M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob’s Fear of Esau
32 Now as Jacob went on his way, (A)the angels of God met him. 2 Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s [a]camp.” So he named that place [b](B)Mahanaim.
3 Then Jacob (C)sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of (D)Seir, the [c]country of (E)Edom. 4 He also commanded them saying, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, “I have sojourned with Laban, and (F)stayed until now; 5 (G)I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, (H)that I may find favor in your sight.”’”
6 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore (I)he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 Then Jacob was (J)greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; 8 for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and [d]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”
9 Jacob said, “O (K)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘(L)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will [e]prosper you,’ 10 [f]I am unworthy (M)of all the lovingkindness and of all the [g]faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. 11 (N)Deliver me, I pray, (O)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and [h]attack me and the (P)mothers with the children. 12 For You said, ‘(Q)I will surely [i]prosper you and (R)make your [j]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’”
13 So he spent the night there. Then he [k]selected from what [l]he had with him a (S)present for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 He delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between droves.” 17 He commanded the [m]one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” 19 Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the droves, saying, “After this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20 and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present passed on before him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.
22 Now he arose that same night and took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the (T)Jabbok. 23 He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.
Jacob Wrestles
24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man (U)wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “(V)I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27 So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28 (W)He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but [n]Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then (X)Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob named the place [o]Peniel, for he said, “(Y)I have seen God face to face, yet my [p]life has been preserved.” 31 Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over (Z)Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. 32 Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
3 (A)He (B)entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. 2 (C)They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, (D)so that they might accuse Him. 3 He *said to the man with the withered hand, “[a]Get up and come forward!” 4 And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 After (E)looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began [b]conspiring with the (F)Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
7 (G)Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and (H)a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from (I)Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of (J)Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. 9 (K)And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; 10 for He had (L)healed many, with the result that all those who had (M)afflictions pressed around Him in order to (N)touch Him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are (O)the Son of God!” 12 And He (P)earnestly warned them not to [c]tell who He was.
The Twelve Are Chosen
13 And He *went up on (Q)the mountain and *(R)summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons. 16 And He appointed the twelve: (S)Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), 17 and [d]James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of [e]James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and [f]James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the [g]Zealot; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
20 And He *came [h](T)home, and the (U)crowd *gathered again, (V)to such an extent that they could not even eat [i]a meal. 21 When (W)His own [j]people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “(X)He has lost His senses.” 22 The scribes who came down (Y)from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by [k](Z)Beelzebul,” and “(AA)He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” 23 (AB)And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in (AC)parables, “How can (AD)Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 If (AE)Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but [l]he is finished! 27 (AF)But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.
28 “(AG)Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but (AH)whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 (AI)Then His mother and His brothers *arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” 33 Answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, “(AJ)Behold My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever (AK)does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Mordecai Promoted
8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, (A)the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had disclosed (B)what he was to her. 2 (C)The king took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king, fell at his feet, wept and implored him to avert the evil scheme of Haman the Agagite and his plot which he had devised against the Jews. 4 (D)The king extended the golden scepter to Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king. 5 Then she said, “(E)If it pleases the king and if I have found favor before him and the matter seems proper to the king and I am pleasing in his sight, let it be written to revoke the (F)letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces. 6 For (G)how can I endure to see the calamity which will befall my people, and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?” 7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, (H)I have given the house of Haman to Esther, and him they have hanged on the gallows because he had stretched out his hands against the Jews.
The King’s Decree Avenges the Jews
8 Now you write to the Jews [a]as you see fit, in the king’s name, and (I)seal it with the king’s signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s signet ring (J)may not be revoked.”
9 (K)So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month Sivan), on the twenty-third [b]day; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded to the Jews, the satraps, the governors and the princes of the provinces which extended (L)from India to [c]Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to (M)every province according to its script, and to every people according to their language as well as to the Jews according to their script and their language. 10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the king’s signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on (N)horses, riding on steeds sired by the royal stud. 11 [d]In them the king granted the Jews who were in each and every city the right (O)to assemble and to defend their lives, (P)to destroy, to kill and to annihilate the entire army of any people or province which might attack them, including children and women, and (Q)to plunder their spoil, 12 on (R)one day in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month (that is, the month Adar). 13 (S)A copy of the edict to be [e]issued as law in each and every province was published to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready for this day to avenge themselves on their enemies. 14 The couriers, hastened and impelled by the king’s command, went out, riding on the royal steeds; and the decree was given out at the citadel in Susa.
15 Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king (T)in royal robes of [f]blue and white, with a large crown of gold and (U)a garment of fine linen and purple; and (V)the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. 16 For the Jews there was (W)light and gladness and joy and honor. 17 In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a [g](X)holiday. And (Y)many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.
All the World Guilty
3 Then what [a]advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that (A)they were entrusted with the (B)oracles of God. 3 What then? If (C)some [b]did not believe, their [c]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 (D)May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found (E)a liar, as it is written,
5 But if our unrighteousness [e](G)demonstrates the righteousness of God, (H)what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? ((I)I am speaking in human terms.) 6 (J)May it never be! For otherwise, how will (K)God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie (L)the truth of God abounded to His glory, (M)why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “(N)Let us do evil that good may come”? [f]Their condemnation is just.
9 What then? [g](O)Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both (P)Jews and (Q)Greeks are (R)all under sin; 10 as it is written,
“(S)There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “(T)Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“(U)The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “(V)Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “(W)Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “(X)There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the (Y)Law says, it speaks to (Z)those who are [h]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and (AA)all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because (AB)by the works [i]of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for [j](AC)through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Justification by Faith
21 But now apart [k]from the Law (AD)the righteousness of God has been manifested, being (AE)witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the (AF)righteousness of God through (AG)faith (AH)in Jesus Christ for (AI)all those [l]who believe; for (AJ)there is no distinction; 23 for all [m](AK)have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift (AL)by His grace through (AM)the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as (AN)a [n]propitiation [o](AO)in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [p]because in the (AP)forbearance of God He (AQ)passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [q]has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is (AR)boasting? It is excluded. By (AS)what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 [r]For (AT)we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works [s]of the Law. 29 Or (AU)is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed (AV)God (AW)who will justify the [t]circumcised [u]by faith and the [v]uncircumcised through faith (AX)is one.
31 Do we then nullify [w]the Law through faith? (AY)May it never be! On the contrary, we (AZ)establish the Law.
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