M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

He threatens the wicked rich people. He exhorts to patience, to beware of swearing, to acknowledge our faults to one another, to pray for one another, and one to labour to bring another to the truth.

5 Come now, ye rich people. Weep and howl over your wretchedness that will come upon you. ² Your riches are corrupt; your garments are moth eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver are cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and will eat your flesh as it were fire.

You have heaped treasure together in your last days. ⁴ Behold, the wages of the labourers who have reaped down your fields (which wages you kept back by fraud) cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and in wantonness. You have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and have killed the just, and he has not resisted you.

⁷ Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until it receives the early and the latter rain. ⁸ You also, be patient therefore, and settle your hearts. For the coming of the Lord draws near.

⁹ Do not grudge against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge stands before the door.

¹⁰ Take, my brethren, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering adversity, and of long patience. ¹¹ Behold, we count them happy who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have known what end the Lord made. For the Lord is very pitiful and merciful.

¹² But above all things, my brethren, swear not – neither by heaven, nor by earth, nor by any other oath. Let your yes be yes, and your no no, lest you fall into hypocrisy.

¹³ If any of you be vexed with sorrows, let him pray. If any of you be merry, let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ If any be diseased among you, let him call for the elders of the congregation, and let them pray over him, and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.

¹⁶ Confess your faults to one another. And pray for one another, that you may be healed: The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man mortal just as we are, and he prayed in his prayer that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruits.

¹⁹ Brethren, if any of you err from the truth and another converts him, ²⁰ let him know that he who turned the sinner from going astray out of his way will save a soul from death, and will hide the multitude of sins.

The end of the epistle
of Saint James.

He heals the centurion’s servant, raises up the widow’s son from death to life, and answers the disciples that John the Baptist sent to him. He commends John, and reproves the Jews for their unfaithfulness. He eats with the Pharisee. The woman washes his feet with her tears, and he forgives her her sins.

7 When Jesus had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum. ² And a certain centurion’s servant was sick and ready to die, whom he made much of. ³ And when the centurion heard of Jesus, he sent to him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And they came to Jesus and besought him urgently, saying, He is worthy that you should do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.

⁶ And Jesus went with them. And when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not think myself worthy to come to you. But speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. ⁸ For I likewise am a man under authority, and have under me soldiers. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

⁹ When Jesus heard this, he marvelled at him, and turned about and said to the people that followed him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel.

¹⁰ And those who had been sent turned back home again, and found the servant that had been sick, whole.

¹¹ And it happened after that, that he went into a town called Nain. And many of his disciples went with him, and crowds of people. ¹² When he came near to the gate of the town, behold, there was a dead man being carried out. He had been the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a large group of townsfolk were with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Weep not. ¹⁴ And he went and touched the bier, and those who were bearing it stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise! ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus delivered him to his mother.

¹⁶ And there came a fear upon them all. And they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is risen among us, and God has visited his people.

¹⁷ And this talk of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the regions that lie round about.

¹⁸ And the disciples of John reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹ And John called to him two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus, saying, Are you he that was to come, or should we look for another?

²⁰ When the men came to Jesus, they said, John the Baptist sent us to you, saying, Are you he that was to come, or should we wait for another?

²¹ And at that same time, Jesus cured many people of their infirmities and diseases, and of evil spirits; and to many who were blind, he gave sight. ²² And Jesus answered and said to John’s disciples, Go your ways and tell John what things you have seen and heard – how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead arise. To the poor, the glad tidings are preached; ²³ and happy is he who is not offended by me.

²⁴ When the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak to the people about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? Did you go to see a reed shaken with the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who are gorgeously apparelled and live delicately are in kings’ courts. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, to prepare your way before you. ²⁸ For I say to you, among the children of women there is no greater prophet than John. Nevertheless, one who is less in the kingdom of God, is greater than he.

²⁹ And all the people who heard, and the publicans, justified God, and were baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and scribes rejected the counsel of God against themselves, and were not baptized by him.

³¹ And the Lord said, To what shall I liken the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have mourned to you, and you have not wept. ³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say he has the devil. ³⁴ The Son of man has come, and eats and drinks, and you say, Here is a man who is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners. ³⁵ Yet wisdom is justified by her children.

³⁶ And one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house and sat down to food. ³⁷ And behold, a woman in that town who was a sinner, as soon as she knew that Jesus sat at food in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of oyntment. ³⁸ And she stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with oyntment.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke within himself, saying, If this man were a prophet, he would surely know who and what manner of woman this is that touches him; for she is a sinner. ⁴⁰ And Jesus responded and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Teacher, say on.

⁴¹ There was a certain lender who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they had nothing to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them, tell me, will love him most?

⁴³ Simon answered and said, I suppose the one that was forgiven most.

And he said to him, You have truly judged.

⁴⁴ And Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered into your house and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶ My head with oil you did not anoint, but she has anointed my feet with oyntment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, many sins are forgiven her, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven less, loves less.

⁴⁸ And he said to her, Your sins are forgiven you.

⁴⁹ And those who sat at food with him began to say within themselves, Who is this, who forgives sins in this way?

⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.