M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Dreams Come True
42 Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt. So he said to his sons, “Why are you just sitting here looking at one another? 2 I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us to eat. Then we will live and not die.”
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with them. Jacob was afraid that something terrible might happen to Benjamin. 5 Along with many other people, the sons of Jacob, also called Israel, went to Egypt to buy grain. This was because the people in the land of Canaan were hungry also.
6 Now Joseph was governor over Egypt. He was the one who sold the grain to people who came to buy it. So Joseph’s brothers came to him. They bowed facedown on the ground before him. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were. But he acted as if he didn’t know them. He asked unkindly, “Where do you come from?”
They answered, “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 Joseph knew they were his brothers. But they did not know who he was. 9 And Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers bowing to him. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to learn where the nation is weak!”
10 But his brothers said to him, “No, my master. We come as your servants just to buy food. 11 We are all sons of the same father. We are honest men, not spies.”
12 Then Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to learn where this nation is weak!”
13 And they said, “We are 10 of 12 brothers. We are sons of the same father. We live in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is there with our father right now. And our other brother is gone.”
14 But Joseph said to them, “I can see I was right! You are spies! 15 But I will give you a way to prove you are telling the truth. As surely as the king lives, you will not leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. 16 One of you must go and get your brother. The rest of you will stay here in prison. We will see if you are telling the truth. If not, as surely as the king lives, you are spies.” 17 Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.
18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I am a God-fearing man. Do this thing, and I will let you live: 19 If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison. The rest of you go and carry grain back to feed your hungry families. 20 Then bring your youngest brother back here to me. If you do this, I will know you are telling the truth. Then you will not die.”
The brothers agreed to this. 21 They said to each other, “We are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his trouble. He begged us to save him, but we refused to listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”
22 Then Reuben said to them, “I told you not to harm the boy. But you refused to listen to me. So now we are being punished for what we did to him.”
23 When Joseph talked to his brothers, he used an interpreter. So they did not know that Joseph understood what they were saying. 24 Then Joseph left them and cried. After a short time he went back and spoke to them. He took Simeon and tied him up while the other brothers watched. 25 Joseph told his servants to fill his brothers’ bags with grain. They were to put the money the brothers had paid for the grain back in their bags. They were to give them things they would need for their trip back home. And the servants did this.
26 So the brothers put the grain on their donkeys and left. 27 When they stopped for the night, one of the brothers opened his sack. He was going to get food for his donkey. Then he saw his money in the top of the sack. 28 He said to the other brothers, “The money I paid for the grain has been put back. Here it is in my sack!”
The brothers were very frightened. They said to each other, “What has God done to us?”
The Brothers Return to Jacob
29 The brothers went to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. They told him everything that had happened. 30 They said, “The master of that land spoke unkindly to us. He accused us of spying on his country. 31 But we told him that we were honest men, not spies. 32 We told him that we were 10 of 12 brothers—sons of one father. We said that 1 of our brothers was gone. And we said that our youngest brother was with our father in Canaan.
33 “Then the master of the land said to us, ‘Here is a way I can know you are honest men: Leave 1 of your brothers with me. Take back grain to feed your hungry families, and go. 34 And bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies but honest men. And I will give you back your brother whom you leave with me. And you can move about freely in our land.’”
35 Then the brothers emptied their sacks. And each of them found his money in his sack. When they and their father saw it, they were afraid.
36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are robbing me of all my children. Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin away, too. Everything is against me.”
37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put my 2 sons to death if I don’t bring Benjamin back to you. Trust him to my care. I will bring him back to you.”
38 But Jacob said, “I will not allow Benjamin to go with you. His brother is dead. He is the only son left from my wife Rachel. I am afraid something terrible might happen to him during the trip to Egypt. Then I would be sad until the day I die.”
God Sends His Son
12 Jesus used stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the vineyard to some farmers and left for a trip. 2 Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him. They sent him away with nothing. 4 Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. 5 So the man sent another servant. They killed this servant. The man sent many other servants. The farmers beat some of them and killed others.
6 “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’
7 “But they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then it will be ours.’ 8 So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “So what will the man who owns the vineyard do? He will go to the vineyard and kill those farmers. Then he will give the vineyard to other farmers. 10 Surely you have read this Scripture:
‘The stone that the builders did not want
became the cornerstone.
11 The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’” Psalm 118:22-23
12 The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.
The Leaders Try to Trap Jesus
13 Later, the Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and some men from the group called Herodians[a] to Jesus. They wanted to catch Jesus saying something wrong. 14 They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. You are not afraid of what other people think about you. All men are the same to you. And you teach the truth about God’s way. Tell us: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them, or not?”
15 But Jesus knew what these men were really trying to do. He said, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a silver coin. Let me see it.” 16 They gave Jesus a coin, and he asked, “Whose picture is on the coin? And whose name is written on it?”
They answered, “Caesar’s.”
17 Then Jesus said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And give to God the things that are God’s.” The men were amazed at what Jesus said.
Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus
18 Then some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no person will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question. 19 They said, “Teacher, Moses wrote that a man’s brother might die. He leaves a wife but no children. Then that man must marry the widow and have children for the dead brother. 20 There were seven brothers. The first brother married but died. He had no children. 21 So the second brother married the widow. But he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. 22 All seven brothers married her and died. None of the brothers had any children. The woman was last to die. 23 But all seven brothers had married her. So at the time people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”
24 Jesus answered, “Why did you make this mistake? Is it because you don’t know what the Scriptures say? Or is it because you don’t know about the power of God? 25 When people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other but will be like angels in heaven. 26 Surely you have read what God said about people rising from death. In the book in which Moses wrote about the burning bush,[b] it says that God told Moses this: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[c] 27 God is the God of living people, not dead people. You Sadducees are wrong!”
The Most Important Command
28 One of the teachers of the law came to Jesus. He heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees and the Pharisees. He saw that Jesus gave good answers to their questions. So he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?”
29 Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘Listen, people of Israel! The Lord our God, he is the only Lord. 30 Love the Lord your God. Love him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’[d] 31 The second most important command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’[e] These two commands are the most important commands.”
32 The man answered, “That was a good answer, Teacher. You were right when you said these things. God is the only Lord, and there is no other God besides him. 33 One must love God with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength. And one must love his neighbor as he loves himself. These commands are more important than all the animals and sacrifices we offer to God.”
34 Jesus saw that the man answered him wisely. So Jesus said to him, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one was brave enough to ask Jesus any more questions.
35 Jesus was teaching in the Temple. He asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said:
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit by me at my right side,
until I put your enemies under your control.’ Psalm 110:1
37 David himself calls the Christ ‘Lord.’ So how can the Christ be David’s son?” The large crowd listened to Jesus with pleasure.
38 Jesus continued teaching. He said, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. 39 They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues. And they love to have the most important seats at the feasts. 40 They cheat widows and steal their homes. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish these people terribly.”
True Giving
41 Jesus sat near the Temple money box where people put their gifts. He watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. 42 Then a poor widow came and gave two very small copper coins. These coins were not worth even a penny.
43 Jesus called his followers to him. He said, “I tell you the truth. This poor widow gave only two small coins. But she really gave more than all those rich people. 44 The rich have plenty; they gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor. But she gave all she had. And she needed that money to help her live.”
Bildad Speaks to Job
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you say such things?
Your words are no more than a strong wind.
3 God does not twist fairness.
God All-Powerful does not make wrong what is right.
4 Your children sinned against God.
And he punished them for their sins.
5 But you should ask God for help.
Pray to God All-Powerful for mercy.
6 You must be good and honest.
Then he will start doing something for you.
And he will bring you back where you belong.
7 The place you began will seem unimportant
because your future will be so successful.
8 “Ask old people
and find out what their ancestors learned.
9 We were only born yesterday and know nothing.
Our days on earth are like only a shadow.
10 Those people will teach you and tell you.
They will tell you what they know.
11 Papyrus plants cannot grow tall where there is no wet land.
Reeds cannot grow tall without water.
12 While they are still growing and not yet cut,
they will dry up more quickly than grass.
13 That is what will happen to everyone who forgets God.
The hope of the person without God will be gone.
14 What he trusts in is easily broken.
It is as easily broken as a spider’s web.
15 He leans on the spider’s web, but it breaks.
He holds on to it, but it does not hold him up.
16 He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine.
The plant spreads its roots all through the garden.
17 It wraps its roots around a pile of rocks.
And it looks for a place among the stones.
18 But the plant may be torn from its place.
Then that place rejects it and says, ‘I never saw you.’
19 Then its life dries up.
And other plants grow up from the dirt in its place.
20 “Surely God does not reject innocent men.
He does not give strength to those who do evil.
21 God will yet fill your mouth with laughter.
And he will fill your lips with shouts of joy.
22 Your enemies will be covered in shame.
And the tents of the wicked will be gone.”
Give Your Lives to God
12 So brothers, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him. This is the spiritual way for you to worship. 2 Do not be shaped by this world. Instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you. And you will be able to know what is good and pleasing to God and what is perfect. 3 God has given me a special gift. That is why I have something to say to everyone among you. Do not think that you are better than you are. You must see yourself as you really are. Decide what you are by the amount of faith God has given you. 4 Each one of us has a body, and that body has many parts. These parts all have different uses. 5 In the same way, we are many, but in Christ we are all one body. Each one is a part of that body. And each part belongs to all the other parts. 6 We all have different gifts. Each gift came because of the grace that God gave us. If one has the gift of prophecy, he should use that gift with the faith he has. 7 If one has the gift of serving, he should serve. If one has the gift of teaching, he should teach. 8 If one has the gift of encouraging others, he should encourage. If one has the gift of giving to others, he should give freely. If one has the gift of being a leader, he should try hard when he leads. If one has the gift of showing kindness to others, that person should do so with joy.
9 Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Hold on to what is good. 10 Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give your brothers and sisters more honor than you want for yourselves. 11 Do not be lazy but work hard. Serve the Lord with all your heart. 12 Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes. Pray at all times. 13 Share with God’s people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your homes.
14 Wish good for those who do bad things to you. Wish them well and do not curse them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. 16 Live together in peace with each other. Do not be proud, but make friends with those who seem unimportant. Do not think how smart you are.
17 If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him. Try to do what everyone thinks is right. 18 Do your best to live in peace with everyone. 19 My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you. Wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: “I am the One who punishes; I will pay people back,”[a] says the Lord. 20 But you should do this:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if your enemy is thirsty, give him a drink.
Doing this will be like pouring burning coals on his head.” Proverbs 25:21-22
21 Do not let evil defeat you. Defeat evil by doing good.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.