M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

People Affirm Their Covenant with God

24 Then He said to Moses, “^(A)Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, ^(B)Nadab and Abihu, and ^(C)seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. ² Moses alone, however, shall approach the Lord, but they shall not approach, nor shall the people come up with him.”

³ Then Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ^[a]ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “^(D)All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” ⁴ And ^(E)Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he got up early in the morning, and built an ^(F)altar ^[b]at the foot of the mountain with twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, ^(G)and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. ^6 (H)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he took ^(I)the Book of the Covenant and read it ^[c]as the people listened; and they said, “^(J)All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” ⁸ So ^(K)Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold ^(L)the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has ^[d]made with you ^[e]in accordance with all these words.”

⁹ Then Moses went up ^[f]with Aaron, ^(M)Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰ and ^(N)they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet ^[g](O)there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, ^[h]as clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ Yet He did not reach out with His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and ^(P)they saw God, and they ate and drank.

¹² Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and ^[i]stay there, and ^(Q)I will give you the stone tablets ^[j]with the Law and the ^[k]commandments which I have written for their instruction.” ¹³ So Moses got up ^[l]along with ^(R)Joshua his ^[m]servant, and Moses went up to ^(S)the mountain of God. ¹⁴ But to the elders he said, “^(T)Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, ^(U)Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever ^[n]has a legal matter, have him approach them.” ¹⁵ Then Moses went up to the mountain, and ^(V)the cloud covered the mountain. ^16 (W)The glory of the Lord ^[o]settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He ^(X)called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. ^17 (Y)And to the eyes of the sons of Israel, the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a ^(Z)consuming fire on the mountain top. ¹⁸ Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud ^[p]as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain for ^(AA)forty days and forty nights.

The New Birth

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named ^(A)Nicodemus, a ^(B)ruler of the Jews; ² this man came to ^[a]Jesus at night and said to Him, “^(C)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these ^[b](D)signs that You do unless ^(E)God is with him.” ³ Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone ^(F)is born ^[c]again he cannot see ^(G)the kingdom of God.”

⁴ Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of ^(H)water and the Spirit, he cannot enter ^(I)the kingdom of God. ^6 (J)That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born ^[d]again.’ ^8 (K)The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “You are ^(L)the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(M)we speak of what we know and ^(N)testify of what we have seen, and ^(O)you people do not accept our testimony. ¹² If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ^13 (P)No one has ascended into heaven, except ^(Q)He who descended from heaven: ^(R)the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as ^(S)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must ^(T)the Son of Man ^(U)be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who ^[e]believes will ^(V)have eternal life in Him.

¹⁶ “For God so ^(W)loved the world, that He ^(X)gave His ^(Y)only Son, so that everyone who ^(Z)believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God ^(AA)did not send the Son into the world ^(AB)to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. ^18 (AC)The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of ^(AD)the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment, that ^(AE)the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for ^(AF)their deeds were evil. ^20 (AG)For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. ²¹ But the one who ^(AH)practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed ^[f]as having been performed in God.”

John the Baptist’s Last Testimony

²² After these things Jesus and His ^(AI)disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He was spending time with them and ^(AJ)baptizing. ²³ Now John also was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there; and people were coming and being baptized— ²⁴ for ^(AK)John had not yet been thrown into prison.

²⁵ Then a matter of dispute developed on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about ^[g](AL)purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, “^(AM)Rabbi, He who was with you ^(AN)beyond the Jordan, to whom you ^(AO)have testified—behold, He is baptizing and all the people are coming to Him.” ²⁷ John replied, “^(AP)A person can receive not even one thing unless it ^(AQ)has been given to him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves ^[h]are my witnesses that I said, ‘^(AR)I am not the ^[i]Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ ²⁹ He who has the bride is ^(AS)the groom; but the friend of the groom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the groom’s voice. So this ^(AT)joy of mine has been made full. ³⁰ He must ^[j]increase, but I must ^[k]decrease.

³¹ “^(AU)He who comes from above is above all; ^(AV)the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. ^(AW)He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² What He has seen and heard, of this He ^(AX)testifies; and ^(AY)no one accepts His testimony. ³³ The one who has accepted His testimony ^(AZ)has certified that God is true. ³⁴ For He whom God ^(BA)sent speaks the words of God; ^(BB)for He does not give the Spirit ^[l]sparingly. ^35 (BC)The Father loves the Son and ^(BD)has entrusted all things to His hand. ³⁶ The one who ^(BE)believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who ^(BF)does not ^[m]obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Job’s Confession

42 Then Job answered the Lord and said,

God Is Displeased with Job’s Friends

⁷ It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, ^(G)as My servant Job has. ⁸ Now therefore, take for yourselves ^(H)seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a ^(I)burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will ^(J)pray for you. ^(K)For I will ^[a]accept him so as not to do with you as your foolishness deserves, because you have not spoken of Me what is trustworthy, as My servant Job has.” ⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord told them; and the Lord ^[b]accepted Job.

God Restores Job’s Fortunes

¹⁰ The Lord also ^(L)restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased double all that Job had. ¹¹ Then all his ^(M)brothers, all his sisters, and all who had known him before came to him, and they ate bread with him in his house; and they ^(N)sympathized with him and comforted him for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. And each one gave him a ^[c]piece of money, and each a ring of gold. ^12 (O)The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; ^(P)and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys. ^13 (Q)He also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. ¹⁵ In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them inheritances among their brothers. ¹⁶ After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons and his grandsons, four generations. ^17 (R)And Job died, an old man and full of days.

Paul’s Vision

12 ^(A)Boasting is necessary, though it is not beneficial; but I will go on to visions and ^(B)revelations ^[a]of the Lord. ² I know a man ^(C)in Christ, who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, ^(D)God knows—such a man was ^(E)caught up to the ^(F)third heaven. ³ And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, ^(G)God knows— ⁴ was ^(H)caught up into ^(I)Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. ^5 (J)In behalf of such a man I will boast; but in my own behalf I will not boast, except regarding my ^(K)weaknesses. ⁶ For if I do wish to boast I will not be ^(L)foolish, ^(M)for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.

A Thorn in the Flesh

⁷ Because of the extraordinary greatness of the ^(N)revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a ^(O)thorn in the flesh, a ^(P)messenger of Satan to ^[b]torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸ Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord ^(Q)three times that it might leave me. ⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(R)power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather ^(S)boast ^[c]about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore ^(T)I delight in weaknesses, in ^[d]insults, in ^(U)distresses, in ^(V)persecutions, in ^(W)difficulties, ^(X)in behalf of Christ; for ^(Y)when I am weak, then I am strong.

¹¹ I have become ^(Z)foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, since I was ^(AA)in no respect inferior to the ^[e]most eminent apostles, even though ^(AB)I am a nobody. ¹² The ^(AC)distinguishing marks ^[f]of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by ^[g]signs, wonders, and ^[h]miracles. ¹³ For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that ^(AD)I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me ^(AE)this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(AF)for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I ^(AG)will not be a burden to you; for I ^(AH)do not seek what is yours, but ^(AI)you; for ^(AJ)children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but ^(AK)parents for their children. ¹⁵ I will ^(AL)most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If ^(AM)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But be that as it may, I ^(AN)did not burden you myself; nevertheless, devious person that I am, I ^(AO)took you in by deceit. ^17 (AP)Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? ¹⁸ I ^(AQ)urged ^(AR)Titus to go, and I sent ^(AS)the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not ^[i]conduct ourselves ^[j]in the same ^(AT)spirit and walk ^(AU)in the same steps?

¹⁹ All this time ^[k]you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, ^(AV)it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and ^(AW)all for building you up, ^(AX)beloved. ²⁰ For I am afraid that perhaps ^(AY)when I come I may find you to be not what I wish, and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be ^(AZ)strife, jealousy, ^(BA)angry tempers, ^(BB)selfishness, ^(BC)slanders, ^(BD)gossip, ^(BE)arrogance, ^(BF)disturbances; ²¹ I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have ^(BG)sinned in the past and not repented of the ^(BH)impurity, sexual immorality, and indecent behavior which they have practiced.