M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses Gets New Stone Tablets
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two more stone tablets like the first two, and I will write the same words on them that were on the first two stones which you broke. 2 Be ready tomorrow morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Stand before me there on the top of the mountain. 3 No one may come with you or even be seen any place on the mountain. Not even the flocks or herds may eat grass near that mountain.”
4 So Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. Then early the next morning he went up Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him, carrying the two stone tablets with him. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses, and the Lord called out his name: the Lord.
6 The Lord passed in front of Moses and said, “I am the Lord. The Lord is a God who shows mercy, who is kind, who doesn’t become angry quickly, who has great love and faithfulness 7 and is kind to thousands of people. The Lord forgives people for evil, for sin, and for turning against him, but he does not forget to punish guilty people. He will punish not only the guilty people, but also their children, their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren, and their great-great-grandchildren.”
8 Then Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, “Lord, if you are pleased with me, please go with us. I know that these are stubborn people, but forgive our evil and our sin. Take us as your own people.”
10 Then the Lord said, “I am making this agreement with you. I will do miracles in front of all your people—things that have never before been done for any other nation on earth—and the people with you will see my work. I, the Lord, will do wonderful things for you. 11 Obey the things I command you today, and I will force out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites ahead of you. 12 Be careful that you don’t make an agreement with the people who live in the land where you are going, because it will bring you trouble. 13 Destroy their altars, break their stone pillars, and cut down their Asherah idols. 14 Don’t worship any other god, because I, the Lord, the Jealous One, am a jealous God.
15 “Be careful that you don’t make an agreement with the people who live in that land. When they worship their gods, they will invite you to join them. Then you will eat their sacrifices. 16 If you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters worship gods, they will lead your sons to do the same thing.
17 “Do not make gods of melted metal.
18 “Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you must eat bread made without yeast as I commanded you. Do this during the month I have chosen, the month of Abib, because in that month you came out of Egypt.
19 “The firstborn of every mother belongs to me, including every firstborn male animal that is born in your flocks and herds. 20 You may buy back a donkey by paying for it with a lamb, but if you don’t want to buy back a donkey, you must break its neck. You must buy back all your firstborn sons.
“No one is to come before me without a gift.
21 “You must work for six days, but on the seventh day you must rest—even during the planting season and the harvest season.
22 “Celebrate the Feast of Weeks when you gather the first grain of the wheat harvest. And celebrate the Feast of Shelters in the fall.
23 “Three times each year all your males must come before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 I will force out nations ahead of you and expand the borders of your land. You will go before the Lord your God three times each year, and at that time no one will try to take your land from you.
25 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me with anything containing yeast, and do not leave any of the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover until the next morning.
26 “Bring the best first crops that you harvest from your ground to the Tent of the Lord your God.
“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, because with these words I have made an agreement with you and Israel.”
28 Moses stayed there with the Lord forty days and forty nights, and during that time he did not eat food or drink water. And Moses wrote the words of the Agreement—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.
The Face of Moses Shines
29 Then Moses came down from Mount Sinai, carrying the two stone tablets of the Agreement in his hands. But he did not know that his face was shining because he had talked with the Lord. 30 When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw that Moses’ face was shining, they were afraid to go near him. 31 But Moses called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the people returned to Moses, and he talked with them. 32 After that, all the people of Israel came near him, and he gave them all the commands that the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.
33 When Moses finished speaking to the people, he put a covering over his face. 34 Anytime Moses went before the Lord to speak with him, Moses took off the covering until he came out. Then Moses would come out and tell the Israelites what the Lord had commanded. 35 They would see that Moses’ face was shining. So he would cover his face again until the next time he went in to speak with the Lord.
Jesus Washes His Followers’ Feet
13 It was almost time for the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that it was time for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. He had always loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them all the way to the end.
2 Jesus and his followers were at the evening meal. The devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to turn against Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him power over everything and that he had come from God and was going back to God. 4 So during the meal Jesus stood up and took off his outer clothing. Taking a towel, he wrapped it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
6 Jesus came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later.”
8 Peter said, “No, you will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.”
9 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but wash my hands and my head, too!”
10 Jesus said, “After a person has had a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And you men are clean, but not all of you.” 11 Jesus knew who would turn against him, and that is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again. He asked, “Do you understand what I have just done for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that is what I am. 14 If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 I did this as an example so that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, a servant is not greater than his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
18 “I am not talking about all of you. I know those I have chosen. But this is to bring about what the Scripture said: ‘The man who ate at my table has turned against me.’[a] 19 I am telling you this now before it happens so that when it happens, you will believe that I am he. 20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send also accepts me. And whoever accepts me also accepts the One who sent me.”
Jesus Talks About His Death
21 After Jesus said this, he was very troubled. He said openly, “I tell you the truth, one of you will turn against me.”
22 The followers all looked at each other, because they did not know whom Jesus was talking about. 23 One of the followers sitting[b] next to Jesus was the follower Jesus loved. 24 Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus whom he was talking about.
25 That follower leaned closer to Jesus and asked, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus answered, “I will dip this bread into the dish. The man I give it to is the man who will turn against me.” So Jesus took a piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered him. Jesus said to him, “The thing that you will do—do it quickly.” 28 No one at the table understood why Jesus said this to Judas. 29 Since he was the one who kept the money box, some of the followers thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the feast or to give something to the poor.
30 Judas took the bread Jesus gave him and immediately went out. It was night.
31 When Judas was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man receives his glory, and God receives glory through him. 32 If God receives glory through him,[c] then God will give glory to the Son through himself. And God will give him glory quickly.”
33 Jesus said, “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and what I told the Jews, I tell you now: Where I am going you cannot come.
34 “I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. 35 All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.”
Peter Will Say He Doesn’t Know Jesus
36 Simon Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I am ready to die for you!”
38 Jesus answered, “Are you ready to die for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.”
The Wise Words of Solomon
10 These are the wise words of Solomon:
Wise children make their father happy,
but foolish children make their mother sad.
2 Riches gotten by doing wrong have no value,
but right living will save you from death.
3 The Lord does not let good people go hungry,
but he keeps evil people from getting what they want.
4 A lazy person will end up poor,
but a hard worker will become rich.
5 Those who gather crops on time are wise,
but those who sleep through the harvest are a disgrace.
6 Good people will have rich blessings,
but the wicked will be overwhelmed by violence.
7 Good people will be remembered as a blessing,
but evil people will soon be forgotten.
8 The wise do what they are told,
but a talkative fool will be ruined.
9 The honest person will live in safety,
but the dishonest will be caught.
10 A wink may get you into trouble,
and foolish talk will lead to your ruin.
11 The words of a good person give life, like a fountain of water,
but the words of the wicked contain nothing but violence.
12 Hatred stirs up trouble,
but love forgives all wrongs.
13 Wise people speak with understanding,
but people without wisdom should be punished.
14 The wise don’t tell everything they know,
but the foolish talk too much and are ruined.
15 Having lots of money protects the rich,
but having no money destroys the poor.
16 Good people are rewarded with life,
but evil people are paid with punishment.
17 Whoever accepts correction is on the way to life,
but whoever ignores correction will lead others away from life.
18 Whoever hides hate is a liar.
Whoever tells lies is a fool.
19 If you talk a lot, you are sure to sin;
if you are wise, you will keep quiet.
20 The words of a good person are like pure silver,
but an evil person’s thoughts are worth very little.
21 Good people’s words will help many others,
but fools will die because they don’t have wisdom.
22 The Lord’s blessing brings wealth,
and no sorrow comes with it.
23 A foolish person enjoys doing wrong,
but a person with understanding enjoys doing what is wise.
24 Evil people will get what they fear most,
but good people will get what they want most.
25 A storm will blow the evil person away,
but a good person will always be safe.
26 A lazy person affects the one he works for
like vinegar on the teeth or smoke in the eyes.
27 Whoever respects the Lord will have a long life,
but the life of an evil person will be cut short.
28 A good person can look forward to happiness,
but an evil person can expect nothing.
29 The Lord will protect good people
but will ruin those who do evil.
30 Good people will always be safe,
but evil people will not remain in the land.
31 A good person says wise things,
but a liar’s tongue will be stopped.
32 Good people know the right thing to say,
but evil people only tell lies.
Paul’s Work in Telling the Good News
3 So I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus for you who are not Jews. 2 Surely you have heard that God gave me this work to tell you about his grace. 3 He let me know his secret by showing it to me. I have already written a little about this. 4 If you read what I wrote then, you can see that I truly understand the secret about the Christ. 5 People who lived in other times were not told that secret. But now, through the Spirit, God has shown that secret to his holy apostles and prophets. 6 This is that secret: that through the Good News those who are not Jews will share with the Jews in God’s blessing. They belong to the same body, and they share together in the promise that God made in Christ Jesus.
7 By God’s special gift of grace given to me through his power, I became a servant to tell that Good News. 8 I am the least important of all God’s people, but God gave me this gift—to tell those who are not Jews the Good News about the riches of Christ, which are too great to understand fully. 9 And God gave me the work of telling all people about the plan for his secret, which has been hidden in him since the beginning of time. He is the One who created everything. 10 His purpose was that through the church all the rulers and powers in the heavenly world will now know God’s wisdom, which has so many forms. 11 This agrees with the purpose God had since the beginning of time, and he carried out his plan through Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In Christ we can come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this through faith in Christ. 13 So I ask you not to become discouraged because of the sufferings I am having for you. My sufferings are for your glory.
The Love of Christ
14 So I bow in prayer before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name. 16 I ask the Father in his great glory to give you the power to be strong inwardly through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God.
20 With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.