M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Joseph’s brothers return with Benjamin

43 The famine was severe in the land, ² and when they had eaten all the grain that they brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”

³ Judah said to him, “The man was absolutely serious when he said, ‘You may not see me again without your brother with you.’ ⁴ If you agree to send our brother with us, then we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you don’t agree to send him, then we can’t go down because the man said to us, ‘You may not see me again without your brother with you.’”

⁶ Israel said, “Why have you caused me such pain by telling the man you had another brother?”

⁷ They said, “The man asked us pointedly about our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have a brother?’ So we told him just what we’ve said. How were we to know he’d say, ‘Bring your brother down here’?”

⁸ Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the young man with me. Let’s get ready to leave so that we can stay alive and not die—we, you, and our children. ⁹ I will guarantee his safety; you can hold me responsible. If I don’t bring him back to you and place him here in front of you, it will be my fault forever. ¹⁰ If we hadn’t waited so long, we would’ve returned twice by now.”

¹¹ Their father Israel said to them, “If it has to be, then do this. Take in your bags some of the land’s choice produce, and bring it down to the man as a gift: a little medicinal resin, a little honey, gum, resin, pistachios, and almonds. ¹² Take twice as much silver with you, and take back the silver returned in the top of your sacks. It might have been a mistake. ¹³ And take your brother, get ready, and go back to the man. ¹⁴ May God Almighty^[a] make the man compassionate toward you so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin with you. But me, if I’m left childless, then I’m left childless.”

¹⁵ So the men took this gift. They took twice as much silver with them, together with Benjamin. They left, traveled down to Egypt, and received an audience with Joseph. ¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the manager of his household, “Bring the men to the house and slaughter an animal and prepare it because the men will have dinner with me at noon.” ¹⁷ The man did as Joseph told him and brought the men to Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ When they were brought to Joseph’s house, the men were frightened and said, “We’ve been brought here because of the silver put back in our sacks on our first trip so he can overpower us, capture us, make slaves of us, and take our donkeys.”

¹⁹ They approached the man who was Joseph’s household manager and spoke to him at the house’s entrance: ²⁰ “Please, Master, we came down the first time just to buy food, ²¹ but when we stopped to spend the night and opened our sacks, there was the exact amount of each man’s silver at the top of his sack. We’ve brought it back with us, ²² and we’ve brought down with us additional silver to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in our sacks.”

²³ He said, “You are fine. Don’t be afraid. Your God and your father’s God must have hidden a treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The manager brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet and feed for their donkeys. ²⁵ They prepared the gift, anticipating Joseph’s arrival at noon, since they had heard that they would have a meal there. ²⁶ When Joseph came into the house, they presented him the gift they had brought with them into the house, and they bowed low in front of him. ²⁷ He asked them how they were and said, “How is your elderly father, about whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ They said, “Your servant our father is fine. He’s still alive.” And they bowed down again with deep respect.

²⁹ Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his own mother’s son, and he said, “Is this your youngest brother whom you told me about? God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Joseph’s feelings for his brother were so strong he was about to weep, so he rushed to another room and wept there. ³¹ He washed his face, came back, pulled himself together, and said, “Set out the dinner.” ³² So they set out his food by himself, their food by themselves, and the Egyptians’ who ate with him by themselves because Egyptians don’t allow themselves to eat with Hebrews; the Egyptians think it beneath their dignity. ³³ They were seated in front of him from the oldest to the youngest in their exact birth order, and the men looked at each other with amazement. ³⁴ Portions of food from Joseph’s table were brought to them, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as large as theirs. So they drank together and were at ease.

The temple’s fate

13 As Jesus left the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What awesome stones and buildings!”

² Jesus responded, “Do you see these enormous buildings? Not even one stone will be left upon another. All will be demolished.”

³ Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? What sign will show that all these things are about to come to an end?”

Keep watch!

⁵ Jesus said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many people will come in my name, saying, ‘I’m the one!’ They will deceive many people. ⁷ When you hear of wars and reports of wars, don’t be alarmed. These things must happen, but this isn’t the end yet. ⁸ Nations and kingdoms will fight against each other, and there will be earthquakes and famines in all sorts of places. These things are just the beginning of the sufferings associated with the end.

⁹ “Watch out for yourselves. People will hand you over to the councils. You will be beaten in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me so that you can testify before them. ¹⁰ First, the good news must be proclaimed to all the nations. ¹¹ When they haul you in and hand you over, don’t worry ahead of time about what to answer or say. Instead, say whatever is given to you at that moment, for you aren’t doing the speaking but the Holy Spirit is. ¹² Brothers and sisters will hand each other over to death. A father will turn in his children. Children will rise up against their parents and have them executed. ¹³ Everyone will hate you because of my name. But whoever stands firm until the end will be saved.

¹⁴ “When you see the disgusting and destructive thing standing where it shouldn’t be (the reader should understand this), then those in Judea must escape to the mountains. ¹⁵ Those on the roof shouldn’t come down or enter their houses to grab anything. ¹⁶ Those in the field shouldn’t come back to grab their clothes. ¹⁷ How terrible it will be at that time for women who are pregnant and for women who are nursing their children. ¹⁸ Pray that it doesn’t happen in winter. ¹⁹ In those days there will be great suffering such as the world has never before seen and will never again see. ²⁰ If the Lord hadn’t shortened that time, no one would be rescued. But for the sake of the chosen ones, the ones whom God chose, he has cut short the time.

²¹ “Then if someone says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Christ,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. ²² False christs and false prophets will appear, and they will offer signs and wonders in order to deceive, if possible, those whom God has chosen. ²³ But you, watch out! I’ve told you everything ahead of time.

²⁴ “In those days, after the suffering of that time, the sun will become dark, and the moon won’t give its light. ²⁵ The stars will fall from the sky, and the planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken. ²⁶ Then they will see the Human One^[a] coming in the clouds with great power and splendor. ²⁷ Then he will send the angels and gather together his chosen people from the four corners of the earth, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.

A lesson from the fig tree

²⁸ “Learn this parable from the fig tree. After its branch becomes tender and it sprouts new leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’s near, at the door. ³⁰ I assure you that this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.

³² “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the angels in heaven and not the Son. Only the Father knows. ³³ Watch out! Stay alert! You don’t know when the time is coming. ³⁴ It is as if someone took a trip, left the household behind, and put the servants in charge, giving each one a job to do, and told the doorkeeper to stay alert. ³⁵ Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know when the head of the household will come,whether in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows in the early morning or at daybreak. ³⁶ Don’t let him show up when you weren’t expecting and find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to all: Stay alert!”

Hymnic praise

9 Job responded:

A mismatch

There is no justice

Job wants an arbitrator

13 Every person should place themselves under the authority of the government. There isn’t any authority unless it comes from God, and the authorities that are there have been put in place by God. ² So anyone who opposes the authority is standing against what God has established. People who take this kind of stand will get punished. ³ The authorities don’t frighten people who are doing the right thing. Rather, they frighten people who are doing wrong. Would you rather not be afraid of authority? Do what’s right, and you will receive its approval. ⁴ It is God’s servant given for your benefit. But if you do what’s wrong, be afraid because it doesn’t have weapons to enforce the law for nothing. It is God’s servant put in place to carry out his punishment on those who do what is wrong. ⁵ That is why it is necessary to place yourself under the government’s authority, not only to avoid God’s punishment but also for the sake of your conscience. ⁶ You should also pay taxes for the same reason, because the authorities are God’s assistants, concerned with this very thing. ⁷ So pay everyone what you owe them. Pay the taxes you owe, pay the duties you are charged, give respect to those you should respect, and honor those you should honor.

⁸ Don’t be in debt to anyone, except for the obligation to love each other. Whoever loves another person has fulfilled the Law. ⁹ The commandments, Don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t desire what others have,^[a] and any other commandments, are all summed up in one word: You must love your neighbor as yourself.^{[b] 10} Love doesn’t do anything wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is what fulfills the Law.

The day is near

¹¹ As you do all this, you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith. ¹² The night is almost over, and the day is near. So let’s get rid of the actions that belong to the darkness and put on the weapons of light. ¹³ Let’s behave appropriately as people who live in the day, not in partying and getting drunk, not in sleeping around and obscene behavior, not in fighting and obsession. ¹⁴ Instead, dress yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and don’t plan to indulge your selfish desires.