M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Jethro’s Advice
18 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’s father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.(A) 2 After Moses had sent away his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro took her back,(B) 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom[a] (for he had said, “I have been an alien in a foreign land”),(C) 4 and the name of the other was Eliezer[b] (for he had said, “The God of my father was my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5 Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, along with Moses’s sons and wife, came into the wilderness where Moses was encamped at the mountain of God.(D) 6 He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, with your wife and her two sons.” 7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed down and kissed him; each asked after the other’s welfare, and they went into the tent.(E) 8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had found them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them.(F) 9 Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in delivering them from the Egyptians.
10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh.(G) 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from the Egyptians,[c] when they dealt arrogantly with them.”(H) 12 And Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’s father-in-law in the presence of God.
13 The next day Moses sat as judge for the people, while the people stood around him from morning until evening. 14 When Moses’s father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?” 15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.(I) 16 When they have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide between one person and another, and I make known to them the statutes and instructions of God.” 17 Moses’s father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.(J) 19 Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You should represent the people before God and bring their cases to God.(K) 20 Teach them the statutes and instructions and make known to them the way they are to go and the things they are to do.(L) 21 You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.(M) 22 Let them sit as judges for the people at all times; let them bring every important case to you but decide every minor case themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.(N) 23 If you do this and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their homes in peace.”
24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.(O) 26 And they judged the people at all times; hard cases they brought to Moses, but any minor case they decided themselves.(P) 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went off to his own country.(Q)
The Widow’s Offering
21 He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury;(A) 2 he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins.(B) 3 He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, 4 for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
5 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said,(C) 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”(D)
Signs and Persecutions
7 They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8 And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[a] and, ‘The time is near!’[b] Do not go after them.(E)
9 “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom;(F) 11 there will be great earthquakes and in various places famines and plagues, and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.(G) 13 This will give you an opportunity to testify.(H) 14 So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance,(I) 15 for I will give you words[c] and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.(J) 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and siblings, by relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.(K) 17 You will be hated by all because of my name.(L) 18 But not a hair of your head will perish.(M) 19 By your endurance you will gain your souls.(N)
The Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold
20 “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.[d](O) 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it,(P) 22 for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written.(Q) 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.(R)
The Coming of the Son of Man
25 “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.(S) 26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.(T) 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”[e](U)
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
29 Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30 as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.(V) 32 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.(W)
Exhortation to Watch
34 “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not catch you unexpectedly,(X) 35 like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”(Y)
37 Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called.(Z) 38 And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.
Elihu Exalts God’s Goodness
36 Elihu continued and said:
2 “Bear with me a little, and I will show you,
for I have yet something to say on God’s behalf.
3 I will bring my knowledge from far away
and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.(A)
4 For truly my words are not false;
one who is perfect in knowledge is with you.(B)
5 “Surely God is mighty and does not despise any;
he is mighty in strength of understanding.(C)
6 He does not keep the wicked alive
but gives the afflicted their right.(D)
7 He does not withdraw his eyes from the righteous,
but with kings on the throne
he sets them forever, and they are exalted.(E)
8 And if they are bound in fetters
and caught in the cords of affliction,
9 then he declares to them their work
and their transgressions, that they are behaving arrogantly.(F)
10 He opens their ears to instruction
and commands that they return from iniquity.(G)
11 If they listen and serve him,
they complete their days in prosperity
and their years in pleasantness.(H)
12 But if they do not listen, they shall perish by the sword
and die without knowledge.(I)
13 “The godless in heart cherish anger;
they do not cry for help when he binds them.(J)
14 They die in their youth,
and their life ends in shame.[a](K)
15 He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
and opens their ear by adversity.(L)
16 He also allured you out of distress
into a broad place where there was no constraint,
and what was set on your table was full of fatness.(M)
17 “But you are obsessed with the case of the wicked;
judgment and justice seize you.
18 Beware that wrath does not entice you into scoffing,
and do not let the greatness of the ransom turn you aside.(N)
19 Will your cry avail to keep you from distress,
or will all the force of your strength?
20 Do not long for the night,
when peoples are cut off in their place.(O)
21 Beware! Do not turn to iniquity;
because of that you have been tried by affliction.(P)
22 See, God is exalted in his power;
who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has prescribed for him his way,
or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?(Q)
Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty
24 “Remember to extol his work,
of which mortals have sung.(R)
25 All people have looked on it;
everyone watches it from far away.
26 Surely God is great, and we do not know him;
the number of his years is unsearchable.(S)
27 For he draws up the drops of water;
he distills[b] his mist in rain,(T)
28 which the skies pour down
and drop upon mortals abundantly.
29 Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?(U)
30 See, he scatters his lightning around him
and covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by these he governs peoples;
he gives food in abundance.(V)
32 He covers his hands with the lightning
and commands it to strike the mark.(W)
33 Its crashing[c] tells about him;
he is jealous[d] with anger against iniquity.(X)
6 As we work together with him,[a] we entreat you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.(A) 2 For he says,
“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!(B) 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,(C) 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: in great endurance, afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;(D) 6 in purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;(E) 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors and yet are true, 9 as unknown and yet are well known, as dying and look—we are alive, as punished and yet not killed,(F) 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing everything.
11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections but only in yours. 13 In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.(G)
The Temple of the Living God
14 Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? Or what partnership is there between light and darkness?(H) 15 What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we[b] are the temple of the living God, as God said,
“I will live in them[c] and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.(I)
17 Therefore come out from them,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch nothing unclean;
then I will welcome you,(J)
18 and I will be your father,
and you shall be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”(K)
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.