M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Property Laws
22 “A man might steal a bull or a sheep and kill or sell it. Then he must pay back five bulls for the one bull he stole. Or he must pay back four sheep for the one sheep he stole.
2-4 “The robber who is caught must pay back what he stole. He might own nothing. Then he must be sold as a slave to pay for what he stole. The stolen animal might be found alive with the robber. Then he must give the owner two animals for every animal he stole. He must pay, whether he stole a bull, donkey or sheep.
“A thief might be killed while breaking into a house at night. Then the one who killed him is not guilty of murder. But if this happens during the day, he is guilty of murder.
5 “A person might let his farm animal graze in his field or vineyard. And it might wander into another person’s field or vineyard. Then the owner of the animal must pay back the loss. The payment must come from the best of his crop.
6 “A man might start a fire that spreads through the thornbushes to his neighbor’s field. The fire might burn his neighbor’s growing grain or grain that has been stacked. Or it might burn his whole field. Then the person who started the fire must pay for what was burned.
7 “A man might give his neighbor money or other things to keep for him. Those things might be stolen from the neighbor’s house. And the thief might be caught. Then he must pay back twice as much as he stole. 8 But maybe the thief is never found. Then the owner of the house must make a promise before God. He must promise that he has not stolen his neighbor’s things.
9 “Two men might disagree about who owns something. It might be an ox, donkey, sheep or clothing. Or it might be something else that is lost. Each says, ‘This is mine.’ Each man must bring his case to God. God’s judges will decide who is guilty. Then he must pay the other man twice as much as the thing is worth.
10 “A man might ask his neighbor to keep his animal for him. This animal might be a donkey, ox, sheep or some other animal. And that animal might die, be hurt or be taken away. And no one saw what happened. 11 That neighbor must promise before the Lord that he did not harm or kill the other man’s animal. The owner of the animal must accept his promise made before God. The neighbor does not have to pay the owner for the animal. 12 But the animal might have been stolen from the neighbor. Then he must pay the owner for it. 13 Wild animals might have killed the animal. Then the neighbor must bring the body as proof. He will not have to pay for the animal that was killed.
14 “A man might borrow an animal from his neighbor. It might get hurt or die while the owner is not there. Then the one who borrowed it must pay the owner for the animal. 15 The owner might be with the animal. Then the one who borrowed it does not have to pay. If the animal was rented, the rental price covers the loss.
Laws and Relationships
16 “A man might find a woman who is not pledged to be married. She has never had physical relations with a man. He might trick her into having physical relations with him. Then he must give her family the payment to marry her. And she will be his wife. 17 But her father might refuse to allow his daughter to marry him. Then the man must still give the payment for a bride. He must pay the usual charge for a woman who is a virgin.
18 “Put to death any woman who does evil magic.
19 “Put to death anyone who has unnatural physical relations with an animal.
20 “Destroy completely any person who makes a sacrifice to any god except the Lord.
21 “Do not cheat or hurt a foreigner. Remember that you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
22 “Do not cheat a widow or an orphan. 23 If you do, they will cry out to me for help. I certainly will hear their cry. 24 And I will be very angry and kill you in war. Then your wives will become widows, and your children will become orphans.
25 “You might lend money to one of my people who is poor. Then do not treat him as a moneylender would. Charge him nothing for using your money. 26 Your neighbor might give you his coat as a promise. He is promising to pay you the money he owes you. But you must give it back to him by sunset. 27 That coat is the only cover to keep his body warm. He has nothing else to sleep in. If he cries out to me for help, I will listen because I am merciful.
28 “You must not speak against God. You must not curse a leader of your people.
29 “Do not hold back your offering from the first of your harvest. Give me the first grain that you harvest. Give me the first wine that you make. Also, you must give me your firstborn sons. 30 You must do the same with your bulls and your sheep. Let the firstborn males stay with their mothers for seven days. On the eighth day you must give them to me.
31 “You are to be my holy people. You must not eat the meat of any animal that has been killed by wild animals. Instead, give it to the dogs.
Christ Comes to the World
1 Before the world began, there was the Word.[a] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through him. Nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life. That life was light for the people of the world. 5 The Light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not overpowered[b] the Light.
6 There was a man named John[c] who was sent by God. 7 He came to tell people about the Light. Through him all people could hear about the Light and believe. 8 John was not the Light, but he came to tell people about the Light. 9 The true Light was coming into the world. The true Light gives light to all.
10 The Word was in the world. The world was made through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to the world that was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12 But some people did accept him. They believed in him. To them he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They did not become his children in the human way. They were not born because of the desire or wish of some man. They were born of God.
14 The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth. 15 John told about him. He said, “This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am. He was living before me.’”
16 The Word was full of grace and truth. From him we all received more and more blessings. 17 The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No man has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father.[d] And the Son has shown us what God is like.
John Tells People About Jesus
19 The Jews in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John.[e] The Jews sent them to ask, “Who are you?”
20 John spoke freely and did not refuse to answer. He said clearly, “I am not the Christ.”
21 So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”[f]
He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”
Then they asked, “Are you the Prophet?”[g]
He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”
22 Then they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to tell those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John told them in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am the voice of a man
calling out in the desert:
‘Make the road straight for the Lord.’” Isaiah 40:3
24 In the group of Jews who were sent, there were some Pharisees. 25 They said to John: “You say you are not the Christ. You say you are not Elijah or the Prophet. Then why do you baptize people?”
26 John answered, “I baptize people with water. But there is one here with you that you don’t know. 27 He is the One who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie the strings of his sandals.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God.[h] He takes away the sins of the world! 30 This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘A man will come after me, but he is greater than I am, because he was living before me.’ 31 Even I did not know who he was. But I came baptizing with water so that the people of Israel could know who he is.”
32-33 Then John said, “I did not know who the Christ was. But God sent me to baptize with water. And God told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man. That man is the One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’” John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven. The Spirit looked like a dove and rested on him. 34 I have seen this happen. So I tell people: ‘He is the Son of God.’”[i]
The First Followers of Jesus
35 The next day John[j] was there again with two of his followers. 36 He saw Jesus walking by and said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”[k]
37 The two followers heard John say this. So they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following him. He asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” (“Rabbi” means “Teacher.”)
39 Jesus answered, “Come with me and you will see.” So the two men went with Jesus. They saw the place where Jesus was staying and stayed there with him that day. It was then about four o’clock.
40 These two men followed Jesus after they heard about him from John. One of the men was Andrew. He was Simon Peter’s brother. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother, Simon. He said to Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” (“Messiah” means “Christ.”)
42 Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas.” (“Cephas” means “Peter.”[l])
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “Remember that Moses wrote in the law about a man who was coming, and the prophets also wrote about him. We have found him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph. He is from Nazareth.”
46 But Nathanael said to Philip, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him. He said, “Here is truly a person of Israel. There is nothing false in him.”
48 Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree. That was before Philip told you about me.”
49 Then Nathanael said to Jesus, “Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus said to Nathanael, “You believe in me because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. But you will see greater things than that!” 51 And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. You will all see heaven open. You will see ‘angels of God going up and coming down’[m] on the Son of Man.”
40 The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the person who argues with God All-Powerful correct him?
Let the person who accuses God answer him!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “I am not worthy. I cannot answer you anything.
I will put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke one time, but I will not answer again.
I even spoke two times, but I will say nothing more.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job from the storm:
7 “Be strong, like a man.
I will ask you questions.
And you must answer me.
8 Would you say that I am unfair?
Would you blame me to make yourself look right?
9 Are you as strong as God?
And can your voice thunder like his?
10 If so, then decorate yourself with glory and beauty.
And put on honor and greatness as if they were clothing.
11 Let your great anger punish.
Look at everyone who is proud and make him feel unimportant.
12 Look at everyone who is proud and bring him under your control.
Crush the wicked wherever they are.
13 Bury them all in the dirt together.
Cover their faces in the grave.
14 If you can do that, then I myself will praise you
because you are strong enough to save yourself.
15 “Look at Behemoth.[a]
I made him just as I made you.
He eats grass like an ox.
16 Look at the strength he has in his body.
The muscles of his stomach are powerful!
17 His tail extends like a cedar tree.
The muscles of his thighs are woven together.
18 His bones are like tubes of bronze metal.
His legs are like bars of iron.
19 He is one of the first of God’s works.
But God, his Maker, can destroy him.
20 The hills, where the wild animals play,
provide food for him.
21 He lies under the lotus plants
hidden by the tall grass in the swamp.
22 The lotus plants hide him in their shadow.
The poplar trees by the streams surround him.
23 If the river floods, he will not be afraid.
He is not afraid even if the Jordan River rushes to his mouth.
24 Can anyone blind his eyes and capture him?
Can anyone put hooks in his nose?
Paul Defends His Ministry
10 I, Paul, am begging you with the gentleness and the kindness of Christ. Some people say that I am easy on you when I am with you and strict when I am away. 2 They think that we live in a worldly way. I plan to be very strict against them when I come. I beg you that when I come I will not need to use that same strictness with you. 3 We do live in the world. But we do not fight in the same way that the world fights. 4 We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God. These weapons can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy men’s arguments. 5 And we destroy every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. 6 We are ready to punish anyone there who does not obey. But first we want you to obey fully.
7 You must look at the facts before you. If anyone feels sure that he belongs to Christ, then he must remember that we belong to Christ just as he does. 8 It is true that we brag freely about the authority the Lord gave us. But he gave us this authority to strengthen you, not to hurt you. So I will not be ashamed of the bragging we do. 9 I don’t want you to think that I am trying to scare you with my letters. 10 Some people say, “Paul’s letters are powerful and sound important. But when he is with us, he is weak. And his speaking is nothing.” 11 They should know this: We are not there with you now, so we say these things in letters. But when we are there with you, we will show the same authority that we show in our letters.
12 We do not dare to put ourselves in the same group with those who think that they are very important. We do not compare ourselves to them. They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This shows that they know nothing. 13 But we will not brag about things outside the work that was given us to do. We will limit our bragging to the work that God gave us. And this work includes our work with you. 14 We are not bragging too much. We would be bragging too much if we had not already come to you. But we have come to you with the Good News of Christ. 15 We limit our bragging to the work that is ours. We do not brag in the work other men have done. We hope that your faith will continue to grow. And we hope that you will help our work to grow much larger. 16 We want to tell the Good News in the areas beyond your city. We do not want to brag about work that has already been done in another man’s area. 17 But, “If a person brags, he should brag only about the Lord.”[a] 18 It is not the one who says he is good who is accepted but the one that the Lord thinks is good.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.