M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Joseph Interprets Two Dreams
40 After these things happened, two of the king’s officers displeased the king—the man who served wine to the king and the king’s baker. 2 The king became angry with his officer who served him wine and his baker, 3 so he put them in the prison of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was kept. 4 The captain of the guard put the two prisoners in Joseph’s care, and they stayed in prison for some time.
5 One night both the king’s officer who served him wine and the baker had a dream. Each had his own dream with its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw they were worried. 7 He asked the king’s officers who were with him, “Why do you look so unhappy today?”
8 The two men answered, “We both had dreams last night, but no one can explain their meaning to us.”
Joseph said to them, “God is the only One who can explain the meaning of dreams. Tell me your dreams.”
9 So the man who served wine to the king told Joseph his dream. He said, “I dreamed I saw a vine, and 10 on the vine were three branches. I watched the branches bud and blossom, and then the grapes ripened. 11 I was holding the king’s cup, so I took the grapes and squeezed the juice into the cup. Then I gave it to the king.”
12 Then Joseph said, “I will explain the dream to you. The three branches stand for three days. 13 Before the end of three days the king will free you, and he will allow you to return to your work. You will serve the king his wine just as you did before. 14 But when you are free, remember me. Be kind to me, and tell the king about me so I can get out of this prison. 15 I was taken by force from the land of the Hebrews, and I have done nothing here to deserve being put in prison.”
16 The baker saw that Joseph’s explanation of the dream was good, so he said to him, “I also had a dream. I dreamed there were three bread baskets on my head. 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked food for the king, but the birds were eating this food out of the basket on my head.”
18 Joseph answered, “I will tell you what the dream means. The three baskets stand for three days. 19 Before the end of three days, the king will cut off your head! He will hang your body on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh.”
20 Three days later, on his birthday, the king gave a feast for all his officers. In front of his officers, he released from prison the chief officer who served his wine and the chief baker. 21 The king gave his chief officer who served wine his old position, and once again he put the king’s cup of wine into the king’s hand. 22 But the king hanged the baker on a pole. Everything happened just as Joseph had said it would, 23 but the officer who served wine did not remember Joseph. He forgot all about him.
Jesus Teaches About Divorce
10 Then Jesus left that place and went into the area of Judea and across the Jordan River. Again, crowds came to him, and he taught them as he usually did.
2 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you to do?”
4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write out divorce papers and send her away.”[a]
5 Jesus said, “Moses wrote that command for you because you were stubborn. 6 But when God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’[b] 7 ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife,[c] 8 and the two will become one body.’[d] So there are not two, but one. 9 God has joined the two together, so no one should separate them.”
10 Later, in the house, his followers asked Jesus again about the question of divorce. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery against her. 12 And the woman who divorces her husband and marries another man is also guilty of adultery.”
Jesus Accepts Children
13 Some people brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch them, but his followers told them to stop. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was upset and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these children. 15 I tell you the truth, you must accept the kingdom of God as if you were a little child, or you will never enter it.” 16 Then Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them, and blessed them.
A Rich Young Man’s Question
17 As Jesus started to leave, a man ran to him and fell on his knees before Jesus. The man asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to have life forever?”
18 Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 19 You know the commands: ‘You must not murder anyone. You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not steal. You must not tell lies about your neighbor. You must not cheat. Honor your father and mother.’”[e]
20 The man said, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these things since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus, looking at the man, loved him and said, “There is one more thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
22 He was very sad to hear Jesus say this, and he left sorrowfully, because he was rich.
23 Then Jesus looked at his followers and said, “How hard it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The followers were amazed at what Jesus said. But he said again, “My children, it is very hard[f] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 The followers were even more surprised and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For people this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
28 Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”
29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms for me and for the Good News 30 will get more than they left. Here in this world they will have a hundred times more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields. And with those things, they will also suffer for their belief. But in this age they will have life forever. 31 Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.”
Jesus Talks About His Death
32 As Jesus and the people with him were on the road to Jerusalem, he was leading the way. His followers were amazed, but others in the crowd who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took the twelve apostles aside and began to tell them what was about to happen in Jerusalem. 33 He said, “Look, we are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law. They will say that he must die, and they will turn him over to the non-Jewish people, 34 who will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and crucify him. But on the third day, he will rise to life again.”
Two Followers Ask Jesus a Favor
35 Then James and John, sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want to ask you to do something for us.”
36 Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 They answered, “Let one of us sit at your right side and one of us sit at your left side in your glory in your kingdom.”
38 Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I must drink? And can you be baptized with the same kind of baptism that I must go through?”[g]
39 They answered, “Yes, we can.”
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the same cup that I will drink, and you will be baptized with the same baptism that I must go through. 40 But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When the other ten followers heard this, they began to be angry with James and John.
42 Jesus called them together and said, “The other nations have rulers. You know that those rulers love to show their power over the people, and their important leaders love to use all their authority. 43 But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. 44 Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you like a slave. 45 In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”
Jesus Heals a Blind Man
46 Then they came to the town of Jericho. As Jesus was leaving there with his followers and a great many people, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking by, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many people warned the blind man to be quiet, but he shouted even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Tell the man to come here.”
So they called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get to your feet. Jesus is calling you.” 50 The blind man jumped up, left his coat there, and went to Jesus.
51 Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man answered, “Teacher, I want to see.”
52 Jesus said, “Go, you are healed because you believed.” At once the man could see, and he followed Jesus on the road.
Job Answers Eliphaz
6 Then Job answered:
2 “I wish my suffering could be weighed
and my misery put on scales.
3 My sadness would be heavier than the sand of the seas.
No wonder my words seem careless.
4 The arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks in their poison;
God’s terrors are gathered against me.
5 A wild donkey does not bray when it has grass to eat,
and an ox is quiet when it has feed.
6 Tasteless food is not eaten without salt,
and there is no flavor in the white of an egg.
7 I refuse to touch it;
such food makes me sick.
8 “How I wish that I might have what I ask for
and that God would give me what I hope for.
9 How I wish God would crush me
and reach out his hand to destroy me.
10 Then I would have this comfort
and be glad even in this unending pain,
because I would know I did not reject the words of the Holy One.
11 “I do not have the strength to wait.
There is nothing to hope for,
so why should I be patient?
12 I do not have the strength of stone;
my flesh is not bronze.
13 I have no power to help myself,
because success has been taken away from me.
14 “They say, ‘A person’s friends should be kind to him when he is in trouble,
even if he stops fearing the Almighty.’
15 But my brothers cannot be counted on.
They are like streams that do not always flow,
streams that sometimes run over.
16 They are made dark by melting ice
and rise with melting snow.
17 But they stop flowing in the dry season;
they disappear when it is hot.
18 Travelers turn away from their paths
and go into the desert and die.
19 The groups of travelers from Tema look for water,
and the traders of Sheba look hopefully.
20 They are upset because they had been sure;
when they arrive, they are disappointed.
21 You also have been no help.
You see something terrible, and you are afraid.
22 I have never said, ‘Give me a gift.
Use your wealth to pay my debt.
23 Save me from the enemy’s power.
Buy me back from the clutches of cruel people.’
24 “Teach me, and I will be quiet.
Show me where I have been wrong.
25 Honest words are painful,
but your arguments prove nothing.
26 Do you mean to correct what I say?
Will you treat the words of a troubled man as if they were only wind?
27 You would even gamble for orphans
and would trade away your friend.
28 “But now please look at me.
I would not lie to your face.
29 Change your mind; do not be unfair;
think again, because my innocence is being questioned.
30 What I am saying is not wicked;
I can tell the difference between right and wrong.
10 Brothers and sisters, the thing I want most is for all the Jews to be saved. That is my prayer to God. 2 I can say this about them: They really try to follow God, but they do not know the right way. 3 Because they did not know the way that God makes people right with him, they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God’s way of making people right. 4 Christ ended the law so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.
5 Moses writes about being made right by following the law. He says, “A person who obeys these things will live because of them.”[a] 6 But this is what the Scripture says about being made right through faith: “Don’t say to yourself, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’” (That means, “Who will go up to heaven and bring Christ down to earth?”) 7 “And do not say, ‘Who will go down into the world below?’” (That means, “Who will go down and bring Christ up from the dead?”) 8 This is what the Scripture says: “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.”[b] That is the teaching of faith that we are telling. 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. 10 We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.”[c] 12 That Scripture says “anyone” because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all and gives many blessings to all who trust in him, 13 as the Scripture says, “Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.”[d]
14 But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them; 15 and before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, “How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.”[e] 16 But not all the Jews accepted the good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?”[f] 17 So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.
18 But I ask: Didn’t people hear the Good News? Yes, they heard—as the Scripture says:
“Their message went out through all the world;
their words go everywhere on earth.” Psalm 19:4
19 Again I ask: Didn’t the people of Israel understand? Yes, they did understand. First, Moses says:
“I will use those who are not a nation to make you jealous.
I will use a nation that does not understand to make you angry.” Deuteronomy 32:21
20 Then Isaiah is bold enough to say:
“I was found by those who were not asking me for help.
I made myself known to people who were not looking for me.” Isaiah 65:1
21 But about Israel God says,
“All day long I stood ready to accept
people who disobey and are stubborn.” Isaiah 65:2
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.