M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
22 Put the blood into a dish. Then take a branch of hyssop.[a] Make it wet with the blood that is in the dish. Then put some of the blood on the wood that is round your door. Nobody must go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 The Lord will pass through the country and he will kill the Egyptians. But when the Lord sees the blood on the wood round the door, he will pass over that house. He will not let the death angel come into your houses. The Lord will not let him kill you.
24 You must obey these rules always, both you and your descendants, for all time. 25 You will go into the land that the Lord promised to give you. Then you must continue to obey these rules. 26 Your children may say to you, “What does this feast mean?” 27 Then you must say to them, “It is the Lord's Passover sacrifice. The Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites when they were in Egypt. He killed the Egyptians but he saved our families.” ’ Then the people bent their heads down to the ground and they worshipped God.
28 The Israelites did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight, the Lord killed all the firstborn sons in the land of Egypt. The firstborn son of Pharaoh, the king, died. But also, the firstborn son of any man who was in prison died. Every firstborn son in Egypt died. All the firstborn animals also died. 30 Pharaoh and all his officers woke up in the middle of the night. All the Egyptians also woke up in the middle of the night. Everyone was crying loudly everywhere in Egypt. In every home, somebody had died that night.
The Israelites leave Egypt
31 During the night, Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘Get out of here! Take all the Israelites with you and go away from my people! Go and worship the Lord, as you asked me before. 32 Take all your animals with you, as you have said. Just go away! But also pray that God will bless me.’
33 The Egyptians were telling the Israelites to leave quickly. They wanted them to go out of the country immediately. The Egyptians said, ‘If we do not send them away immediately, we will all die!’
34 So the Israelites took their bread before they had cooked it. They had not even put the yeast into it. They put the bread in dishes and they put clothes round the dishes. Then they carried the dishes on their shoulders. 35 The Israelites obeyed Moses. They asked the Egyptians for silver and gold. They also asked them for clothes. 36 The Lord had caused the Egyptians to be kind to the Israelites. Because of this, the Egyptians gave the Israelites everything that they asked for. In that way, the Israelites took away all the valuable things that belonged to the Egyptians.
37 The Israelites travelled from Rameses to Succoth. There were about 600,000 men who walked. There were also many women and children. 38 Many other people also travelled with them. They had a very large number of sheep, goats and cows. 39 The Israelites cooked the bread that they had brought with them from Egypt. It had no yeast in it, because they had to leave Egypt quickly. The Egyptians did not let them wait. So the Israelites did not have time to prepare any food for themselves.[b]
40 The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. 41 It was on the last day of the 430 years that all the Lord's people left Egypt. They left in family groups, like an army. 42 The Lord carefully watched his people all that night, when he brought them out of Egypt. Because of that, all Israelites must watch carefully during this special night. They and their descendants must do this every year, to thank the Lord.
Rules for the Passover festival
43 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘These are the rules for the Passover festival:
No foreign person may eat the Passover meal. 44 If you buy a foreign slave, you must first circumcise him. Then he may eat the food. 45 But if you pay him money for his work, he must not eat the food. A visitor also must not eat the food.
46 You must eat the meal in one house. You must not take any of the meat outside the house. You must not break any of the bones in the meat. 47 All the Israelites must enjoy the feast together.
48 There may be a foreign person who lives among you. He may want to join you to eat the Lord's Passover meal. But he must first be circumcised as well as all the men in his house. Then he can join with you and eat the Passover meal. He will be like a man who has been born in Israel. But no male person without circumcision can join the Passover feast. 49 Both the people who were born as Israelites and the foreign people who live among you must obey this rule.’
50 All the Israelites did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 On that same day, the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, in family groups, like an army.
15 One day, many bad people and men who took taxes from people were coming round Jesus. They all wanted to hear what Jesus was saying. 2 The Pharisees and teachers of God's Law did not like this. ‘This man is friendly with people that do not obey God,’ they said. ‘He even eats with them in their homes.’
A story about a sheep that a man has lost[a]
3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 ‘Think about a man who has 100 sheep.[b] He may lose one of them. What does he do then? He leaves all his other sheep in the fields. Then he goes. He looks for the sheep that he has lost. He looks until he finds it. 5 When he finds the sheep, he is very happy. He lifts it up and he puts it across his shoulders. 6 Then he carries it back home. He speaks to all his friends and to the people that live near him. He says, “I have found the sheep that I lost. So come to my house and we can all be happy together.” 7 When one person stops doing wrong things, it is like that. It makes those that live with God in heaven very happy. They will be happier about that one person, than about 99 people who already obey God.’
A story about a coin that a woman has lost
8 Jesus told them another story: ‘Now think about a woman who has ten valuable coins.[c] She may lose one of them. What does she do then? She lights a lamp and she sweeps inside her house. She looks carefully until she finds the coin. 9 Then she speaks to all her friends and to those that live near to her. She says to them, “I have found the coin that I lost. So come to my house and we can all be happy together.”
10 When one person stops doing wrong things, it is like that. It makes God's angels and everyone in heaven very happy.’
A story about two sons
11 Jesus then told another story: ‘There was a man that had two sons.[d] 12 The younger son went to his father and said to him, “Father, please give me now my part of your things.” So the father gave both sons the part of his things that each of them should have. 13 After a few days, the younger son sold what his father had given to him. Then he took all the money and left home. He went on a long journey to a country far away. There, he did whatever he wanted to do and wasted all his money. 14 After he had spent everything, there was no rain in that country. There was almost no food anywhere. So the young man had nothing to eat. 15 He went to a man who lived in that country. He asked to work for him. So the man sent him into his fields to give food to his pigs. 16 Nobody gave him anything to eat. He even wanted to eat the food that the pigs were eating. But he had nothing.
17 Then the son began to think about what he had done. He said to himself, “My father has many servants, and they have plenty of food to eat. They even have more food than they need. But I will die here because I do not have any food. 18 So I will go to my father and tell him, ‘I have done bad things against God, and I have done bad things against you. 19 So I am not good enough for you to call me your son any longer. Instead, please accept me as one of your servants.’ ”
20 So he went off to return to his father. But he was still a long way from the house when his father saw him. He felt very sorry for his son and he ran towards him. Then he put his arms round his son and he kissed him. 21 “Father,” the son said, “I have done bad things against God and against you. So I am not good enough for you to call me your son.” 22 But the father shouted to his servants. “Hurry!” he said. “Fetch the most beautiful coat that we have. Put it on him and also put a ring on his finger. Put shoes on his feet. 23 Fetch the young cow that we keep ready to eat on a special day. It is already fat. Kill it and prepare it. We will eat a big meal and we will be happy together. 24 I thought that my son here was dead. But now he has returned to me and he is alive! I thought that he had left me for all time. But now he has come home.” Then they all began to be happy together.
25 While these things were happening, the older son was working in the field.[e] On his way back to the house, he heard music. People were dancing. 26 So he asked one of the servants, “What is happening?” 27 The servant replied, “Your brother has returned home. Your father has killed the fat young cow for him. He did this because your brother is alive and he is well.” 28 When the older brother heard this, he was very angry. He would not go into the house. So his father came out. “Please come in to be happy with us,” he said. 29 “Listen,” the older son replied, “I have worked a lot for you for many years. I have always obeyed you. But you never even killed a young goat for me so that I could be happy with my friends. We could have had a meal together. 30 But now this other son of yours has returned. He has wasted all the money that you gave to him. He has spent it on prostitutes. But you have even killed the fat young cow for him.” 31 “My son,” his father said, “you are always with me. All the things that I have are yours. 32 We thought that your brother was dead. But now he has returned to us alive. We thought that he had left us for all time. But now he has come home. So we must all be happy together.” ’
Job continues to speak[a]
30 ‘But now it is different.
Men who are younger than I am laugh at me.
I would not even trust their fathers
to take care of my sheep.
2 The work that those old men could do was no help to me.
They no longer were strong.
3 They were weak and thin because they were hungry.
They had to look for food in the desert at night.
They found roots to eat in dry places.
4 They pulled up plants in the desert
as their food.
They burned the roots of bushes
to keep themselves warm.
5 People chased them away from their towns,
as if they were shouting at robbers.
6 They had to live in dry valleys,
among the rocks, or in caves.
7 They cried aloud like animals among the bushes.
They hid together under the thorn bushes.
8 They were foolish people that nobody respected.
People chased them away from their land.
9 But now their sons sing songs that insult me.
They tell jokes about me.[b]
10 They hate me
and they do not come near me.
When they see me,
they spit at my face.
11 God has made me weak and helpless.
People do to me anything that they want to do.
12 From one side, the crowd attacks me.
They make me run away.
They are like an army that builds a road
to come and attack me.
13 They stop me from escaping.
They are ready to destroy me.
They do not need anyone to help them.
14 I cannot stop them when they attack me.
They rush forward to knock me down.
15 So I am always afraid.
My honour has disappeared
as if a strong wind has blown it away.
My riches have also gone,
like a cloud that passes across the sky.
16 Now I know that my life will soon end.
Every day I continue to suffer.
17 At night, my bones are painful.
The pain is always there in my body.
18 God has used his power to take hold of me.
He has held my shirt around my neck.
19 He has thrown me down into the mud.
I am no better than dust and ashes on the ground.
20 I call aloud to you, God,
but you do not answer me.
When I stand to pray,
you only look at me.
21 You have become cruel to me.
You have used your strength to attack me.
22 You take hold of me and you carry me away,
like a strong wind that blows.
You use a storm to destroy me.
23 I know that you are already taking me to my death.
Everyone who lives has to go to that place.
24 When someone is weak and in trouble,
people do not usually try to hurt him.
When someone calls aloud for help,
they do not refuse to help him.
25 When other people were in trouble,
I wept for them.
When I saw poor people
it made me very upset.
26 But when I hoped for good things to happen,
trouble came instead.
When I looked for light to shine on me,
everything became dark.
27 I hurt inside me all the time.
Every day I suffer from pain.
28 Illness has caused my skin to become black.
It is not the sun that has made that happen.
I stand up in the public meeting place
and I call aloud for help.
29 I have become like the jackals and the ostriches.
My sad voice sounds like them.
30 My skin has become black,
and bits of skin fall off.
My body is hot with fever.[c]
31 Now, when I make music with my harp,
I only sing funeral songs.
When I make music with my flute,
I do it for people who are weeping.’
Help for God's people
16 You asked me about the money that you want to give to God's people at Jerusalem. You should do it in the same way that I told the churches in Galatia.[a] 2 On the first day of every week, each of you should put some of your money in a safe place. Think about how much God has given you. Then decide how much you can give each week. If you do that, the gift will be ready when I come to you. We will not need to start doing it after I come. 3 When I arrive there, you should choose people from your group who will take your gift to Jerusalem. I will write some letters that they will take with them. The letters will explain about your gift. 4 I may also go myself, if that seems the right thing for me to do. Then they can travel with me.
5 But I must travel through Macedonia first.[b] After I have been to Macedonia, then I will come to you. 6 I will probably remain with you for some time. I may even stay for the whole winter. Then you can help me to continue my journey to the next place. I am not sure yet where that may be. 7 If I come now, I would only have a short time with you. But I want to stay with you for a longer time, if the Lord will let me do that. 8 So I will remain here at Ephesus city until the Pentecost festival.[c] 9 God has given me the chance to do a great work here. But many people are against what I am doing.
10 If Timothy comes to you, please take care of him. Make sure that you welcome him. He is doing the Lord's work, as I am also doing. 11 So you should all respect him properly. When he is ready to leave, help him with the things that he needs. Then he can continue his journey and come to me here. I am waiting for him to come with the other believers.
12 As for our Christian friend Apollos, I wanted him to visit you. I have often told him to come to you together with the other believers. But he does not think that this is the right time. He will come to you when he has the chance.
Paul finishes his letter
13 Watch carefully for danger. Never stop trusting God. Continue to be brave and strong. 14 Whatever you do, do it with love.
15 My Christian friends, you know about Stephanas and his family. They were the first people in Achaia to become Christians.[d] They have worked hard as God's servants to help his people. So I say this to you. 16 You must respect people like them. Do what they say. And also respect everyone who works hard to serve God together with them.
17 I was very happy when Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus arrived here. You could not be here yourselves, but they have taken your place. 18 They have helped me to feel stronger, as they also did for you. You should recognize the authority of people like them.
19 The churches here in Asia region say ‘hello’ to you. Aquila and Priscilla, and the group of believers that meets in their house, also say ‘hello’ to you. They love you because you belong to the Lord, as they do. 20 All the Christians here say ‘hello’ to you.
When you meet, kiss each other as Christian brothers and sisters.
21 I, Paul, am writing these words at the end of this letter with my own hand. I say ‘hello’ to you.
22 If anyone among you does not really love the Lord, I pray that God will curse that person.
Our Lord, come now! We are waiting for you!
23 I pray that the Lord Jesus will continue to be kind to all of you.
24 I love all of you who belong to Christ Jesus, as I do.
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