M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Holy Tent
26 “Make the Holy Tent with ten pieces of cloth. These pieces must be made of fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on the pieces of cloth. 2 Make each piece the same size. Each piece should be 42 feet long and 6 feet wide. 3 Sew five pieces of cloth together for one set. Sew the other pieces together for the second set. 4 Make loops of blue cloth down the edge of the end piece of each set. 5 Make 50 loops on the end piece of the first set. And make 50 loops on the end piece of the second set. These loops must be opposite each other. 6 And make 50 gold hooks. Use these to join the two sets of cloth. This will make the Holy Tent one piece.
7 “Then make another tent that will cover the Holy Tent. Make this tent of 11 pieces of cloth made from goat hair. 8 All these pieces of cloth must be the same size. They must be 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. 9 Sew five of the pieces together into one set. Then sew the other six pieces together into the second set. Fold the sixth piece double over the front of the Tent. 10 Make 50 loops down the edge of the end piece of one set. Do the same for the end piece of the other set. 11 Then make 50 bronze hooks. Put these in the loops to join the two sets of cloth. This will make the covering one piece. 12 Let the extra half piece of cloth hang over the back of the Holy Tent. 13 There will be 18 inches hanging over the sides of the Holy Tent. This will protect the Tent. 14 Make two more coverings for the Holy Tent. One should be made from male sheep skins colored red. The outer covering should be from fine leather.
15 “Use acacia wood to make upright frames for the Holy Tent. 16 Each frame must be 15 feet long and 27 inches wide. 17 Every frame must be made the same way. There must be two pegs side by side in each frame. 18 Make 20 frames for the south side of the Holy Tent. 19 Each frame must have 2 silver bases to go under it. A peg fits into each silver base. You must make 40 silver bases for the frames. 20 Make 20 more frames for the north side of the Holy Tent. 21 Make 40 silver bases for them. Make 2 bases for each frame. 22 You must make 6 frames for the rear or west end of the Holy Tent. 23 Make 2 frames for each corner at the rear. 24 The 2 frames at each corner are to be joined together. Hold them together from bottom to top with a metal ring. Both corner frames must be made this way. 25 So there will be a total of 8 frames at the rear of the Tent. And there will be 16 silver bases—2 bases under each frame.
26 “Make crossbars of acacia wood to connect the upright frames of the Holy Tent. Make five crossbars to hold the frames together on one side. 27 Also make five crossbars to hold the frames together on the other side. And make crossbars to hold the frames together on the west end, at the rear. 28 The middle crossbar is to be set halfway up the frames. It is to run along the entire length of each side and rear. 29 Make gold rings on the sides of the frames. Pass the crossbars through the rings. Cover the frames and the crossbars with gold. 30 Set up the Holy Tent by the plan shown to you on the mountain.
31 “Make a curtain of fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on the curtain. 32 Hang the curtain by gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood. Cover these posts with gold and set them in four silver bases. 33 Hang the curtain from the hooks in the roof. Put the Ark of the Covenant containing the two flat stones behind the curtain. This curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. 34 Put the lid on the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place.
35 “Outside the curtain, put the table on the north side of the Holy Tent. And put the lampstand on the south side of the Holy Tent. This will be across from the table.
The Entrance of the Holy Tent
36 “Then make a curtain for the entrance of the Tent. Make it with fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Someone who can sew well is to sew designs on it. 37 Make five posts of acacia wood covered with gold. Make five gold hooks on which to hang the curtain from the posts. And make five bronze bases for the five posts.
Jesus Heals a Man at a Pool
5 Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish feast. 2 In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In the Jewish language[a] it is called Bethzatha.[b] This pool is near the Sheep Gate. 3 Many sick people were lying on the porches beside the pool. Some were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed [and they waited for the water to move. 4 Sometimes an angel of the Lord came down to the pool and stirred up the water. After the angel did this, the first person to go into the pool was healed from any sickness he had].[c] 5 There was a man lying there who had been sick for 38 years. 6 Jesus saw the man and knew that he had been sick for a very long time. So Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be well?”
7 The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the pool when the water starts moving. I try to be the first one into the water. But when I try, someone else always goes in before I can.”
8 Then Jesus said, “Stand up. Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was well. He picked up his mat and began to walk.
The day all this happened was a Sabbath day. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your mat on the Sabbath day.”
11 But he answered, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 Then they asked him, “Who is the man who told you to pick up your mat and walk?”
13 But the man who had been healed did not know who it was. There were many people in that place, and Jesus had left.
14 Later, Jesus found the man at the Temple. Jesus said to him, “See, you are well now. But stop sinning or something worse may happen to you!”
15 Then the man left and went back to the Jews. He told them that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
16 Jesus was doing this on the Sabbath day. So the Jews began to do bad things to him. 17 But Jesus said to them, “My Father never stops working. And so I work, too.”
18 This made the Jews try harder to kill him. They said, “First Jesus was breaking the law about the Sabbath day. Then he said that God is his own Father! He is making himself equal with God!”
Jesus Has God’s Authority
19 But Jesus said, “I tell you the truth. The Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only what he sees his Father doing. The Son does whatever the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son, and the Father shows the Son all the things he himself does. But the Father will show the Son greater things than this to do. Then you will all be amazed. 21 The Father raises the dead and gives them life. In the same way, the Son gives life to those he wants to. 22 Also, the Father judges no one. But the Father has given the Son power to do all the judging. 23 God did this so that all people will respect the Son the same way they respect the Father. He who does not respect the Son does not respect the Father. The Father is the One who sent the Son.
24 “I tell you the truth. Whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. He will not be judged guilty. He has already left death and has entered into life. 25 I tell you the truth. The time is coming and is already here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who hear will have life. 26 Life comes from the Father himself. So the Father has allowed the Son to give life. 27 And the Father has given the Son the approval to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be surprised at this. A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice. 29 Then they will come out of their graves. Those who did good will rise and have life forever. But those who did evil will rise to be judged guilty.
Jesus Is God’s Son
30 “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is right. I don’t try to please myself. I try to please the One who sent me.
31 “If I tell people about myself, then they will not accept what I say about myself. 32 But there is another who tells about me. And I know that the things he says about me are true.
33 “You have sent men to John. And he has told you about the truth. 34 But I don’t need a man to tell about me. I tell you this so that you can be saved. 35 John was like a burning and shining lamp. And you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.
36 “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than that of John. The things I do are my proof. These are the things my Father gave me to do. They show that the Father sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has given proof about me himself. You have never heard his voice. You have never seen what he looks like. 38 His teaching does not live in you because you don’t believe in the One that the Father sent. 39 You carefully study the Scriptures because you think that they give you eternal life. Those are the same Scriptures that tell about me! 40 But you refuse to come to me to have that life.
41 “I don’t want praise from men. 42 But I know you—I know that you don’t have God’s love in you. 43 I have come from my Father—I speak for him. But you don’t accept me. But when another person comes, speaking only for himself, you will accept him. 44 You like to have praise from each other. But you never try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe? 45 Don’t think that I will stand before the Father and say that you are wrong. Moses is the one who says that you are wrong. And he is the one that you hoped would save you. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me because Moses wrote about me. 47 But you don’t believe what Moses wrote. So how can you believe what I say?”
Rewards of Wisdom
2 My child, believe what I say.
And remember what I command you.
2 Listen to wisdom.
Try with all your heart to gain understanding.
3 Cry out for wisdom.
Beg for understanding.
4 Search for it as you would for silver.
Hunt for it like hidden treasure.
5 Then you will understand what it means to respect the Lord.
Then you will begin to know God.
6 Only the Lord gives wisdom.
Knowledge and understanding come from him.
7 He stores up wisdom for those who are honest.
Like a shield he protects those who are innocent.
8 He guards those who are fair to others.
He protects those who are loyal to him.
9 Then you will understand what is honest and fair and right.
You will understand what is good to do.
10 You will have wisdom in your heart.
And knowledge will be pleasing to you.
11 Good sense will protect you.
Understanding will guard you.
12 It will keep you from doing evil.
It will save you from people whose words are bad.
13 Such people do not do what is right.
They do what is evil.
14 They enjoy doing wrong.
They are happy to do what is crooked and evil.
15 What they do is wrong.
Their ways are dishonest.
16 It will save you from the unfaithful wife
who tries to lead you into adultery with pleasing words.
17 Such women leave the husbands they married when they were young.
They forget the promise they made before God.
18 If you go to her house, you are on your way to death.
What she does leads to death.
19 No one who goes to her comes back.
He will not continue to live.
20 But wisdom will help you be a good person.
It will help you do what is right.
21 Those who are honest will stay in the land.
Those who are innocent will remain in it.
22 But evil people will be removed from the land.
The unfaithful will be thrown out of it.
The Only Good News
1 From Paul, an apostle.
I was not chosen to be an apostle by men. I was not sent from men. It was Jesus Christ and God the Father who made me an apostle. God is the One who raised Jesus from death.
2 This letter is also from all the brothers who are with me.
To the churches in Galatia.[a]
3 I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be good to you and give you peace. 4 Jesus gave himself for our sins to free us from this evil world we live in. This is what God the Father wanted. 5 The glory belongs to God forever and ever. Amen.
6 A short time ago God called you to follow him. He called you by his grace that came through Christ. But now I am amazed at you! You are already turning away and believing something different than the Good News. 7 Really, there is no other Good News. But some people are confusing you and want to change the Good News of Christ. 8 We preached to you the Good News. So if we ourselves, or even an angel from heaven, preach to you something different than the Good News, he should be condemned! 9 I said this before. Now I say it again: You have already accepted the Good News. If anyone tells you another way to be saved, he should be condemned!
10 Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No! God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please men? If I wanted to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul’s Authority Is from God
11 Brothers, I want you to know that the Good News I preached to you was not made by men. 12 I did not get it from men, nor did any man teach it to me. Jesus Christ showed it to me.
13 You have heard about my past life. I belonged to the Jewish religion. I hurt the church of God very much and tried to destroy it. 14 I was becoming a leader in the Jewish religion. I did better than most other Jews of my age. I tried harder than anyone else to follow the old rules. These rules were the customs handed down by our ancestors.
15 But God had special plans for me even before I was born. So he called me through his grace that I might 16 tell the Good News about his Son to the non-Jewish people. So God showed me about his Son. When God called me, I did not get advice or help from any man. 17 I did not go to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was. But, without waiting, I went away to Arabia and later went back to Damascus.
18 After three years I went to Jerusalem to meet Peter and stayed with him for 15 days. 19 I met no other apostles, except James, the brother of the Lord. 20 God knows that these things I write are not lies. 21 Later, I went to the areas of Syria and Cilicia.
22 In Judea the churches in Christ had never met me. 23 They had only heard this about me: “This man was trying to hurt us. But now he is preaching the same faith that he once tried to destroy.” 24 And these believers praised God because of me.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.