M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Laws About Keeping Property Safe
22 “Suppose someone steals an ox or a sheep. And suppose that person kills it or sells it. Then the thief must pay back five oxen for the ox. Or the thief must pay back four sheep for the sheep.
2 “Suppose you catch a thief breaking into your house at night. And suppose you hit the thief and the thief dies. Then you are not guilty of murder. 3 But suppose it happens after the sun has come up. Then you are guilty of murder.
“Anyone who steals must pay for whatever they steal. But suppose the thief does not have anything. Then the thief must be sold to pay for what was stolen. 4 What if the stolen ox, donkey or sheep is found alive with the thief? Then the thief must pay back twice as much.
5 “Suppose someone lets their livestock eat grass in someone else’s field or vineyard. Then they must pay that person back from the best crops of their own field or vineyard.
6 “Suppose a fire breaks out and spreads into bushes. Suppose it burns cut and stacked grain or grain that is still growing. Or suppose it burns the whole field. Then the one who started the fire must pay for the loss.
7 “Suppose someone gives a neighbor silver or other things to keep safe. And suppose they are stolen from the neighbor’s house. The thief, if caught, must pay back twice as much as was stolen. 8 But suppose the thief is not found. Then the neighbor must go to the judges. They will decide whether the neighbor has stolen the other person’s property. 9 Suppose you have an ox, donkey, sheep or clothing that does not belong to you. Or you have other property lost by someone else. And suppose someone says, ‘That belongs to me.’ Then both people must bring their case to the judges. The one the judges decide is guilty must pay back twice as much to the other person.
10 “Suppose someone asks their neighbor to take care of a donkey, ox, sheep or any other animal. And suppose the animal dies or gets hurt. Or suppose it is stolen while no one is looking. 11 Then the problem will be settled by promising the Lord to tell the truth. Suppose the neighbor says, ‘I didn’t steal your property.’ Then the owner must accept what the neighbor says. No payment is required. 12 But suppose the animal really was stolen. Then the neighbor must pay the owner back. 13 Or suppose it was torn to pieces by a wild animal. Then the neighbor must bring in what is left as proof. No payment is required.
14 “Suppose someone borrows an animal from their neighbor. And it gets hurt or dies while the owner is not there. Then the borrower must pay for it. 15 But suppose the owner is with the animal. Then the borrower will not have to pay. If the borrower hired the animal, the money paid to hire it covers the loss.
Laws About Social Problems
16 “Suppose a man meets a virgin who is not engaged. And he talks her into having sex with him. Then he must pay her father the price for a bride. And he must marry her. 17 But suppose her father absolutely refuses to give her to him. Then he must still pay the price for getting married to a virgin.
18 “Do not let a woman who does evil magic stay alive. Put her to death.
19 “Anyone who has sex with an animal must be put to death.
20 “Anyone who sacrifices to any god other than the Lord must be destroyed.
21 “Do not treat outsiders badly. Do not give them a hard time. Remember, you were outsiders in Egypt.
22 “Do not take advantage of widows. Do not take advantage of children whose fathers have died. 23 If you do, they might cry out to me. I will certainly hear them. 24 And I will get angry. I will kill you with a sword. Your wives will become widows. Your children’s fathers will die.
25 “Suppose you lend money to one of my people among you who is in need. Then do not treat it like a business deal. Do not charge any interest at all. 26 Suppose your neighbor owes you money and gives you a coat as a promise to pay it back. Then return it by sunset. 27 That coat is the only thing your neighbor owns to wear or sleep in. When they cry out to me, I will listen, because I am loving and kind.
28 “Do not speak evil things against God. Do not curse the ruler of your people.
29 “Do not keep for yourself your grain offerings or wine offerings.
“You must give me the oldest of your sons. 30 Do the same with your cattle and sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days. But give them to me on the eighth day.
31 “I want you to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of any animal that has been torn by wild animals. Throw it to the dogs.
The Word Became a Human Being
1 In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him. 4 Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness. But the darkness has not overcome the light.
6 There was a man sent from God. His name was John. 7 He came to be a witness about that light. He was a witness so that all people might believe. 8 John himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 The Word was in the world. And the world was made through him. But the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to what was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12 Some people did accept him and did believe in his name. He gave them the right to become children of God. 13 To be a child of God has nothing to do with human parents. Children of God are not born because of human choice or because a husband wants them to be born. They are born because of what God does.
14 The Word became a human being. He made his home with us. We have seen his glory. It is the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father. And the Word was full of grace and truth.
15 John was a witness about the Word. John cried out and said, “This was the one I was talking about. I said, ‘He who comes after me is more important than I am. He is more important because he existed before I was born.’ ” 16 God is full of grace. From him we have all received grace in place of the grace already given. 17 In the past, God gave us grace through the law of Moses. Now, grace and truth come to us through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But the One and Only is God and is at the Father’s side. The one at the Father’s side has shown us what God is like.
John the Baptist Says That He Is Not the Messiah
19 The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask John who he was. John spoke the truth to them. 20 He did not try to hide the truth. He spoke to them openly. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet we’ve been expecting?” they asked.
“No,” he answered.
22 They asked one last time, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John replied, using the words of Isaiah the prophet. John said, “I’m the messenger who is calling out in the desert, ‘Make the way for the Lord straight.’ ” (Isaiah 40:3)
24 The Pharisees who had been sent 25 asked him, “If you are not the Messiah, why are you baptizing people? Why are you doing that if you aren’t Elijah or the Prophet we’ve been expecting?”
26 “I baptize people with water,” John replied. “But someone is standing among you whom you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me. I am not good enough to untie his sandals.”
28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. That was where John was baptizing.
What John Says About Jesus
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God! He takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I was talking about. I said, ‘A man who comes after me is more important than I am. That’s because he existed before I was born.’ 31 I did not know him. But God wants to make it clear to Israel who this person is. That’s the reason I came baptizing with water.”
32 Then John told them, “I saw the Holy Spirit come down from heaven like a dove. The Spirit remained on Jesus. 33 I myself did not know him. But the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘You will see the Spirit come down and remain on someone. He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen it happen. I am a witness that this is God’s Chosen One.”
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 He saw Jesus walking by. John said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him say this. So they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned around and saw them following. He asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Rabbi means Teacher.
39 “Come,” he replied. “You will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying. They spent the rest of the day with him. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40 Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew was one of the two disciples who heard what John had said. He had also followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon. He told him, “We have found the Messiah.” Messiah means Christ. 42 And he brought Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas.” Cephas means Peter, or Rock.
Jesus Chooses Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip was from the town of Bethsaida. So were Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the Law. The prophets also wrote about him. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 Jesus saw Nathanael approaching. Here is what Jesus said about him. “He is a true Israelite. Nothing about him is false.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree. I saw you there before Philip called you.”
49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 Then he said to the disciples, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You will see heaven open. You will see the angels of God going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”
40 The Lord continued,
2 “I am the Mighty One.
Will the man who argues with me correct me?
Let him who brings charges against me answer me!”
3 Job replied to the Lord,
4 “I’m not worthy. How can I reply to you?
I’m putting my hand over my mouth. I’ll stop talking.
5 I spoke once. But I really don’t have any answer.
I spoke twice. But I won’t say anything else.”
6 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said,
7 “Get ready to stand up for yourself.
I will ask you some more questions.
Then I want you to answer me.
8 “Would you dare to claim that I am not being fair?
Would you judge me in order to make yourself seem right?
9 Is your arm as powerful as mine is?
Can your voice thunder as mine does?
10 Then put on glory and beauty as if they were your clothes.
Also put on honor and majesty.
11 Let loose your great anger.
Look at those who are proud and bring them low.
12 Look at proud people and make them humble.
Crush evil people right where they are.
13 Bury their bodies together in the dust.
Cover their faces in the grave.
14 Then I myself will admit to you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 “Look at Behemoth. It is a huge animal.
I made both of you.
It eats grass like an ox.
16 Look at the strength it has in its hips!
What power it has in the muscles of its stomach!
17 Its tail sways back and forth like a cedar tree.
The tendons of its thighs are close together.
18 Its bones are like tubes made out of bronze.
Its legs are like rods made out of iron.
19 It ranks first among my works.
I made it. I can approach it with my sword.
20 The hills produce food for it.
All the other wild animals play near it.
21 It lies under lotus plants.
It hides in tall grass in the swamps.
22 The lotus plants hide it in their shade.
Poplar trees near streams surround it.
23 It is not afraid when the river roars.
It is secure even when the Jordan River rushes against its mouth.
24 Can anyone capture it by its eyes?
Can anyone trap it and poke a hole through its nose?
Paul Speaks Up for His Service to the Church
10 Christ is humble and free of pride. Because of this, I make my appeal to you. I, Paul, am the one you call “shy” when I am face to face with you. But when I am away from you, you think I am “bold” toward you. 2 I am coming to see you. Please don’t make me be as bold as I expect to be toward some people. They think that I live the way the people of this world live. 3 I do live in the world. But I don’t fight my battles the way the people of the world do. 4 The weapons I fight with are not the weapons the world uses. In fact, it is just the opposite. My weapons have the power of God to destroy the camps of the enemy. 5 I destroy every claim and every reason that keeps people from knowing God. I keep every thought under control in order to make it obey Christ. 6 Until you have obeyed completely, I will be ready to punish you every time you don’t obey.
7 You are judging only by how things look on the surface. Suppose someone is sure they belong to Christ. Then they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8 Do I brag too much about the authority the Lord gave me? If I do, it’s because I want to build you up, not tear you down. And I’m not ashamed of that kind of bragging. 9 Don’t think that I’m trying to scare you with my letters. 10 Some say, “His letters sound important. They are powerful. But in person he doesn’t seem like much. And what he says doesn’t amount to anything.” 11 People like that have a lot to learn. What I say in my letters when I’m away from you, I will do in my actions when I’m with you.
12 I don’t dare to compare myself with those who praise themselves. I’m not that kind of person. They measure themselves by themselves. They compare themselves with themselves. When they do that, they are not wise. 13 But I won’t brag more than I should. God himself has given me an opportunity for serving. I will only brag about what I have done with that opportunity. This opportunity for serving also includes you. 14 I am not going too far in my bragging. I would be going too far if I hadn’t come to where you live. But I did get there with the good news about Christ. 15 And I won’t brag about work done by others. If I did, I would be bragging more than I should. As your faith continues to grow, I hope that my work among you will greatly increase. 16 Then I will be able to preach the good news in the areas beyond you. I don’t want to brag about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17 But, “The one who brags should brag about what the Lord has done.” (Jeremiah 9:24) 18 Those who praise themselves are not accepted. Those the Lord praises are accepted.
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