M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
8 Then the Lord told Moses, “Go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me. 2 If you refuse, I will punish Egypt with frogs. 3 The Nile River will be filled with frogs. They will come up into your palace, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your officers, and onto your people. They will come into your ovens and into your baking pans. 4 The frogs will jump all over you, your people, and your officers.’”
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to hold his walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, and ponds. Make frogs come up out of the water onto the land of Egypt.”
6 So Aaron held his hand over all the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up out of the water and covered the land of Egypt. 7 The magicians used their tricks to do the same thing, so even more frogs came up onto the land of Egypt.
8 The king called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9 Moses said to the king, “Please set the time when I should pray for you, your people, and your officers. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses and will remain only in the Nile.”
10 The king answered, “Tomorrow.”
Moses said, “What you want will happen. By this you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officers, and your people. They will remain only in the Nile.”
12 After Moses and Aaron left the king, Moses asked the Lord about the frogs he had sent to the king. 13 And the Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the yards, and in the fields. 14 The Egyptians put them in piles, and the whole country began to stink. 15 But when the king saw that they were free of the frogs, he became stubborn again. He did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
The Gnats
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to raise his walking stick and strike the dust on the ground. Then everywhere in Egypt the dust will change into gnats.” 17 They did this, and when Aaron raised the walking stick that was in his hand and struck the dust on the ground, everywhere in Egypt the dust changed into gnats. The gnats got on the people and animals. 18 Using their tricks, the magicians tried to do the same thing, but they could not make the dust change into gnats. The gnats remained on the people and animals. 19 So the magicians told the king that the power of God had done this. But the king was stubborn and refused to listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
The Flies
20 The Lord told Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and meet the king of Egypt as he goes out to the river. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so they can worship me. 21 If you don’t let them go, I will send swarms of flies into your houses. The flies will be on you, your officers, and your people. The houses of Egypt will be full of flies, and they will be all over the ground, too. 22 But I will not treat the Israelites the same as the Egyptian people. There will not be any flies in the land of Goshen, where my people live. By this you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. 23 I will treat my people differently from your people. This miracle will happen tomorrow.’”
24 So the Lord did as he had said, and great swarms of flies came into the king’s palace and his officers’ houses. All over Egypt flies were ruining the land. 25 The king called for Moses and Aaron and told them, “Offer sacrifices to your God here in this country.”
26 But Moses said, “It wouldn’t be right to do that, because the Egyptians hate the sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God. If they see us offering sacrifices they hate, they will throw stones at us and kill us. 27 Let us make a three-day journey into the desert. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there, as the Lord told us to do.”
28 The king said, “I will let you go so that you may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert, but you must not go very far away. Now go and pray for me.”
29 Moses said, “I will leave and pray to the Lord, and he will take the flies away from you, your officers, and your people tomorrow. But do not try to trick us again. Do not stop the people from going to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
30 So Moses left the king and prayed to the Lord, 31 and the Lord did as he asked. He removed the flies from the king, his officers, and his people so that not one fly was left. 32 But the king became stubborn again and did not let the people go.
Jesus Teaches About Prayer
11 One time Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his followers said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his followers.”
2 Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, may your name always be kept holy.
May your kingdom come.
3 Give us the food we need for each day.
4 Forgive us for our sins,
because we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us.
And do not cause us to be tempted.’”[a]
Continue to Ask
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you went to your friend’s house at midnight and said to him, ‘Friend, loan me three loaves of bread. 6 A friend of mine has come into town to visit me, but I have nothing for him to eat.’ 7 Your friend inside the house answers, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, if friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread, your boldness will make him get up and give you whatever you need. 9 So I tell you, ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. 10 Yes, everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened. 11 If your children ask for[b] a fish, which of you would give them a snake instead? 12 Or, if your children ask for an egg, would you give them a scorpion? 13 Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Jesus’ Power Is from God
14 One time Jesus was sending out a demon who could not talk. When the demon came out, the man who had been unable to speak, then spoke. The people were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, to force demons out of people.”
16 Other people, wanting to test Jesus, asked him to give them a sign from heaven. 17 But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. And a family that is divided against itself will not continue. 18 So if Satan is divided against himself, his kingdom will not continue. You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. 19 But if I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, what power do your people use to force demons out? So they will be your judges. 20 But if I use the power of God to force out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
21 “When a strong person with many weapons guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger comes and defeats him, the stronger one will take away the weapons the first man trusted and will give away the possessions.
23 “Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not work with me is working against me.
The Empty Person
24 “When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest. But when it finds no place, it says, ‘I will go back to the house I left.’ 25 And when it comes back, it finds that house swept clean and made neat. 26 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than it is, and they go in and live there. So the person has even more trouble than before.”
People Who Are Truly Blessed
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out to Jesus, “Blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and nursed you.”
28 But Jesus said, “No, blessed are those who hear the teaching of God and obey it.”
The People Want a Miracle
29 As the crowd grew larger, Jesus said, “The people who live today are evil. They want to see a miracle for a sign, but no sign will be given them, except the sign of Jonah.[c] 30 As Jonah was a sign for those people who lived in Nineveh, the Son of Man will be a sign for the people of this time. 31 On the Judgment Day the Queen of the South[d] will stand up with the people who live now. She will show they are guilty, because she came from far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching. And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is here. 32 On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up with the people who live now, and they will show that you are guilty. When Jonah preached to them, they were sorry and changed their lives. And I tell you that someone greater than Jonah is here.
Be a Light for the World
33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a secret place or under a bowl, but on a lampstand so the people who come in can see. 34 Your eye is a light for the body. When your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But when your eyes are evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. 35 So be careful not to let the light in you become darkness. 36 If your whole body is full of light, and none of it is dark, then you will shine bright, as when a lamp shines on you.”
Jesus Accuses the Pharisees
37 After Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee asked Jesus to eat with him. So Jesus went in and sat at the table. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Jesus did not wash his hands[e] before the meal. 39 The Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil. 40 You foolish people! The same one who made what is outside also made what is inside. 41 So give what is in your dishes to the poor, and then you will be fully clean. 42 How terrible for you Pharisees! You give God one-tenth of even your mint, your rue, and every other plant in your garden. But you fail to be fair to others and to love God. These are the things you should do while continuing to do those other things. 43 How terrible for you Pharisees, because you love to have the most important seats in the synagogues, and you love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. 44 How terrible for you, because you are like hidden graves, which people walk on without knowing.”
Jesus Talks to Experts on the Law
45 One of the experts on the law said to Jesus, “Teacher, when you say these things, you are insulting us, too.”
46 Jesus answered, “How terrible for you, you experts on the law! You make strict rules that are very hard for people to obey, but you yourselves don’t even try to follow those rules. 47 How terrible for you, because you build tombs for the prophets whom your ancestors killed! 48 And now you show that you approve of what your ancestors did. They killed the prophets, and you build tombs for them! 49 This is why in his wisdom God said, ‘I will send prophets and apostles to them. They will kill some, and they will treat others cruelly.’ 50 So you who live now will be punished for the deaths of all the prophets who were killed since the beginning of the world— 51 from the killing of Abel to the killing of Zechariah,[f] who died between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I tell you that you who are alive now will be punished for them all.
52 “How terrible for you, you experts on the law. You have taken away the key to learning about God. You yourselves would not learn, and you stopped others from learning, too.”
53 When Jesus left, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees began to give him trouble, asking him questions about many things, 54 trying to catch him saying something wrong.
Bildad Answers
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “God rules and he must be honored;
he set up order in his high heaven.
3 No one can count God’s armies.
His light shines on all people.
4 So no one can be good in the presence of God,
and no one born to a woman can be pure.
5 Even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes.
6 People are much less! They are like insects.
They are only worms!”
Job Answers Bildad
26 Then Job answered:
2 “You are no help to the helpless!
You have not aided the weak!
3 Your advice lacks wisdom!
You have shown little understanding!
4 Who has helped you say these words?
And where did you get these ideas?
5 “The spirits of the dead tremble,
those who are beneath and in the waters.
6 Death is naked before God;
destruction is uncovered before him.
7 God stretches the northern sky out over empty space
and hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He wraps up the waters in his thick clouds,
but the clouds do not break under their weight.
9 He covers the face of the moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
10 He draws the horizon like a circle on the water
at the place where light and darkness meet.
11 Heaven’s foundations shake
when he thunders at them.
12 With his power he quiets the sea;
by his wisdom he destroys Rahab, the sea monster.
13 He breathes, and the sky clears.
His hand stabs the fleeing snake.
14 And these are only a small part of God’s works.
We only hear a small whisper of him.
Who could understand God’s thundering power?”
Gifts from the Holy Spirit
12 Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand about spiritual gifts. 2 You know the way you lived before you were believers. You let yourselves be influenced and led away to worship idols—things that could not speak. 3 So I want you to understand that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “Jesus be cursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” without the help of the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but they are all from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve but the same Lord to serve. 6 And there are different ways that God works through people but the same God. God works in all of us in everything we do. 7 Something from the Spirit can be seen in each person, for the common good. 8 The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom, and the same Spirit gives another the ability to speak with knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives faith to one person. And, to another, that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. 10 The Spirit gives to another person the power to do miracles, to another the ability to prophesy. And he gives to another the ability to know the difference between good and evil spirits. The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak in different kinds of languages[a] and to another the ability to interpret those languages. 11 One Spirit, the same Spirit, does all these things, and the Spirit decides what to give each person.
The Body of Christ Works Together
12 A person’s body is one thing, but it has many parts. Though there are many parts to a body, all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that also. 13 Some of us are Jews, and some are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit.
14 The human body has many parts. 15 The foot might say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body. 16 The ear might say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not stop the ear from being a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, it would not be able to hear. If the whole body were an ear, it would not be able to smell. 18-19 If each part of the body were the same part, there would be no body. But truly God put all the parts, each one of them, in the body as he wanted them. 20 So then there are many parts, but only one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you!” 22 No! Those parts of the body that seem to be the weaker are really necessary. 23 And the parts of the body we think are less deserving are the parts to which we give the most honor. We give special respect to the parts we want to hide. 24 The more respectable parts of our body need no special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it 25 so our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor.
27 Together you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of that body. 28 In the church God has given a place first to apostles, second to prophets, and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those who do miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who can help others, those who are able to govern, and those who can speak in different languages.[b] 29 Not all are apostles. Not all are prophets. Not all are teachers. Not all do miracles. 30 Not all have gifts of healing. Not all speak in different languages. Not all interpret those languages. 31 But you should truly want to have the greater gifts.
Love Is the Greatest Gift
And now I will show you the best way of all.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.