M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
18 Now Jethro [Reuel], the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after Moses had sent her back [to her father],
3 And her two sons, of whom the name of the one was Gershom [ expulsion, or a stranger there], for Moses said, I have been an alien in a strange land;
4 And the name of the other was Eliezer [God is help], for the God of my father, said Moses, was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.
5 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with Moses’ sons and his wife to the wilderness where he was encamped at the mount of God [Horeb, or Sinai].
6 And he said [in a message] to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, am come to you and your wife and her two sons with her.
7 And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed in homage and kissed him; and each asked the other of his welfare and they came into the tent.
8 Moses told his father-in-law all the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and all the hardships that had come upon them by the way and how the Lord delivered them.
9 Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness the Lord had done to Israel in that He had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
10 Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, Who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, Who has delivered the people [Israel] from under the hand of the Egyptians.
11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods. Yes, in the [very] thing in which they dealt proudly [He showed Himself infinitely superior to all their gods].
12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices [to offer] to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
13 Next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?
15 Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
16 When they have a dispute they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws.
17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, The thing that you are doing is not good.
18 You will surely wear out both yourself and this people with you, for the thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it all by yourself.
19 Listen now to [me]; I will counsel you, and God will be with you. You shall represent the people before God, bringing their cases and causes to Him,
20 Teaching them the decrees and laws, showing them the way they must walk and the work they must do.
21 Moreover, you shall choose able men from all the people—God-fearing men of truth who hate unjust gain—and place them over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, to be their rulers.
22 And let them judge the people at all times; every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.
23 If you will do this, and God so commands you, you will be able to endure [the strain], and all these people also will go to their [tents] in peace.
24 So Moses listened to and heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
26 And they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but every small matter they decided themselves.
27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.
21 Looking up, [Jesus] saw the rich people putting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And He saw also a poor widow putting in two mites (copper coins).
3 And He said, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;
4 For they all gave out of their abundance (their surplus); but she has contributed out of her lack and her want, putting in all that she had on which to live.
5 And as some were saying of the temple that it was decorated with handsome (shapely and magnificent) stones and consecrated offerings [[a]laid up to be kept], He said,
6 As for all this that you [thoughtfully] look at, the time will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.
7 And they asked Him, Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when this is about to occur?
8 And He said, Be on your guard and be careful that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name [[b]appropriating to themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me], saying, I am He! and, The time is at hand! Do not go out after them.
9 And when you hear of wars and insurrections (disturbances, disorder, and confusion), do not become alarmed and panic-stricken and terrified; for all this must take place first, but the end will not [come] immediately.
10 Then He told them, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.(A)
11 There will be mighty and violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences (plagues: [c]malignant and contagious or infectious epidemic diseases which are deadly and devastating); and there will be sights of terror and great signs from heaven.
12 But previous to all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be led away before kings and governors for My name’s sake.
13 This will be a time (an opportunity) for you to bear testimony.
14 Resolve and settle it in your minds not to meditate and prepare beforehand how you are to make your defense and how you will answer.
15 For I [Myself] will give you a mouth and such utterance and wisdom that all of your foes combined will be unable to stand against or refute.
16 You will be delivered up and betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and [some] of you they will put to death.
17 And you will be hated (despised) by everyone because [you bear] My name and for its sake.
18 But not a hair of your head shall perish.(B)
19 By your steadfastness and patient endurance you [d]shall win the [e]true life of your souls.
20 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know and understand that its desolation has come near.
21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside [the city] get out of it, and let not those who are out in the country come into it;
22 For those are days of vengeance [of rendering full justice or satisfaction], that all things that are written may be fulfilled.
23 Alas for those who are pregnant and for those who have babies which they are nursing in those days! For great misery and anguish and distress shall be upon the land and indignation and punishment and retribution upon this people.
24 They will fall by [f]the mouth and the edge of the sword and will be led away as captives to and among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (completed).(C)
25 And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [[g]without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring ([h]the echo) of the tossing of the sea,(D)
26 Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and [i]caused to totter.
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).(E)
28 Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near.
29 And He told them a parable: Look at the fig tree and all the trees;
30 When they put forth their buds and come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and perceive and know that summer is already near.
31 Even so, when you see these things taking place, understand and know that the kingdom of God is at hand.
32 Truly I tell you, this generation ([j]those living at that definite period of time) will not perish and pass away until all has taken place.
33 The [k]sky and the earth ([l]the universe, the world) will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
34 But take heed to yourselves and be on your guard, lest your hearts be overburdened and depressed (weighed down) with the [m]giddiness and headache and [n]nausea of self-indulgence, drunkenness, and worldly worries and cares pertaining to [the [o]business of] this life, and [lest] that day come upon you suddenly like a trap or a noose;
35 For it will come upon all who live upon the face of the entire earth.
36 Keep awake then and watch at all times [be discreet, attentive, and ready], praying that you may have the full strength and ability and be accounted worthy to escape all these things [taken together] that will take place, and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.
37 Now in the daytime Jesus was teaching in [[p]the porches and courts of] the temple, but at night He would go out and stay on the mount called Olivet.
38 And early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple [[q]porches or courts] to listen to Him.
36 Elihu proceeded and said,
2 Bear with me and wait a little longer, and I will show you, for I have something still to say on God’s behalf.
3 I will bring my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my Maker.
4 For truly my words shall not be false; He Who is perfect in knowledge is with you.
5 Behold! God is mighty, and yet despises no one nor regards anything as trivial; He is mighty in power of understanding and heart.
6 He does not prolong the life of the wicked, but gives the needy and afflicted their right.
7 He withdraws not His eyes from the righteous (the upright in right standing with God); but He sets them forever with kings upon the throne, and they are exalted.
8 And if they are bound in fetters [of adversity] and held by cords of affliction,(A)
9 Then He shows to them [the true character of] their deeds and their transgressions, that they have acted arrogantly [with presumption and self-sufficiency].
10 He also opens their ears to instruction and discipline, and commands that they return from iniquity.
11 If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness and joy.
12 But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword [of God’s destructive judgments], and they shall die in ignorance of true knowledge.
13 But the godless and profane in heart heap up anger [at the divine discipline]; they do not cry to Him when He binds them [with cords of affliction].(B)
14 They die in youth, and their life perishes among the unclean (those who are sodomites).
15 He delivers the afflicted in their affliction and opens their ears [to His voice] in adversity.
16 Indeed, God would have allured you out of the mouth of distress into a broad place where there is no situation of perplexity or privation; and that which would be set on your table would be full of fatness.
17 But if you [Job] are filled with the judgment of the wicked, judgment and justice will keep hold on you.
18 For let not wrath entice you into scorning chastisements; and let not the greatness of the ransom [the suffering, if rightly endured] turn you aside.
19 Will your cry be sufficient to keep you from distress, or will all the force of your strength do it?
20 Desire not the night, when peoples are cut off from their places;
21 Take heed, turn not to iniquity, for this [the iniquity of complaining against God] you have chosen rather than [submission in] affliction.
22 Behold, God exalts and does loftily in His power; who is a ruler or a teacher like Him?
23 Who has appointed God His way? Or who can say, You have done unrighteousness?
24 Remember that [by submission] you magnify God’s work, of which men have sung.
25 All men have looked upon God’s work; man may behold it afar off.
26 Behold, God is great, and we know Him not! The number of His years is unsearchable.(C)
27 For He draws up the drops of water, which distil as rain from His vapor,
28 Which the skies pour down and drop abundantly upon [the multitudes of] mankind.
29 Not only that, but can anyone understand the spreadings of the clouds or the thunderings of His pavilion?(D)
30 Behold, He spreads His lightning against the dark clouds and covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by [His clouds] God executes judgment upon the peoples; He gives food in abundance.
32 He covers His hands with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark.
33 His thunderings speak [awesomely] concerning Him; the cattle are told of His coming storm.
6 Laboring together [as God’s fellow workers] with Him then, we beg of you not to receive the grace of God in vain [that [a]merciful kindness by which God exerts His holy influence on souls and turns them to Christ, keeping and strengthening them—do not receive it to no purpose].
2 For He says, In the time of favor (of an assured welcome) I have listened to and heeded your call, and I have helped you on the day of deliverance (the day of salvation). Behold, now is truly the time for a gracious welcome and acceptance [of you from God]; behold, now is the day of salvation!(A)
3 We put no obstruction in anybody’s way [we give no offense in anything], so that no fault may be found and [our] ministry blamed and discredited.
4 But we commend ourselves in every way as [true] servants of God: through great endurance, in tribulation and suffering, in hardships and privations, in sore straits and calamities,
5 In beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless watching, hunger;
6 By innocence and purity, knowledge and spiritual insight, longsuffering and patience, kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love;
7 By [speaking] the word of truth, in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [to attack] and for the left hand [to defend];
8 Amid honor and dishonor; in defaming and evil report and in praise and good report. [We are branded] as deceivers (impostors), and [yet vindicated as] truthful and honest.
9 [We are treated] as unknown and ignored [by the world], and [yet we are] well-known and recognized [by God and His people]; as dying, and yet here we are alive; as chastened by suffering and [yet] not killed;
10 As grieved and mourning, yet [we are] always rejoicing; as poor [ourselves, yet] bestowing riches on many; as having nothing, and [yet in reality] possessing all things.
11 Our mouth is open to you, Corinthians [we are hiding nothing, keeping nothing back], and our heart is expanded wide [for you]!(B)
12 There is no lack of room for you in [our hearts], but you lack room in your own affections [for us].
13 By way of return then, do this for me—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also [to us].
14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness?
15 What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
16 What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.(C)
17 So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor,(D)
18 And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.(E)
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