M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household:(A) 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 The total number of people born to Jacob was seventy. (Joseph was already in Egypt.)(B) 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers, and that whole generation.(C) 7 But the Israelites were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.(D)
The Israelites Are Oppressed
8 Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.(E) 9 He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we.(F) 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh.(G) 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13 The Egyptians subjected the Israelites to hard servitude 14 and made their lives bitter with hard servitude in mortar and bricks and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.(H)
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”(I) 17 But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.(J) 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and allowed the boys to live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong.(K) 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.(L) 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews[a] you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”(M)
The Testing of Jesus
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,(A) 2 where for forty days he was tested by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over he was famished.(B) 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”(C)
5 Then the devil[a] led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil[b] said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.(D) 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered him, “It is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’ ”(E)
9 Then the devil[c] led him to Jerusalem and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to protect you,’(F)
11 and
‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”(G) 13 When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.(H)
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14 Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.(I) 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.(J)
The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth
16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,(K) 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,(L)
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”(M)
20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.(N) 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”(O) 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’ ”(P) 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.(Q) 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months and there was a severe famine over all the land,(R) 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many with a skin disease in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”(S) 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.(T) 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.(U)
The Man with an Unclean Spirit
31 He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath.(V) 32 They were astounded at his teaching because he spoke with authority.(W) 33 In the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Leave us alone! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”(X) 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” Then the demon, throwing the man down before them, came out of him without doing him any harm.(Y) 36 They were all astounded and kept saying to one another, “What kind of word is this, that with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out?”(Z) 37 And news about him began to reach every place in the region.(AA)
Healings at Simon’s House
38 After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. 39 Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.(AB)
40 As the sun was setting, all those caring for any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.(AC) 41 Moreover, demons also came out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.[d](AD)
Jesus Preaches in the Synagogues
42 At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds began looking for him, and when they reached him they tried to keep him from leaving them.(AE) 43 But he said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.[e](AF)
Bildad Speaks: God Punishes the Wicked
18 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “How long will you hunt for words?
Consider, and then we shall speak.
3 Why are we counted as cattle?
Why are we stupid in your sight?(A)
4 You who tear yourself in your anger—
shall the earth be forsaken because of you
or the rock be removed out of its place?(B)
5 “Surely the light of the wicked is put out,
and the flame of their fire does not shine.(C)
6 The light is dark in their tent,
and the lamp above them is put out.
7 Their strong steps are shortened,
and their own schemes throw them down.(D)
8 For they are thrust into a net by their own feet,
and they walk into a pitfall.(E)
9 A trap seizes them by the heel;
a snare lays hold of them.(F)
10 A rope is hid for them in the ground,
a trap for them in the path.(G)
11 Terrors frighten them on every side
and chase them at their heels.(H)
12 Their strength is consumed by hunger,[a]
and calamity is ready for their stumbling.(I)
13 By disease their skin is consumed;[b]
the firstborn of Death consumes their limbs.
14 They are torn from the tent in which they trusted
and are brought to the king of terrors.(J)
15 In their tents nothing remains;
sulfur is scattered upon their habitations.(K)
16 Their roots dry up beneath,
and their branches wither above.(L)
17 Their memory perishes from the earth,
and they have no name in the street.(M)
18 They are thrust from light into darkness
and driven out of the world.
19 They have no offspring or descendant among their people
and no survivor where they used to live.(N)
20 They of the west are appalled at their fate,
and horror seizes those of the east.
21 Surely such are the dwellings of the ungodly;
such is the place of those who do not know God.”(O)
Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church
5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and the sort of sexual immorality that is not found even among gentiles, for a man is living with his father’s wife.(A) 2 And you are arrogant! Should you not rather have mourned, so that he who has done this would have been removed from among you?
3 For I, though absent in body, am present in spirit, and as if present I have already pronounced judgment 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus on the man who has done such a thing.[a] When you are assembled and my spirit is present with the power of our Lord Jesus,(B) 5 you are to hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.[b](C)
6 Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all of the dough?(D) 7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.(E) 8 Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.(F)
Sexual Immorality Must Be Judged
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral persons, 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since you would then need to go out of the world.(G) 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler. Do not even eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging those outside? Are you not judges of those who are inside?(H) 13 God will judge those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you.”(I)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.