M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob in Bethel
35 God said to Jacob, “Go to the city of Bethel and live there. Make an altar to the God who appeared to you there. This was when you were running away from your brother Esau.”
2 So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods you have. Make yourselves clean, and change your clothes. 3 We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God. He has helped me during my time of trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had. And they gave him the earrings they were wearing. He hid them under the great tree near the town of Shechem. 5 Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby cities to be afraid. So they did not follow the sons of Jacob. 6 And Jacob and all the people who were with him went to Luz. It is now called Bethel. It is in the land of Canaan. 7 There Jacob built an altar. He named the place Bethel, after God, because God had appeared to him there. That was when he was running from his brother.
8 Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak tree at Bethel. They named that place Oak of Crying.
Jacob’s New Name
9 When Jacob came back from Northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again. And God blessed him. 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. But you will not be called Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel.” So he called him Israel. 11 God said to him, “I am God All-Powerful. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings. 12 I gave Abraham and Isaac land. I will give that same land to you and your descendants.” 13 Then God left him. 14 Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him. And he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God. 15 And Jacob named the place Bethel.
Rachel Dies Giving Birth
16 Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving birth to her baby. 17 But she was having much trouble with this birth. When Rachel’s nurse saw this, she said, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son.” 18 Rachel gave birth to the son, but she died. As she lay dying, she named the boy Son of My Suffering. But Jacob called him Benjamin.[a]
19 Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath, a district of Bethlehem. 20 And Jacob set up a rock on her grave to honor her. That rock is still there today. 21 Then Israel, also called Jacob, continued his journey. He camped just south of Migdal Eder.
22 While Israel was in that land Reuben had physical relations with Israel’s slave woman Bilhah. And Israel heard about it.
The Family of Israel
Jacob had 12 sons. 23 He had 6 sons by his wife Leah. Reuben was his first son. Then Leah had Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24 He had 2 sons by his wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25 He had 2 sons by Rachel’s slave girl Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
26 And he had 2 sons by Leah’s slave girl Zilpah: Gad and Asher.
These are Jacob’s sons who were born in Northwest Mesopotamia.
27 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre near Hebron. This is where Abraham and Isaac had lived. 28 Isaac lived 180 years. 29 So Isaac breathed his last breath and died when he was very old. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Esau’s Family
36 This is the family history of Esau (also called Edom).
2 Esau married women from the land of Canaan. He married Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite. And he married Oholibamah daughter of Anah. Anah was the son of Zibeon the Hivite. And he married 3 Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.
4 Adah gave Esau one son, Eliphaz. Basemath gave Esau Reuel. 5 And Oholibamah gave Esau Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were Esau’s sons who were born in the land of Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters and all the people who lived with him. He took his herds and other animals. And he took all the belongings he had gotten in Canaan. And he went to a land away from his brother Jacob. 7 Esau and Jacob’s belongings were becoming too many for them to live in the same land. The land where they had lived could not support both of them. They had too many herds. 8 So Esau lived in the mountains of Edom. (Esau is also named Edom.)
9 This is the family history of Esau. He is the ancestor of the Edomites, who live in the mountains of Edom.
10 Esau’s sons were Eliphaz son of Adah and Esau, and Reuel son of Basemath and Esau.
11 Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. 12 Eliphaz also had a slave woman named Timna. Timna and Eliphaz gave birth to Amalek. These were Esau’s grandsons by his wife Adah.
13 Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were Esau’s grandsons by his wife Basemath.
14 Esau’s third wife was Oholibamah. She was the daughter of Anah. (Anah was the son of Zibeon.) Esau and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
15 These were the leaders that came from Esau. Esau’s first son was Eliphaz. From him came these leaders: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the leaders that came from Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the grandsons of Adah.
17 Esau’s son Reuel was the father of these leaders: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the leaders that came from Reuel in the land of Edom. They were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.
18 Esau’s wife Oholibamah gave birth to these leaders: Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These are the leaders that came from Esau’s wife Oholibamah. She was the daughter of Anah. 19 These were the sons of Esau (also called Edom), and these were their leaders.
20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir were the leaders of the Horites in Edom.
22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam. (Timna was Lotan’s sister.)
23 The sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
24 The sons of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah. Anah is the man who found the hot springs in the desert. He found them while he was caring for his father’s donkeys.
25 The children of Anah were Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
26 The sons of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.
27 The sons of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.
28 The sons of Dishan were Uz and Aran.
29 These were the names of the Horite leaders: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan.
These men were the leaders of the Horite families. They lived in the land of Edom.
31 These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before the Israelites ever had a king.
32 Bela son of Beor was the king of Edom. He came from the city of Dinhabah.
33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah became king. Jobab was from Bozrah.
34 When Jobab died, Husham became king. He was from the land of the Temanites.
35 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad became king. Hadad had defeated Midian in the country of Moab. Hadad was from the city of Avith.
36 When Hadad died, Samlah became king. He was from Masrekah.
37 When Samlah died, Shaul became king. He was from Rehoboth on the Euphrates River.
38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Acbor became king.
39 When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad became king. He was from the city of Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred. Matred was the daughter of Me-Zahab.
40 These Edomite leaders came from Esau. They are listed by their families and regions. Their names were Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel and Iram. These were the leaders of Edom. (Esau was the father of the Edomites.) The area where each of these families lived was named after that family.
Jesus Goes to His Hometown
6 Jesus left there and went back to his hometown. His followers went with him. 2 On the Sabbath day he taught in the synagogue. Many people heard him and were amazed. They said, “Where did this man get these teachings? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? And where did he get the power to work miracles? 3 He is only the carpenter. His mother is Mary. He is the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters are here with us.” The people did not accept Jesus.
4 Jesus said to them, “Other people give honor to a prophet. But in his own town with his own people and in his own home, a prophet does not receive honor.” 5 Jesus was not able to work many miracles there. The only miracles he did were to heal some sick people by putting his hands on them. 6 Jesus was amazed that they had no faith.
Then Jesus went to other villages in that area and taught. 7 He called the 12 followers together and sent them out in groups of 2. He gave them authority over evil spirits. 8 This is what Jesus told them: “Take nothing for your trip except a walking stick. Take no bread, no bag, and no money in your pockets. 9 Wear sandals, and take only the clothes you are wearing. 10 When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. 11 If any town refuses to accept you or its people refuse to listen to you, then leave that town. Shake its dust off your feet.[a] This will be a warning to them.”[b]
12 The followers went out and preached to the people to change their hearts and lives. 13 The followers forced many demons out and poured olive oil on many sick people and healed them.
How John the Baptist Was Killed
14 King Herod heard about Jesus, because Jesus was now well known. Some people said,[c] “He is John the Baptist. He is risen from death. That is the reason he can work these miracles.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”[d]
Other people said, “Jesus is a prophet. He is like the prophets who lived long ago.”
16 Herod heard all these things about Jesus. He said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has been raised from death!”
17 Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John, and John was put in prison. Herod did this to please his wife, Herodias. Herodias was the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother. But then Herod married her. 18 John told Herod that it was not lawful for him to be married to his brother’s wife. 19 So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she could not because of Herod. 20 Herod was afraid to kill John because he knew John was a good and holy man. So Herod protected John. Also, Herod enjoyed listening to John preach. But John’s preaching always bothered him.
21 Then the perfect time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. It happened on Herod’s birthday. Herod gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee. 22 The daughter of Herodias[e] came to the party and danced. When she danced, Herod and the people eating with him were very pleased.
So King Herod said to the girl, “I will give you anything you want.” 23 He promised her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you. I will even give you half of my kingdom.”
24 The girl went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask the king to give me?”
Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.”
25 Quickly the girl went back to the king. She said to him, “Please give me the head of John the Baptist. Bring it to me now on a platter.”
26 The king was very sad. But he had promised to give the girl anything she wanted. And the people eating there with him had heard his promise. So Herod could not refuse what she asked. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier to bring John’s head. The soldier went and cut off John’s head in the prison 28 and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 John’s followers heard about what happened. So they came and got John’s body and put it in a tomb.
More Than 5,000 People Fed
30 The apostles that Jesus had sent out to preach returned. They gathered around him and told him about all the things they had done and taught. 31 Crowds of people were coming and going. Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come with me. We will go to a quiet place to be alone. There we will get some rest.”
32 So they went in a boat alone to a place where there were no people. 33 But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So people from all the towns ran to the place where Jesus was going. They got there before Jesus arrived. 34 When he landed, he saw a great crowd waiting. Jesus felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things.
35 It was now late in the day. Jesus’ followers came to him and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already very late. 36 Send the people away. They need to go to the farms and towns around here to buy some food to eat.”
37 But Jesus answered, “You give them food to eat.”
They said to him, “We can’t buy enough bread to feed all these people! We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!”
38 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have now? Go and see.”
When they found out, they came to him and said, “We have five loaves and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus said to the followers, “Tell all the people to sit in groups on the green grass.” 40 So all the people sat in groups. They sat in groups of 50 or groups of 100. 41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to heaven and thanked God for the bread. He divided the bread and gave it to his followers for them to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all. 42 All the people ate and were satisfied. 43 The followers filled 12 baskets with the pieces of bread and fish that were not eaten. 44 There were about 5,000 men there who ate.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Then Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go to Bethsaida on the other side of the lake. Jesus said that he would come later. He stayed there to tell the people they could go home. 46 After sending them away, he went into the hills to pray.
47 That night, the boat was in the middle of the lake. Jesus was alone on the land. 48 He saw the followers working hard to row the boat because the wind was blowing against them. At some time between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the water. He continued walking until he was almost past the boat. 49 But when his followers saw him walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost and cried out. 50 They all saw him and were terrified. But Jesus spoke to them and said, “Have courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.” 51 Then he got into the boat with them. And the wind became calm. The followers were greatly amazed. 52 They had seen Jesus make more bread from the five loaves. But they did not understand what it meant. Their minds were closed.
53 When they had crossed the lake, they came to shore at Gennesaret. They tied the boat there. 54 When they got out of the boat, the people saw Jesus and immediately recognized him. 55 They ran to tell others everywhere in that area that Jesus was there. They brought sick people on mats to every place Jesus went. 56 Jesus went into towns and cities and farms around that area. And everywhere he went, the people brought the sick to the marketplaces. They begged him to let them just touch the edge of his coat. And all who touched him were healed.
Satan Appears Before God Again
2 On another day the angels came to show themselves before the Lord. And Satan also came with them. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “I have been wandering around the earth. I have been going back and forth in it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him. He is an honest man, innocent of any wrong. He honors God and stays away from evil. You caused me to ruin him for no good reason. But he continues to be without blame.”
4 “One skin for another!” Satan answered. “A man will give all he has to save his own life. 5 But reach out your hand and destroy his own flesh and bones. Then he will curse you to your face.”
6 The Lord said to Satan, “All right, then. Job is in your power. But you must let him live.”
7 So Satan left the Lord’s presence. And he put painful sores all over Job’s body. They went from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery. And he used it to scrape himself. He sat in ashes to show how upset he was.
9 Job’s wife said to him, “Are you still trying to stay innocent? You should just curse God and die!”
10 Job answered, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Should we take only good things from God and not trouble?” In all this Job did not sin in what he said.
Job’s Three Friends
11 Now Job had three friends. They were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite. These friends heard about the troubles that had happened to Job. So they agreed to meet and go see Job. They wanted to show him they were upset for him, too. And they wanted to comfort him. 12 They saw Job from far away. But he looked so different they almost didn’t recognize him. They began to cry loudly. They tore their robes and put dirt on their heads to show how sad they were. 13 Then they sat on the ground with Job seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him. This was because they saw how much he was suffering.
Dead to Sin but Alive in Christ
6 So do you think that we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace? 2 No! We died to our old sinful lives. So how can we continue living with sin? 3 Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. 4 So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. We were buried with him so that we could live a new life, just as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father.
5 Christ died, and we have been joined with Christ by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from death as he did. 6 We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross. This was so that our sinful selves would have no power over us, and we would not be slaves to sin. 7 Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control.
8 If we died with Christ, we know that we will also live with him. 9 Christ was raised from death. And we know that he cannot die again. Death has no power over him now. 10 Yes, when Christ died, he died to defeat the power of sin one time—enough for all time. He now has a new life, and his new life is with God. 11 In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus.
12 So, do not let sin control you in your life here on earth. You must not be ruled by the things your sinful self makes you want to do. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to serve sin. Do not use your bodies as things to do evil with, but offer yourselves to God. Be like people who have died and now live. Offer the parts of your body to God to be used for doing good. 14 Sin will not be your master, because you are not under law but under God’s grace.
Slaves of Righteousness
15 So what should we do? Should we sin because we are under grace and not under law? No! 16 Surely you know that when you give yourselves like slaves to obey someone, then you are really slaves of that person. The person you obey is your master. You can follow sin, or obey God. Sin brings spiritual death. But obeying God makes you right with him. 17 In the past you were slaves to sin—sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully obeyed the things that were taught to you. 18 You were made free from sin, and now you are slaves to goodness. 19 I use this example because this is hard for you to understand. In the past you offered the parts of your body to be slaves to sin and evil. You lived only for evil. In the same way now you must give yourselves to be slaves of goodness. Then you will live only for God.
20 In the past you were slaves to sin, and goodness did not control you. 21 You did evil things, and now you are ashamed of them. Those things only bring death. 22 But now you are free from sin and have become slaves of God. This brings you a life that is only for God. And this gives you life forever. 23 The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.