M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

25 And the Lord said to Moses,

² Speak to the Israelites, that they take for Me an offering. From every man who gives it willingly and ungrudgingly with his heart you shall take My offering.

³ This is the offering you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze,

⁴ Blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen and goats’ hair,

⁵ Rams’ skins tanned red, goatskins, dolphin or porpoise skins, acacia wood,

⁶ Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil and for sweet incense,

⁷ Onyx stones, and stones for setting in the ephod and in the breastplate.

⁸ Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.^(A)

⁹ And you shall make it according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle or dwelling and the pattern of all the furniture of it.

¹⁰ They shall make an ark of acacia wood: two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

¹¹ You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold crown, a rim or border, around its top.

¹² You shall cast four gold rings and attach them to the four lower corners of it, two rings on either side.

¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold,

¹⁴ And put the poles through the rings on the ark’s sides, by which to carry it.

¹⁵ The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it [that the ark be not touched].

¹⁶ And you shall put inside the ark the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] which I will give you.

¹⁷ And you shall make a mercy seat (a covering) of pure gold, two cubits and a half long and a cubit and a half wide.

¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of [solid] hammered gold on the two ends of the mercy seat.

¹⁹ Make one cherub on each end, making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat, on the two ends of it.

²⁰ And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing each other and looking down toward the mercy seat.

²¹ You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] that I will give you.

²² There I will meet with you and, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites.

²³ Also, make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high [for the showbread].

²⁴ You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a crown, a rim or molding, of gold around the top of it;

²⁵ And make a frame of a handbreadth around and below the top of it and put around it a gold molding as a border.

²⁶ You shall make for it four rings of gold and fasten them at the four corners that are on the table’s four legs.

²⁷ Close against the frame shall the rings be as places for the poles to pass to carry the table [of showbread].

²⁸ You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them.

²⁹ And you shall make its plates [for showbread] and cups [for incense], and its flagons and bowls [for liquids in sacrifice]; make them of pure gold.

³⁰ And you shall set the showbread (the bread of the Presence) on the table before Me always.^(B)

³¹ You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of beaten and turned work shall the lampstand be made, both its base and its shaft; its cups, its knobs, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.

³² Six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the lampstand out of the one side and three branches out of its other side;

³³ Three cups made like almond blossoms, each with a knob and a flower on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms on the other branch with a knob and a flower; so for the six branches coming out of the lampstand;

³⁴ And on the [center shaft] itself you shall [make] four cups like almond blossoms with their knobs and their flowers.

³⁵ Also make a knob [on the shaft] under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand and one piece with it;

³⁶ Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold.

³⁷ And you shall make the lamps of the [lampstand] to include a ^[a]seventh one [at the top of the shaft]. [The priests] shall set up the [seven] lamps of it so they may give light in front of it.

³⁸ Its snuffers and its ashtrays shall be of pure gold.

³⁹ Use a talent of pure gold for it, including all these utensils.

⁴⁰ And see to it that you copy [exactly] their pattern which was shown you on the mountain.^(C)

4 Now when the Lord knew (learned, became aware) that the Pharisees had been told that Jesus was winning and baptizing more disciples than John—

² Though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples—

³ He left Judea and returned to Galilee.

⁴ It was necessary for Him to go through Samaria.

⁵ And in doing so, He arrived at a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the tract of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

⁶ And Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired as He was from His journey, sat down [to rest] by the well. It was then about the sixth hour (about noon).

⁷ Presently, when a woman of Samaria came along to draw water, Jesus said to her, Give Me a drink—

⁸ For His disciples had gone off into the town to buy food—

⁹ The Samaritan woman said to Him, How is it that ^[a]You, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan [and a] woman, for a drink?—For the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans—

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, If you had only known and had recognized God’s gift and Who this is that is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him [instead] and He would have given you living water.

¹¹ She said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with [no drawing bucket] and the well is deep; how then can You provide living water? [Where do You get Your living water?]

¹² Are You greater than and superior to our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well and who used to drink from it himself, and his sons and his cattle also?

¹³ Jesus answered her, All who drink of this water will be thirsty again.

¹⁴ But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life.

¹⁵ The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, so that I may never get thirsty nor have to come [continually all the way] here to draw.

¹⁶ At this, Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband and come back here.

¹⁷ The woman answered, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have spoken truly in saying, I have no husband.

¹⁸ For you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not your husband. In this you have spoken truly.

¹⁹ The woman said to Him, Sir, I see and understand that You are a prophet.

²⁰ Our forefathers worshiped on this mountain, but you [Jews] say that Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary and proper to worship.

²¹ Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither [merely] in this mountain nor [merely] in Jerusalem.

²² You [Samaritans] do not know what you are worshiping [you worship what you do not comprehend]. We do know what we are worshiping [we worship what we have knowledge of and understand], for [after all] salvation comes from [among] the Jews.

²³ A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers.

²⁴ God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).

²⁵ The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming, He Who is called the Christ (the Anointed One); and when He arrives, He will tell us everything we need to know and make it clear to us.

²⁶ Jesus said to her, I Who now speak with you am He.

²⁷ Just then His disciples came and they wondered (were surprised, astonished) to find Him talking with a woman [a married woman]. However, not one of them asked Him, What are You inquiring about? or What do You want? or, Why do You speak with her?

²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went away to the town. And she began telling the people,

²⁹ Come, see a Man Who has told me everything that I ever did! Can this be [is not this] the Christ? [Must not this be the Messiah, the Anointed One?]

³⁰ So the people left the town and set out to go to Him.

³¹ Meanwhile, the disciples urged Him saying, Rabbi, eat something.

³² But He assured them, I have food (nourishment) to eat of which you know nothing and have no idea.

³³ So the disciples said one to another, Has someone brought Him something to eat?

³⁴ Jesus said to them, My food (nourishment) is to do the will (pleasure) of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work.

³⁵ Do you not say, It is still four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for harvesting.

³⁶ Already the reaper is getting his wages [he who does the cutting now has his reward], for he is gathering fruit (crop) unto life eternal, so that he who does the planting and he who does the reaping may rejoice together.

³⁷ For in this the saying holds true, One sows and another reaps.

³⁸ I sent you to reap a crop for which you have not toiled. Other men have labored and you have stepped in to reap the results of their work.

³⁹ Now numerous Samaritans from that town believed in and trusted in Him because of what the woman said when she declared and testified, He told me everything that I ever did.

⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans arrived, they asked Him to remain with them, and He did stay there two days.

⁴¹ Then many more believed in and adhered to and relied on Him because of His personal message [what He Himself said].

⁴² And they told the woman, Now we no longer believe (trust, have faith) just because of what you said; for we have heard Him ourselves [personally], and we know that He truly is the Savior of the world, the Christ.

⁴³ But after these two days Jesus went on from there into Galilee—

⁴⁴ Although He Himself declared that a prophet has no honor in his own country.

⁴⁵ However, when He came into Galilee, the Galileans also welcomed Him and took Him to their hearts eagerly, for they had seen everything that He did in Jerusalem during the Feast; for they too had attended the Feast.

⁴⁶ So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son was lying ill in Capernaum.

⁴⁷ Having heard that Jesus had come back from Judea into Galilee, he went away to meet Him and began to beg Him to come down and cure his son, for he was lying at the point of death.

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and miracles happen, you [people] never will believe (trust, have faith) at all.

⁴⁹ The king’s officer pleaded with Him, Sir, do come down at once before my little child is dead!

⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, Go in peace; your son will live! And the man put his trust in what Jesus said and started home.

⁵¹ But even as he was on the road going down, his servants met him and reported, saying, Your son lives!

⁵² So he asked them at what time he had begun to get better. They said, Yesterday during the seventh hour (about one o’clock in the afternoon) the fever left him.

⁵³ Then the father knew that it was at that very hour when Jesus had said to him, Your son will live. And he and his entire household believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Jesus).

⁵⁴ This is the second sign (wonderwork, miracle) that Jesus performed after He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

1 The proverbs (truths obscurely expressed, maxims, and parables) of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

^2 [a]That people may know skillful and godly ^[b]Wisdom and instruction, discern and comprehend the words of understanding and insight,

³ Receive instruction in wise dealing and the discipline of wise thoughtfulness, righteousness, justice, and integrity,

⁴ That prudence may be given to the simple, and knowledge, discretion, and discernment to the youth—

⁵ The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill and attain to sound counsel [so that he may be able to steer his course rightly]—^(A)

⁶ That people may understand a proverb and a figure of speech or an enigma with its interpretation, and the words of the wise and their dark sayings or riddles.

⁷ The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful and godly Wisdom, instruction, and discipline.^(B)

⁸ My son, hear the instruction of your father; reject not nor forsake the teaching of your mother.

⁹ For they are a [victor’s] chaplet (garland) of grace upon your head and chains and pendants [of gold worn by kings] for your neck.

¹⁰ My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.^(C)

¹¹ If they say, Come with us; let us lie in wait [to shed] blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause [and show that his piety is in vain];

¹² Let us swallow them up alive as does Sheol (the place of the dead), and whole, as those who go down into the pit [of the dead];

¹³ We shall find and take all kinds of precious goods [when our victims are put out of the way], we shall fill our houses with plunder;

¹⁴ Throw in your lot with us [they insist] and be a sworn brother and comrade; let us all have one purse in common—

¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them; restrain your foot from their path;

¹⁶ For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

¹⁷ For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird!

¹⁸ But [when these men set a trap for others] they are lying in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives.

¹⁹ So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; such [greed for plunder] takes away the lives of its possessors.^(D)

^20 [c]Wisdom cries aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the markets;

²¹ She cries at the head of the noisy intersections [in the chief gathering places]; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

²² How long, O simple ones [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge?

²³ If you will turn (repent) and give heed to my reproof, behold, I [^[d]Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you.^(E)

²⁴ Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it,^(F)

²⁵ And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof,

²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic—

²⁷ When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

²⁸ Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me.^(G)

²⁹ Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord,^(H)

³⁰ Would accept none of my counsel, and despised all my reproof,

³¹ Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.

³² For the backsliding of the simple shall slay them, and the careless ease of [self-confident] fools shall destroy them.^(I)

³³ But whoso hearkens to me [Wisdom] shall dwell securely and in confident trust and shall be quiet, without fear or dread of evil.

13 This is the third time that I am coming to you. By the testimony of two or three witnesses must any charge and every accusing statement be sustained and confirmed.^(A)

² I have already warned those who sinned formerly and all the rest also, and I warn them now again while I am absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come back, I will not spare [them],

³ Since you desire and seek [perceptible] proof of the Christ Who speaks in and through me. [For He] is not weak and feeble in dealing with you, but is a mighty power within you;

⁴ For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He goes on living by the power of God. And though we too are weak in Him [as He was humanly weak], yet in dealing with you [we shall show ourselves] alive and strong in [fellowship with] Him by the power of God.

⁵ Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves [^[a]not Christ]. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?

⁶ But I hope you will recognize and know that we are not disapproved on trial and rejected.

⁷ But I pray to God that you may do nothing wrong, not in order that we [^[b]our teaching] may appear to be approved, but that you may continue doing right, [though] we may seem to have failed and be unapproved.

⁸ For we can do nothing against the Truth [^[c]not serve any party or personal interest], but only for the Truth [^[d]which is the Gospel].

⁹ For we are glad when we are weak (^[e]unapproved) and you are really strong. And this we also pray for: your all-round strengthening and perfecting of soul.

¹⁰ So I write these things while I am absent from you, that when I come to you, I may not have to deal sharply in my use of the authority which the Lord has given me [to be employed, however] for building [you] up and not for tearing [you] down.

¹¹ Finally, brethren, farewell (rejoice)! Be strengthened (perfected, completed, made what you ought to be); be encouraged and consoled and comforted; be of the same [agreeable] mind one with another; live in peace, and [then] the God of love [Who is the Source of affection, goodwill, love, and benevolence toward men] and the Author and Promoter of peace will be with you.

¹² Greet one another with a consecrated kiss.

¹³ All the saints (the people of God here) salute you.

¹⁴ The grace (favor and spiritual blessing) of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the presence and fellowship (the communion and sharing together, and participation) in the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (so be it).