M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Chapter 7
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Look, I have made you like a God to Pharaoh; Aaron will be your prophet.[a] 2 You will tell him what I have commanded you. Aaron, your brother, will tell Pharaoh to permit the children of Israel to leave his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand upon Egypt and I will make my hosts leave Egypt, the children of Israel, with great acts of judgment.
5 “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the children of Israel out from their midst.”
6 Moses and Aaron did what the Lord had commanded them to do. 7 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.
The Plagues of Egypt[b]
Aaron’s Staff Turned into a Snake. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourself by performing a wondrous deed,’ you will say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it in front of Pharaoh and it will become a serpent.’ ” 10 Moses and Aaron then went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them to do. Aaron threw his staff in front of Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Pharaoh gathered the wise men and sorcerers and even the magicians of Egypt. With their magic they did the same thing. 12 Each one threw his staff and the staffs became serpents, but the staff of Aaron swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.14 First Plague: Water Turned into Blood.[c] The Lord said to Moses, “The heart of Pharaoh is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water and stand in front of him on the Nile riverbank and take the staff in your hand that was changed into a serpent. 16 Then you will tell him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, ‘Let my people go so that they can serve me in the desert. Up to now you have not obeyed.’ 17 The Lord says, ‘By this you will know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will strike the waters of the Nile with the staff that I have in my hand, and they will change into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become putrid so that the Egyptians will not be able to drink from the Nile.” ’ ”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Command Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, their ponds, and over all their supplies of water. They will turn into blood and there will be blood in all of the land of Egypt, even in their wood and stone jars.’ ”
20 Moses and Aaron did what the Lord had commanded. Aaron raised his staff and struck the waters of the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. All the waters of the Nile changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the Nile became putrid, so that the Egyptians could not drink the water. There was blood in the entire land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt, with their magic, did the same thing. The heart of Pharaoh was hardened and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.[d] 23 Pharaoh turned his back on them and went into his house and did not even pay attention to these things. 24 All the Egyptians dug along the Nile to find water to drink because they could not drink the water in the Nile.
25 Second Plague: The Frogs. Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. 26 [e]The Lord said to Moses, “Go to speak to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go to serve me. 27 If you refuse to let them go, then I will strike your land with frogs. 28 The Nile will swarm with frogs. They will come out and go into your houses, into the rooms where you sleep and up on your beds, into the houses of your ministers and your people, even into your ovens and your kneading bowls. 29 The frogs will come out and climb over you and your ministers.” ’ ”
The Mission of All the Disciples
Chapter 10
The Mission of the Seventy-Two[a] 1 After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. 2 He said to them: “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers for his harvest.
3 “Go on your way. Behold, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Carry no money bag or sack and wear no sandals. Greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, let your first words be, ‘Peace to this house!’ 6 If a man of peace lives there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.
7 “Remain in the same house, and eat and drink whatever is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat whatever is set before you. 9 Cure the sick who are there, and say, ‘The kingdom of God has come unto you.’
10 “But whenever you enter a town and the people do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to us we wipe off our feet as a sign against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.’ 12 I tell you, on that day[b] it will be more bearable for Sodom than for that town.
13 Woe to the Cities of Galilee.[c]“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the mighty deeds performed in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have come to repentance long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will be brought down to the netherworld.[d]
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
17 Joy of the Missionaries.[e] The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and they said, “Lord, in your name even the demons are subject to us.” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon snakes and scorpions and all the forces of the enemy, and nothing will ever harm you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in the knowledge that the spirits are subject to you. Rejoice rather that your names are inscribed in heaven.”
21 Joy of Jesus.[f]At that very hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and have revealed them to children. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
22 “All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
23 The Privilege of Discipleship. Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
25 The Greatest Commandment.[g]And behold, a lawyer came forward to test Jesus by asking, “Teacher, what must I do to gain eternal life?” 26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 Jesus then said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
29 The Parable of the Good Samaritan. But because the man wished to justify himself, he asked, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down[h] from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him and beat him, and then went off leaving him half-dead. 31 A priest happened to be traveling along that same road, but when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 A Levite[i] likewise came to that spot and saw him, but he too passed by on the other side.
33 “But a Samaritan who was traveling along that road came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. 34 He went up to him and bandaged his wounds after having poured oil and wine on them. Then he brought him upon his own animal to an inn and looked after him.
35 “The next day, he took out two denarii[j] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Look after him, and when I return I will repay you for anything more you might spend.’
36 “Which of those three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He answered, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”[k]
38 Martha and Mary.[l] In the course of their journey, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.
40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks. So she came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me.” 41 The Lord answered her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things, 42 when only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Chapter 24
The Injustice Crying Out in the World[a]
1 “The actual day of judgment is known by the Almighty;
why does he not reveal it to his faithful?[b]
2 Those who are wicked move boundary stones;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive off the donkey belonging to the orphan;
they take away the widow’s ox as security.
4 They push aside the needy off the road;
those who are destitute are forced into hiding.
5 “Like wild donkeys of the wilderness
the poor go forth at dawn
searching the wasteland for food
with which to feed their children.
6 In the fields they reap what is not theirs
and steal from the vineyards of the wicked.
7 Without clothing, they spend the night naked,
lacking anything to shelter them from the cold.
8 They are soaked by the mountain rain
and cling to the rocks as a source of shelter.
9 “The fatherless child is snatched from the breast
and carried off as a pledge of security.
10 They go about their work naked, without clothing;
despite their hunger they carry the sheaves.
11 Along the pathways they press out the oil;
they tread the winepresses but themselves suffer thirst.
12 From the town the groans of the dying are heard,
and those who are wounded cry out for help,
yet God remains deaf to their prayer.
13 “There also are those who rebel against the light;
they are ignorant of its ways
and refuse to frequent its paths.
14 When nightfall descends, the murderer arises
to slay the poor and the needy;
during the night he steals forth like a thief.
15 “The eye of the adulterer also waits eagerly for twilight,
thinking, ‘No eye will see me.’
16 In the darkness men break into houses,
but during the day they shut themselves in,
for they are strangers to daylight.
17 Deep darkness is morning to them;
they only feel comfortable amid the terrors of the night.
God Carefully Monitors the Conduct of the Mighty[c]
18 “Such men are debris on the surface of the water;
their portion in the land is accursed,
and no laborer will toil in their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat melt the snow,
so does the netherworld cause sinners to disappear.
20 The womb that shaped them remembers them no more,
and the worm sucks them dry.
21 “They maltreat the barren and childless woman
and show no kindness to the widow.
22 God may sustain the mighty through his strength,
but he carefully monitors their conduct.
23 He grants them a sense of security,
but his eyes are fixed on their ways.
24 They are exalted for a while,
and then they are gone;
they wither and fade like a flower,
shriveling up like ears of grain.
25 “If all this is not true, who will prove me wrong
and show that my words are sheer nonsense?”
Chapter 11
1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Liturgical Assemblies and Their Problems[a]
Propriety in Worship[b]
The Question of Head Coverings. 2 I praise you because you remember me in everything and you maintain the traditions just as I handed them down to you.
3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband is the head of his wife, and God is the head of Christ. 4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered brings disgrace on his head. 5 And any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings disgrace upon her head, for it is just as though she had her head shaved. 6 Indeed, if a woman refuses to wear a veil, then she might as well have her hair cut off. If it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should wear a veil.
7 It is not right for a man to have his head covered, since he is the image of God and the reflection of his glory, whereas woman is the reflection of the glory of man. 8 For man was not made from woman, but woman was made from man. 9 Nor was man created for the sake of woman, but woman was created for the sake of man.
10 Therefore, a woman should have on her head a sign[c] of her dependence, because of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 Although woman came from man, so does every man come from a woman, and all things come from God.
13 The Question of Long Hair. Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, he is disgraced, 15 whereas if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair was given to her as a covering. 16 However, if anyone wishes to argue further on this point, we have no such custom to do so, nor do any of the Churches of God.
The Lord’s Supper, Sign of Unity[d]
17 Do You Despise the Church of God? Now in giving you this instruction I cannot praise you, because your meetings tend to do more harm than good. 18 To begin with, when you come together in your assembly, I hear that there are divisions among you, and to some extent I am inclined to believe it. 19 There must be such factions among you so that it will become clear to you which groups should be trusted.
20 [e]When you do assemble, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, 21 for each of you goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another has too much to drink. 22 Do you not have homes in which you can eat and drink? Or do you have such contempt for the Church of God that you humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? In this matter, I cannot praise you.
23 You Proclaim the Death of the Lord.[f]For what I received from the Lord I handed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and after giving thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same fashion, after the supper,[g] he also took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me.” 26 And so, whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.
27 God’s Judgment on the Community.[h] Therefore, anyone who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner is guilty of an offense against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone should examine himself about eating the bread and drinking from the cup. 29 For a person who eats and drinks without discerning the body of the Lord is eating and drinking judgment on himself.
30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 If we were to examine ourselves, we would not be condemned. 32 However, when we are judged by the Lord, he is disciplining us to save us from being condemned together with the world.
33 Practical Conclusion. Therefore, brethren, when you come together for the meal, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that in assembling you may not incur condemnation. As for the other matters, I will resolve them when I come.
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