M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
7 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Look, I have made you like God to Pharaoh. Your brother Aaron will speak on your behalf, like your prophet.[a] 2 You must say everything that I command you to say. Your brother Aaron must tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.
3 But I will make Pharaoh's mind become hard. I will do many miracles in Egypt that show my power. 4 But Pharaoh will still refuse to listen to you. Then I will show my authority and I will punish the Egyptians. I will bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt like an army. 5 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. I will show my great strength in Egypt and I will lead the Israelites out from there.’
Aaron's stick becomes a snake
6 Moses and Aaron obeyed all the commands of the Lord. 7 Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 ‘Pharaoh will say to you, “Show me a miracle.” Then say to Aaron, “Take your stick and throw it down in front of Pharaoh.” When Aaron does that, his stick will become a snake.’
10 So Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They did everything that the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his stick in front of Pharaoh and his officers. And the stick became a snake! 11 Then Pharaoh called for his wise men and his magicians to come to him. The Egyptian magicians did the same thing as Aaron. They used their secret magic to do it. 12 Each of them threw down his stick and it became a snake. But Aaron's stick ate all their sticks![b] 13 But Pharaoh's mind was hard and he refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. That was what the Lord had said would happen, and it did!
1: Moses changes water into blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh's mind is still hard. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes to the river. Wait for him by the edge of the river. Then take in your hand the stick that became a snake. 16 Then say to Pharaoh, “The Lord, the God of the Israelites, has sent me to you to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert.’ But until now, you have not listened to my message. 17 So this is what the Lord says: In this way, you will know that I am the Lord. Look! I will hit the water in the Nile river with the stick that is in my hand. Then the water will become blood. 18 The fish in the river will die, and the river will have a very bad smell. Then the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile river.” ’
19 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your stick. Lift up your hand over the waters of Egypt. Lift your stick up over their rivers and their streams. Lift it up over their lakes and pools of water. Do that so that all the water becomes blood.” There will be blood in every part of Egypt. There will even be blood in their buckets and bowls.’
20 Moses and Aaron obeyed the command of the Lord. Aaron lifted up the stick in front of Pharaoh and his servants. He hit the water in the Nile river with the stick. Then all the water in the river became blood. 21 The fish in the river died. The river had such a bad smell that the Egyptians could not drink its water. There was blood in every part of Egypt.
22 But the Egyptian magicians used their magic and they did the same thing. So Pharaoh's mind continued to be hard. He still refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The Lord had said that this would happen, and it did! 23 Pharaoh turned away and he went into his house. He did not worry about what had happened. 24 The Egyptians dug holes on the shore of the Nile river to find water to drink. They could not drink the water from the river itself.[c]
25 After the Lord had made the water in the river become blood, another seven days passed.
Jesus sends out 72 disciples
10 After this, Jesus chose another 72 disciples. He sent them out two by two, to every town and village that he would visit soon. 2 Before they went, he said to them, ‘Many people are ready to believe God's message. They are like crops in a field at harvest time. But there are very few workers to bring in the crops. So pray to God to send out workers. The field and the plants belong to him.’[a]
3 Jesus then said, ‘I am sending you out, so go! But listen! You will be like young sheep among wild animals. 4 Do not carry a purse or a bag. Do not take extra shoes. When you meet other people on the road, do not stop to say “hello”.[b]
5 In each town, when you go into a house, first say to the people who live there, “We pray that all will be well with you!” 6 Someone in the house may accept what you say. If they do, God will bless them. But if nobody accepts your kind words, God will bless you instead of them. 7 Stay in the same house there until you leave that town. Accept the food and drink that the people in the house give to you. You are working to help them. So they should give you what you need to live. Do not visit different houses to get food. 8 The people may accept you well when you go into a town. Then eat the food that those people give to you. 9 Make the sick people well who are there. Give this message to all the people there: “The kingdom of God has now come near to you.” 10 Sometimes when you go into a town, the people will not accept you. You should then go into the streets of that town and you should say to the people, 11 “There is dirt from your town on our feet. We will clean it off to show that you have not accepted us. God is not happy with you. But listen! You should know that the kingdom of God has come very near.” 12 One day God will punish the people from that town. Yes, he will punish them more than the people who lived in Sodom long ago.’[c]
Some towns where people did not believe
13 Jesus then said, ‘You people in Chorazin, things will be bad for you! And things will be bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. If I had done such great things in Tyre and in Sidon, the people there would have changed how they lived. They would have shown that they were sorry for their sins. They would have put on rough clothes. They would also have put ashes on their heads. 14 Yes, when God judges everyone, he will punish the people of Tyre and Sidon. But he will punish even more you people from Chorazin and Bethsaida. 15 And what will happen to you people in Capernaum? You think that God will lift you up to heaven, do you? No! He will throw you down to Hades, the place for dead people!’[d]
16 Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Whoever listens to you is also listening to me. Whoever does not accept you does not accept me. And whoever does not accept me does not accept my Father God, who sent me.’
The 72 disciples return
17 Later, the 72 disciples that Jesus had sent out returned to him. They were very happy. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘even bad spirits obey us. When we use your name, they do what we say.’
18 Jesus replied, ‘I saw the Devil himself fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Listen! I have given power to you. You will even stand on dangerous snakes and insects and you will have authority over all the power of the Devil. Nothing will hurt you. 20 But do not be happy because you have authority over bad spirits. God has written your names in his book in heaven. That is why you should be happy.’
Jesus is very happy
21 At this moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus very happy. He said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People that do not know many things now can understand your message. I thank you for this. But you have hidden these things from other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.’
22 Jesus then said, ‘My Father has given me authority over all things. Only the Father knows who I am, his Son. Only I know who the Father is, because I am his Son. I also choose to tell some people about him. Then they also know him.’
23 Then Jesus turned and he spoke only to his disciples. He said to them, ‘Be happy because of the things that you are now able to see and understand. 24 I tell you this: Many prophets and kings from a long time ago wanted to see these things. But they did not see the things that you are seeing. They wanted to hear the message that you are hearing. But they did not hear it.’
A story about a good man from Samaria
25 A teacher of God's Law stood up. He wanted to see how Jesus would answer his question. So he asked Jesus, ‘Teacher, what must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’
26 ‘What does God's Law say?’ Jesus asked. ‘What do you understand when you read it?’
27 The man replied, ‘It says that we must love the Lord our God with all our mind and with all our strength. We must love him with all that we are and in all that we think. It also says that we must love other people as much as we love ourselves.’[e]
28 ‘You have told me the right answer,’ Jesus said. ‘If you do this, you will have true life with God.’
29 But the man wanted to show that he had been right to ask a question. So he asked, ‘Who are the people near to me that I must love?’
30 Jesus answered him with a story: ‘A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho town. On the way, some men attacked him. They took away all his clothes and they hit him with sticks. He was almost dead when they left him. 31 But it happened that a priest from the temple was going down that road. He saw the man, who was lying there. But he walked past him on the other side of the road. 32 A Levite was also going down the road. He came to the place where the man was lying. He saw him. But he also walked past on the other side of the road.[f]
33 But then a man from Samaria was also travelling along the road. And he came to the place where the man was lying. When he saw him, he felt very sorry for him. 34 He went across to him. He poured oil and wine on the places where he was bleeding.[g] Then he tied those places with clean cloths. After that, he put the man on his own donkey to carry him. They arrived at a small hotel. He took the man in there and he was kind to him.[h]
35 The next day, the man from Samaria took out two silver coins from his purse.[i] He gave the money to the man that was taking care of the hotel. “Be kind to this man for me,” he said. “This money may not be enough. When I return, I will pay you for any more that you have spent on him.” ’
36 Then Jesus asked the teacher of God's Law a question. He said, ‘Three men saw the man that was lying on the road. Which of them showed love to him, like a real friend?’
37 The teacher answered, ‘It was the man who was kind to him.’
Then Jesus said to him, ‘Yes. So you should go and do the same for other people.’
Jesus visits the home of Martha and Mary
38 Jesus and his disciples continued their journey. They arrived at a certain village. There, a woman called Martha asked Jesus to come into her home.[j] 39 Martha had a sister called Mary. Mary sat down near Jesus. She was listening to the things that he was teaching. 40 But Martha was thinking to herself, ‘I cannot do all this work alone.’ So she went to Jesus. She said, ‘Master, my sister is not helping me with the work. She has left me to do it alone. You surely do not think that this is right! Tell her that she should help me!’
41 The Lord Jesus replied, ‘Martha, Martha, you have troubles in your mind about many things. 42 But only one thing is really important. That is what Mary has chosen to do. Nobody will take it away from her.’[k]
Job continues to speak[a]
24 Why has Almighty God not yet decided the time
when he will judge wicked people?
People who serve him faithfully continue to wait for justice.
2 Wicked men move the stones that show the edge of their neighbour's land.[b]
They take their neighbour's land and his sheep for themselves.
3 They take away a donkey
that belongs to a child who has no family.
They take an ox away from a widow,
when they lend money to her.
4 They stop poor people from receiving justice.
Poor people have to run away from them and hide.
5 Poor people have to look for food to eat,
like wild donkeys in the desert.
They have to find food for their children to eat.
6 They find grain in the fields of other people.
They pick grapes that remain in the vineyards of wicked people.
7 They have no clothes to wear during the cold nights.
They sleep without anything to cover themselves.
8 The rain that falls in the mountains makes them very wet.
So they hide among the rocks where they try to keep dry.
9 When wicked people lend money to poor people,
they even take a child whose father has died away from his mother.
10 Poor people have to go out with no clothes to wear.
They are hungry while they carry the crops of other people.
11 They squeeze oil from olives
that grow in the fields of other people.
They also make wine from other people's grapes.
But they themselves are thirsty.
12 In the cities, people who are dying cry with pain.
They call for help,
but God does not punish the people who have hurt them.
13 Some people refuse to live in the light.
They do not understand it.
They do not go along the good way that it shows to them.
14 Murderers rob people when it is still dark.
They kill poor, weak people during the night.
15 Adulterers wait until it is becoming dark.
They think that no one will see them.
They cover their faces
so that no one will recognize them.
16 Robbers go into people's homes in the dark
to take away their things.
But they stay inside during the day.
They never go out in the light.
17 They all like to do evil things at night,
rather than in the light of morning.
They are not afraid of things that happen in the dark,
as other people are.
18 You may say, “Floods of water carry away wicked people.[c]
God curses the land that belongs to them.
Nobody goes to work in their vineyards.
19 Snow soon disappears
when the weather is very hot or very dry.
In the same way, death quickly takes away people who do bad things.
20 Their mothers soon forget them.
Worms eat their bodies.
No one remembers those wicked people.
They are like dead trees that people have cut down.
21 Those wicked people are cruel to women who have no children.
They are not kind to widows.
22 But God uses his strength to remove powerful people.
When he attacks wicked people,
their lives are in his hands.
23 God allows them to feel safe.
But he is always watching everything that they do.
24 Wicked people may have success for a short time,
but suddenly they disappear!
Like everyone else, they fall to the ground.
They become like crops that people cut down at harvest time.”
25 What I have said is true.
Nobody can say that I am telling lies.
You cannot think that my words are useless.’
11 Copy my example, in the same way that I copy Christ's example.
Christian meetings
2 I praise you, because you remember me and everything that I taught you. You continue to obey the message that I gave to you. 3 This is something that I want you to know: Christ has authority over every man, as his head. Also, the head of a woman is her husband. And the head of Christ is God.
4 So, when you meet together to worship God, remember this. When a man prays to God, or he speaks a message from God, he should not cover his head. If he does that, he does not respect the one who is his head. 5 But when a woman prays or she speaks a message from God, she should cover her head. If she does not cover her head, she does not respect the one who is her head. It would be as bad as if she cut off all her hair. 6 If a woman refuses to cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But, if a woman has no hair, or she has very short hair, she becomes very ashamed. So it is better that she should cover her head in your meetings.
7 Men show what God is like and they show how great God is. So a man should not cover his head in your meetings. But a woman shows how great men are. 8 When God made people, he did not use part of the woman to make a man. God made the man first. Then he made the woman from part of the man.[a] 9 Neither did God make the man to help the woman. No, God made the woman to help the man. 10 That is why a woman should cover her head. It shows that she has authority on her head. That makes the angels happy.
11 But remember this: we all belong to the Lord. Men and women need to help one another. They can not remain separate. 12 It is true that God used part of the man to make the first woman. But it is also true that women give birth to men. Remember that all things come from God himself.
13 Think about this: If a woman prays to God but she has not covered her head, is that proper? 14 If a man has long hair, that should make him ashamed. That is clear. 15 But if a woman has long hair, she can be proud of it. God gave beautiful hair to women to cover their heads. 16 Some people may want to argue about this. But I have told you what we do. And all of God's people in the different churches do the same thing.
The Lord's Supper
17 Now I must teach you about something else about your meetings. I will not praise you, because more bad things than good things happen when you meet together. 18 First, I hear that there are separate groups when you meet together as God's people.[b] I believe that some of what I have heard about you is true. 19 Perhaps there must be separate groups among you. Then everyone can see clearly which group God accepts as right!
20 When you meet together, the meal that you eat is not really the Lord's Supper. 21 When you are ready to eat, each of you eats your own meal. You do not wait for anyone else. As a result, one of you may be hungry, while another person becomes drunk. 22 If you want to eat like that, you have your own homes where you can eat and drink! Instead, you insult the people of God's church. You make people who have nothing feel ashamed. I cannot praise you for what you do. Whatever I might say to you about this, I certainly cannot praise you.
23 This is the message that I received from the Lord. I then told it to you.
This is what happened on the night that Jesus' enemies took hold of him. The Lord Jesus picked up some bread to eat with his disciples. 24 He thanked God for the bread and then he broke it into pieces. He said: ‘This is my body that I give to save you. Eat this bread, so that you remember me.’
25 After they had eaten supper, Jesus took a cup of wine. He spoke to his disciples again. He said, ‘This cup shows my blood that will pour out when I die. God now makes a new agreement to save people because of my death. Whenever you drink from the cup in this way, do it to remember me.’
26 Every time that you eat bread and you drink from the cup like this, you are showing something. You are showing people what the Lord's death means. You should continue to do this until he returns.
27 Since that is true, you must be careful. Eat the bread and drink from the cup in a way that is right. Anyone who does not do that will be guilty. They are showing that they do not respect the Lord's body and his blood that he offered as a sacrifice. 28 So everyone must think carefully about how they eat the bread and they drink from the cup. 29 They must understand how important the Lord's body is. If anyone does not recognize this, God will punish them. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick. Some of you have even died because of this. 31 But if we think carefully about ourselves, then God will not need to punish us.
32 But the Lord does need to punish us sometimes. When he does that, he is teaching us not to do wrong things. Then we will not be guilty, like other people who do not know God.
33 So, my Christian friends, be patient when you meet together to eat the Lord's Supper. Do not start to eat before everyone is ready. 34 If you are hungry, you should eat at home before you come. Then, when you meet together, God will not have any reason to punish you.
I will talk about the other things when I come to visit you.
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