M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
The Law concerning Slaves
21 “These are the ordinances that you shall set before them:(A)
2 “When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt.(B) 3 If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave declares, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out a free person,’ 6 then his master shall bring him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him for life.(C)
7 “When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.(D) 8 If she does not please her master, who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt unfairly with her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. 10 If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.[a](E) 11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out without debt, without payment of money.
The Law concerning Violence
12 “Whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death.(F) 13 If it was not premeditated but came about by an act of God, then I will appoint for you a place to which the killer may flee.(G) 14 But if someone willfully attacks and kills another by treachery, you shall take the killer from my altar for execution.(H)
15 “Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death.
16 “Whoever kidnaps a person, whether that person has been sold or is still held in possession, shall be put to death.(I)
17 “Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.(J)
18 “When individuals quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or fist so that the injured party, though not dead, is confined to bed 19 but recovers and walks around outside with the help of a staff, then the assailant shall be free of liability, except to pay for the loss of time and to arrange for full recovery.
20 “When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. 21 But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment, for the slave is the owner’s property.(K)
22 “When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine. 23 If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,(L) 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,(M) 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
26 “When a slaveowner strikes the eye of a male or female slave, destroying it, the owner shall let the slave go, a free person, to compensate for the eye. 27 If the owner knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, the slave shall be let go, a free person, to compensate for the tooth.
Laws concerning Property
28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.(N) 29 If the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past and its owner has been warned but did not restrain it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. 30 If a ransom is imposed on the owner, then the owner shall pay whatever is imposed for the redemption of the victim’s life.(O) 31 If it gores a boy or a girl, the owner shall be dealt with according to this same rule. 32 If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall pay to the slaveowner thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.(P)
33 “If someone leaves a pit open or digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,(Q) 34 the owner of the pit shall make restitution, giving money to its owner but keeping the dead animal.
35 “If someone’s ox hurts the ox of another, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it, and the dead animal they shall also divide. 36 But if it was known that the ox was accustomed to gore in the past and its owner did not restrain it, the owner shall restore ox for ox but keep the dead animal.
The Resurrection of Jesus
24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.(A) 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body.[a] 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.(B) 5 The women[b] were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men[c] said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.[d] 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,(C) 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to the hands of sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words,(D) 9 and returning from the tomb they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.(E) 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.(F) 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.(G) 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.[e]
The Walk to Emmaus
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[f] from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,(H) 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.[g] 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”(I) 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth,[h] who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,(J) 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.[i] Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.(K) 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,(L) 23 and when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”(M) 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah[j] should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”(N) 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.(O)
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.(P) 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.(Q) 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[k] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.(R) 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!”(S) 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
36 While they were talking about this, Jesus[l] himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”[m] 37 They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.(T) 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”(U) 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.[n] 41 Yet for all their joy they were still disbelieving and wondering, and he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”(V) 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,[o] 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.(W)
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”(X) 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah[p] is[q] to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day(Y) 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.(Z) 48 You are witnesses[r] of these things.(AA) 49 And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised, so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”(AB)
The Ascension of Jesus
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.(AC) 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.[s](AD) 52 And they worshiped him and[t] returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and they were continually in the temple[u] blessing God.[v](AE)
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you observe the calving of the deer?(A)
2 Can you number the months that they fulfill,
and do you know the time when they give birth,
3 when they crouch to give birth to their offspring
and are delivered of their young?(B)
4 Their young ones become strong; they grow up in the open;
they go forth and do not return to them.
5 “Who has let the wild ass go free?
Who has loosed the bonds of the swift ass,(C)
6 to which I have given the steppe for its home,
the salt land for its dwelling place?(D)
7 It scorns the tumult of the city;
it does not hear the shouts of the driver.
8 It ranges the mountains as its pasture,
and it searches after every green thing.
9 “Is the wild ox willing to serve you?
Will it spend the night at your crib?(E)
10 Can you tie it in the furrow with ropes,
or will it harrow the valleys after you?
11 Will you depend on it because its strength is great,
and will you hand over your labor to it?
12 Do you have faith in it that it will return
and bring your grain to your threshing floor?[a]
13 “The ostrich’s wings flap wildly,
though its pinions lack plumage.[b]
14 For it leaves its eggs to the earth
and lets them be warmed on the ground,
15 forgetting that a foot may crush them
and that a wild animal may trample them.
16 It deals cruelly with its young, as if they were not its own;
though its labor should be in vain, yet it has no fear;(F)
17 because God has made it forget wisdom
and given it no share in understanding.(G)
18 When it spreads its plumes aloft,[c]
it laughs at the horse and its rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its might?
Do you clothe its neck with mane?(H)
20 Do you make it leap like the locust?
Its majestic snorting is terrible.(I)
21 It paws[d] violently, exults mightily;
it goes out to meet the weapons.(J)
22 It laughs at fear and is not dismayed;
it does not turn back from the sword.
23 Upon it rattle the quiver,
the flashing spear, and the javelin.
24 With fierceness and rage it swallows the ground;
it cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.(K)
25 When the trumpet sounds, it says ‘Aha!’
From a distance it smells the battle,
the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.(L)
26 “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars
and spreads its wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up
and makes its nest on high?(M)
28 It lives on the rock and makes its home
in the fastness of the rocky crag.
29 From there it spies the prey;
its eyes see it from far away.(N)
30 Its young ones suck up blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”(O)
The Collection for Christians at Jerusalem
9 Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints, 2 for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.(A) 3 But I am sending[a] the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be;(B) 4 otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be put to shame—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking.[b] 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a bountiful gift and not as an extortion.
6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.(C) 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(D) 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing[c] in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.(E) 9 As it is written,
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.[e] 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us, 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you[f] glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your partnership with them and with all others,(G) 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!(H)
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.