M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob’s Fifth Encounter with God
35 Then Elohim said to Jacob, “Go to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there. I am the El who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
2 So Jacob said to his family and those who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods which you have, wash yourselves until you are ritually clean,[a] and change your clothes. 3 Then let’s go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to El, who answered me when I was troubled and who has been with me wherever I’ve gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that they had in their possession as well as the earrings that they had on. Jacob buried these things under the oak tree near Shechem.
5 As they moved on, Elohim made the people of the cities that were all around them terrified so that no one pursued them. 6 Jacob and all the people who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 He built an altar there and called that place El Bethel [God of the House of God]. That’s where Elohim had revealed himself to Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother. 8 Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried under the oak tree outside Bethel. So Jacob called it the Tree of Crying.
Jacob’s Sixth Encounter with God—His Name Changed to Israel
9 Then Elohim appeared once more to Jacob after he came back from Paddan Aram, and he blessed him. 10 Elohim said to him, “Your name is Jacob. You will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
11 Elohim also said to him, “I am El Shadday. Be fertile, and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from you. 12 I will give you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give this land to your descendants.” 13 Then Elohim went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. 14 So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where Elohim had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it. 15 Jacob named the place where Elohim had spoken with him Bethel [House of God].
Jacob’s [Israel’s] Sons(A)
16 Then they moved on from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and was having severe labor pains. 17 During one of her pains, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid! You’re having another son!” 18 Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Benoni [Son of My Sorrow], but his father named him Benjamin [Son of My Right Hand].
19 Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Then Jacob set up a stone as a marker for her grave. The same marker is at Rachel’s grave today.
21 Israel moved on again and put up his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went to bed with his father’s concubine[b] Bilhah, and Israel heard about it.
Jacob had 12 sons.
23 The sons of Leah were
Jacob’s firstborn Reuben, then Simeon,
Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel were
Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah were
Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah were
Gad and Asher.
These were Jacob’s sons, who were born in Paddan Aram.
27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac to Mamre’s city, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron). Abraham and Isaac had lived there for a while. 28 Isaac was 180 years old 29 when he took his last breath and died. He joined his ancestors in death at a very old age. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
The Origin of Edom(B)
36 This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom) and his descendants. 2 Esau chose his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; 3 also Basemath, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. 4 Adah gave birth to Eliphaz for Esau, and Basemath gave birth to Reuel. 5 Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born in Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the members of his household, his possessions, all his cattle, and everything he had accumulated in Canaan and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. 7 He did this because they had too many possessions to live together. There wasn’t enough pastureland for all of their livestock. 8 So Esau, who was also known as Edom, lived in the mountains of Seir.
9 This is the account of Esau and his descendants. He was the father of the people of Edom in the mountains of Seir.
10 These were the names of Esau’s sons:
Eliphaz, son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, son of Esau’s wife Basemath.
11 The sons of Eliphaz were
Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 Timna was a concubine[c] of Esau’s son Eliphaz. She gave birth to Amalek for Eliphaz. These were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.
13 These were Reuel’s sons:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon. She gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah for Esau.
15 These were the tribal leaders among Esau’s descendants:
The sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn, were
Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These were the tribal leaders descended from Eliphaz in Edom. They were the grandsons of Adah.
17 These were the tribal leaders among the descendants of Esau’s son Reuel:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the tribal leaders descended from Reuel in Edom. They were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
18 These were the tribal leaders among the descendants of Esau’s wife Oholibamah:
Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the tribal leaders descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, Anah’s daughter.
19 These were the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom), who were tribal leaders.
20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, the people living in that land:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These Horite tribal leaders were the sons of Seir in Edom.
22 The sons of Lotan were
Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was Timna.
23 These were the sons of Shobal:
Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 These were the sons of Zibeon:
Aiah and Anah. (Anah found the hot springs[d] in the desert while he was taking care of the donkeys that belonged to his father Zibeon.)
25 These were the children of Anah:
Dishon and Oholibamah, daughter of Anah.
26 These were the sons of Dishon:
Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
27 These were the sons of Ezer:
Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 These were the sons of Dishan:
Uz and Aran.
29 These were the Horite tribal leaders:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the Horite tribal leaders in the land of Seir.
31 These were the kings who ruled Edom before any king ruled the people of Israel:
32 Bela, son of Beor, ruled Edom. The name of his capital city was Dinhabah.
33 After Bela died, Jobab, son of Zerah from Bozrah, succeeded him as king.
34 After Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.
35 After Husham died, Hadad, son of Bedad succeeded him as king. Hadad defeated the Midianites in the country of Moab. The name of his capital city was Avith.
36 After Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king.
37 After Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king.
38 After Shaul died, Baal Hanan, son of Achbor, succeeded him as king.
39 After Baal Hanan, son of Achbor, died, Hadar succeeded him as king, and the name of his capital city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezahab.
40 These were the names of the tribal leaders descended from Esau, by family, place, and name:
Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel, and Iram.
These were the tribal leaders of Edom listed by the places where they lived and the property they owned.
Esau was the father of the people of Edom.
Nazareth Rejects Jesus(A)
6 Yeshua left that place and went to his hometown. His disciples followed him. 2 When the day of worship came, he began to teach in the synagogue. He amazed many who heard him. They asked, “Where did this man get these ideas? Who gave him this kind of wisdom and the ability to do such great miracles? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they took offense at him.
4 But Yeshua told them, “The only place a prophet isn’t honored is in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own house.” 5 He couldn’t work any miracles there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and cure them. 6 Their unbelief amazed him.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve(B)
Then Yeshua went around to the villages and taught.
7 He called the twelve apostles, sent them out two by two, and gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing along on the trip except a walking stick. They were not to take any food, a traveling bag, or money in their pockets. 9 They could wear sandals but could not take along a change of clothes.
10 He told them, “Whenever you go into a home, stay there until you’re ready to leave that place. 11 Wherever people don’t welcome you or listen to you, leave and shake the dust from your feet as a warning to them.”
12 So the apostles went and told people that they should turn to God and change the way they think and act. 13 They also forced many demons out of people and poured oil on many who were sick to cure them.
Recalling John’s Death(C)
14 King Herod heard about Yeshua, because Yeshua’s name had become well-known. Some people were saying, “John the Baptizer has come back to life. That’s why he has the power to perform these miracles.” 15 Others said, “He is Elijah.” Still others said, “He is a prophet like one of the other prophets.” 16 But when Herod heard about it, he said, “I had John’s head cut off, and he has come back to life!”
17 Herod had sent men who had arrested John, tied him up, and put him in prison. Herod did that for Herodias, whom he had married. (She used to be his brother Philip’s wife.) 18 John had been telling Herod, “It’s not right for you to be married to your brother’s wife.”
19 So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she wasn’t allowed to do it 20 because Herod was afraid of John. Herod knew that John was a fair and holy man, so he protected him. When he listened to John, he would become very disturbed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
21 An opportunity finally came on Herod’s birthday. Herod gave a dinner for his top officials, army officers, and the most important people of Galilee. 22 His daughter, that is, Herodias’ daughter, came in and danced. Herod and his guests were delighted with her. The king told the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 He swore an oath to her: “I’ll give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom.”
24 So she went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother said, “Ask for the head of John the Baptizer.”
25 So the girl hurried back to the king with her request. She said, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptizer on a platter at once.”
26 The king deeply regretted his promise. But because of his oath and his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her. 27 Immediately, the king sent a guard and ordered him to bring John’s head. The guard cut off John’s head in prison. 28 Then he brought the head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
29 When John’s disciples heard about this, they came for his body and laid it in a tomb.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand(D)
30 The apostles gathered around Yeshua. They reported to him everything they had done and taught. 31 So he said to them, “Let’s go to a place where we can be alone to rest for a while.” Many people were coming and going, and Yeshua and the apostles didn’t even have a chance to eat.
32 So they went away in a boat to a place where they could be alone. 33 But many people saw them leave and recognized them. The people ran from all the cities and arrived ahead of them. 34 When Yeshua got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd and felt sorry for them. They were like sheep without a shepherd. So he spent a lot of time teaching them.
35 When it was late, his disciples came to him. They said, “No one lives around here, and it’s already late. 36 Send the people to the closest farms and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”
37 Yeshua replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “Should we go and spend about a year’s wages on bread to feed them?”
38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out, they told him, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.”
39 Then he ordered all of them to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
41 After he took the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed the food. He broke the loaves apart and kept giving them to the disciples to give to the people. He also gave pieces of the two fish to everyone. 42 All of them ate as much as they wanted. 43 When they picked up the leftover pieces, they filled twelve baskets with bread and fish. 44 There were 5,000 men who had eaten the bread.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(E)
45 Yeshua quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him while he sent the people away. 46 After saying goodbye to them, he went up a mountain to pray. 47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land.
48 Yeshua saw that they were in a lot of trouble as they rowed, because they were going against the wind. Between three and six o’clock in the morning, he came to them. He was walking on the sea. He wanted to pass by them. 49 When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought, “It’s a ghost!” and they began to scream. 50 All of them saw him and were terrified.
Immediately, he said, “Calm down! It’s me. Don’t be afraid!” 51 He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples were astounded. 52 (They didn’t understand what had happened with the loaves of bread. Instead, their minds were closed.)
53 They crossed the sea, came to shore at Gennesaret, and anchored there.
54 As soon as they stepped out of the boat, the people recognized Yeshua. 55 They ran all over the countryside and began to carry the sick on cots to any place where they heard he was. 56 Whenever he would go into villages, cities, or farms, people would put their sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched his clothes was made well.
Satan Challenges the Lord Again
2 One day when the sons of Elohim came to stand in front of Yahweh, Satan the Accuser came along with them.
2 Yahweh asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered Yahweh, “From wandering all over the earth.”
3 Yahweh asked Satan, “Have you thought about my servant Job? No one in the world is like him! He is a man of integrity: He is decent, he fears Elohim, and he stays away from evil. And he still holds on to his principles. You’re trying to provoke me into ruining him for no reason.”
4 Satan answered Yahweh, “Skin for skin! Certainly, a man will give everything he has for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand, and strike his flesh and bones. I bet he’ll curse you to your face.”
6 Yahweh told Satan, “He is in your power, but you must spare his life!”
Job’s Second Crisis
7 Satan left Yahweh’s presence and struck Job with painful boils from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. 8 Job took a piece of broken pottery to scratch himself as he sat in the ashes.
9 His wife asked him, “Are you still holding on to your principles? Curse Elohim and die!”
10 He said to her, “You’re talking like a godless fool. We accept the good that Elohim gives us. Shouldn’t we also accept the bad?”
Through all this Job’s lips did not utter one sinful word.
11 When Job’s three friends heard about all the terrible things that had happened to him, each of them came from his home—Eliphaz of Teman, Bildad of Shuah, Zophar of Naama. They had agreed they would go together to sympathize with Job and comfort him.
12 When they saw him from a distance, they didn’t even recognize him. They cried out loud and wept, and each of them tore his own clothes in grief. They threw dust on their heads. 13 Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him because they saw that he was in such great pain.
No Longer Slaves to Sin, but God’s Servants
6 What should we say then? Should we continue to sin so that God’s kindness[a] will increase? 2 That’s unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin’s influence?
3 Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Yeshua were baptized into his death? 4 When we were baptized into his death, we were placed into the tomb with him. As Christ was brought back from death to life by the glorious power of the Father, so we, too, should live a new kind of life. 5 If we’ve become united with him in a death like his, certainly we will also be united with him when we come back to life as he did. 6 We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. 7 The person who has died has been freed from sin.
8 If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, who was brought back to life, will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once and for all to sin’s power. But now he lives, and he lives for God. 11 So consider yourselves dead to sin’s power but living for God in the power Christ Yeshua gives you.
12 Therefore, never let sin rule your physical body so that you obey its desires. 13 Never offer any part of your body to sin’s power. No part of your body should ever be used to do any ungodly thing. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have come back from death and are now alive. Offer all the parts of your body to God. Use them to do everything that God approves of. 14 Certainly, sin shouldn’t have power over you because you’re not controlled by God’s laws, but by God’s favor.[b]
15 Then what is the implication? Should we sin because we are not controlled by God’s laws but by God’s favor? That’s unthinkable! 16 Don’t you know that if you offer to be someone’s slave, you must obey that master? Either your master is sin, or your master is obedience. Letting sin be your master leads to death. Letting obedience be your master leads to God’s approval. 17 You were slaves to sin. But I thank God that you have become wholeheartedly obedient to the teachings which you were given. 18 Freed from sin, you were made slaves who do what God approves of.
19 I’m speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your corrupt nature. Clearly, you once offered all the parts of your body as slaves to sexual perversion and disobedience. This led you to live disobedient lives. Now, in the same way, offer all the parts of your body as slaves that do what God approves of. This leads you to live holy lives. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from doing what God approves of.
21 What did you gain by doing those things? You’re ashamed of what you used to do because it ended in death. 22 Now you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves. This results in a holy life and, finally, in everlasting life. 23 The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Yeshua our Lord.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.