M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The People Make an Idol To Worship
(Deuteronomy 9.6-29)
32 (A) After the people saw that Moses had been on the mountain for a long time, they went to Aaron and said, “Make us an image of a god who will lead and protect us. Moses brought us out of Egypt, but nobody knows what has happened to him.”
2 Aaron told them, “Bring me the gold earrings that your wives and sons and daughters are wearing.” 3 Everybody took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron, 4 (B) then he melted them and made an idol in the shape of a young bull.
All the people said to one another, “This is the god who brought us out of Egypt!”
5 When Aaron saw what was happening, he built an altar in front of the idol and said, “Tomorrow we will celebrate in honor of the Lord.” 6 (C) The people got up early the next morning and killed some animals to be used for sacrifices and others to be eaten. Then everyone ate and drank so much that they began to carry on like wild people.
7 The Lord said to Moses:
Hurry back down! Those people you led out of Egypt are acting like fools. 8 They have already stopped obeying me and have made themselves an idol in the shape of a young bull. They have bowed down to it, offered sacrifices, and said that it is the god who brought them out of Egypt. 9 Moses, I have seen how stubborn these people are, 10 and I'm angry enough to destroy them, so don't try to stop me. But I will make your descendants into a great nation.
11 (D) Moses tried to get the Lord God to change his mind:
Our Lord, you used your mighty power to bring these people out of Egypt. Now don't become angry and destroy them. 12 If you do, the Egyptians will say that you brought your people out here into the mountains just to get rid of them. Please don't be angry with your people. Don't destroy them!
13 (E) Remember the solemn promise you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You promised that someday they would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and that you would give them land.
14 So even though the Lord had threatened to destroy the people, he changed his mind and let them live.
15-16 Moses went back down the mountain with the two flat stones on which God had written all of his laws with his own hand, using both sides of the stones.
17 When Joshua heard the noisy shouts of the people, he said to Moses, “A battle must be going on down in the camp.”
18 But Moses replied, “It doesn't sound like they are shouting because they have won or lost a battle. It sounds more like a wild party!”
19 As Moses got closer to the camp, he saw the idol, and he also saw the people dancing around. This made him so angry that he threw down the stones and broke them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 He melted the idol the people had made, and he ground it into powder. He scattered it in their water and made them drink it. 21 Moses asked Aaron, “What did these people do to harm you? Why did you make them sin in this terrible way?”
22 Aaron answered:
Don't be angry with me. You know as well as I do that they are determined to do evil. 23 They even told me, “That man Moses led us out of Egypt, but now we don't know what has happened to him. Make us a god to lead us.” 24 Then I asked them to bring me their gold earrings. They took them off and gave them to me. I threw the gold into a fire, and out came this bull.
25 Moses knew that the people were out of control and that it was Aaron's fault. And now they had made fools of themselves in front of their enemies. 26 So Moses stood at the gate of the camp and shouted, “Everyone who is on the Lord's side come over here!”
Then the men of the Levi tribe gathered around Moses, 27 and he said to them, “The Lord God of Israel commands you to strap on your swords and go through the camp, killing your relatives, your friends, and your neighbors.”
28 The men of the Levi tribe followed his orders, and that day they killed about 3,000 men. 29 Moses said to them, “You obeyed the Lord and did what was right, and so you will serve as his priests for the people of Israel. It was hard for you to kill your own sons and brothers, but the Lord has blessed you and made you his priests today.”
30 The next day Moses told the people, “This is a terrible thing you have done. But I will go back to the Lord to see if I can do something to keep this sin from being held against you.”
31 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “The people have committed a terrible sin. They have made a gold idol to be their god. 32 (F) But I beg you to forgive them. If you don't, please wipe my name out of your book.”[a]
33 The Lord replied, “I will wipe out of my book the name of everyone who has sinned against me. 34 Now take my people to the place I told you about, and my angel will lead you. But when the time comes, I will punish them for this sin.”
35 So the Lord punished the people of Israel with a terrible disease for talking Aaron into making the gold idol.
The Death of Lazarus
11 1-2 (A) A man by the name of Lazarus was sick in the village of Bethany. He had two sisters, Mary and Martha. This was the same Mary who later poured perfume on the Lord's head and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 The sisters sent a message to the Lord and told him that his good friend Lazarus was sick.
4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “His sickness won't end in death. It will bring glory to God and his Son.”
5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and brother. 6 But he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 Then he said to his disciples, “Now we will go back to Judea.”
8 “Teacher,” they said, “the people there want to stone you to death! Why do you want to go back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Aren't there twelve hours in each day? If you walk during the day, you will have light from the sun, and you won't stumble. 10 But if you walk during the night, you will stumble, because you don't have any light.” 11 Then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, and I am going there to wake him up.”
12 They replied, “Lord, if he is asleep, he will get better.” 13 Jesus really meant that Lazarus was dead, but they thought he was talking only about sleep.
14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead! 15 I am glad I wasn't there, because now you will have a chance to put your faith in me. Let's go to him.”
16 Thomas, whose nickname was “Twin,” said to the other disciples, “Come on. Let's go, so we can die with him.”
Jesus Brings Lazarus to Life
17 When Jesus got to Bethany, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was less than three kilometers from Jerusalem, 19 and many people had come from the city to comfort Martha and Mary because their brother had died.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Yet even now I know that God will do anything you ask.”
23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will live again!”
24 (B) Martha answered, “I know he will be raised to life on the last day,[a] when all the dead are raised.”
25 Jesus then said, “I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. 26 And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord!” she replied. “I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.”
28 After Martha said this, she went and privately said to her sister Mary, “The Teacher is here, and he wants to see you.” 29 As soon as Mary heard this, she got up and went out to Jesus. 30 He was still outside the village where Martha had gone to meet him. 31 Many people had come to comfort Mary, and when they saw her quickly leave the house, they thought she was going out to the tomb to cry. So they followed her.
32 Mary went to where Jesus was. Then as soon as she saw him, she knelt at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw that Mary and the people with her were crying, he was terribly upset 34 and asked, “Where have you put his body?”
They replied, “Lord, come and you will see.”
35 Jesus started crying, 36 and the people said, “See how much he loved Lazarus.”
37 Some of them said, “He gives sight to the blind. Why couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
38 Jesus was still terribly upset. So he went to the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled against the entrance. 39 Then he told the people to roll the stone away. But Martha said, “Lord, you know that Lazarus has been dead four days, and there will be a bad smell.”
40 Jesus replied, “Didn't I tell you that if you had faith, you would see the glory of God?”
41 After the stone had been rolled aside, Jesus looked up toward heaven and prayed, “Father, I thank you for answering my prayer. 42 I know that you always answer my prayers. But I said this, so the people here would believe you sent me.”
43 When Jesus had finished praying, he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The man who had been dead came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with strips of burial cloth, and a cloth covered his face.
Jesus then told the people, “Untie him and let him go.”
The Plot To Kill Jesus
(Matthew 26.1-5; Mark 14.1,2; Luke 22.1,2)
45 Many of the people who had come to visit Mary saw the things Jesus did, and they put their faith in him. 46 Others went to the Pharisees and told what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called the council together and said, “What should we do? This man is working a lot of miracles.[b] 48 If we don't stop him now, everyone will put their faith in him. Then the Romans will come and destroy our temple and our nation.”[c]
49 One of the council members was Caiaphas, who was also high priest that year. He spoke up and said, “You people don't have any sense at all! 50 Don't you know it is better for one person to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed?” 51 Caiaphas did not say this on his own. As high priest that year, he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation. 52 Yet Jesus would not die just for the Jewish nation. He would die to bring together all of God's scattered people. 53 From that day on, the council started making plans to put Jesus to death.
54 Because of this plot against him, Jesus stopped going around in public. He went to the town of Ephraim, which was near the desert, and he stayed there with his disciples.
55 It was almost time for Passover. Many of the Jewish people who lived out in the country had come to Jerusalem to get themselves ready[d] for the festival. 56 They looked around for Jesus. Then when they were in the temple, they asked each other, “You don't think he will come here for Passover, do you?”
57 The chief priests and the Pharisees told the people to let them know if any of them saw Jesus. This is how they hoped to arrest him.
In Praise of Wisdom
8 (A) With great understanding,
Wisdom[a] is calling out
2 as she stands at the crossroads
and on every hill.
3 She stands by the city gate
where everyone enters the city,
and she shouts:
4 “I am calling out
to each one of you!
5 Good sense and sound judgment
can be yours.
6 Listen, because what I say
is worthwhile and right.
7 I always speak the truth
and refuse to tell a lie.
8 Every word I speak is honest,
not one is misleading
or deceptive.
9 “If you have understanding,
you will see that my words
are just what you need.
10 Let instruction and knowledge
mean more to you than silver
or the finest gold.
11 (B) Wisdom is worth much more
than precious jewels
or anything else you desire.”
Wisdom Speaks
12 I am Wisdom[b]—Common Sense
is my closest friend;
I possess knowledge
and sound judgment.
13 If you respect the Lord,
you will hate evil.
I hate pride and conceit
and deceitful lies.
14 I am strong, and I offer
sensible advice
and sound judgment.
15 By my power kings govern,
and rulers make laws
that are fair.
16 Every honest leader rules
with help from me.
17 I love everyone who loves me,
and I will be found by all
who honestly search.
18 I can make you rich and famous,
important and successful.
19 What you receive from me
is more valuable
than even the finest gold
or the purest silver.
20 I always do what is right,
21 and I give great riches
to everyone who loves me.
22 (C) From the beginning,
I was with the Lord.[c]
I was there before he began
23 to create the earth.
At the very first,
the Lord gave life to[d] me.
24 When I was born,
there were no oceans
or springs of water.
25 My birth was before
mountains were formed
or hills were put in place.
26 It happened long before God
had made the earth
or any of its fields
or even the dust.
27 (D) I was there when the Lord
put the heavens in place
and stretched the sky
over the surface of the sea.
28 I was with him when he placed
the clouds in the sky
and created the springs
that fill the ocean.
29 I was there when he set
boundaries for the sea
to make it obey him,
and when he laid foundations
to support the earth.
30 I was right beside the Lord,
helping him plan and build.[e]
I made him happy each day,
and I was happy at his side.
31 I was pleased with his world
and pleased with its people.
32 (E) Pay attention, my children!
Follow my advice,
and you will be happy.
33 Listen carefully
to my instructions,
and you will be wise.
34 Come to my home each day
and listen to me.
You will find happiness.
35 By finding me, you find life,
and the Lord will be pleased
with you.
36 But if you don't find me,
you hurt only yourself,
and if you hate me,
you are in love with death.
1 (A) From Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
To God's people who live in Ephesus and[a] are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.
2 I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
Christ Brings Spiritual Blessings
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven! 4 Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. 5 God was kind[b] and decided that Christ would choose us to be God's own adopted children. 6 God treated us with undeserved grace because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.
7-8 (B) Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because of God's gift of undeserved grace to us. God has great wisdom and understanding, 9 and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. 10 Then when the time is right, God will do all he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth.
11 God always does what he plans, and this is why he appointed Christ to choose us. 12 He did this so we Jews would bring honor to him and be the first ones to have hope because of him. 13 Christ also brought you the truth, which is the good news about how you can be saved. You put your faith in Christ and were given the promised Holy Spirit to show you belong to God. 14 The Spirit also makes us sure we will be given what God has stored up for his people. Then we will be set free, and God will be honored and praised.
Paul's Prayer
15 I have heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people. 16 So I never stop being grateful for you, as I mention you in my prayers. 17 I ask the glorious Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. 18 My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and you will understand the hope given to you when God chose you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all God's people.
19 I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for us followers. It is the same wonderful power he used 20 (C) when he raised Christ from death and let him sit at his right side[c] in heaven. 21 There Christ rules over all forces, authorities, powers, and rulers. He rules over all beings in this world and will rule in the future world as well. 22 (D)(E) God has put all things under the power of Christ, and for the good of the church he has made him the head of everything. 23 The church is the body of Christ and is filled with Christ who completely fills everything.[d]
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