M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
32 [a]As Jacob went on his way, angels from God met him. 2 As he was watching them, Jacob said, “This must be God’s camp,” so he named that place Mahanaim.[b]
3 Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of him into the land of Seir (that is, into the territory of Edom) to meet his brother Esau. 4 He instructed them, “This is what you are to say to my master Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob told me to tell you, “I’ve journeyed to stay with Laban and I’ve remained there until now. 5 I now have cattle, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. I’m sending this message to you, sir,[c] so that you’ll show favor to me.”’”
6 Later, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We went to your brother Esau. He’s now coming to meet you—and he has 400 men with him!”
7 Feeling mounting terror and distress, Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, doing the same with the flocks, the cattle, and the camels. 8 Jacob was thinking, “If Esau comes to one group and attacks it, then the remaining group may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed,[d] “O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you who told me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives and I’ll cause things to go well for you.’ 10 I’m unworthy of all your gracious love, your faithfulness, and everything that you’ve done for your servant. When I first crossed over this river, I had only my staff. But now I’ve become two groups. 11 Deliver me from my brother Esau’s control, because I’m terrified of him, and I’m afraid that he’s coming to attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12 Now, you promised me that ‘I’m certainly going to cause things to go well with you, and I’m going to make your offspring[e] as numerous as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
13 Jacob spent the night there. Out of everything that he had brought with him, he chose a gift for his brother Esau— 14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 15 30 milking camels with their young, 40 cows with ten bulls, and 20 female donkeys with ten male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them into the care of his servants, one herd at a time.[f] Then he told his servants, “Go in front of me, making sure there’s plenty of space between herds.”
17 To the first group he said, “When you meet my brother Esau, if he asks, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And to whom do these herds[g] belong?’ 18 then you are to reply, ‘We’re from[h] your servant Jacob. The herds[i] are a gift. He’s sending them to my master, Esau. Look! There he is, coming along behind us.’”
19 He issued similar instructions to the second and third group, as well as to all the others who drove the herds that followed: “This is how you are to speak to Esau when you find him. 20 You are to tell him, ‘Look! Your servant Jacob is coming along behind us.’”
Jacob was thinking, “I’ll pacify him with the presents that are being sent ahead of me. Then, when I meet him,[j] perhaps he’ll accept me.”[k] 21 So the presents went[l] ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp. 22 Later that night, he woke up, quickly took his two wives, his[m] two women servants, and his eleven children, and forded the river at Jabbok. 23 He took them across the river, along with all his possessions.
Jacob Struggles with God
24 And so Jacob was left alone, and he struggled with a man until daybreak. 25 When the man realized that he hadn’t yet won the struggle, he injured the socket[n] of Jacob’s thigh, dislocating it as he wrestled with him, 26 and said, “Let me go, because the dawn has come.”[o]
“I won’t let you go,” Jacob[p] replied, “unless you bless me.”
27 Then the man[q] asked him, “What’s your name?”
“Jacob,” he responded
28 “Your name won’t be[r] Jacob anymore,” the man[s] replied, “but Israel, because you exerted yourself against both God and men, and you’ve emerged victorious.”
29 “Please,” Jacob inquired, “Tell me your name.”
But he asked, “Why are you asking about my name?” And he blessed Jacob[t] there.
30 Jacob would later call that place Peniel,[u] because “I saw God face to face, but my life was spared.”
31 The sun was rising above Jacob[v] as he crossed over from Peniel, limping due to his wounded thigh. 32 Therefore, to this day the Israelis do not eat the hip tendon that connects to the thigh socket, because he had injured the socket of the thigh where the tendon connected to Jacob’s hip.
Jesus Heals a Man with a Paralyzed Hand(A)
3 Jesus[a] went into the synagogue again, and a man with a paralyzed hand was there. 2 The people[b] watched Jesus[c] closely to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath,[d] intending to accuse him of doing something wrong. 3 He told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Come forward.”[e] 4 Then he asked them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on Sabbath days,[f] to save a life or to destroy it?” But they remained silent.
5 Jesus[g] looked around at them in anger, deeply hurt because of their hard hearts. Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man[h] held it out, and his hand was restored to health. 6 Immediately the Pharisees and Herodians[i] went out and began to plot how to kill him.
Jesus Encounters a Large Crowd
7 So Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. A large crowd from Galilee, Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, from across the Jordan, and from the region around Tyre and Sidon followed him. They came to him because they kept hearing about everything he was doing. 9 Jesus[j] told his disciples to have a boat ready for him so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him, 10 because he had healed so many people that everyone who had diseases kept crowding up against him in order to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and scream, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But he sternly ordered them again and again not to tell people who he was.
Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles(B)
13 Then Jesus[k] went up on a hillside and called to himself those whom he had decided on, and they approached him. 14 He appointed the Twelve,[l] whom he called apostles, to accompany him, to be sent out to preach, 15 and to have the authority to drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve:[m] Simon (whom he named Peter), 17 Zebedee’s sons James and his brother John (whom he named Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus,[n] Simon the Cananaean,[o] 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Jesus is Accused of Working with Beelzebul(C)
20 Then he went home. Such a large crowd gathered again that Jesus and his disciples[p] couldn’t even eat. 21 When his family heard about it, they went to restrain him, because they kept saying, “He’s out of his mind!”
22 The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept repeating, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”
23 So Jesus[q] called them together and began to speak to them in parables. “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a household is divided against itself, that household won’t stand. 26 So if Satan rebels against himself and is divided, he cannot stand. Indeed, his end has come. 27 No one can go into a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions without first tying up the strong man. Then he can ransack his house. 28 I tell all of you[r] with certainty, people will be forgiven their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.[s] 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never be forgiven, but is guilty of eternal sin.” 30 …because they had been saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
The True Family of Jesus(D)
31 Then his mother and his brothers arrived. Milling around outside, they sent for him, continuously summoning him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him. They told him, “Look! Your mother and your brothers[t] are outside asking for you.”
33 He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Then looking at the people sitting around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
The Promotion of Mordecai
8 That day King Ahasuerus gave Queen Esther the property[a] of Haman, the enemy of the Jewish people, and Mordecai came into the king’s presence because Esther had told him how Mordecai[b] was related to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring that he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai. Esther then put Mordecai in charge of Haman’s property.[c]
Esther Asks that the Jewish People be Spared
3 Then Esther spoke to the king again and fell at his feet. She wept and pleaded with him for mercy to overturn the evil plan devised[d] by Haman the Agagite and his plot against the Jewish people. 4 The king extended the golden scepter to Esther, and she got up and stood before the king. 5 She said, “If it pleases the king, and if I’ve found favor with him, and if the matter is proper in the king’s opinion, and if I’m pleasing to the king, let an order be issued[e] revoking the letters devised by Hammedatha the Agagite’s son Haman, which ordered[f] the destruction of the Jewish people throughout the king’s provinces. 6 Indeed, how can I bear to see this disaster happen to my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my kinsmen?”
7 King Ahasuerus told Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “Look, I’ve given Haman’s property[g] to Esther, and they have hanged[h] him on the pole because he tried to harm[i] the Jewish people. 8 Now, in the name of the king, you write what seems good to you concerning the Jewish people, and seal it with the king’s signet ring, for a document written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s signet ring cannot be revoked.”
9 The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, on the twenty-third day of the third month, which is the month Sivan, and everything that Mordecai commanded the Jewish people, the regional authorities,[j] the governors, and the provincial officials of the 127 provinces from India to Cush[k] was written down for each province according to its script, for each people according to their language, and for the Jewish people according to their script and language. 10 He wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. He sent the letters by couriers on horseback, riding steeds especially bred for the king.[l]
11 What the king granted the Jewish people in every town was the right[m] to assemble and defend themselves,[n] to annihilate, kill, and destroy every armed force of a people or a province that was hostile to them, including children and women, and to plunder their property.[o] 12 Throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, the one day for the Jewish people to do this was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar. 13 A copy of the document was to be issued as law in each and every province and published for all people, indicating that the Jewish people were to be ready to take vengeance on their enemies on that day. 14 The couriers, mounted on the royal steeds, left quickly, urged on by the king’s command. The edict was also issued in Susa the capital.
The Jewish People Celebrate the King’s Edict
15 Mordecai left the king’s presence in royal robes of blue and white, wearing a large golden crown and a purple robe made of fine linen; and the city of Susa shouted with joy. 16 For the Jewish people, there was light and joy, gladness and honor. 17 In each and every province, and in each and every city, in the places where the king’s order and edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jewish people, along with a festival and a holiday. Many of the people of the land became[p] Jews, because they had come to fear the Jewish people.
Everyone is a Sinner
3 What advantage, then, does the Jew have, or what value is there in circumcision? 2 There are all kinds of advantages! First of all, the Jews[a] have been entrusted with the utterances of God. 3 What if some of the Jews[b] were unfaithful? Their unfaithfulness cannot cancel God’s faithfulness, can it? 4 Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written,
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God’s righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.) 6 Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world? 7 For[e] if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness glorifies him even more, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 Or can we say—as some people slander us by claiming that we say—“Let’s do evil that good may result”? They deserve to be condemned!
9 What, then, does this mean?[f] Are we Jews[g] any better off? Not at all! For we have already accused everyone, both Jews and Greeks, of being under the power of[h] sin. 10 As it is written,
“Not even one person is righteous.
11 No one understands.
No one searches for God.
12 All have turned away.
They have become completely worthless.
No one shows kindness, not even one person![i]
13 Their throats are open graves.
With their tongues they deceive.[j]
The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips.[k]
14 Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.[l]
15 They run swiftly[m] to shed blood.
16 Ruin and misery characterize their lives.
17 They have not learned the path to peace.[n]
18 They don’t fear God.[o]
19 Now we know that whatever the Law says applies to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore, God[p] will not justify any human being by means of the actions prescribed by the Law, for through the Law comes the full knowledge of sin.
God Gives Us Righteousness through Faith
21 But now, apart from the Law, God’s righteousness is revealed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets— 22 God’s righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus[q] the Messiah[r]— for all who believe. For there is no distinction among people,[s] 23 since all have sinned and continue to fall short of God’s glory. 24 By his grace they are justified freely through the redemption that is in the Messiah[t] Jesus, 25 whom God offered as a place where atonement by the Messiah’s[u] blood would occur through faith. He did this[v] to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past. 26 He wanted[w] to demonstrate at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies anyone who has the faithfulness of Jesus.[x]
27 What, then, is there to boast about? That has been eliminated. On what principle? On that of actions? No, but on the principle of faith. 28 For[y] we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the actions prescribed by the Law. 29 Is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the gentiles, too? Yes, of the gentiles, too, 30 since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised on the basis of faith and the uncircumcised by that same faith. 31 Do we, then, abolish the Law by this faith? Of course not! Instead, we uphold the Law.
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