M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 31
Jacob Flees from Laban.[a] 1 Jacob came to know what the sons of Laban were saying: “Jacob is taking what belonged to our father, and he has gotten all his wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob saw that Laban’s attitude toward him had changed.
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, to your homeland, and I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah who were in the fields with the flocks 5 and he told them, “I see that your father’s attitude to me is not like it was before. Still, the God of my father is with me. 6 You yourselves know that I have served your father with all my strength, 7 while your father has cheated and changed my salary ten times. But God did not let him harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your salary,’ then all the animals born were speckled. If he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your salary,’ then all the animals born were streaked. 9 Thus, God took back your father’s animals and gave them to me.
10 “Once, when the animals were in heat, I had a dream. I looked out and saw that the he-goats that were streaked, speckled, and mottled were ready to breed. 11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob!’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 12 He continued, ‘Look up and see: all the goats that are ready to breed are streaked, speckled, and mottled because I saw what Laban has done to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made an oath to me. Now, rise, leave this country, and return to your homeland.’ ”
14 Rachel and Leah answered, “Do we still have property or an inheritance in the house of our father? 15 Are we not considered to be outsiders by him? He sold us and then used up our money. 16 All those things that God has taken from our father belong to us and to our children. Do what God has told you to do.”
17 Jacob got up, placed his children and his wives on camels, 18 and led all the animals away. He took all his possessions with him, including the animals that he acquired in Paddan-aram, in order to return to Isaac, his father, in the land of Canaan.
19 When Laban had gone to shear the sheep, Rachel stole the household idols[b] that belonged to her father. 20 Jacob sneaked away from Laban the Aramean, not letting him know that he was about to flee. 21 This way he was able to go with all his possessions. He rose, crossed the river,[c] and traveled toward the mountains of Gilead.
22 Laban Pursues Jacob.[d] On the third day, Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 He took his kinsmen with him and followed him for seven days. He caught up to him in the mountains of Gilead. 24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to do anything to Jacob, not a thing!”
25 Laban therefore went and caught up to Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tents in the mountains, and Laban and his kinsmen were also camped in the mountains of Gilead. 26 Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You sneaked away and carried off my daughters as if they were prisoners of war! 27 Why did you secretly flee away and cheat me? Why did you not let me know? I would have given you a celebration with songs and the music of the tambourines and the harp. 28 You did not let me kiss my grandsons and my daughters. This was surely a foolish thing that you have done. 29 Realize that I could harm you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night. He forbade me to do anything to Jacob, not a thing. 30 I realize that you left because you were homesick for the house of your father, but why have you robbed my household idols?”
31 Jacob answered Laban and said, “I was afraid, and I thought that you would take your daughters back with force. 32 But as for whoever you find has taken your household idols, he will be put to death. With our relatives looking on, see if you can find anything belonging to you and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had robbed them.
33 Laban entered Jacob’s tent and then the tent of Leah and the tent of the two slaves, but he did not find anything. Then he went out from Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the idols and had placed them under a camel’s saddle and had then sat upon it. Laban searched throughout the whole tent and did not find them.
35 She said to her father, “Please do not be offended, my lord, if I cannot rise in your presence, but I am having my monthly time.”[e] Laban therefore searched in the entire tent and did not find the idols.
36 Jacob was angry now and scolded Laban saying, “What crime have I committed, what sin did I do that you followed me? 37 Now that you have searched all my possessions, what have you found that belongs to you? Place it before me and your relatives and let it serve as evidence for or against me.
38 “I spent twenty years with you. None of your sheep or goats ever miscarried. I never ate any of the rams of your flock. 39 I never brought you an animal that had been injured by a wild beast. I made good for the loss myself. You held me responsible for whatever was robbed during the day and for whatever was robbed during the night. 40 By day I was burnt by the sun and by night I suffered from the cold, and I spent many sleepless nights. 41 Twenty years I was with you. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my salary ten times. 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Terror of Isaac, had not been with me, you would have sent me away with nothing. But God saw my affliction and the work of my hands, and last night he was my judge.”
43 Laban then answered Jacob and said, “These daughters are my daughters and these grandsons are my grandsons. These cattle are my cattle, and all you see is mine. What could I do to you today and to these daughters and to the children whom they have brought into the world? 44 Come, let us make a covenant between me and you, and let it be a witness between me and you.”
45 Jacob took a stone and erected it as a pillar. 46 Then he said to his relatives, “Collect some stones,” and they took stones and made a mound out of them. They then ate sitting upon the mound. 47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, while Jacob called it Galeed.
48 Laban said, “Let this mound be today a witness between me and you.” Because of this he called it Galeed 49 and also Mizpah, because he said, “May the Lord keep watch between me and you when we will no longer see each other.[f] 50 If you mistreat my daughters and take other wives besides my daughters, be warned that God will be a judge between you and me.”
51 Laban continued and said to Jacob, “Behold this mound and this pillar that I have erected between me and you. 52 Let this mound be a witness, and this pillar be a witness, that I will not cross over past this mound to do you harm and that you will not cross over past this mound and this pillar to do me harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor be a judge between us.”
Jacob swore an oath by the name of the Terror of his father Isaac. 54 Then he offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat with him. They ate and spent the night on the mountain.
First Oppositions[a]
Chapter 2
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man. 1 When Jesus returned some days later to Capernaum, the word quickly spread that he was at home. 2 Such large multitudes gathered there that no longer was any space available, even in front of the door, and he was preaching the word to them.
3 Some people arrived, bringing to him a man who was paralyzed, carried by four men. 4 Since they were unable to bring him near Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above him and then lowered the bed on which the paralyzed man was lying.
5 On perceiving their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” 6 Now some scribes[b] were sitting there, thinking to themselves: 7 “How can this man say such things? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
8 Jesus was able immediately to discern in his spirit what they were thinking, and he asked, “Why do you entertain such thoughts in your hearts? 9 Which is easier: to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say: ‘Stand up, take your mat, and walk’? 10 But that you may come to realize that the Son of Man[c] has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man— 11 “I say to you, stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” 12 The man stood up, immediately picked up his bed, and went off in full view of all of them. The onlookers were all astonished and they glorified God, saying, “We have never before witnessed anything like this.”
13 Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew). Once again Jesus went out to the shore of the lake,[d] and as a large crowd came to him, he taught them. 14 As he was walking along, he saw Levi[e] the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him.
15 Jesus Eats with Sinners. When he was sitting at dinner in his[f] house, many tax collectors and sinners were seated with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed Jesus. 16 Some scribes who were Pharisees noticed that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors, and they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus overheard this remark, he said, “It is not the healthy who need a physician, but rather those who are sick. I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
18 A Time of Joy and Grace.[g] John’s disciples and the Pharisees were observing a fast. Some people came to Jesus and asked, “Why do John’s disciples and those of the Pharisees fast but your disciples do not do so?” 19 Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then on that day they will fast.[h]
21 “No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear results. 22 Nor does anyone pour new wine[i] into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and then the wine and the skins are both lost. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
23 Picking Grain on the Sabbath.[j] One day, as Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath, his disciples began to pick some heads of grain as they walked along. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why are your disciples doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God when Abiathar[k] was high priest and ate the sacred bread that only the priests were permitted to eat, and he shared it with his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.[l] 28 That is why the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Chapter 7
1 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And once again, on the second day as they were having wine, the king asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even if it is for half my kingdom, it will be granted you.”
3 Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been handed over to destruction, slaughter, and extinction. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have not said anything, because such distress would not be reason enough to disturb the king.”[a]
5 Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is it and where is the one who has done such a thing?”
6 Esther replied, “Our enemy is this wicked man Haman.”
In terror, Haman faced the king and queen. 7 The king got up in a rage, left his wine, and went out into the palace garden. But Haman stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life, since he feared that the king had already decided his fate.
8 So Haman threw himself upon the couch on which Esther was reclining. At that very moment the king was just returning from the palace garden to the banquet hall. The king exclaimed: “Will he also violate the queen while she is with me in my own house?”
The words were scarcely out of the king’s mouth when Haman’s face was covered. 9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs who attended the king, said, “There is a gibbet fifty cubits high at Haman’s house. Haman prepared it for Mordecai, who warned your majesty about the plot.”
The king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gibbet he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger cooled down.
Chapter 2
Judging Is Inexcusable. 1 Therefore, you have no excuse, whoever you may be, when you pass judgment on others. For in judging others you condemn yourself, since you are doing the same things. 2 We are all aware that God’s judgment on those who commit such deeds is just. 3 How can you then suppose that you will escape the judgment of God for doing such things when you are condemning those who perform the same things?
4 How can you despise the riches of God’s kindness and forbearance and patience? How can you fail to realize that his kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 By your obstinate refusal to repent you are storing up retribution for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
6 For God will repay everyone in accordance with what his deeds deserve.[a] 7 To those who seek after glory and honor and immortality by persevering in good works, he will grant eternal life. 8 But for those who are slaves to selfish ambition and follow the path of wickedness and not of truth, wrath and fury will be their lot.
9 There will be affliction and distress for everyone who does evil—Jews first and then Gentiles. 10 However, glory, honor, and peace await everyone who does good—Jews first, and then Gentiles. 11 For God shows no partiality.[b]
12 The Law and Conscience.[c] All those who have sinned outside the Law will perish outside the Law, and all who sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not those who hear the Law who are justified by God; rather, it is those who observe the Law who will be justified. 14 Therefore, when Gentiles, who do not have the Law, act by nature in conformity with the Law, they are a law for themselves, even though they have no Law. 15 They show that the requirements of the Law are inscribed in their hearts; and their own conscience will also bear witness for them, since their conflicting thoughts will accuse or even defend them[d] 16 on the day when, according to the gospel, God will judge the thoughts of all through Jesus Christ.
17 [e]You call yourself a Jew and rely on the Law and are proud of your relationship to God, 18 and you know his will and are able to distinguish between right and wrong because you have been instructed in the Law, 19 and you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light for those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, and a teacher of the simple because in the Law you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
21 You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, are you yourself a thief? 22 You who forbid adultery, are you yourself an adulterer? You who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? 23 You who boast of the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking it? 24 As it is written, “Because of you the name of God is reviled among the Gentiles.”
25 Circumcision and the Heart.[f] Circumcision has value if you obey the Law. However, if you break the Law, you have become as if you had never been circumcised. 26 In the same way, if one who is not circumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then the man who is not physically circumcised but nevertheless observes the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the Law.
28 A man is not a Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is true circumcision external and physical. 29 Rather, the Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart—spiritual, not literal. He receives his praise not from human beings but from God.
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