M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob’s Daughter Dinah is Raped
34 Some time later, Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women[a] of the land. 2 When Hamor the Hivite’s son Shechem, the regional leader, saw her, he grabbed her and raped her, humiliating her. 3 He was attached to[b] Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, since he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.[c] 4 Then Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get this young woman[d] for me to be my wife.”
5 Because Jacob learned that Shechem had dishonored his daughter Dinah while his sons were still out with their cattle on the open range, he remained silent until they returned. 6 Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor arrived to talk to Jacob. 7 Just then Jacob’s sons arrived from the field. When they heard what had happened, they were distraught with grief and livid with anger toward Shechem,[e] because he had committed a disgraceful deed in Israel by forcing Jacob’s daughter to have sex, an act that never should have happened.
8 But Hamor said this: “My son is deeply attracted to your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9 Intermarry with us. Give your daughters to us and take our sons for yourselves. 10 Live with us anywhere you want.[f] Live, trade, and grow rich in it.”
11 Shechem also addressed Dinah’s[g] father and brothers. He told them, “If you’ll just approve me, I’ll give whatever you ask of me. 12 No matter how big or how extensive your demands are for a dowry and wedding presents from me, I’ll provide whatever you ask. Only give me the young lady to be my wife.”
Jacob’s Sons Plot Revenge
13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceptively, because Shechem had dishonored their sister Dinah. 14 They told them, “We can’t do this. We can’t give our sister to a man who isn’t circumcised, because that would be insulting to us. 15 But we’ll agree to your request, only if you will become like us by circumcising every male among you. 16 Then we’ll give our daughters to you and take your daughters for ourselves, live among you, and be as a united people. 17 But if you won’t listen to us, then we’re going to take our daughter and leave.” 18 What they said pleased Hamor and his son Shechem, 19 so the young man did not delay the matter any further, since he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter.
Now Shechem was the most important person in his father’s household. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem entered the gate of their city and addressed the men of their city. 21 “These men are at peace with us,” they announced. “Therefore, let them live in the land and trade in it. Look! The land is large enough for them. Let’s take their daughters as wives for ourselves and let’s give our sons to them.
22 “However,” they added, “only on this condition will the men consent to live with us and be united as a single people with us: every male among us will have to be circumcised just as they are. 23 Shouldn’t all their cattle, acquisitions, and animals belong to us? So, let’s give our consent to them, and then they’ll live with us.”
Simeon and Levi Attack Shechem
24 All of the males who heard Hamor and his son Shechem, who had gone out to the city gate, were circumcised. 25 Three days later, while they were still in pain, Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah’s brothers, each grabbed a sword and entered the city unannounced, intending to kill all the males. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took back Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 27 Jacob’s other sons came along afterward and plundered the city where their sister had been defiled, 28 seizing all of their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or had been left out in the field. 29 They carried off all their wealth, their children, and their wives as captives, plundering everything that remained in the houses.
30 Then Jacob told Simeon and Levi, “You have certainly stirred up trouble for me! You’ve made me despised by[h] the Canaanites and the Perizzites who live in this territory. Because I have only a few men with me, they’re going to gather themselves together and attack me until I am totally destroyed, along with my entire household!”
31 “Should he have treated our sister like a whore?” they asked in response.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man(A)
5 They arrived at the other side of the sea in the territory of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 Just as Jesus[b] stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. 4 He had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but had snapped the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one could tame him. 5 He kept screaming night and day among the tombs and on the mountainsides, and kept cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell down in front of him, 7 screaming in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of[c] God never to torment me!”
8 Jesus[d] had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus[e] asked him, “What’s your name?”
He told him, “My name is Legion,[f] because there are many of us.” 10 He kept pleading with Jesus[g] not to send them out of that region.
11 Now a large herd of pigs was grazing on a hillside nearby. 12 So the demons[h] begged him, “Send us among the pigs, so that we can go into them!” 13 So he let them do this. The unclean spirits came out of the man[i] and went into the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down a steep slope into the sea and drowned there.[j]
14 Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they reported what had happened[k] in the city and countryside. So the people[l] went to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. 16 The people who had seen it told them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. 17 So they began to beg Jesus[m] to leave their territory.
18 As Jesus[n] was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging him to let him go with him. 19 But Jesus[o] wouldn’t let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.” 20 So the man[p] left and began proclaiming in the Decapolis[q] how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was utterly amazed.
Jesus Heals a Woman and Resurrects a Girl(B)
21 When Jesus again had crossed to the other side in a boat,[r] a large crowd gathered around him by the seashore. 22 Then a synagogue leader named Jairus arrived. When he saw Jesus,[s] he fell at his feet 23 and begged him urgently, saying, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.” 24 So Jesus[t] went with him. A huge crowd kept following him and jostling him.
25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from chronic bleeding for twelve years. 26 Although she had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all of her money, she had not been helped at all, but rather grew worse. 27 Since she had heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe, 28 because she had been saying, “If I can just touch his robe, I will get well.” 29 Her bleeding stopped at once, and she felt in her body that she was healed from her illness.
30 Immediately Jesus became aware that power had gone out of him. So he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 His disciples asked him, “You see the crowd jostling you, and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 But he kept looking around to look at the woman who had done this. 33 So the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came forward fearfully, fell down trembling in front of him, and told him the whole truth.
34 He told her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed from your illness.”
35 While he was still speaking, some people[u] came from the synagogue leader’s home[v] and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?”
36 But when Jesus heard[w] what they said, he told the synagogue leader, “Stop being afraid! Just keep on believing.” 37 Jesus[x] allowed no one to go further with him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.
38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus[y] saw mass confusion. People[z] were crying and sobbing loudly. 39 He entered the house[aa] and asked them, “Why all this confusion and crying? The child isn’t dead. She’s sleeping.” 40 They laughed and laughed at him. But when he had driven all of them outside, he took the child’s father and mother, along with the men who were with him, and went into the room[ab] where the child was.
41 He took her by the hand and told her, “Talitha koum,”[ac] which means, “Young lady, I tell you, get up!” 42 The young lady got up at once and started to walk. She was twelve years old. Instantly they were overcome with astonishment. 43 But Jesus[ad] strictly ordered them not to let anyone know about this. He also told them to give her something to eat.
Job’s Faithfulness
1 There once was a man in the land of Uz[a] named Job. The man was blameless as well as upright. He feared God and kept away from evil. 2 Seven sons and three daughters had been born to him. 3 His livestock included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams[b] of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and many servants. Indeed, the man’s stature greatly exceeded that of many people who lived in the East. 4 His sons used to travel to each other’s houses in turn on a regular schedule and hold festivals, inviting their three sisters to celebrate[c] with them.
5 When their time of feasting had concluded, Job would rise early in the morning to send for them[d] and consecrate them to God.[e] He would offer a burnt offering for each one,[f] because Job thought, “Perhaps my children sinned by cursing God in their hearts.” Job did this time and again.[g]
Satan’s First Attack on Job
6 One day, divine beings[h] presented themselves to the Lord, and Satan[i] accompanied them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
In response, Satan answered the Lord, “From wandering all over the earth and walking back and forth throughout it.”
8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you considered[j] my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth. The man is blameless as well as upright. He fears God and keeps away from evil.”
9 But in response, Satan asked the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you surrounded him with a fence on all sides, around his house, and around all that he owns? You have blessed everything he puts his hands on and you have increased his livestock in the land. 11 However, stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face.”
12 Then the Lord told Satan, “Very well then, everything he owns is under your control,[k] only you may not extend your hand against him.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.
13 Some time later, when his children[l] were celebrating[m] in their oldest[n] brother’s house, 14 a messenger approached Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys were grazing nearby 15 when the Sabeans attacked, captured the servants, and killed them with swords. I alone escaped to tell you!”
16 While this messenger[o] was still speaking, another[p] came and announced, “A lightning storm struck[q] and incinerated the flock and the servants while they were eating. I alone escaped to tell you!”
17 While this messenger[r] was still speaking, another[s] came and announced, “The Chaldeans formed three companies, raided the camels, captured the servants, and killed them with swords. Only I alone escaped to tell you.”
18 While this messenger[t] was still speaking, another[u] came and announced, “Your children were celebrating[v] in their oldest[w] brother’s house 19 when a strong wind came straight out of the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people, and they died. I alone escaped to tell you!”
Job Blesses God Despite the Catastrophe
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground, bowed very low, 21 and exclaimed:
“I left my mother’s womb naked,
and I will return to God naked.
The Lord has given,
and the Lord has taken.
May the name of the Lord be blessed.”
22 Job neither sinned nor charged God with wrongdoing in all of this.
We Enjoy Peace with God through Jesus
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah.[b] 2 Through him we have also obtained[c] access by faith[d] into this grace by which we have been established, and we boast[e] because of our hope in God’s glory. 3 Not only that, but we also boast[f] in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 For at just the right time, while we were still powerless,[g] the Messiah[h] died for the ungodly. 7 For it is rare for anyone to die for a righteous person, though somebody might be brave enough to die for a good person. 8 But God demonstrates his love for us by the fact that the Messiah[i] died for us while we were still sinners.
9 Now that we have been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life! 11 Not only that, but we also continue to boast about God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah,[j] through whom we have now been reconciled.
Death in Adam, Life in the Messiah
12 Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death resulted from sin, therefore everyone dies, because everyone has sinned. 13 Certainly sin was in the world before the Law was given,[k] but no record of sin is kept when there is no Law. 14 Nevertheless, death ruled from the time of[l] Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed.[m] He is a foreshadowing of the one who would come.
15 But God’s free gift[n] is not like Adam’s offense.[o] For if many people died as the result of one man’s offense, how much more have God’s grace and the free gift given through the kindness of one man, Jesus the Messiah,[p] been showered on many people! 16 Nor can the free gift be compared to what came through the man who sinned.[q] For the sentence that followed one man’s offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift brought justification, even after many offenses. 17 For if, through one man, death ruled because of that man’s offense, how much more will those who receive such overflowing grace and the gift of righteousness rule in life because of one man, Jesus the Messiah![r]
18 Consequently, just as one offense resulted in condemnation for everyone, so one act of righteousness results in justification and life for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience many people were made sinners, so also through one man’s obedience many people will be made righteous. 20 Now the Law crept in so that the offense would increase. But where sin increased, grace increased even more, 21 so that, just as sin ruled by bringing death,[s] so also grace might rule by bringing justification[t] that results in eternal life through Jesus the Messiah,[u] our Lord.
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