M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Jacob Gets Ready To Meet Esau

32 As Jacob was on his way back home, some of God's angels came and met him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God's camp.” So he named the place Mahanaim.^[a]

³ Jacob sent messengers on ahead to Esau, who lived in the land of Seir, also known as Edom. ⁴ Jacob told them to say to Esau, “Master, I am your servant! I have lived with Laban all this time, ⁵ and now I own cattle, donkeys, and sheep, as well as many slaves. Master, I am sending these messengers in the hope that you will be kind to me.”

⁶ When the messengers returned, they told Jacob, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is heading this way with 400 men.”

⁷ Jacob was so frightened that he divided his people, sheep, cattle, and camels into two groups. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau attacks one group, perhaps the other can escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob prayed:

You, Lord, are the God who was worshiped by my grandfather Abraham and by my father Isaac. You told me to return home to my family, and you promised to be with me and make me successful. ¹⁰ I don't deserve all the good things you have done for me, your servant. When I first crossed the Jordan, I had only my walking stick, but now I have two large groups of people and animals. ¹¹ Please rescue me from my brother. I am afraid he will come and attack not only me, but my wives and children as well. ^12 (A) But you have promised that I would be a success and that someday it will be as hard to count my descendants as it is to count the grains of sand along the seashore.

¹³ After Jacob had spent the night there, he chose some animals as gifts for Esau: ^14-15 200 female goats and 20 males, 200 female sheep and 20 males, 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, and 20 female donkeys and 10 males.

¹⁶ Jacob put servants in charge of each herd and told them, “Go ahead of me and keep a space between each herd.” ¹⁷ Then he said to the servant in charge of the first herd, “When Esau meets you, he will ask whose servant you are. He will want to know where you are going and who owns those animals in front of you. ¹⁸ So tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, who is coming this way. He is sending them as a gift to his master Esau.’ ”

¹⁹ Jacob also told the men in charge of the second and third herds and those who followed to say the same thing when they met Esau. ²⁰ And Jacob told them to be sure to say that he was right behind them. Jacob hoped the gifts would make Esau friendly, so Esau would be glad to see him when they met. ²¹ Jacob's men took the gifts on ahead of him, but he spent the night in camp.

Jacob's Name Is Changed to Israel

^22-23 (B) Jacob got up in the middle of the night and took his wives, his eleven children, and everything he owned across to the other side of the Jabbok River for safety. ^24 (C) Afterwards, Jacob went back and spent the rest of the night alone.

A man came and fought with Jacob until just before daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not win, he struck Jacob on the hip and threw it out of joint. ²⁶ They kept on wrestling until the man said, “Let go of me! It's almost daylight.”

“You can't go until you bless me,” Jacob replied.

²⁷ Then the man asked, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

^28 (D) The man said, “From now on, your name will no longer be Jacob. You will be called Israel,^[b] because you have wrestled with God and with men, and you have won.”

^29 (E) Jacob said, “Now tell me your name.”

“Don't you know who I am?” he asked. And he blessed Jacob.

³⁰ Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive.” So he named the place Peniel.^{[c] 31} The sun was coming up as Jacob was leaving Peniel. He was limping because he had been struck on the hip, ³² and the muscle on his hip joint had been injured. That's why even today the people of Israel don't eat the hip muscle of any animal.

A Man with a Paralyzed Hand

(Matthew 12.9-14; Luke 6.6-11)

3 The next time Jesus went into the synagogue, a man with a paralyzed hand was there. ² The Pharisees^[a] wanted to accuse Jesus of doing something wrong, and they kept watching to see if Jesus would heal him on the Sabbath.

³ Jesus told the man to stand up where everyone could see him. ⁴ Then he asked, “On the Sabbath should we do good deeds or evil deeds? Should we save someone's life or destroy it?” But no one said a word.

⁵ Jesus was angry as he looked around at the people. Yet he felt sorry for them because they were so stubborn. Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his bad hand was healed.

⁶ The Pharisees left. And at once they started making plans with Herod's followers^[b] to kill Jesus.

Large Crowds Come to Jesus

⁷ Jesus led his disciples down to the shore of the lake. Large crowds followed him from Galilee, Judea, ⁸ and Jerusalem. People came from Idumea, as well as other places east of the Jordan River. They also came from the region around the towns of Tyre and Sidon. All of these crowds came because they had heard what Jesus was doing. ^9 (A) He even had to tell his disciples to get a boat ready to keep him from being crushed by the crowds.

¹⁰ After Jesus had healed many people, the other sick people begged him to let them touch him. ¹¹ And whenever any evil spirits saw Jesus, they would fall to the ground and shout, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² But Jesus warned the spirits not to tell who he was.

Jesus Chooses His Twelve Apostles

(Matthew 10.1-4; Luke 6.12-16)

¹³ Jesus decided to ask some of his disciples to go up on a mountain with him, and they went. ¹⁴ Then he chose twelve of them to be his apostles,^[c] so they could be with him. He also wanted to send them out to preach ¹⁵ and to force out demons. ¹⁶ Simon was one of the twelve, and Jesus named him Peter. ¹⁷ There were also James and John, the two sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them Boanerges, which means “Thunderbolts.” ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus were also apostles. The others were Simon, known as the Eager One,^{[d] 19} and Judas Iscariot,^[e] who later betrayed Jesus.

Jesus and the Ruler of Demons

(Matthew 12.22-32; Luke 11.14-23; 12.10)

²⁰ Jesus went back home,^[f] and once again such a large crowd gathered that there was no chance even to eat. ²¹ When Jesus' family heard what he was doing, they thought he was crazy and went to get him under control.

^22 (B) Some teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem and said, “This man is under the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons! He is even forcing out demons with the help of Beelzebul.”

²³ Jesus told the people to gather around him. Then he spoke to them in riddles and said:

How can Satan force himself out? ²⁴ A nation whose people fight each other won't last very long. ²⁵ And a family that fights won't last long either. ²⁶ So if Satan fights against himself, that will be the end of him.

²⁷ How can anyone break into the house of a strong man and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.

²⁸ I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. ^29 (C) But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.

³⁰ Jesus said this because the people were saying that he had an evil spirit in him.

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

(Matthew 12.46-50; Luke 8.19-21)

³¹ Jesus' mother and brothers came and stood outside. Then they sent someone with a message for him to come out to them. ³² The crowd sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters^[g] are outside and want to see you.”

³³ Jesus asked, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” ³⁴ Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ³⁵ Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother.”

A Happy Ending for the Jews

8 Before the end of the day, King Xerxes gave Esther everything that had belonged to Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther told the king that Mordecai was her cousin. So the king made Mordecai one of his highest officials ² and gave him the royal ring that Haman had worn. Then Esther put Mordecai in charge of Haman's property.

³ Once again Esther went to speak to the king. This time she fell down at his feet, crying and begging, “Please stop Haman's evil plan to have the Jews killed!” ⁴ King Xerxes held out the golden scepter to Esther, ⁵ and she got up and said, “Your Majesty, I know that you will do the right thing and that you really love me. Please stop what Haman has planned. He has already sent letters demanding that the Jews in all your provinces be killed, ⁶ and I can't bear to see my people and my own relatives destroyed.”

⁷ King Xerxes then said to Esther and Mordecai, “I have already ordered Haman to be hanged and his house given to Esther, because of his evil plans to kill the Jews. ^8 (A) I now give you permission to make a law that will save the lives of your people. You may use my ring to seal the law, so that it can never be changed.”

⁹ On the twenty-third day of Sivan,^[a] the third month, the king's secretaries wrote the law. They obeyed Mordecai and wrote to the Jews, the rulers, the governors, and the officials of all 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia.^[b] The letters were written in every language used in the kingdom, including the Jewish language. ¹⁰ They were written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with his ring. Then they were taken by messengers who rode the king's finest and fastest horses.

^11-13 In these letters the king said:

On the thirteenth day of Adar,^[c] the twelfth month, the Jews in every city and province will be allowed to get together and defend themselves. They may destroy any army that attacks them, and they may kill all of their enemies, including women and children. They may also take everything that belongs to their enemies.

A copy of this law is to be posted in every province and read by everyone.

^14-15 Then the king ordered his messengers to take their fastest horses and deliver the law as quickly as possible to every province. When Mordecai left, he was wearing clothes fit for a king. He wore blue and white robes, a large gold crown, and a cape made of fine linen and purple cloth.

After the law was announced in Susa, everyone shouted and cheered, ¹⁶ and the Jews were no longer afraid. In fact, they were very happy and felt that they had won a victory.

¹⁷ In every province and city where the law was sent, the Jews had parties and celebrated. Many of the people in the provinces accepted the Jewish religion, because they were now afraid of the Jews.

3 What good is it to be a Jew? What good is it to be circumcised? ² It is good in a lot of ways! First of all, God's messages were spoken to the Jews. ³ It is true that some of them did not believe the message. But does this mean that God cannot be trusted, just because they did not have faith? ^4 (A) No, indeed! God tells the truth, even if everyone else is a liar. The Scriptures say about God,

⁵ If our evil deeds show how right God is, then what can we say? Is it wrong for God to become angry and punish us? What a foolish thing to ask. ⁶ But the answer is, “No.” Otherwise, how could God judge the world? ⁷ Since your lies bring great honor to God by showing how truthful he is, you may ask why God still says you are a sinner. ⁸ You might as well say, “Let's do something evil, so that something good will come of it!” Some people even claim that we are saying this. But God is fair and will judge them as well.

No One Is Good

⁹ What does all this mean? Does it mean that we Jews are better off^[a] than the Gentiles? No, it doesn't! Jews, as well as Gentiles, are ruled by sin, just as I have said. ^10 (B) The Scriptures tell us,

¹⁹ We know that everything in the Law was written for those who are under its power. The Law says these things to stop anyone from making excuses and to let God show that the whole world is guilty. ^20 (G) God doesn't accept people simply because they obey the Law. No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin.

God's Way of Accepting People

²¹ Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets^[b] tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses. ^22 (H) God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. ²³ All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. ²⁴ But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. ^25-26 (I) God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus.

²⁷ What is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith. ²⁸ We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law. ²⁹ Does God belong only to the Jews? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is! ^30 (J) There is only one God, and he accepts Gentiles as well as Jews, simply because of their faith. ³¹ Do we destroy the Law by our faith? Not at all! We make it even more powerful.