M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses’s Miraculous Power
4 Then Moses answered, “But look, they may not believe me or listen to me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ”(A) 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”(B) 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses drew back from it. 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out your hand and seize it by the tail”—so he reached out his hand and grasped it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” He put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, as white as snow.(C) 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back into your cloak”—so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body(D)— 8 “If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to you, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”(E)
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”(F) 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?(G) 12 Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.”(H) 13 But he said, “O my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, “What of your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad.(I) 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.(J) 16 He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him. 17 Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.”(K)
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt and see whether they are still living.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 The Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who were seeking your life are dead.”(L) 20 So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt, and Moses carried the staff of God in his hand.(M)
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.(N) 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son.(O) 23 I said to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.’ ”(P)
24 On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill him.(Q) 25 But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin, touched his feet with it, and said, “Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”(R) 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said “a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went, and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.(S) 28 Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him and all the signs with which he had charged him.(T) 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.(U) 30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and performed the signs in the sight of the people.(V) 31 The people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.(W)
Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave
7 After Jesus[a] had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.(A) 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and, turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”(B) 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain
11 Soon afterward[b] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.(C) 12 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13 When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.”(D) 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”(E) 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus[c] gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”(F) 17 This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.
Messengers from John the Baptist
18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples 19 and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?” 20 When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’ ” 21 Jesus[d] had just then cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits and had given sight to many who were blind.(G) 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight; the lame walk; those with a skin disease are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; the poor have good news brought to them.(H) 23 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus[e] began to speak to the crowds about John:[f] “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What, then, did you go out to see? Someone[g] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. 26 What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
28 “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God,[h] having been baptized with John’s baptism.(I) 30 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law, not having been baptized by him, rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)(J)
31 “To what, then, will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not weep.’
33 “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’;(K) 34 the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’(L) 35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
A Sinful Woman Forgiven
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus[i] to eat with him, and when he went into the Pharisee’s house he reclined to dine.(M) 37 And a woman in the city who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair, kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”(N) 40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “speak.” 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.(O) 42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus[j] said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.(P) 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.(Q) 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” 48 Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”(R) 49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 But he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”(S)
Job Replies: The Wicked Often Go Unpunished
21 Then Job answered:
2 “Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be your consolation.
3 Bear with me, and I will speak;
then after I have spoken, mock on.(A)
4 As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals?
Why should I not be impatient?(B)
5 Look at me and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.(C)
6 When I think of it I am dismayed,
and shuddering seizes my flesh.
7 Why do the wicked live on,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?(D)
8 Their children are established in their presence
and their offspring before their eyes.(E)
9 Their houses are safe from fear,
and no rod of God is upon them.(F)
10 Their bull breeds without fail;
their cow calves and never miscarries.(G)
11 They send out their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance around.
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre
and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.(H)
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and in peace they go down to Sheol.(I)
14 They say to God, ‘Leave us alone!
We do not desire to know your ways.(J)
15 What is the Almighty,[a] that we should serve him?
And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’(K)
16 Is not their prosperity indeed their own achievement?[b]
The plans of the wicked are repugnant to me.(L)
17 “How often is the lamp of the wicked put out?
How often does calamity come upon them?
How often does God[c] distribute pains in his anger?(M)
18 How often are they like straw before the wind
and like chaff that the storm carries away?(N)
19 You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’
Let it be paid back to them, so that they may know it.(O)
20 Let their own eyes see their destruction,
and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.[d](P)
21 For what do they care for their household after them,
when the number of their months is cut off?
22 Will any teach God knowledge,
seeing that he judges those who are on high?(Q)
23 One dies in full prosperity,
being wholly at ease and secure,
24 his loins full of milk
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25 Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having tasted of good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust,
and the worms cover them.(R)
27 “Oh, I know your thoughts
and your schemes to wrong me.
28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’(S)
29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,
and do you not accept their testimony,
30 that the wicked are spared in the day of calamity
and are rescued in the day of wrath?(T)
31 Who declares their way to their face,
and who repays them for what they have done?
32 When they are carried to the grave,
a watch is kept over their tomb.
33 The clods of the valley are sweet to them;
everyone will follow after,
and those who went before are innumerable.(U)
34 How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?
There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”
Food Offered to Idols
8 Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.(A) 2 Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge,(B) 3 but anyone who loves God is known by him.(C)
4 Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists” and that “there is no God but one.”(D) 5 Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.(E)
7 It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.(F) 8 “Food will not bring us close to God.”[a] We are no worse off if we do not eat and no better off if we do.(G) 9 But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.(H) 10 For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11 So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister for whom Christ died is destroyed.(I) 12 But when you thus sin against brothers and sisters and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never again eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.(J)
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.