M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joseph’s Dreams
37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,(A) the land of Canaan.(B)
2 This is the account(C) of Jacob’s family line.
Joseph,(D) a young man of seventeen,(E) was tending the flocks(F) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah(G) and the sons of Zilpah,(H) his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report(I) about them.
3 Now Israel(J) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,(K) because he had been born to him in his old age;(L) and he made an ornate[a] robe(M) for him.(N) 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him(O) and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream,(P) and when he told it to his brothers,(Q) they hated him all the more.(R) 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves(S) of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”(T)
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”(U) And they hated him all the more(V) because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream,(W) and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars(X) were bowing down to me.”(Y)
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers,(Z) his father rebuked(AA) him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”(AB) 11 His brothers were jealous of him,(AC) but his father kept the matter in mind.(AD)
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,(AE) 13 and Israel(AF) said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.(AG) Come, I am going to send you to them.”
“Very well,” he replied.
14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers(AH) and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.(AI)
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.(AJ)’”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.(AK)
19 “Here comes that dreamer!(AL)” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns(AM) and say that a ferocious animal(AN) devoured him.(AO) Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”(AP)
21 When Reuben(AQ) heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.(AR) 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern(AS) here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.(AT)
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe(AU) he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern.(AV) The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites(AW) coming from Gilead.(AX) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm(AY) and myrrh,(AZ) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.(BA)
26 Judah(BB) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?(BC) 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,(BD) our own flesh and blood.(BE)” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite(BF) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern(BG) and sold(BH) him for twenty shekels[b] of silver(BI) to the Ishmaelites,(BJ) who took him to Egypt.(BK)
29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.(BL) 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”(BM)
31 Then they got Joseph’s robe,(BN) slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.(BO) 32 They took the ornate robe(BP) back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal(BQ) has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”(BR)
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes,(BS) put on sackcloth(BT) and mourned for his son many days.(BU) 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him,(BV) but he refused to be comforted.(BW) “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son(BX) in the grave.(BY)” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites[c](BZ) sold Joseph(CA) in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.(CB)
That Which Defiles(A)
7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled,(B) that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.(C) 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])(D)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders(E) instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’[b](F)
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”(G)
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions!(H) 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d](I) and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e](J) 11 But you say(K) that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God(L) by your tradition(M) that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him(N) about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods(O) clean.)(P)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed,(Q) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith(R)
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g](S) He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit(T) came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man(U)
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre(V) and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee(W) and into the region of the Decapolis.[h](X) 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,(Y) and they begged Jesus to place his hand on(Z) him.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit(AA) and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven(AB) and with a deep sigh(AC) said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.(AD)
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.(AE) But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Job Speaks
3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.(A) 2 He said:
3 “May the day of my birth perish,
and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’(B)
4 That day—may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine on it.
5 May gloom and utter darkness(C) claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm it.
6 That night—may thick darkness(D) seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.
7 May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy(E) be heard in it.
8 May those who curse days[a] curse that day,(F)
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.(G)
9 May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,(H)
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?(I)
12 Why were there knees to receive me(J)
and breasts that I might be nursed?
13 For now I would be lying down(K) in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest(L)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,(M)
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,(N)
15 with princes(O) who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.(P)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,(Q)
like an infant who never saw the light of day?(R)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,(S)
and there the weary are at rest.(T)
18 Captives(U) also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver’s(V) shout.(W)
19 The small and the great are there,(X)
and the slaves are freed from their owners.
20 “Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,(Y)
21 to those who long for death that does not come,(Z)
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,(AA)
22 who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?(AB)
23 Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,(AC)
whom God has hedged in?(AD)
24 For sighing(AE) has become my daily food;(AF)
my groans(AG) pour out like water.(AH)
25 What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded(AI) has happened to me.(AJ)
26 I have no peace,(AK) no quietness;
I have no rest,(AL) but only turmoil.”(AM)
Released From the Law, Bound to Christ
7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(B) 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(D) through the body of Christ,(E) that you might belong to another,(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law(H) were at work in us,(I) so that we bore fruit for death.(J) 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(L)
The Law and Sin
7 What shall we say, then?(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[b](P) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(R) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(S) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(T) deceived me,(U) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(V)
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(W) to bring about my death,(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(Y) sold(Z) as a slave to sin.(AA) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(AB) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(AC) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(AD) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c](AE) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(AF) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(AG)
21 So I find this law at work:(AH) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(AI) I delight in God’s law;(AJ) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(AK) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(AL) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(AM) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(AN)
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(AO) but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.(AP)
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