M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Simeon and Levi Kill the Men of Shechem

34 Dinah was the daughter Leah had by Jacob. Dinah went out to visit the women of the land. ² Hamor, the Hivite, was the ruler of that area. When his son Shechem saw Dinah, he took her and raped her. ³ Then he longed for Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He fell in love with her and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me that young woman. I want her to be my wife.”

⁵ Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been raped. His sons were in the fields with his livestock. So he did nothing about it until they came home.

⁶ Then Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. ⁷ Jacob’s sons had come in from the fields. They came as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and very angry. Shechem had done a very terrible thing. He had forced Jacob’s daughter to have sex with him. He had done something that should never be done in Israel.

⁸ But Hamor said to Jacob and his sons, “My son Shechem wants your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. ⁹ Let your people and ours get married to each other. Give us your daughters as our wives. You can have our daughters as your wives. ¹⁰ You can live among us. Here is the land. Live in it. Trade in it. Buy property in it.”

¹¹ Then Shechem spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers. He said, “I want to please you. I’ll give you anything you ask for. ¹² Make the price for the bride as high as you want to. I’ll pay you whatever you ask. Just give me the young woman. I want to marry her.”

¹³ Their sister Dinah had been raped. So Jacob’s sons lied to Shechem and his father Hamor. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We can’t do it. We can’t give our sister to a man who isn’t circumcised. That would bring shame on us. ¹⁵ We’ll agree, but only on one condition. You will have to become like us. You will have to circumcise all your males. ¹⁶ Then we’ll give you our daughters as your wives. And we’ll take your daughters as our wives. We’ll live among you and become one big family with you. ¹⁷ But if you won’t agree to be circumcised, then we’ll take our sister and go.”

¹⁸ Their offer seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹ The young man was the most honored of all his father’s family. He didn’t lose any time in doing what Dinah’s father and brothers had said, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. ²⁰ Hamor and his son Shechem went to the city gate. They spoke to the other men there. ²¹ “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land. Let them trade in it. The land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters. And they can marry ours. ²² But they will agree to live with us as one big family only on one condition. All our males must be circumcised, just as they are. ²³ Won’t their livestock and their property belong to us? Won’t all their animals become ours? So let’s say yes to them. Then they’ll live among us.”

²⁴ All the men who went out through the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So every male in the city was circumcised.

²⁵ Three days later, all of them were still in pain. Then Simeon and Levi took their swords. They were Jacob’s sons and Dinah’s brothers. They attacked the city when the people didn’t expect it. They killed every male. ²⁶ They also used their swords to kill Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. ²⁷ Jacob’s other sons found the dead bodies. They robbed the city where their sister had been raped. ²⁸ They took the flocks and herds and donkeys. They took everything in the city and in the fields. ²⁹ They carried everything away. And they took all the women and children. They took away everything in the houses.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me. Now I’m like a very bad smell to the Canaanites and Perizzites who live in this land. There aren’t many of us. They may join together against me and attack me. Then I and my family will be destroyed.”

³¹ But they replied, “Should Shechem have treated our sister like a prostitute?”

Jesus Heals a Man Controlled by Demons

5 They went across the Sea of Galilee to the area of the Gerasenes. ² Jesus got out of the boat. A man controlled by an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ The man lived in the tombs. No one could keep him tied up anymore. Not even a chain could hold him. ⁴ His hands and feet had often been chained. But he tore the chains apart. And he broke the iron cuffs on his ankles. No one was strong enough to control him. ⁵ Night and day he screamed among the tombs and in the hills. He cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran to him. He fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God, what do you want with me? Swear to God that you won’t hurt me!” ⁸ This was because Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

⁹ Then Jesus asked the demon, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied. “There are many of us.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs. Let us go into them.” ¹³ Jesus allowed it. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. There were about 2,000 pigs in the herd. The whole herd rushed down the steep bank. They ran into the lake and drowned.

¹⁴ Those who were tending the pigs ran off. They told the people in the town and countryside what had happened. The people went out to see for themselves. ¹⁵ Then they came to Jesus. They saw the man who had been controlled by many demons. He was sitting there. He was now dressed and thinking clearly. All this made the people afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told them what had happened to the man. They told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to beg Jesus to leave their area.

¹⁸ Jesus was getting into the boat. The man who had been controlled by demons begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him. He said, “Go home to your own people. Tell them how much the Lord has done for you. Tell them how kind he has been to you.” ²⁰ So the man went away. In the area known as the Ten Cities, he began to tell how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Jesus Heals a Dead Girl and a Suffering Woman

²¹ Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee in a boat. It landed at the other side. There a large crowd gathered around him. ²² Then a man named Jairus came. He was a synagogue leader. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He begged Jesus, “Please come. My little daughter is dying. Place your hands on her to heal her. Then she will live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large group of people followed. They crowded around him. ²⁵ A woman was there who had a sickness that made her bleed. It had lasted for 12 years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal, even though she had gone to many doctors. She had spent all the money she had. But she was getting worse, not better. ²⁷ Then she heard about Jesus. She came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. ²⁸ She thought, “I just need to touch his clothes. Then I will be healed.” ²⁹ Right away her bleeding stopped. She felt in her body that her suffering was over.

³⁰ At once Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd. He asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ “You see the people,” his disciples answered. “They are crowding against you. And you still ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³² But Jesus kept looking around. He wanted to see who had touched him. ³³ Then the woman came and fell at his feet. She knew what had happened to her. She was shaking with fear. But she told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Dear woman, your faith has healed you. Go in peace. You are free from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus. He was the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶ Jesus heard what they were saying. He told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Just believe.”

³⁷ He let only Peter, James, and John, the brother of James, follow him. ³⁸ They came to the home of the synagogue leader. There Jesus saw a lot of confusion. People were crying and sobbing loudly. ³⁹ He went inside. Then he said to them, “Why all this confusion and sobbing? The child is not dead. She is only sleeping.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.

He made them all go outside. He took only the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him. And he went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand. Then he said to her, “Talitha koum!” This means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” ⁴² The girl was 12 years old. Right away she stood up and began to walk around. They were totally amazed at this. ⁴³ Jesus gave strict orders not to let anyone know what had happened. And he told them to give her something to eat.

The Story Begins

1 There was a man who lived in the land of Uz. His name was Job. He was honest. He did what was right. He had respect for God and avoided evil. ² Job had seven sons and three daughters. ³ He owned 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels. He owned 500 pairs of oxen and 500 donkeys. He also had a large number of servants. He was the most important man among all the people in the east.

⁴ His sons used to give feasts in their homes on their birthdays. They would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ The time for enjoying good food would end. Then Job would make plans for his children to be made pure and “clean.” He would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them. He would do it early in the morning. He would think, “Perhaps my children have sinned. Maybe they have spoken evil things against God in their hearts.” That’s what Job always did for his children when he felt they had sinned.

⁶ One day angels came to the Lord. Satan also came with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered, “From traveling all around the earth. I’ve been going from one end of it to the other.”

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you thought about my servant Job? There isn’t anyone on earth like him. He is honest. He does what is right. He has respect for God and avoids evil.”

⁹ “You always give Job everything he needs,” Satan replied. “That’s why he has respect for you. ¹⁰ Haven’t you guarded him and his family? Haven’t you taken care of everything he has? You have blessed everything he does. His flocks and herds are spread all through the land. ¹¹ But now reach out your hand and strike down everything he has. Then I’m sure he will speak evil things against you. In fact, he’ll do it right in front of you.”

¹² The Lord said to Satan, “All right. I am handing everything he has over to you. But do not touch the man himself.”

Then Satan left the Lord and went on his way.

¹³ One day Job’s sons and daughters were at their oldest brother’s house. They were enjoying good food and drinking wine. ¹⁴ During that time a messenger came to Job. He said, “The oxen were plowing. The donkeys were eating grass near them. ¹⁵ Then the Sabeans attacked us and carried off the animals. They killed some of the servants with their swords. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁶ While he was still speaking, a second messenger came. He said, “God sent lightning from the sky. It struck the sheep and killed them. It burned up some of the servants. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁷ While he was still speaking, a third messenger came. He said, “The Chaldeans separated themselves into three groups. They attacked your camels and carried them off. They killed the rest of the servants with their swords. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

¹⁸ While he was still speaking, a fourth messenger came. He said, “Your sons and daughters were at their oldest brother’s house. They were enjoying good food and drinking wine. ¹⁹ Suddenly a strong wind blew in from the desert. It struck the four corners of the house. The house fell down on your children. Now all of them are dead. I’m the only one who has escaped to tell you!”

²⁰ After Job heard all these reports, he got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped the Lord. ²¹ He said,

²² In spite of everything, Job didn’t sin by blaming God for doing anything wrong.

Peace and Hope

5 We have been made right with God because of our faith. Now we have peace with him because of our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through faith in Jesus we have received God’s grace. In that grace we stand. We are full of joy because we expect to share in God’s glory. ³ And that’s not all. We are full of joy even when we suffer. We know that our suffering gives us the strength to go on. ⁴ The strength to go on produces character. Character produces hope. ⁵ And hope will never bring us shame. That’s because God’s love has been poured into our hearts. This happened through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ At just the right time Christ died for ungodly people. He died for us when we had no power of our own. ⁷ It is unusual for anyone to die for a godly person. Maybe someone would be willing to die for a good person. ⁸ But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ The blood of Christ has made us right with God. So we are even more sure that Jesus will save us from God’s anger. ¹⁰ Once we were God’s enemies. But we have been brought back to him because his Son has died for us. Now that God has brought us back, we are even more secure. We know that we will be saved because Christ lives. ¹¹ And that is not all. We are full of joy in God because of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of him, God has brought us back to himself.

Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

¹² Sin entered the world because one man sinned. And death came because of sin. Everyone sinned, so death came to all people.

¹³ Before the law was given, sin was in the world. This is certainly true. But people are not judged for sin when there is no law. ¹⁴ Death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. Death ruled even over those who did not sin as Adam did. He broke God’s command. But Adam also became a pattern of the Messiah. The Messiah was the one who was going to come.

¹⁵ God’s gift can’t be compared with Adam’s sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But it was even more sure that God’s grace would also come through one man. That man is Jesus Christ. God’s gift of grace was more than enough for the whole world. ¹⁶ The result of God’s gift is different from the result of Adam’s sin. That one sin brought God’s judgment. But after many sins, God’s gift made people right with him. ¹⁷ One man sinned, and death ruled over all people because of his sin. What will happen is even more sure than this. Those who receive the rich supply of God’s grace will rule with Christ. They will rule in his kingdom. They have received God’s gift and have been made right with him. This will happen because of what the one man, Jesus Christ, has done.

¹⁸ So one man’s sin brought guilt to all people. In the same way, one right act made people right with God. That one right act gave life to all people. ¹⁹ Many people were made sinners because one man did not obey. But one man did obey. That is why many people will be made right with God.

²⁰ The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more. ²¹ Sin ruled and brought death. But grace rules in the lives of those who are right with God. The grace of God brings eternal life. That’s because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done.