M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

The Altar for Offering Sacrifices

(Exodus 38.1-7)

The Lord said to Moses:

27 Use acacia wood to build an altar 2.25 meters square and 1.34 meters high, ² and make each of the four top corners stick up like the horn of a bull. Then cover the whole altar with bronze, including the four horns. ³ All the equipment for the altar must also be made of bronze—the pans for the hot ashes, the shovels, the sprinkling bowls, the meat forks, and the fire pans. ^4-5 Halfway up the altar build a ledge around it, and cover the bottom half of the altar with a decorative bronze grating. Then attach a bronze ring beneath the ledge at the four corners of the altar. ^6-7 Cover two acacia wood poles with bronze and put them through the rings for carrying the altar. ⁸ Construct the altar in the shape of an open box, just as you were shown on the mountain.

The Courtyard around the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 38.9-20)

The Lord said:

^9-15 Surround the sacred tent with a courtyard 44 meters long on the south and north and 22 meters wide on the east and west. Use 20 bronze posts on bronze stands for the south and north and 10 for the west. Then hang a curtain of fine linen on the posts along each of these three sides by using silver hooks and rods.

Place three bronze posts on each side of the entrance at the east and hang a curtain 6.67 meters wide on each set of posts. ¹⁶ Use four more of these posts for the entrance way, then hang on them an embroidered curtain of fine linen nine meters long and woven with blue, purple, and red wool.

^17-18 Make the curtains that surround the courtyard 2.25 meters high and hang them from the bronze posts with silver hooks and rods. ¹⁹ Make the rest of the equipment for the sacred tent of bronze, including the pegs for the tent and for the curtain surrounding the courtyard.

The Oil for the Lamp in the Holy Place

(Leviticus 24.1-4)

The Lord said to Moses:

²⁰ Command the people of Israel to supply you with the purest olive oil. Do this so the lamp will keep burning ²¹ in front of the curtain that separates the holy place from the most holy place, where the sacred chest is kept. Aaron and his sons are responsible for keeping the lamp burning every night in the sacred tent. The Israelites must always obey this command.

Feeding Five Thousand

(Matthew 14.13-21; Mark 6.30-44; Luke 9.10-17)

6 Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. ² A large crowd had seen him work miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him. ^3-4 It was almost time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down.^[a]

⁵ When Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?” ⁶ He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered, “Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages^[b] just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?”

⁸ Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five small loaves^[c] of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?”

¹⁰ The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to tell everyone to sit down. About 5,000 men were in the crowd. ¹¹ Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.

¹² The people ate all they wanted, and Jesus told his disciples to gather up the leftovers, so that nothing would be wasted. ¹³ The disciples gathered them up and filled twelve large baskets with what was left over from the five barley loaves.

¹⁴ After the people had seen Jesus work this miracle,^[d] they began saying, “This must be the Prophet^[e] who is to come into the world!” ¹⁵ Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king. So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone.

Jesus Walks on the Water

(Matthew 14.22-27; Mark 6.45-52)

¹⁶ That evening, Jesus' disciples went down to the lake. ¹⁷ They got into a boat and started across for Capernaum. Later that evening Jesus had still not come to them, ¹⁸ and a strong wind was making the water rough.

¹⁹ When the disciples had rowed for five or six kilometers, they saw Jesus walking on the water. He kept coming closer to the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰ But he said, “I am Jesus!^[f] Don't be afraid!” ²¹ The disciples wanted to take him into the boat, but suddenly the boat reached the shore where they were headed.

The Bread That Gives Life

²² The people who had stayed on the east side of the lake knew that only one boat had been there. They also knew that Jesus had not left in it with his disciples. But the next day ²³ some boats from Tiberias sailed near the place where the crowd had eaten the bread for which the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ They saw that Jesus and his disciples had left. Then they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. ²⁵ They found him on the west side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles,^[g] but because you ate all the food you wanted. ^27 (A) Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”

²⁸ “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.

²⁹ Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”

³⁰ They replied, “What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do? ^31 (B) For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given manna^[h] to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘God gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

³² Jesus then told them, “I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world.”

³⁴ The people said, “Sir, give us this bread and don't ever stop!”

³⁵ Jesus replied:

I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty. ³⁶ I have told you already that you have seen me and still do not have faith in me. ³⁷ Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away.

³⁸ I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, ³⁹ and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.^{[i] 40} My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.

⁴¹ The people started grumbling because Jesus had said he was the bread that had come down from heaven. ⁴² They were asking each other, “Isn't he Jesus, the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father and mother? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?”

⁴³ Jesus told them:

Stop grumbling! ⁴⁴ No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come. But if they do come, I will raise them to life on the last day. ^45 (C) One of the prophets wrote, “God will teach all of them.” And so everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him will come to me.

⁴⁶ The only one who has seen the Father is the one who has come from him. No one else has ever seen the Father. ⁴⁷ I tell you for certain that everyone who has faith in me has eternal life.

⁴⁸ I am the bread that gives life! ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate manna^[j] in the desert, and later they died. ⁵⁰ But the bread from heaven has come down, so that no one who eats it will ever die. ⁵¹ I am that bread from heaven! Everyone who eats it will live forever. My flesh is the life-giving bread I give to the people of this world.

⁵² They started arguing with each other and asked, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”

⁵³ Jesus answered:

I tell you for certain that you won't live unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man. ⁵⁴ But if you do eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you to life on the last day. ⁵⁵ My flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. ⁵⁶ If you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you are one with me, and I am one with you.

⁵⁷ The living Father sent me, and I have life because of him. Now everyone who eats my flesh will live because of me. ⁵⁸ The bread that comes down from heaven isn't like what your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

⁵⁹ Jesus was teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum when he said these things.

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰ Many of Jesus' disciples heard him and said, “This is too hard for anyone to understand.”

⁶¹ Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, “Does this bother you? ⁶² What if you should see the Son of Man go up to heaven where he came from? ^63 (D) The Spirit is the one who gives life! Human strength can do nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are from that life-giving Spirit. ⁶⁴ But some of you refuse to have faith in me.” Jesus said this, because from the beginning he knew who would have faith in him. He also knew which one would betray him.

⁶⁵ Then Jesus said, “You cannot come to me, unless the Father makes you want to come. That is why I have told these things to all of you.”

⁶⁶ Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him. ⁶⁷ Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they also were going to leave him. ^68 (E) Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God's Holy One.”

⁷⁰ Jesus told his disciples, “I chose all twelve of you, but one of you is a demon!” ⁷¹ Jesus was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.^[k] He would later betray Jesus, even though he was one of the twelve disciples.

Trust God

The Value of Wisdom

2 ^(A) Fourteen years later I went to Jerusalem with Barnabas. I also took along Titus. ² But I went there because God had told me to go, and I explained the good news I had been preaching to the Gentiles. Then I met privately with the ones who seemed to be the most important leaders. I wanted to make sure my work in the past and my future work would not be for nothing.

³ Titus went to Jerusalem with me. He was a Greek, but still he wasn't forced to be circumcised. ⁴ We went there because of those who pretended to be followers and had sneaked in among us as spies. They had come to take away the freedom Christ Jesus had given us, and they were trying to make us their slaves. ⁵ But we wanted you to have the true message. This is why we didn't give in to them, not even for a second.

^6 (B) Some of them were supposed to be important leaders, but I didn't care who they were. God doesn't have any favorites! None of these so-called special leaders added anything to my message. ⁷ They realized God had sent me with the good news for Gentiles, and he had sent Peter with the same message for Jews. ⁸ God, who had sent Peter on a mission to the Jews, was now using me to preach to the Gentiles.

⁹ James, Peter,^[a] and John realized that God had given me the message about his gift of undeserved grace. And these men are supposed to be the backbone of the church. They even gave Barnabas and me a friendly handshake. This was to show that we would work with Gentiles and that they would work with Jews. ¹⁰ They only asked us to remember the poor, and this was something I had always been eager to do.

Paul Corrects Peter at Antioch

¹¹ When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong. ¹² He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles. ¹³ He and the others hid their true feelings so well that even Barnabas was fooled. ¹⁴ But when I saw they were not really obeying the truth that is in the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone and said:

Peter, you are a Jew, but you live like a Gentile. So how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?

¹⁵ We are Jews by birth and are not sinners like Gentiles. ^16 (C) But we know that God accepts only those who have faith in Jesus Christ. No one can please God by simply obeying the Law. So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith.

¹⁷ When we Jews started looking for a way to please God, we discovered that we are sinners too. Does this mean that Christ is the one who makes us sinners? No, it doesn't! ¹⁸ But if I tear down something and then build it again, I prove that I was wrong at first. ¹⁹ It was the Law itself that killed me and freed me from its power, so I could live for God.

I have been nailed to the cross with Christ. ²⁰ I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me. ²¹ I don't turn my back on God's gift of undeserved grace. If we can be acceptable to God by obeying the Law, it was useless for Christ to die.