M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Preparing to Meet Esau
32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.(A) 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim.[a](B)
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the territory of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”(C)
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has four hundred men with him.”(D) 7 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, herds, and camels. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”(E)
9 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,(F) the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’(G) 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please rescue me from my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12 You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to be counted.’”(H)
13 He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:(I) 14 two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.”
17 And he told the first one, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’ 18 then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’”
19 He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.”
21 So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night. 22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.(J) 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.
Jacob Wrestles with God
24 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.(K) 25 When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. 26 Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,”(L) he said. “It will be Israel[b] because you have struggled with God(M) and with men and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”
But he answered, “Why do you ask my name?” (N) And he blessed him there.
30 Jacob then named the place Peniel,[c] “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”(O) 31 The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel[d](P)—limping because of his hip. 32 That is why, still today, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because he struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.[e]
3 Jesus(A) entered the synagogue(B) again, and a man was there who had a shriveled(C) hand. 2 In order to accuse(D) him, they were watching him closely(E) to see whether he would heal(F) him on the Sabbath.(G) 3 He told the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand before us.” 4 Then he said to them, “Is it lawful(H) to do good(I) on the Sabbath or to do evil,(J) to save life(K) or to kill?”(L) But they were silent.(M) 5 After looking around at them with anger,(N) he was grieved at the hardness(O) of their hearts and told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.(P) 6 Immediately the Pharisees(Q) went out and started plotting(R) with the Herodians(S) against him, how they might kill(T) him.
Ministering to the Multitude
7 Jesus(U) departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee,(V) and a large crowd followed from Judea,(W) 8 Jerusalem,(X) Idumea, beyond the Jordan,(Y) and around Tyre(Z) and Sidon.(AA) The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. 9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boat(AB) ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 Since he had healed(AC) many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch(AD) him. 11 Whenever the unclean(AE) spirits(AF) saw him, they fell down(AG) before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” (AH) 12 And he would strongly warn(AI) them not to make him known.(AJ)
The Twelve Apostles
13 Jesus(AK) went up the mountain(AL) and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles,[a](AM) to be with him, to send them out to preach,(AN) 15 and to have authority to[b] drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve:[c](AO) To Simon,(AP) he gave the name Peter;(AQ) 17 and to James(AR) the son of Zebedee,(AS) and to his brother John,(AT) he gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder”(AU)); 18 Andrew;(AV) Philip(AW) and Bartholomew; Matthew(AX) and Thomas;(AY) James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot,(AZ) who also betrayed him.
A House Divided
20 Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat.[d] 21 When his family(BA) heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”(BB)
22 The scribes(BC) who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,”(BD) and, “He drives out(BE) demons(BF) by the ruler(BG) of the demons.”(BH)
23 So he summoned(BI) them and spoke to them in parables:(BJ) “How can Satan(BK) drive out Satan?(BL) 24 If a kingdom(BM) is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand but is finished. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his possessions unless he first ties up(BN) the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.
28 “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for all sins and whatever blasphemies(BO) they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes(BP) against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness,(BQ) but is guilty(BR) of an eternal sin”[e](BS)— 30 because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”(BT)
True Relationships
31 His(BU) mother(BV) and his brothers(BW) came, and standing outside, they sent word to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him and told him, “Look, your mother, your brothers,(BX) and your sisters[f] are outside asking for you.”
33 He replied to them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Looking at those sitting in a circle around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!(BY) 35 Whoever does the will of God(BZ) is my brother and sister and mother.”
Esther Intervenes for the Jews
8 That same day King Ahasuerus awarded Queen Esther the estate(A) of Haman, the enemy of the Jews.(B) Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed her relationship to Mordecai.(C) 2 The king removed his signet ring he had recovered from Haman(D) and gave it to Mordecai, and Esther put him in charge of Haman’s estate.
3 Then Esther addressed the king again.(E) She fell at his feet, wept, and begged(F) him to revoke the evil of Haman the Agagite(G) and his plot he had devised against the Jews.(H) 4 The king extended the gold scepter(I) toward Esther, so she got up and stood before the king.
5 She said, “If it pleases the king and I have found favor with him, if the matter seems right to the king and I am pleasing in his eyes,(J) let a royal edict be written. Let it revoke the documents the scheming Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.(K) 6 For how could I bear to see the disaster that would come on my people?(L) How could I bear to see the destruction of my relatives?” (M)
7 King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I have given Haman’s estate to Esther,(N) and he was hanged on the gallows because he attacked[a] the Jews.(O) 8 Write in the king’s name whatever pleases you(P) concerning the Jews, and seal it with the royal signet ring.(Q) A document written in the king’s name and sealed with the royal signet ring cannot be revoked.”(R)
9 On the twenty-third day of the third month(S)—that is, the month Sivan—the royal scribes were summoned. Everything was written exactly as Mordecai(T) commanded for the Jews, to the satraps,(U) the governors, and the officials of the 127 provinces from India to Cush.(V) The edict was written for each province in its own script, for each ethnic group in its own language,(W) and to the Jews in their own script and language.
10 Mordecai wrote in King Ahasuerus’s name and sealed the edicts with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers,(X) who rode fast horses(Y) bred in the royal stables.
11 The king’s edict gave the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate every ethnic and provincial army hostile to them, including women and children, and to take their possessions as spoils of war.(Z) 12 This would take place on a single day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar.(AA)
13 A copy of the text, issued as law throughout every province, was distributed to all the peoples(AB) so the Jews could be ready to avenge themselves against their enemies on that day. 14 The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses at the king’s urgent command. The law was also issued in the fortress of Susa.(AC)
15 Mordecai went from the king’s presence clothed in royal blue and white, with a great gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen.(AD) The city of Susa shouted and rejoiced,(AE) 16 and the Jews celebrated[b] with gladness, joy, and honor.(AF) 17 In every province and every city where the king’s command and edict reached, gladness and joy took place among the Jews. There was a celebration and a holiday.[c](AG) And many of the ethnic groups of the land professed themselves to be Jews because fear of the Jews(AH) had overcome them.
Paul Answers an Objection
3 So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted(A) with the very words of God.(B) 3 What then? If some were unfaithful,(C) will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Absolutely not!(D) Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar,(E) as it is written:
5 But if our unrighteousness highlights[b] God’s righteousness,(G) what are we to say?(H) I am using a human argument:[c](I) Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? 6 Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?(J) 7 But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?(K) 8 And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”?(L) Their condemnation is deserved!
The Whole World Guilty before God
9 What then? Are we any better off?[d] Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews(M) and Greeks(N) are all under sin,[e](O) 10 as it is written:
There is no one righteous, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away;
all alike have become worthless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.[f](P)
13 Their throat is an open grave;
they deceive with their tongues.[g](Q)
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.[h](R)
14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.[i](S)
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,
17 and the path of peace they have not known.[j](T)
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.[k](U)
19 Now we know that whatever the law says,(V) it speaks to those who are subject to the law,[l](W) so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment.[m](X) 20 For no one will be justified[n] in his sight by the works of the law,(Y) because the knowledge of sin comes through the law.(Z)
The Righteousness of God through Faith
21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed,(AA) attested by the Law and the Prophets.[o](AB) 22 The righteousness of God is through faith(AC) in Jesus Christ[p](AD) to all who believe,(AE) since there is no distinction.(AF) 23 For all have sinned(AG) and fall short of the[q] glory of God; 24 they are justified freely by his grace(AH) through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.(AI) 25 God presented him as the mercy seat[r](AJ) by his blood,(AK) through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God(AL) passed over the sins previously committed.(AM) 26 God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
Boasting Excluded
27 Where, then, is boasting?(AN) It is excluded. By what kind of law?[s](AO) By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law[t] of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.(AP) 29 Or is God the God of Jews only?(AQ) Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God(AR) who will justify the circumcised by faith(AS) and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not!(AT) On the contrary, we uphold the law.(AU)
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