M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Water from a Rock
17 The whole Israelite community left the Desert of Sin. They traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim. But there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses. They said, “Give us water to drink.”
But Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why are you testing the Lord?”
3 But the people were very thirsty for water. So they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to kill us, our children and our farm animals with thirst?”
4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What can I do with these people? They are almost ready to kill me with stones.”
5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go ahead of the people of Israel. And take some of the elders of Israel with you. Carry with you the walking stick that you used to strike the Nile River. Now go! 6 I will stand in front of you on a rock at Mount Sinai. Hit that rock with the stick, and water will come out of it. Then the people can drink.” Moses did these things as the elders of Israel watched. 7 Moses named that place Massah[a] because the Israelites tested the Lord. They asked, “Is the Lord with us or not?” He also named it Meribah[b] because they quarreled.
The Amalekites Fight Israel
8 At Rephidim the Amalekites came and fought the Israelites. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men and go and fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill. I will hold the stick God gave me to carry.”
10 Joshua obeyed Moses and went to fight the Amalekites. At the same time Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held his hands up, the Israelites would win the fight. But when Moses put his hands down, the Amalekites would win. 12 Later, Moses’ arms became tired. So the men put a large rock under Moses, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ hands. Aaron was on one side of Moses, and Hur was on the other side. They held his hands up like this until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua defeated the Amalekites in this battle.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write about this battle in a book so people will remember. And be sure to tell Joshua. Tell him because I will completely destroy the Amalekites from the earth.”
15 Then Moses built an altar. He named it The Lord is my Banner. 16 Moses said, “I lifted my hands toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will fight against the Amalekites forever.”
The Leaders Question Jesus
20 One day Jesus was in the Temple, teaching the people and telling them the Good News. The leading priests, teachers of the law, and Jewish elders came up to talk with him. 2 They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
3 Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. Tell me: 4 When John baptized people, did that come from God or from man?”
5 The priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish leaders all talked about this. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then Jesus will say, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’ 6 But if we say, ‘John’s baptism was from man,’ then all the people will kill us with stones because they believe that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered, “We don’t know the answer.”
8 So Jesus said to them, “Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things!”
God Sends His Son
9 Then Jesus told the people this story: “A man planted a vineyard. The man leased the land to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. 10 Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to those farmers to get his share of the grapes. But they beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. 11 Then he sent another servant. They beat this servant too. They showed no respect for him and sent him away with nothing. 12 So the man sent a third servant. The farmers hurt this servant badly and threw him out. 13 The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son whom I love very much. Maybe they will respect him!’ 14 When they saw the son, 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!’ 15 So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What will the owner of this vineyard do? 16 He will come and kill those farmers! Then he will give the vineyard to other farmers.”
The people heard this story. They said, “No! Let this never happen!”
17 But Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this verse mean:
‘The stone that the builders did not want
became the cornerstone’? Psalm 118:22
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on you, it will crush you!”
19 The teachers of the law and the priests heard this story that Jesus told. They knew the story was about them. So they wanted to arrest Jesus at once. But they were afraid of what the people would do.
The Leaders Try to Trap Jesus
20 So they waited for the right time to get Jesus. They sent some spies who acted as if they were good men. They wanted to trap Jesus in what he said so they could hand him over to the authority and power of the governor. 21 So the spies asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is true. You teach the same to all people. You always teach the truth about God’s way. 22 Tell us, is it right that we pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. He said, 24 “Show me a coin. Whose name is on the coin? And whose picture is on it?”
They said, “Caesar’s.”
25 Jesus said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And give to God the things that are God’s.”
26 The men were amazed at his answer. They could say nothing. They were not able to trap Jesus in anything he said before the people.
Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus
27 Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked, 28 “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 his dead brother. 29 One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married, but died. He had no children. 30 Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. 31 And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. 32 The woman was the last to die. 33 But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”
34 Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. 35 But those who will be worthy to be raised from death and live again will not marry. 36 In that life they are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. 37 Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,[a] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[b] 38 God is the God of living people, not dead people. All people are alive to God.”
39 Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was good.” 40 No one was brave enough to ask him another question.
Is the Christ the Son of David?
41 Then Jesus said, “Why do people say that the Christ is the Son ofDavid? 42 In the book of Psalms, David himself says:
‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit by me at my right side,
43 until I put your enemies under your control.’[c] Psalm 110:1
44 David calls the Christ ‘Lord.’ But the Christ is also the son of David. How can both these things be true?”
Jesus Accuses the Leaders
45 While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his followers, 46 “Be careful 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. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at the feasts. 47 But they cheat widows and steal their houses. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish these men very much.”
35 Then Elihu said:
2 “Do you think this is fair?
You say, ‘God will show that I am right.’
3 But you say to him, ‘What good is it to me?
I don’t gain anything by not sinning.’
4 “I would like to answer you.
And I want to answer your friends who are with you.
5 Look up at the sky and see.
Look at the clouds so high above you.
6 If you sin, it does nothing to God.
Even if your sins are many, they do nothing to God.
7 If you are good, you give nothing to God.
He receives nothing from your hand.
8 Your evil ways only hurt a man like yourself.
And the good you do only helps other human beings.
9 “People cry out for help when they are in trouble.
They beg for relief from powerful people.
10 But no one asks, ‘Where is God, my Maker?
He gives us songs in the night.
11 He makes us more clever than the animals of the earth.
He makes us wiser than the birds of the air.’
12 God does not answer evil people when they cry for help.
This is because they are too proud.
13 He does not listen to their useless begging.
God All-Powerful pays no attention to them.
14 He will listen to you even less
when you say you do not see him.
He will not listen when you say your case is before him
and you must wait for him.
15 He will not listen when you say his anger never punishes
and that he doesn’t notice evil.
16 So Job is only speaking useless words.
He says many words without knowing what is true.”
5 We know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a house for us to live in. It will not be a house made by men. It will be a home in heaven that will last forever. 2 But now we are tired of this body. We want God to give us our heavenly home. 3 It will clothe us, and we will not be naked. 4 While we live in this body, we have burdens, and we complain. We do not want to be naked. We want to be clothed with our heavenly home. Then this body that dies will be fully covered with life. 5 This is what God made us for. And he has given us the Spirit to be a guarantee for this new life.
6 So we always have courage. We know that while we live in this body, we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by what we believe, not by what we can see. 8 So I say that we have courage. And we really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Our only goal is to please God. We want to please him whether we live here or there. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. Each one will receive what he should get—good or bad—for the things he did when he lived in the earthly body.
Becoming Friends with God
11 We know what it means to fear the Lord. So we try to help people accept the truth. God knows what we really are. And I hope that in your hearts you know, too. 12 We are not trying to prove ourselves to you again. But we are telling you about ourselves, so you will be proud of us. Then you will have an answer for those who are proud about things that can be seen. They do not care about what is in the heart. 13 If we are out of our minds, it is for God. If we have our right mind, then it is for you. 14 The love of Christ controls us. Because we know that One died for all. So all have died. 15 Christ died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from death so that they would live for him.
16 From this time on we do not think of anyone as the world does. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we no longer think of him in that way. 17 If anyone belongs to Christ, then he is made new. The old things have gone; everything is made new! 18 All this is from God. Through Christ, God made peace between us and himself. And God gave us the work of bringing everyone into peace with him. 19 I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold the world guilty of its sins. And he gave us this message of peace. 20 So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is as if God is calling to you through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God. 21 Christ had no sin. But God made him become sin. God did this for us so that in Christ we could become right with God.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.