M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Tricks Isaac
27 Isaac grew old, and his eyes became so weak that he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him and said, “Son!”
Esau answered, “Here I am.”
2 Isaac said, “I am old. Maybe I will die soon. 3 So take your bow and arrows and go hunting. Kill an animal for me to eat. 4 Prepare the food that I love. Bring it to me, and I will eat it. Then I will bless you before I die.” 5 So Esau went hunting.
Rebekah was listening when Isaac told this to his son Esau. 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. 7 Your father said, ‘Kill an animal for me to eat. Prepare the food for me, and I will eat it. Then, with the Lord as witness, I will bless you before I die.’ 8 So listen, son, and do what I tell you. 9 Go out to our goats and bring me two young ones. I will prepare them the way your father loves them. 10 Then you will carry the food to your father, and he will bless you before he dies.”
11 But Jacob told his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am not hairy like him. 12 If my father touches me, he will know that I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me—he will curse me because I tried to trick him.”
13 So Rebekah said to him, “I will accept the blame if there is trouble. Do what I said. Go get the goats for me.”
14 So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. His mother cooked the goats in the special way that Isaac loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the clothes that her older son Esau loved to wear. She put these clothes on the younger son Jacob. 16 She took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and on his neck. 17 Then she got the food she had cooked and gave it to Jacob.
18 Jacob went to his father and said, “Father.”
His father answered, “Yes, son. Who are you?”
19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat the meat from the animals that I hunted for you. Then you can bless me.”
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly.”
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near to me so that I can feel you, my son. If I can feel you, I will know if you are really my son Esau.”
22 So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau.” 23 Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau’s. So Isaac blessed Jacob.
24 Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”
The Blessing for Jacob
25 Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate it. Then Jacob gave him some wine, and he drank it.
26 Then Isaac said to him. “Son, come near and kiss me.” 27 So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes, he blessed him and said,
“My son smells like the fields
the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you plenty of rain,
good crops, and wine.
29 May the nations serve you
and many people bow down to you.
You will rule over your brothers.
Your mother’s sons will bow down to you and obey you.
Whoever curses you will be cursed.
Whoever blesses you will be blessed.”
Esau’s “Blessing”
30 Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. 31 Esau prepared the food in the special way his father loved. He brought it to his father and said, “Father, I am your son. Get up and eat the meat from the animals that I killed for you. Then you can bless me.”
32 But Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your first son—Esau.”
33 Then Isaac became so upset that he began to shake. He said, “Then who was it that cooked and brought me food before you came? I ate it all, and I blessed him. Now it is too late to take back my blessing.”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he became very angry and bitter. He cried out and said to his father, “Then bless me also, father!”
35 Isaac said, “Your brother tricked me! He came and took your blessing!”
36 Esau said, “His name is Jacob.[a] That is the right name for him. He has tricked me twice. He took away my rights as the firstborn son. And now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau said, “Have you saved any blessing for me?”
37 Isaac answered, “I have already given Jacob the power to rule over you. And I said all his brothers would be his servants. I have given him the blessing for much grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”
38 But Esau continued to beg his father. “Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me also, father!” Esau began to cry.
39 Then Isaac said to him,
“You will not live on good land.
You will not have much rain.
40 You will have to fight to live,
and you will be a slave to your brother.
But when you fight to be free,
you will break away from his control.”
Jacob Leaves the Country
41 After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau said to himself, “My father will soon die, and after we are finished with that, I will kill Jacob.”
42 Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. She sent for Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to kill you. 43 So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him and hide. 44 Stay with him for a short time until your brother stops being angry. 45 When your brother forgets what you did to him, I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons the same day.”
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about this, because they are not our people. I’ll have nothing to live for if Jacob marries one of these women!”
The Jewish Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus(A)
26 After Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his followers, 2 “You know that the day after tomorrow is Passover. On that day the Son of Man will be handed over to his enemies to be killed on a cross.”
3 Then the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders had a meeting at the palace where the high priest lived. The high priest’s name was Caiaphas. 4 In the meeting they tried to find a way to arrest and kill Jesus without anyone knowing what they were doing. They planned to arrest Jesus and kill him. 5 They said, “We cannot arrest Jesus during Passover. We don’t want the people to become angry and cause a riot.”
A Woman Does Something Special(B)
6 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper. 7 While he was there, a woman came to him. She had an alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ head while he was eating.
8 The followers saw the woman do this and were upset at her. They said, “Why waste that perfume? 9 It could be sold for a lot of money, and the money could be given to those who are poor.”
10 But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She did a very good thing for me. 11 You will always have the poor with you.[a] But you will not always have me. 12 This woman poured perfume on my body. She did this to prepare me for burial after I die. 13 The Good News will be told to people all over the world. And I can assure you that everywhere the Good News is told, the story of what this woman did will also be told, and people will remember her.”
Judas Agrees to Help Jesus’ Enemies(C)
14 Then one of the twelve followers went to talk to the leading priests. This was the follower named Judas Iscariot. 15 He said, “I will hand Jesus over to you. What will you pay me for doing this?” The priests gave him 30 silver coins. 16 After that Judas waited for the best time to hand Jesus over to them.
The Passover Meal(D)
17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the followers came to Jesus. They said, “We will prepare everything for you to eat the Passover meal. Where do you want us to have the meal?”
18 Jesus answered, “Go into the city. Go to a man I know. Tell him that the Teacher says, ‘The chosen time is near. I will have the Passover meal with my followers at your house.’” 19 They obeyed and did what Jesus told them to do. They prepared the Passover meal.
20 In the evening Jesus was at the table with the twelve followers. 21 They were all eating. Then Jesus said, “Believe me when I say that one of you twelve here will hand me over to my enemies.”
22 The followers were very sad to hear this. Each one said, “Lord, surely I am not the one!”
23 Jesus answered, “One who has dipped his bread in the same bowl with me will be the one to hand me over. 24 The Son of Man will suffer what the Scriptures say will happen to him. But it will be very bad for the one who hands over the Son of Man to be killed. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
25 Then Judas, the very one who would hand him over, said to Jesus, “Teacher, surely I am not the one you are talking about, am I?”
Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”
The Lord’s Supper(E)
26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and thanked God for it. He broke off some pieces, gave them to his followers and said, “Take this bread and eat it. It is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup of wine, thanked God for it, and gave it to them. He said, “Each one of you drink some of it. 28 This wine is my blood, which will be poured out to forgive the sins of many and begin the new agreement from God to his people. 29 I want you to know, I will not drink this wine again until that day when we are together in my Father’s kingdom and the wine is new. Then I will drink it again with you.”
30 They all sang a song and then went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus Says His Followers Will Leave Him(F)
31 Jesus told the followers, “Tonight you will all lose your faith in me. The Scriptures say,
‘I will kill the shepherd,
and the sheep will run away.’ (G)
32 But after I am killed, I will rise from death. Then I will go into Galilee. I will be there before you go there.”
33 Peter answered, “All the other followers may lose their faith in you. But my faith will never be shaken.”
34 Jesus answered, “The truth is, tonight you will say you don’t know me. You will deny me three times before the rooster crows.”
35 But Peter answered, “I will never say I don’t know you! I will even die with you!” And all the other followers said the same thing.
Jesus Prays Alone(H)
36 Then Jesus went with his followers to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go there and pray.” 37 He told Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to come with him. Then he began to be very sad and troubled. 38 Jesus said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, “My heart is so heavy with grief, I feel as if I am dying. Wait here and stay awake with me.”
39 Then Jesus went on a little farther away from them. He fell to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don’t make me drink from this cup.[b] But do what you want, not what I want.” 40 Then he went back to his followers and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Could you men not stay awake with me for one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. Your spirit wants to do what is right, but your body is weak.”
42 Then Jesus went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if I must do this[c] and it is not possible for me to escape it, then I pray that what you want will be done.”
43 Then he went back to the followers. Again he found them sleeping. They could not stay awake. 44 So he left them and went away one more time and prayed. This third time he prayed, he said the same thing.
45 Then Jesus went back to the followers and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the control of sinful men. 46 Stand up! We must go. Here comes the one who will hand me over.”
Jesus Is Arrested(I)
47 While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles came there. He had a big crowd of people with him, all carrying swords and clubs. They had been sent from the leading priests and the older leaders of the people. 48 Judas[d] planned to do something to show them which one was Jesus. He said, “The one I kiss will be Jesus. Arrest him.” 49 So he went to Jesus and said, “Hello, Teacher!” Then Judas kissed him.
50 Jesus answered, “Friend, do the thing you came to do.”
Then the men came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51 When that happened, one of the followers with Jesus grabbed his sword and pulled it out. He swung it at the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
52 Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. People who use swords will be killed with swords. 53 Surely you know I could ask my Father and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels. 54 But it must happen this way to show the truth of what the Scriptures said.”
55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “Why do you come to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. Every day I sat in the Temple area teaching. You did not arrest me there. 56 But all these things have happened to show the full meaning of what the prophets wrote.” Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.
Jesus Before the Jewish Leaders(J)
57 The men who arrested Jesus led him to the house of Caiaphas the high priest. The teachers of the law and the older Jewish leaders were gathered there. 58 Peter followed Jesus but stayed back at a distance. He followed him to the yard of the high priest’s house. Peter went in and sat with the guards. He wanted to see what would happen to Jesus.
59 The leading priests and the high council tried to find something against Jesus so that they could kill him. They tried to find people to lie and say that Jesus had done wrong. 60 Many people came and told lies about him. But the council could find no real reason to kill him. Then two people came 61 and said, “This man[e] said, ‘I can destroy the Temple of God and build it again in three days.’”
62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Don’t you have anything to say about these charges against you? Are they telling the truth?” 63 But Jesus said nothing.
Again the high priest said to Jesus, “You are now under oath. I command you by the power of the living God to tell us the truth. Tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”
64 Jesus answered, “Yes, that’s right. But I tell you, in the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right side of God. And you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 When the high priest heard this, he tore his clothes in anger. He said, “This man has said things that insult God! We don’t need any more witnesses. You all heard his insulting words. 66 What do you think?”
The Jewish leaders answered, “He is guilty, and he must die.”
67 Then some there spit in Jesus’ face, and they hit him with their fists. Others slapped him. 68 They said, “Show us that you are a prophet,[f] Messiah! Tell us who hit you!”
Peter Is Afraid to Say He Knows Jesus(K)
69 While Peter was sitting outside in the yard, a servant girl came up to him. She said, “You were with Jesus, that man from Galilee.”
70 But Peter told everyone there that this was not true. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.
71 Then he left the yard. At the gate another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 Again, Peter said he was never with Jesus. He said, “I swear to God I don’t know the man!”
73 A short time later those standing there went to Peter and said, “We know you are one of them. It’s clear from the way you talk.”
74 Then Peter began to curse. He said, “I swear to God, I don’t know the man!” As soon as he said this, a rooster crowed. 75 Then he remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the rooster crows, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.
Haman’s Plan to Destroy the Jews
3 After these things happened, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite. The king promoted Haman and gave him a place of honor more important than any of the other leaders. 2 All the king’s leaders at the king’s gate would bow down and give honor to Haman. This is what the king commanded them to do. But Mordecai refused to bow down or give honor to Haman. 3 Then the king’s leaders at the gate asked Mordecai, “Why don’t you obey the king’s command to bow down to Haman?”
4 Day after day, the king’s leaders spoke to Mordecai, but he refused to obey the command to bow down to Haman. So they told Haman about it. They wanted to see what Haman would do about Mordecai. Mordecai had told them that he was a Jew. 5 When Haman saw that Mordecai refused to bow down to him or give him honor, he was very angry. 6 Haman had learned that Mordecai was a Jew. But he was not satisfied to kill only Mordecai. He also wanted to find a way to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, in all of Xerxes’ kingdom.
7 In the twelfth year of King Xerxes’ rule, in the first month, the month of Nisan, Haman threw lots to choose a special day and month. And the twelfth month, the month of Adar was chosen. (At that time the lot was called “pur.”) 8 Then Haman came to King Xerxes and said, “King Xerxes, there is a certain group of people scattered among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom. They keep themselves separate from other people. Their customs are different from those of all other people. And they don’t obey the king’s laws. It is not right for the king to allow them to continue to live in your kingdom.
9 “If it pleases the king, I have a suggestion: Give a command to destroy these people. And I will put 750,000 pounds[a] of silver into the king’s treasury. This money could be used to pay the men who do these things.”
10 So the king took the official ring off his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite. Haman was the enemy of the Jews. 11 Then the king said to Haman, “Keep the money. Do what you want with them.”
12 Then on the 13th day of the first month, the king’s secretaries were called. They wrote out all of Haman’s commands in the language of each province. And they wrote them in the language of each group of people. They wrote to the king’s satraps, the governors of the different provinces, and the leaders of the different groups of people. They wrote with the authority of King Xerxes himself, and sealed the commands with the king’s own ring.
13 Messengers carried the letters to all the king’s provinces. The letters were the king’s command to ruin, kill, and completely destroy all the Jews. This meant young people and old people, women, and little children too. The command was to kill all the Jews on a single day. The day was to be the 13th day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. And the command was to take everything that belonged to the Jews.
14 A copy of the letters with the command was to be given as a law. It was to be a law in every province and announced to the people of every nation living in the kingdom. Then everyone would be ready for that day. 15 At the king’s command the messengers hurried off. The command was given in the capital city of Susa. The king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
Paul Before King Agrippa
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now speak to defend yourself.” Paul raised his hand to get their attention and began to speak. 2 He said, “King Agrippa, I feel fortunate that I can stand here before you today and answer all the charges these Jews have made against me. 3 I am very happy to talk to you, because you know so much about all the Jewish customs and the things the Jews argue about. Please listen to me patiently.
4 “All the Jews know about my whole life. They know the way I lived from the beginning in my own country and later in Jerusalem. 5 These Jews have known me for a long time. If they want to, they can tell you that I was a good Pharisee. And the Pharisees obey the laws of the Jewish religion more carefully than any other group. 6 Now I am on trial because I hope for the promise that God made to our fathers. 7 This is the promise that all the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive. For this hope the Jews serve God day and night. My king, the Jews have accused me because I hope for this same promise. 8 Why do you people think it is impossible for God to raise people from death?
9 “I used to think that I should do everything I could against Jesus from Nazareth. 10 And that’s what I did, beginning in Jerusalem. The leading priests gave me the authority to put many of God’s people in jail. And when they were being killed, I agreed that it was a good thing. 11 I visited all the synagogues and punished them, trying to make them curse[a] Jesus. My anger against these people was so strong that I went to other cities to find them and punish them.
Paul Tells About Seeing Jesus
12 “One time the leading priests gave me permission and the authority to go to the city of Damascus. 13 On the way there, at noon, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun. It shined all around me and those traveling with me. 14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice talking to me in Aramaic. The voice said, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting me.’
15 “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“The Lord said, ‘I am Jesus. I am the one you are persecuting. 16 Stand up! I have chosen you to be my servant. You will tell people about me—what you have seen today and what I will show you. This is why I have come to you. 17 I will keep you safe from your own people and from the non-Jewish people, the ones I am sending you to. 18 You will make them able to understand the truth. They will turn away from darkness to the light. They will turn away from the power of Satan, and they will turn to God. Then their sins can be forgiven, and they can be given a place among God’s people—those who have been made holy by believing in me.’”
Paul Tells About His Work
19 Paul continued speaking: “King Agrippa, after I had this vision from heaven, I obeyed it. 20 I began telling people to change their hearts and lives and turn back to God. And I told them to do what would show that they had really changed. I went first to people in Damascus. Then I went to Jerusalem and to every part of Judea and told the people there. I also went to the non-Jewish people.
21 “This is why the Jews grabbed me and were trying to kill me at the Temple. 22 But God helped me, and he is still helping me today. With God’s help I am standing here today and telling all people what I have seen. But I am saying nothing new. I am saying only what Moses and the prophets said would happen. 23 They said that the Messiah would die and be the first to rise from death. They said that he would bring the light of God’s saving truth[b] to the Jewish people and to the non-Jewish people.”
Paul Tries to Persuade Agrippa
24 While Paul was still defending himself, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Too much study has made you crazy.”
25 Paul said, “Most Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true. It all makes perfect sense. 26 King Agrippa knows about all this, and I can speak freely to him. I know that he has heard about these things, because they happened where everyone could see them. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe what the prophets wrote? I know you believe!”
28 King Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think you can persuade me to become a ‘Christ-follower’ so easily?”
29 Paul said, “It is not important if it is easy or if it is hard. I pray to God that not only you but that everyone listening to me today could be saved and be just like me—except for these chains I have!”
30 King Agrippa, Governor Festus, Bernice, and all the people sitting with them stood up 31 and left the room. They were talking to each other. They said, “This man has done nothing worthy of being put to death or even put in jail.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “We could let him go free, but he has asked to see Caesar.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International