M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
8: Locusts
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to see Pharaoh. I have caused his mind to become hard. I have also caused his officers' minds to become hard. I have done this so that I can do miracles to show him my power. 2 In the future, you can tell your children and your children's children how I punished the Egyptians. You can tell them about the miracles that I did among the Egyptians. In this way, you will know that I am the Lord.’
3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Israelites says this: “You are still too proud to obey me. Let my people go so that they may worship me. 4 If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. 5 They will cover the whole country. Nobody will be able to see the ground. They will eat everything that the hail did not destroy. They will eat any crops that you still have. That will include every tree that is growing in your fields. 6 They will fill your houses, and your officers' houses. They will fill all the houses in Egypt! It will be worse than anything that your fathers or your grandfathers have ever seen. Nothing like this has ever happened in Egypt before now.” ’ Then Moses turned away and left Pharaoh.
7 Pharaoh's officers said to him, ‘Will you let this man bring trouble to us for ever? Allow the people to go. Then they can worship the Lord their God. Surely you understand by now that this man has destroyed Egypt!’
8 So Pharaoh's officers took Moses and Aaron back to him. Pharaoh said to them, ‘Go and worship the Lord your God. But tell me, who will go?’
9 Moses said, ‘We will all go, both young people and old people. We will take our sons and daughters. We will also take our animals, because we must have a feast to worship the Lord.’
10 Pharaoh said to them, ‘No! If I let you go with your families like that, you will need the Lord to take care of you! I can see that you want to make trouble. 11 No! If you really want to go and worship the Lord, only the men can go.’ Pharaoh was angry and he told Moses and Aaron to go away.[a]
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand over the country of Egypt. Then locusts will fly all over the land. They will eat every plant that grows in the ground. They will eat everything that the hail has not destroyed.’
13 So Moses lifted up his stick over the country of Egypt. Then the Lord caused an east wind to blow across the land, for the whole day and the whole night. In the morning, the east wind had brought the locusts. 14 The locusts flew into every part of the country of Egypt. Thousands of locusts sat on everything. There had never been so many locusts in Egypt before. And it will never happen again. 15 The locusts covered all the ground, until the ground became black with locusts. They ate all the plants that grew in the ground, and all the fruit of the trees. They ate everything that the hail had not destroyed. Not one green thing remained on any tree or plant, in all the country of Egypt.
16 Then Pharaoh quickly called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘I have done bad things against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Please forgive my sins just one more time. Ask the Lord your God to remove this punishment of death from me.’
18 Moses left Pharaoh and he prayed to the Lord. 19 Then the Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind. This wind lifted the locusts up and it blew them away into the Red Sea.[b] Not one locust remained in all the country of Egypt. 20 But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to become hard again. Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go.
9: Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up your hand towards the sky. Then it will become dark over the whole country of Egypt. It will be so dark that people will be able to feel it.’ 22 So Moses lifted up his hand towards the sky and it became completely dark. It was dark through the whole country of Egypt for three days. 23 People could not see each other. Nobody could move anywhere for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
24 Then Pharaoh called Moses to come to him. He said, ‘Go and worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you. Only your animals must remain in Egypt.’
25 But Moses said, ‘Then you will have to give us animals for our sacrifices and burnt offerings. We need our animals to offer to the Lord our God.[c] 26 So we must take our animals with us. Not one animal can remain behind. We must take them to worship the Lord our God. Until we arrive in the desert, we will not know which animals to use as sacrifices.’
27 But the Lord caused Pharaoh's mind to be hard. Pharaoh would not agree to let the Israelites go. 28 Pharaoh said to Moses, ‘Go away from me! Be careful not to come back! I never want to see you again! On the day that you see my face, you will die!’
29 Moses replied, ‘You are right! You will never see me again.’
Stop doing wrong things or die
13 At that time, some people were with Jesus. They told him what happened to some people from Galilee. They had been burning animals as a gift for God. Pilate sent some soldiers to kill them.[a]
2 Jesus replied, ‘Think about those people from Galilee. Perhaps you think that they had done more bad things than other people from Galilee. Do you think that is why they had to die? 3 No! But I tell you this. All of you have done many bad things. So you must change how you live and you must turn to God. If you do not, you will also die as they did.
4 And you remember what happened to those 18 people in Siloam. A high building fell down and it killed them. Perhaps you think that they had done more bad things than the other people in Jerusalem. 5 But I tell you, no, they had not. All of you have also done many bad things. So you must change how you live and you must turn to God. If you do not, you will also die as they did.’
A story about a fig tree
6 Then Jesus told this story. ‘A man had a garden where he grew fruit. He had planted a fig tree there. But when he came to look for fruit on it, he could not find any. 7 So he said to his gardener, “Look, for three years, I have come to look for fruit on this tree. But I have never found any. So cut the tree down! I do not think that it should be here. It is wasting the ground.”
8 “Master,” the gardener replied, “please leave the tree in the ground for one more year. Let me dig round it and let me put some good soil there.[b] 9 If I do that, next year, the fig tree may have some fruit on it. If it does not, I will cut it down for you.” ’[c]
Jesus makes a sick woman well again
10 One day, Jesus was teaching in a Jewish meeting place. It was the Jewish day of rest.
11 There was a woman there that had a bad spirit inside her. It had lived in her for 18 years and it had made her ill. Her back was bent. She could not stand up straight. 12 Jesus saw her and he called her to come to him. He said, ‘Woman, you are now better from your illness.’ 13 He put his hands on her and immediately she could stand up straight. She praised God.
14 But the leader of the meeting place was angry because Jesus had made a sick person well on their day of rest. He said to the people there, ‘There are six days each week when we should work. Come on any of those days and get well. But you should not come on our day of rest to get well.’
15 ‘You are wrong,’ the Lord Jesus said to him. ‘You teach one thing but you do something different yourselves. On the day of rest you will undo the rope on your ox or your donkey and take it outside. You then give it water to drink. Is that not true?[d] 16 Now look at this woman. She belongs to the family of Abraham. But a bad spirit from the Devil has made her ill for 18 years. It is like he has tied her up. So it must be right to make her free on our day of rest.’
17 These words made the leaders of the meeting place feel ashamed. But the other people there were very happy. They were happy because they had seen Jesus do many good and powerful things.
Jesus tells stories about seeds and yeast
18 Then Jesus said to them, ‘I will tell you a story about the kingdom of God and what it is like. 19 It is like a very small seed of the plant called mustard. A man took this seed and he planted it in his garden. The seed grew and it became a tree. It was so big that birds came and made their nests among its branches.’
20 Jesus then said, ‘Here is another example of what the kingdom of God is like. 21 It is like how yeast works. A woman took some of it and she mixed it into three large bowls of flour. Then the yeast went through all the flour so that it grew big.’
A story about a narrow door
22 Jesus was continuing his journey towards Jerusalem. On the way, he went through towns and villages. In each one, he taught the people. 23 One day, somebody asked him, ‘Sir, will God only save a small number of people?’
24 Jesus said to the people there, ‘Do your best to go in through the narrow door. I tell you that many people will want to get in there. But they will not be able to go through it. 25 Soon the master of the house will get up and he will shut the door. And then you may still be standing outside the door. You will knock and you will say, “Master, please open the door for us to come in.”
But the master will reply, “I do not know you. I do not know where you come from.” 26 Then you will begin to say, “But Master, we had meals with you. You taught us in the streets of our villages.”
27 But he will tell you, “No! I really do not know you. I do not know where you come from. You have done very bad things, so go away from me, all of you!”
28 Then you will weep very much because you are standing outside. You will bite your teeth together.[e] You will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the place where God rules. You will also see all God's prophets there. But God will shut you outside. 29 At that time, people will come from everywhere in the world, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. They will all come to take their place in the kingdom of God. There they will sit down together to eat a great meal. 30 Listen! At that time, some people that are not important now will become the most important. And some people that are now the most important will not be important then.’
31 At that moment, some Pharisees came to Jesus. ‘Go away from here,’ they said to him. ‘Go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you.’
32 ‘Herod is a bad man,’ Jesus replied. ‘Tell him this: “I am still causing bad spirits to come out of people. I am still making sick people well again. I will continue to do all these things for some more days. On the third day I will have finished my work.” 33 Anyway, I need to continue my journey for some more days. If they want to kill a prophet from God, it has to happen in Jerusalem.
34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed God's prophets. And they have thrown stones to kill other people that God has sent to you. Many times, I have wanted to bring all of your people near to me. A female bird covers her babies with her body to make them safe. But you would not let me keep you from danger like that. 35 So listen! Your place will now become like a wilderness where nobody lives.[f] I tell you this. You will not see me again until the day when you say, “May the Lord God bless the man who comes with his authority!” ’
Wisdom only comes from God
28 ‘If people want to find silver,
they can dig it out of the ground.
They also have places where they can make gold pure.
2 They know how to take iron from under the ground.
They can also use heat to get copper from rocks.
3 People take light into dark places under the ground.
They look carefully for valuable metals.
4 They dig deep holes in the ground
far away from places where people live.
Other people do not know about those places.
People hang on ropes as they go deep down into the earth.
5 We grow our food on the earth above.
But deep under the ground, people use fire to break the rocks.
6 Sapphires come from the rocks in those places.[a]
The dust there contains gold.
7 Even eagles or other birds with good eyes
do not see those places.
8 Lions and other wild animals do not walk there.
9 People break into the hard rocks.
They turn over rocks under the mountains.
10 They cut holes through the rocks.
They discover stones that are very valuable.
11 They look carefully in the springs of water
where rivers start.
They bring into the light things that were hidden away.
12 But as for wisdom,
people do not know where to find it.
They cannot learn how to understand things properly.
13 Humans do not understand the value of wisdom.
They cannot find it in this world where people live.
14 Wisdom is not in the sea.
Even in the deepest sea, no one will find it.
15 Nobody can buy wisdom.
You may have lots of gold and silver,
but you can never buy wisdom.
16 All the pure gold from Ophir will not be enough to buy it.
It is worth more than valuable onyx or sapphires.
17 Neither gold nor beautiful glass is as valuable as wisdom.
A whole pot full of gold could not buy it.
18 As for coral and jasper,
they are not nearly as valuable as wisdom.[b]
Its price is more than the price of rubies.
19 Topaz from Ethiopia is not as valuable as wisdom.
No one can buy it,
not even with pure gold.[c]
20 So where can we find wisdom?
Where can we learn to understand things properly?
21 We cannot see where it is.
No person or animal can see it.
No bird that flies in the sky can see it.
22 In the place of death, they say,
“We have heard only a little about wisdom,
and where to find it.”
23 Only God knows the way to find wisdom.
Only he knows where it is.
24 He can see to the ends of the earth.
He knows what happens everywhere in the world.
25 He decided how strong the wind must be.
He decided the size of the seas.
26 He made a command for the rain
to decide where it should fall.
He chose where storms should go and make thunder.
27 Then he thought about wisdom and its value.
He prepared it and he tested it.
28 God said this to us humans:
“If you want to be wise,
learn to respect the Lord with fear.
If you want to understand things properly,
turn away from evil acts.” ’
Messages from God
14 So you must always want to love other people. Also, want very much to receive spiritual gifts from God. More than anything else, want to speak messages from God. 2 If someone speaks in a different language, he is speaking only to God. The people who hear him do not understand his message. God's Spirit is causing him to speak about secret things. It does not help people. 3 But if someone speaks a clear message from God, he helps the people who hear him. He helps them to become stronger as believers. He helps them to be happy and strong in their troubles. 4 Anyone who speaks in a different language only helps himself. But a person who speaks a message from God helps the believers in the church to become strong.
5 I would like all of you to speak in different kinds of languages. But even more, I want you to speak God's message clearly to people. Anyone who can speak a message from God is important in the church. He is more important than someone who speaks in different kinds of languages. That person only helps the church if someone can explain what he says. Only in that way will his message help the church to become stronger.
6 My Christian friends, if I come to visit you, then I want to help you. But if I speak to you in languages that you do not understand, that will not help you at all. I would need to explain to you what God has shown to me. I would need to help you to understand something. I would need to speak a clear message from God, or teach you something. Only that would help you. 7 Think about how people make music with flutes or harps. Those things are not alive. We have to use them to make clear sounds. If we do not use them properly, then nobody can recognize the music. 8 Soldiers will not prepare to fight unless they hear a clear sound from the trumpet.
9 It is the same for you. You must use your tongue to speak clearly. If not, nobody will understand what you are saying. You will only be speaking words into the air. 10 There are many different kinds of languages in this world. They all mean something to the people who speak them. 11 Perhaps somebody may speak to me in a language that I do not understand. Then we are like foreign people to each other. 12 So think about what is best for you. You really want the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Most of all, you should want the gifts that will help the whole church to become stronger.
13 So, if you speak a message in a different language, you should pray to God about it. Pray that you may be able to explain to people what the message means. 14 If I pray in a different language, only my spirit is praying. But I do not use my mind while I pray like that. 15 This is what I should do: I will not only pray with my spirit. I will also pray with my mind. I will sing to praise God with my spirit. And I will also do that with my mind. 16 If you are praising God only with your spirit, not everyone will understand. Believers who have not learned these things will not know what you are saying. They cannot agree and say ‘Amen’. 17 You may really be able to thank God very well in your spirit. But your words do not help those other believers to become strong.
18 I thank God that I speak in different kinds of languages more than all of you. 19 But when the church meets together, I want to help other believers and teach them. So I would rather say five words that people understand than thousands of words in a different language.
20 My Christian friends, do not continue to think like children think. Instead, think properly like men and women should think. The only way you should be like babies is to keep away from evil things. 21 This is written in the Bible:
‘I will send strangers to speak to my people.
They will speak my message to them in strange languages.
But even when I do this, my people will not listen to me.’
That is what the Lord God has said.[a]
22 So the gift to speak in different languages is like a sign. It shows God's power to people who do not believe in him. It is not a sign to help believers. But the gift to speak clear messages from God shows his power to believers. It is not a sign for those people who do not believe.
23 Think about what happens when the whole church meets together. Perhaps some people come in who do not believe in God. Or perhaps they have not learned much about God. If all of you are speaking in strange languages, those visitors would not understand. They would say that you are all crazy! 24 But if all of you are speaking clear messages from God, a visitor will understand you. He may not believe in God. He may not have learned much about God. But he will hear God's message. He will understand that he has done wrong things. He will know that God will judge him. He will learn this from what all of you are saying. 25 The visitor's secret thoughts will become clear. As a result, he will bend down to the ground and he will worship God. He will say, ‘God is really here among you!’
Church meetings
26 My Christian friends, this is what you should do when you meet together. Some of you may have a song to praise God. Some of you may have a lesson to teach about God. Other people may have a special thing that God has shown to them. Some people may have a message in a special language. Other people may explain what the message means. Do all these things to help the church become stronger.
27 If some people speak in special languages, it should only be two or three people. They should speak one person at a time. Then someone must explain what each person said. 28 But perhaps there is nobody among you who can explain like that. Then, anyone who wanted to speak in a special language must be quiet in your meeting. When they are on their own, they should speak to God.
29 When you meet together, two or three people should speak a message from God. Then the other people there should think carefully about each message. 30 Someone who is sitting in your meeting may receive a special message from God. Then, the person who is already speaking should stop. 31 In that way, each person can speak a message from God, one person at a time. Then everyone will learn something that helps them. 32 All of you who speak messages from God have authority over your own spirits. 33 When we meet together as God's people, he wants there to be peace among us. He does not want to bring trouble.
This is what happens in all the churches where God's people meet together. 34 The women should be quiet during the meetings. They should not speak. They should remember that they are under authority. That is also what God's Law teaches. 35 If a woman wants to ask about something, she should ask her husband at home. Women should be ashamed if they speak in the church.[b] 36 Remember that God's message did not start from you in Corinth! You are not the only people who have heard it, either.
37 Someone may think that he has the gift to speak messages from God. Or he may think that he has received other spiritual gifts. Anyone who thinks like that should agree with what I have written to you. He should recognize that it is what the Lord himself is telling his people to do. 38 If anyone refuses to accept this, you should not accept that person.
39 My Christian friends, this is what I am saying to you: It is good when you want to speak clear messages from God. And if anyone has the gift to speak in a special language, do not stop them. 40 But you must do everything in a proper way that helps people.
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