M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
God sends special food
16 Then all the Israelites left Elim and they went into the desert called Sin. This is between Elim and Sinai. They arrived in the desert on the 15th day of the second month after they had left Egypt. 2 When they were in the desert, all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, ‘It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in Egypt! There, we sat round pots with plenty of meat. We ate all the food that we wanted. But now you have brought us into this desert. We are so hungry that we will soon die!’
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will cause bread to fall down from the sky for you like rain. Each day, the people must go out and pick up enough bread for that day. In this way I will test them. I will discover whether they will obey my rules. 5 On the sixth day, they must pick up and prepare twice as much bread.’
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, ‘In the evening, you will know who brought you out of Egypt. It was the Lord! 7 Then, in the morning, you will see how great the Lord is. The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. We, Moses and Aaron, are the Lord's servants. So you are complaining against him, not against us!’
8 Moses said to them, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening. And in the morning, he will give you all the bread that you want. He will do this because he has heard you when you complained against him. We are only his servants. You have said bad things against the Lord, not against us.’
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘Say to all the Israelites, “The Lord has heard the bad things that you have said against him. Now come together, and stand in front of him.” ’ 10 While Aaron spoke, the Israelites looked towards the desert. They saw the bright glory of the Lord which appeared in the cloud.
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘I have heard the bad things that the Israelites have said against me. Tell them this: “In the evening, you will eat meat. And in the morning you will eat all the bread that you want. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” ’
13 That evening, quails appeared. They covered all the ground round the tents.[a]
In the morning, there was dew on the ground round the tents. 14 When the dew had gone, thin white pieces remained on the dry ground, there in the desert. It seemed like frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw these pieces, they said, ‘What is it?’ They did not understand what it was. But Moses said to them, ‘This is the bread that the Lord has given to you. It is for you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: “Each family must pick up as much as they need to eat. Pick up two litres for each person who lives in your tent.” ’
17 So the Israelites did this. Some of them picked up a lot of the food. Some of them picked up only a little food. 18 But when they measured the right amount, everyone had enough to eat. The person who had picked up a lot did not have too much. And the person who had picked up only a little food still had enough to eat. Each person had picked up what he needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, ‘Do not keep any of it until the morning.’ 20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses. They kept part of the food until the morning. But worms appeared in it, and it began to have a bad smell. Then Moses was angry with those people.
21 Each morning, everyone picked up as much food as they needed. But when the sun became hot, the food would melt away. 22 On the sixth day, the Israelites picked up twice as much food. They picked up four litres for each person. Then the leaders of the people told Moses what they had done. 23 Moses said to them, ‘This is what the Lord has said: “Tomorrow is a special day of rest. It is a Sabbath day, to worship the Lord. Today, you must bake any food that you want to bake. Boil the meat that you want to boil. Keep until the morning whatever food you do not eat today.” ’
24 So they kept some food until the morning, as Moses had said. This time, the food did not have a bad smell and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, ‘Eat the food today, because this day is a Sabbath day, to worship the Lord. You will not find any food on the ground today. 26 On six days of each week, you must pick food up from the ground. But on the seventh day of the week, there will not be any food on the ground. That is because the seventh day is the Sabbath day of rest.’
27 But on the seventh day, some of the people went out to pick up food. But they did not find any. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘The people continue to refuse to obey my commands. They refuse to do what I tell them! 29 Remember this: The Lord has given the Sabbath day to you. That is why, on the sixth day, he gives you enough food for two days. Then everyone must stay at home on the seventh day. Nobody must leave his home that day.’ 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The Israelites called the special food ‘manna’. It was white, like seeds called coriander. When they tasted the manna, it was like thin pieces of bread with honey in it.
32 Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: “Keep one bowl (an omer) of manna for people to look at in future times. They will see the bread that I fed to you in the desert, after I had brought you out of Egypt.” ’
33 So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Put an omer of manna into a jar. Then put the jar in the place where we worship the Lord. We must keep it safe, so that our descendants can see it in the future.’
34 Aaron did what the Lord had told Moses. He put the jar in the Covenant Box, to keep it safe.[b]
35 The Israelites ate the manna for 40 years, until they had finished their journey in the desert. After those 40 years, they arrived at the edge of Canaan.
36 (The people used omers to measure the food. Ten omers is equal to one ephah.)[c]
Zacchaeus meets Jesus
19 Jesus went into Jericho and he was walking through the city. 2 There was a man there called Zacchaeus. He was a leader of the men who took taxes from people. He had become very rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was. There was a big crowd there and he was a small man. So he could not see Jesus. 4 He ran on in front of the crowd and he climbed up a tree. He could see Jesus more easily from the tree, because Jesus would walk along that way. 5 When Jesus came to the tree, he looked up at Zacchaeus. He said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down quickly. Today I must stay in your home.’
6 So Zacchaeus came down immediately and took Jesus into his home. He was very happy about this. 7 The people saw what had happened. They were not happy, and they were saying, ‘Jesus has gone to stay in the home of a man that does bad things.’
8 Later, Zacchaeus stood up in front of everyone. He said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Listen, Master! I will give half of all the things that I have to poor people. I may have taken too much money from some people. I will give back to them four times as much as I took from them wrongly.’
9 Jesus said to him, ‘Today God has saved people in this home. Now Zacchaeus also belongs to the family of Abraham. 10 I, the Son of Man, came to look for people who are far away from God. They are in danger and I have come to save them.’
Jesus tells a story about 10 servants
11 While the people were still listening, Jesus told them a story. He did this because the people had wrong thoughts. He was now getting near to Jerusalem. So the people with him were thinking that God would begin to rule his people immediately.
12 Jesus said to them, ‘An important man left his home and he travelled a long way to another country. There he would receive authority to rule his own country. After that, he would return home and he would be king. 13 Before he left, he asked ten of his servants to come to him. He gave each of them ten pounds of silver.[a] “Use this money to get more money for me while I am away,” he said.[b]
14 But the people who were living in his country did not like the man. So they sent some of their people to the foreign country with a message. They said, “We do not want this man to rule over us.”
15 Then the man returned home and he was now their king. He asked those ten servants to come to him. He had given them each some money. Now he wanted to know how much more money they had now. They should have bought things with it and then they should have sold those things again for more money.
16 The first servant came to him and said, “Master, your money has made ten more pounds for you.” 17 The king was happy and said to his servant, “You have done well. You are a good servant that I can trust. You have used a small amount of money well. So now you will rule over ten cities.”
18 The second servant came and said, “Master, your money has made five more pounds.” 19 The king replied, “You will rule over five cities.”
20 Then another servant came. He said, “Master, here is your money. I put it away in a piece of cloth to keep it safe. 21 I did this because I was afraid of you. You tell people what they should do all the time. You take things that you did not work for. You take food from fields where you did not plant any seed.”
22 The king replied, “You are a very bad servant! I will use your own words to show you that you have done the wrong thing. You say that I tell people what they should do all the time. That I take things that I did not work for. That I take food from fields where I did not plant any seed. Did you know all that about me? 23 Then you should have put my money into the bank. When I came home, I would have received my money back, with extra money.”
24 Some other servants were standing near to their master. He said to them, “Take the money from this bad servant. Give it to the servant that has ten pounds.” 25 “But, master,” they replied, “that servant has ten pounds already.”
26 “Let me tell you this,” the king said. “Some people have received good things. They will all receive more. Some other people have nothing. Those people will lose even the little bit that they do have. 27 Now I must punish these other people that did not want me to rule over them. Bring them here and kill them in front of me.” ’[c]
Jesus goes into Jerusalem
28 When Jesus had said all this, he went on in front of them. He was going towards Jerusalem. 29 He was getting near to two villages called Bethphage and Bethany.[d] They were on the Mount of Olives.[e] Then Jesus sent two of his disciples to go further. 30 He told them, ‘Go into the village that is in front of you. When you arrive there, you will find a young donkey. Someone has tied it there. Nobody has yet ridden on it. Undo the rope and bring the donkey here to me. 31 Someone may ask you, “Why are you taking the donkey?” Then say to them, “The Master needs it.” ’
32 The two men went into the village. They saw everything there that Jesus had told them about. 33 While they were taking the young donkey, some men spoke to them. It was their own donkey. They asked, ‘Why are you taking the donkey?’ 34 ‘The Master needs it,’ the disciples replied.
35 They brought the donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on its back. Then they helped Jesus to sit on it. 36 While he was riding along, the people were putting their coats down on the road in front of him.
37 Jesus got near to the lowest part of the Mount of Olives. The whole crowd of his disciples were very happy. They began to praise God with loud voices. They thanked him for all the great things that they had seen. 38 They said:
‘May the Lord God bless the king who comes with his authority!
We want everything to be well in heaven. We praise our powerful God above!’
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, stop your disciples from saying these things.’
40 ‘Let me tell you this,’ Jesus replied. ‘If these people were quiet, the stones of the city would shout out instead!’
41 When Jesus got near to the city, he looked at it. He cried because he felt very sorry for the people in it. 42 He said, ‘You need to know what would really help you. Then you could have lived without trouble. But now, you are unable to understand properly. 43 As a result, days of trouble will come to you. Your enemies will build a wall round you. They will shut you in completely, and they will not let you leave. 44 So your enemies will knock you down. They will completely destroy your city and all the people who live in it. They will not leave even one stone on top of another stone. You did not understand that God had come to save you at this time. That is why these bad things will happen to you.’[f]
Jesus teaches in the temple
45 Jesus went into the yard of the temple. Some people were selling things there. He began to make them all leave that place. 46 He said to them, ‘The Bible says, “God's house will be a place where people come to pray.” But you have changed it into a place where robbers meet.’
47 Jesus was teaching every day in the temple. The leaders of the priests and teachers of God's Law wanted to kill him. Some other important people also wanted to kill him. 48 But all the people were listening to him very carefully. They wanted to hear everything that he was saying. So those leaders did not know how they could kill him.
Elihu continues to speak[a]
34 Elihu continued speaking and he said this:
2 ‘You men who are so wise and who know so much,
listen to me.
Hear what I have to say.
3 You recognize nice food when you eat it.
So you should recognize the value of my words.
4 We should decide among ourselves what is right.
We should agree together what is good.
5 Job has said, “I am not guilty.
But God refuses to judge me in a fair way.
6 I am right,
but nobody believes me.
I have not done anything wrong,
but I am suffering
and I am near to death.”
7 There has never been a man like Job!
He laughs at God as easily as he drinks water.
8 He is a friend of wicked people,
and people who do evil things.
9 Job says, “If anyone tries to please God,
it does not help them at all.”
10 So listen to me, you men who understand so much.
Almighty God can never do anything that is wrong or wicked!
11 He judges people fairly
as he sees the things that they do.
He gives people what they deserve.
12 It is true! Almighty God does not do wicked things.
He never refuses to judge people in a fair way.
13 God's great power did not come from anyone else!
He himself has authority over the whole world.
14 God could decide to remove life from the world.
He could take back his spirit and his breath.
15 If he did that, everyone that is alive would die.
As humans, we would become dirt again.[b]
16 If you really understand things, Job, listen to me.
Hear what I have to say.
17 If God refused to do what is right,
he could not rule the world.
He is the powerful Judge who knows what is right.
But you say that he is guilty!
18 It is God who may say to a king, “You are useless!”
He may say to rulers, “You are wicked!”
19 God created everyone.
He is not more kind to important people
than he is to other people.
He does not help rich people
more than he helps poor people.
20 Anyone may die suddenly,
in the middle of the night.
God may shake them, so that they die.
He easily removes even the most powerful people.
21 He watches the way that each person lives.
He sees what they do every day.
22 People who do wicked things cannot hide themselves.
There is no place dark enough for them to hide from God.
23 God does not have to tell people when they must come to him,
so that he can judge them.
24 He destroys powerful people,
and he chooses other people to take their place.
He does not have to ask them anything.
25 He already knows the things that they have done.
In the night, he removes their power,
and he destroys them.
26 He punishes them
because they have done wicked things.
He does that where everyone can see.
27 Those powerful people have turned away from God.
They have not respected his commands.
28 They were cruel to poor people,
so that God saw what was happening.
God heard those poor people
when they called to him for help.
29 But if God decides to do nothing,
no one can say that he is wrong.
If he hides himself, no one can see him.
But he still rules over people and over nations.
30 God does not let men rule,
if they do not respect his ways.
He stops them from causing trouble to the people.
31 Someone could say to God, “I am guilty,
and I have received my punishment.
But I will not do any more wrong things.
32 Show me the sins that I have done
when I did not know about them.
If I have done wrong things,
I will not do them again.”
33 But you, Job, refuse to accept God's justice.
Do you expect God to do what you think is right?
But you must choose what you will say.
I cannot decide for you.
So tell us what you are thinking now.
34 Wise people will agree with me.
When they hear my words, they will say,
35 “Job speaks like a fool who knows nothing.
He only says useless things.”
36 Yes Job, you speak to us like a wicked person.
So you should continue to suffer for ever!
37 You have not only done wrong things,
you have also turned against God.
You have shown that you do not respect us.
You have said many things that insult God.’
God's good news brings light
4 God has given us this work to speak his message. Because he has been so kind to us, we are not afraid to continue. 2 We refuse to do anything secretly that we might be ashamed of. We do not tell lies. We do not change God's message to deceive people. No. We tell God's true message clearly. God himself sees that we teach people in an honest way. Everyone should understand that we only do what is right. 3 Some people may not understand the good news that we speak. They are only the people who are losing their lives with God. 4 Those people do not accept God's good news. The god of this world has confused their minds. They cannot see the light that the good news brings. That message teaches about the great power of Christ, who shows us exactly what God is like.
5 We do not speak a message about ourselves. We tell people that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Because we belong to Jesus, we have become your servants, not your masters. 6 God is the one who said, ‘Let light shine in the dark.’ And he is the one who has caused his light to shine deep inside us. Because of that, we know how great and powerful God is. We see that his power shines brightly in Christ's face.[a]
7 God has given to us the gift to speak his message. But we ourselves are very weak. It is like we are keeping his valuable gift in clay pots. So it is clear that the great power of God's message comes from God himself. It does not come from us. 8 We receive trouble all the time, but that does not stop us. We do not always know what to do, but we are not afraid to continue. 9 We have many enemies, but we always have friends. People hurt us, but they never destroy us. 10 As we serve Jesus, we know that we may die as he died. Because of that, our lives show that we live because he is alive. 11 Yes, as we live our lives, death is always very near, because we serve Jesus. As a result, people can see in our weak, human bodies that Jesus is alive. 12 So death is near to us, even as we live. But as a result, we are bringing God's life to you.
13 This is written in the Bible: ‘I believed in God, and so I spoke.’[b] We also have the same kind of faith in God. So we also speak God's message, because we believe in him. 14 God raised up the Lord Jesus, to become alive again after his death. Because we belong to Jesus, we know that God will also raise us up after we die. Together with you, God will take us to be where he is. 15 In everything that we do, we want to help you. As a result, more and more people are seeing how kind God is. So people are thanking God more and more. And that shows how great God is.
16 That is why we are not afraid to continue our work. Yes, our bodies are getting older and weaker. But our spirits are becoming stronger every day! 17 We have these little troubles that continue for a short time. But as a result, we will receive the great things that God has prepared for us. Those great things are much more important than our little troubles. And God's great things will continue for ever! 18 So we do not look at the things that we can see in this world. Instead, we look at the things that people cannot see. The things that we can see are only here for a short time. But the things that we cannot see will continue for ever.
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