! Wisdom[c] is shouting in the streets. She is crying out in the marketplace. 21 She is calling out where the noisy crowd gathers:
22 “Fools, how long will you love being ignorant? How long will you make fun of wisdom? How long will you hate knowledge? 23 I wanted to tell you everything I knew and give you all my knowledge, but you didn’t listen to my advice and teaching.
24 “I tried to help, but you refused to listen. I offered my hand, but you turned away from me. 25 You ignored my advice and refused to be corrected. 26 So I will laugh at your troubles and make fun of you when what you fear happens. 27 Disasters will strike you like a storm. Problems will pound you like a strong wind. Trouble and misery will weigh you down.
28 “Fools will call for me, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me. 29 That is because they hated knowledge. They refused to fear and respect the Lord. 30 They ignored my advice and refused to be corrected. 31 They filled their lives with what they wanted. They went their own way, so they will get what they deserve.
32 “Fools die because they refuse to follow wisdom. They are content to follow their foolish ways, and that will destroy them. 33 But those who listen to me will live in safety and comfort. They will have nothing to fear.”
Final Warnings and Greetings
13 This will be my third time to visit you. And remember, “For every complaint there must be two or three people to say that they know it is true.”[a] 2 When I was with you the second time, I gave a warning to those who had sinned. I am not there now, but I am giving another warning to them and to anyone else who has sinned: When I come to you again, I will punish you. 3 You want proof that Christ is speaking through me. My proof is that he is not weak in dealing with you but is showing his power among you. 4 It is true that Christ was weak when he was killed on the cross, but he lives now by God’s power. It is also true that we share his weakness, but in dealing with you, we will be alive in him by God’s power.
5 Look closely at yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. Don’t you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Of course, if you fail the test, he is not in you. 6 But I hope you will see that we have not failed the test. 7 We pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Our concern here is not for people to see that we have passed the test in our work with you. Our main concern is that you do what is right, even if it looks as if we have failed the test. 8 We cannot do anything that is against the truth but only what promotes the truth. 9 We are happy to be weak if you are strong. And this is what we pray—that your lives will be made completely right again. 10 I’m writing this before I come so that when I am there I will not have to use my authority to punish you. The Lord gave me that authority to make you stronger, not to destroy you.
11 Now, brothers and sisters, be filled with joy. Try to make everything right, and do what I have asked you to do. Agree with each other, and live in peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
12 Give each other the special greeting of God’s people.[b] All of God’s holy people here send you their greetings.
13 I pray that you will enjoy the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship[c] of the Holy Spirit.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International