M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses and the burning bush
3 Moses worked as a shepherd and he took care of Jethro's sheep. Jethro was his wife's father and he was the priest of Midian.[a] Moses led the sheep to the far side of the desert. He came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
2 The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses there.[b] The angel looked like a fire that was burning in the middle of a bush. Moses looked at the bush. He saw that it was on fire, but the fire still did not destroy it. 3 Moses said to himself, ‘I will go nearer and see this strange thing. I want to see why the bush is not completely burned.’
4 The Lord saw that Moses came near to look at the bush. God spoke to Moses from inside the bush. He said, ‘Moses! Moses!’ Moses answered, ‘Here I am.’
5 God said to Moses, ‘Do not come nearer! Remove your shoes from your feet. The ground that you are standing on is holy.’ 6 Then God said, ‘I am the God that your father worshipped. I am also the God of your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Then Moses covered his face. He was afraid to look at God.[c]
7 The Lord said, ‘I have certainly seen the troubles of my people in Egypt. I have heard them when they cry for help because of their cruel masters. I know that they are very sad. 8 So now I have come down to save them from the power of the Egyptians. I will bring them out from Egypt to go to another land. That will be a good land and a big land. The land will give them plenty of good food and drink, enough for everyone. These are the nations who live there now: the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Yes, I have heard that my Israelite people are crying for help. I have seen that the Egyptians do bad things to hurt them. 10 So now you must go! I will send you to speak to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’
11 But Moses said to God, ‘I am not an important person. I cannot go to Pharaoh. I cannot lead the Israelites out of Egypt!’
12 God said to Moses, ‘Be sure of this: I will be with you. After you have led the people out of Egypt you will all worship me here, on this mountain. That will show you that I myself have sent you to do this.’[d]
13 Then Moses said to God, ‘If I go to the Israelites, they may not believe me. I will say, “The God that your ancestors worshipped has sent me to you.” But then they will ask me, “What is his name?” Then what will I say to them?’
14 God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am! Say this to the Israelite people: “I AM has sent me to you.” ’[e]
15 God also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the Israelite people: “It is the Lord God who has sent me to you.[f] He is the God that your ancestors worshipped. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” That is my name for all time. All generations of my people must call me by that name.
16 Go and call the leaders of Israel to meet together. Say to them, “The Lord God has appeared to me. He is the God that your ancestors worshipped. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He said to me, ‘I have been carefully watching my people in Egypt. I have seen the bad things that the Egyptians have done to you. 17 I promise that I will bring you out of your troubles in Egypt. I will lead you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. It is a land that will give you plenty of good food and drink, enough for everyone.’ ”
18 When you say that, the leaders of the Israelites will listen to you. Then you must go with them to the king of Egypt. Say to him, “The Lord God has met with us. He is the God that we, the Israelite people, worship. So let us go on a journey into the wilderness. That will be a journey of three days. We must offer sacrifices to the Lord our God there.” 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go. Only some great power will make him agree. 20 So I will show him my power! I will do powerful miracles to punish the Egyptians. When they see that, Pharaoh will let you go free.
21 More than that, I will cause the Egyptians to think well of you, my own people. So when you leave Egypt, they will give you many gifts. 22 All the Israelite women will ask their Egyptian friends to give them things. They will ask the women who live near them and those who live with them in their houses. They will ask for silver things, gold things and beautiful clothes. Then you will take those things and you will dress your sons and your daughters with them. In that way, you will take many valuable things away from the Egyptians.’
Jesus teaches about the Jewish day of rest
6 On a Jewish day of rest, Jesus and his disciples were walking through some fields where wheat was growing. His disciples began to pick some of the wheat. They were rubbing it between their hands and eating the seeds.
2 Some of the Pharisees were walking with them. They said, ‘You should not be doing that on our day of rest. It is against God's Law.’
3 Jesus replied, ‘You have certainly read about what David did one day. He and the men who were with him were hungry. 4 He went into the temple. He took the special bread that was there. It is against God's Law for anyone except the priests to eat that bread. But David ate some of it. He gave some of the bread to his men to eat as well.’
5 Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man has authority over the Law about the day of rest.’[a]
Jesus makes a man well on the day of rest
6 On another Jewish day of rest, Jesus went into the Jewish meeting place and he taught the people. A man was there. His right hand had become small and weak and he could not use it. 7 Some teachers of God's Law and some Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully. They wanted to find a reason to say that he was doing something wrong. So they watched Jesus to see if he would make the man well on the day of rest. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to the man, ‘Get up and stand in front of everyone.’ The man got up and he stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to the people, ‘Let me ask you something. Is it right for us to do good things on our day of rest? Or should we do bad things? Should we save a person's life? Or should we destroy their life?’ 10 Jesus looked round at everyone. Then he said to the man, ‘Lift up your hand.’ When the man lifted his hand, it became well. He could use it again.
11 Then the Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law were very angry. They began to talk to each other about what they could do to Jesus.
Jesus chooses 12 men
12 One day Jesus went up a mountain to pray. He remained there all night and he was praying to God. 13 In the morning, he asked all his disciples to come to him. Then he chose 12 of them and he called them his apostles.[b] These are their names:
14 Simon (Jesus gave him the name ‘Peter’),
Andrew (he was Simon's brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James, the son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
16 Judas, son of James,
Judas Iscariot, who later gave Jesus to his enemies.
Jesus teaches people
17 After Jesus had chosen these 12 men, they all came down the mountain. He stopped and he stood on a flat place. A large crowd of his disciples stood around him. There were also many people from Jerusalem, and from other towns of Judea, and from places on the coast near Tyre and Sidon. 18 These people had all come to hear Jesus teach. Those people who were ill wanted him to make them well. He also made well those people who had bad spirits. 19 All the people were trying to touch him, because he was using great power to make each person well.
20 Jesus looked at his disciples. He spoke this message to them:
‘Happy are you people that are poor. The kingdom of God belongs to you.[c]
21 Happy are you people that are hungry now. God will feed you until you are full.[d]
Happy are you people that are crying now. Later, you will laugh.[e]
22 People may hate you, because you believe in me, the Son of Man. They may say bad things against you and make you go away from them. They may say that you are very bad. When that happens, be happy. 23 God will prepare many good things for you in heaven. So be very happy when people do these bad things to you! Jump up and down because you are so happy. Their ancestors did the same bad things to God's prophets long ago.
24 Listen, you that are rich.
You have a comfortable life now, but it will be very bad for you.
25 Listen, you that are full with food now.
It will be very bad for you and you will be hungry.
Listen, you that are laughing now.
It will be very bad for you. You will be sad and you will cry.
26 If people always say good things about you now, it will be very bad for you. Their ancestors also said good things about the false prophets long ago.’
Love people that want to hurt you
27 Jesus then said, ‘I say this to you who are listening carefully to me: Love the people who want to hurt you. Do good things to people that hate you. 28 Say good things to people that say bad things against you. Pray for people who give you pain.
29 Someone may slap you on one side of your face. Then you should let him slap the other side of your face too. Someone may take away your coat. If he does, do not stop him from taking your shirt too. 30 When anyone asks you for something, give it to him. Someone may take something that belongs to you. If he does, let him keep it. Do not ask to have it back again. 31 Do the good things for other people that you would want them to do for you.
32 Do you only love people who love you? God will not praise you just for doing that! Even bad people love those people who love them. 33 Do you only do good things to people that do good things to you? God will not praise you just for doing that! Even bad people do the same thing. 34 Do you lend things only to people that will give your things back to you? God will not praise you for doing that! Even bad people lend things to other people when they believe that they will get them back again. 35 No! I am telling you to love people that want to hurt you. Do good things to them. Lend things to people even though you may not receive your things back again. Then God will prepare good things for you. He is kind even to people who do not say “thank you”. He is kind even to very bad people. If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of the powerful God who is over all. 36 You should be kind to other people, as God your Father is kind.
37 Do not say to anyone, “You are a bad person.” Then God will not say to you, “You are a bad person.” Do not say to anyone, “God should punish you because you are bad.” Then God will not say that you are guilty. Forgive other people and God will forgive you. 38 Give to other people and God will give to you. He will give to you even more than you gave. He will fill your pocket until no more will go in.[f] It will be so full that it will come out over the top. Think about how you give to other people. God will give in the same way to you.’
39 Jesus also used a story to teach the people. He said, ‘A blind person cannot lead another blind person. If he does, then both of them will fall into a deep hole.
40 A student is not more important than his teacher is. But each student who has learned everything will be like his teacher.
41 Perhaps you want to tell a friend about his little mistake. If you want to tell him, first remember your own bigger mistakes. 42 If you do not do that, you will be like a person who has a big piece of wood in his eye. But then he says to his friend, “My friend, you have a little piece of dirt in your eye. Let me take it out for you.” Do not be like that person. You think you are better than your friend. But you are not. First, you must take the big piece of wood out of your eye. After that, your eyes will be clear and you will see well. Then you can take the small piece of dirt out of your friend's eye.’
A story about a tree and its fruit
43 Jesus said, ‘Good trees only make good fruit. Bad trees only make bad fruit. 44 In this way you can know if a tree is good or bad. You can know this by the fruit that the tree makes. Figs and grapes do not grow on thorn bushes.
45 People are also like that. A good man keeps good things in his mind. In his life, he brings those good things out from there. But a bad man keeps bad things in his mind. He brings those bad thoughts out from there. When a person speaks, his words show what is really in his mind.’
A story about men that are building a house
46 Jesus said, ‘If you refuse to obey me, do not call me, “Master, Master.” 47 Some people come to me. They listen to my message and they obey it. Let me tell you what those people are like. They are like a man who built a house. 48 This man dug down in the ground to the rock. He put the first line of stones on the rock. After that, he built the house on top of the rock. Then a storm came and it brought a lot of water. The water hit the house but it could not move it. The water could not move the house because the man had built it very well.
49 Some other people hear my message but they do not obey it. Those people are like another man who built a house. This man did not dig down deep to the rock. Instead, he put the first line of stones on the top of the ground. Then he built his house on them. A storm came and it brought a lot of water. It hit that house and it fell down immediately. The water completely destroyed it.’
Zophar speaks to Job again[a]
20 Then Zophar replied to Job. This is what he said:
2 ‘I am very upset by the things that you have said.
So I must say more to answer you.
3 You have said things that insult me.
But now I know how to reply to you.
4 I am sure that you know this fact.
It has been true from long ago,
since people first lived on the earth.
5 You know that a wicked person is only happy for a short time.
His joy continues only for a moment.
6 He may think that he is more important than other people.
He may be proud of the honour that he receives.
7 But he will disappear for ever,
like dung that people throw away.
His friends will ask, “Where is he?”
8 He will disappear like a dream that quickly goes away.
Nobody can find him any more.
9 People who knew him will never see him again.
His family will no longer recognize him.
10 His children will have to give things back to poor people.
Those are the valuable things that he took from them.
11 He still had the strength of a young man.
But his strength will die with him when he lies in his grave.
12 He enjoys the wicked things that he does.
They are like something sweet in his mouth.
13 He continues to enjoy wicked things,
like the taste of sweet food that he keeps in his mouth.
14 But those things will become poison that hurts him.
Like bitter food that goes into his stomach.
15 Like a person who is sick and loses the food from his stomach,
God will cause the wicked person to lose all his riches.
16 He will drink the poison of snakes.
A dangerous snake will bite him and it will kill him.
17 He will never enjoy the good things that the earth provides.
He will not enjoy the honey and milk which pours out like rivers of water.
18 He will have to give back everything that he owned.
He will not enjoy the things that he has worked for.
19 This will happen because he has been cruel to poor people.
He has refused to help them.
He has taken houses for himself that do not belong to him.
20 He will always want to have more things for himself.
He takes anything that he wants to have.
21 Now nothing remains for him to take.
So his riches will come to an end.
22 When he has everything that he wants,
trouble suddenly comes to him.
23 When he is filling himself with good food,
God will punish him.
God will be very angry with him.
God will attack the wicked person so that he suffers.
24 He may escape from a soldier who has an iron sword.
But then a soldier will shoot a bronze arrow into him.
25 He pulls the arrow out of his back.
His blood makes its sharp point shine brightly.
He is very afraid.
26 All his riches disappear in the dark.
God will send a fire to destroy him.
It will destroy all his things that remain.
27 The heavens will show that he is guilty.
People on earth will speak against him.
28 A flood will destroy his house
and everything that he has.
That will happen on the day when God punishes people
because he is angry with them.
29 That is how God punishes wicked people.
God has decided to punish them as they deserve.’
Questions about marriage
7 You wrote to ask me about certain things. You say, ‘It is a good thing when a man does not marry.’ 2 That may be true, but then people may have sex in wrong ways. So every man should have his own wife and every woman should have her own husband. 3 Then they may have sex with each other in the right way. A husband should agree to have sex with his wife. And the wife should do the same thing for her husband. 4 The wife does not rule over her own body to decide when to have sex. She belongs to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not rule over his own body. He belongs to his wife.
5 Do not refuse to have sex with each other, unless both of you agree to stop for a short time. Then you can use more time to pray. But you should come together again soon, as husband and wife. If not, Satan may try to make you do something wrong. You may want too strongly to have sex with someone else. 6 I am saying these things to help you. I am not telling you what you must do. 7 It would be good if all of you could live in the way that I do. But each person has his own gift from God. God helps one person to live in a certain way. God helps another person with a different gift.
8 I will say this to those of you who have not married yet, and to those who are widows. It is better for you to remain alone. That is how I myself live. 9 But if you want to have sex too strongly, then you should marry. It is better to do that than to want to have sex all the time.
10 I will say this to people who have married. (This is not my rule. It is a rule that comes from the Lord himself.) A wife must not leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave him, she must not marry another man. Or she should go back to live with her husband. In the same way, a husband must not send his wife away.
12 To all you other people, I say this. (This is what I think. The Lord has not spoken about it.) A Christian man may have a wife who does not believe in Christ. If she agrees to continue living with him, then he should not send her away. 13 Also, a Christian woman may have a husband who does not believe in Christ. If he agrees to continue living with her, then she should not leave him. 14 God accepts a husband who does not believe in Christ because of his Christian wife. And God accepts a wife who does not believe in Christ because of her Christian husband. If that was not true, the children would not belong to God. But God does accept them, because to him they are now clean.
15 But the husband or wife who does not believe in Christ may want to leave. If they want to become separate, let them do that. If that happens, the Christian man or woman is now free. God wants you to live in peace. 16 If you are a Christian wife, you might save your husband. If you are a Christian husband, you might save your wife. But you can not be sure of what will happen.
17 But each of you should continue to live in the way that God has chosen for you. Remain as you were at the time when God called you to come to him. I teach that rule to people in all the churches. 18 Some of you are Jews, so people circumcised you. That happened before you believed in Christ. So do not try to change it. Some of you are not Jews. Nobody circumcised you. So continue like that. Do not ask anyone to circumcise you. 19 It is not important whether someone has circumcised you or not. The important thing is this: Obey what God says.
20 Each of you should continue as you were when God called you to come to him. 21 You may have been a slave when God called you. That does not matter. But if you have the chance to become a free person, accept it. 22 The Lord may call a slave to come to him. Then, that slave has become free, because he belongs to the Lord. In the same way, when God calls a free person to belong to Christ, he becomes Christ's slave. 23 God bought you for himself. He paid the price for you. So do not let anyone else make you their slave. 24 My Christian friends, each of you should continue as you were when God first called you to come to him.[a] Remember that you serve God.
25 You asked me a question about people who have not yet married. The Lord has not told me any special rule about this. But I will tell you what I myself think about it. The Lord has been very kind to me. You know that you can believe what I say. 26 This is what I think: There are many troubles in the world today. So it is better for everybody to continue as they are. 27 If you have a wife, do not try to send her away. If you do not have a wife, do not try to marry. 28 But if you do marry, that is not wrong. And if a young woman marries, that is not wrong. But people who marry will have many troubles during their life together. I want to save you from problems like that.
29 My Christian friends, this is what I mean: The time that remains is very short. So men who have wives should live as if they had no wife. 30 People who are sad should live as if they were not sad. People who are happy should live as if they had nothing to laugh about. People who buy things should live as if those things do not belong to them. 31 If you enjoy the things of this world, do not live as if those things are important. This world, as it is now, will soon finish.
32 I do not want you to worry about troubles. A man who has not married wants to serve the Lord. He wants to live in a way that makes the Lord happy. 33 But a man who has married thinks a lot about this world's things. He wants to live in a way that makes his wife happy. 34 As a result, he thinks in two opposite ways.
It is the same for a woman who has no husband, or a young girl who has not married. She wants to serve the Lord very well. She wants to be completely pure, both in her body and in her spirit. But a woman who has a husband has to think about this world's things. She wants to live in a way that makes her husband happy.
35 I am saying this because I want to help you. I am not making rules that you have to obey. Instead, I want you to live in a right way. I do not want you to worry about troubles. Then you will be able to serve the Lord very well.
36 Perhaps a man has agreed to marry a young woman. They may have decided to wait before they marry. But, as they grow older, the man may think differently. He may think that he needs to marry her. Then, he should do what he wants to do. It is good for them to marry. It is not wrong. 37 But another man may not change his thoughts. He may be sure that he does not need to marry his young woman. If he decides not to marry her, he is doing the right thing. 38 So the man who marries his young woman is doing a good thing. But the man who does not marry is doing a better thing.
39 If a woman has married, she may not leave her husband while he still lives. But if he dies, then she is free to marry again. She may marry any man that she wants to. But he must be someone who belongs to the Lord. 40 I do think that she would be happier if she remains without a husband. That is what I think, and God's Spirit also helps me with this.
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