M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
Moses and Aaron speak to Pharaoh
5 After this, Moses and Aaron went to visit Pharaoh. They said to him, ‘Listen to what the Lord says. He is the God of Israel. He says, “Let my people go. Let them prepare a feast in the desert to worship me.” ’
2 But Pharaoh said, ‘The Lord is not my god. I do not need to obey him. I do not have to let the Israelites go. I do not know the Lord. I will not let the Israelites go.’
3 Moses and Aaron said, ‘The God of the Israelites has met us. Please let us go. We must go on a journey of three days into the desert. There we must give gifts to the Lord our God. If we do not do this, God may punish us. We may become very ill, or people may attack us in war.’
4 But the king of Egypt said, ‘Moses and Aaron, you must not take the people away from their work! Go back to your jobs!’ 5 Pharaoh said, ‘Look, there are now many of your people who live in my country. But you are taking them away from their work.’
6 On that day, Pharaoh gave a command to the masters of the slaves, and to the leaders of the work. 7 This was the command: ‘Do not give the people any more straw to make bricks. Now they must go and find their own straw. 8 But they must still make the same number of bricks as they did before. Do not let them make fewer bricks. These people are lazy. That is why they are complaining. They say, “We want to go and offer sacrifices to our God.” 9 Make the work more difficult for them to do. They will have to do very hard work. They will be too busy to listen to the lies of their leaders.’[a]
10 So the slaves' masters and the leaders of the work went to the Israelite people. They said to them, ‘Pharaoh says, “Now I will not give you straw. 11 You must try to find straw for yourselves. But you will still have to make the same number of bricks.” ’
12 So the people went everywhere in the land of Egypt, to get straw from the fields. 13 The slaves' masters made the Israelites work quickly. They said, ‘Finish all your work for each day, as much as when we gave straw to you.’ 14 Pharaoh's slave masters hit the Israelite leaders who had authority over the people. They said to them, ‘Why have you not made the complete number of bricks today, as you did before?’
15 Then the Israelite leaders of the work went to Pharaoh. They asked him, ‘Please sir, why do you do these things to us, your servants? 16 Our masters no longer give us any straw. But they say “Make bricks!” Then they hit us. But it is your people who are doing wrong things, not us.’
17 But Pharaoh said, ‘You Israelites are just lazy people! That is why you say, “Let us go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.” 18 Now go back and do your work. Nobody will give you any straw. But you must make the complete number of bricks.’
19 The Israelite work leaders heard Pharaoh say, ‘You must still make the same number of bricks as you made before.’ Then they knew that they were in trouble. 20 When they left Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron were waiting for them to return from Pharaoh. 21 The work leaders said to Moses and Aaron, ‘We hope that the Lord will punish you! You have made us like a bad smell to Pharaoh and to his officers. You have given them a reason to kill us.’
22 Then Moses returned to the Lord. He said, ‘My Lord, why have you brought trouble to these people? Why did you send me to lead them? 23 I went to speak to Pharaoh with your authority. But since I spoke to Pharaoh, he has caused these people to have trouble. And you have done nothing to save your people.’
The women that helped Jesus
8 After this, Jesus went to visit many towns and villages. He told people the good news about the kingdom of God. The 12 disciples were travelling with him. 2 Some women also went with them. These women had been ill, but Jesus had made them well again. One of the women was Mary from Magdala. Jesus had sent seven bad spirits away from her. 3 Another of the women was Joanna, the wife of Chuza. Chuza had authority over all the people that worked in the house of King Herod. Another of the women was Susanna. There were also many others. These women were using their own money to help Jesus and his disciples.
A story about a farmer that planted seeds
4 Lots of people were coming to Jesus from many towns. A large crowd had already come together when Jesus told this story:
5 ‘A farmer went out to plant seeds in his field. While he was throwing the seeds, some of them fell on the path. Then people walked on them. Birds came down and they ate those seeds. 6 Some seeds fell on ground which had rocks. The seeds started to grow. But the young plants died because the ground was not wet enough in that place. 7 Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. Those bushes grew up with the young plants. They stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants. 8 But some seeds fell on good soil. Strong plants grew from those seeds. Each of these plants made 100 seeds.’
When Jesus finished the story, he said, ‘You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’
Jesus explains why he tells stories
9 Jesus' disciples asked him about this story. They asked him what it meant. 10 Jesus replied, ‘God has let you know what these stories mean. You understand how God rules in the lives of his people. But other people only listen to my stories. They look, but they do not really see clearly. They hear the words, but they do not really understand.’
Jesus explains the story about the seeds
11 Jesus then said, ‘This is what the story means: The seeds are like the message from God. 12 Some seeds fell on the path. That is like some people who hear the message, but they do not think about it. The Devil comes and he takes the message away from their minds. He takes it away so that they cannot believe it. Because they do not believe the message, God does not save them.
13 Some seeds fell on ground with rocks in it. This is like people who hear the message from God and they are very happy for a time. But they are like plants that have not grown down well into the soil. They believe in God for a short time. But when they have problems, they stop believing.
14 Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. This is like some other people who hear the message from God. But they start to have many troubles in their minds about how they will live. They want to get more money and more things. They think that this will make them happy. So they do not let God's message change them. They are like plants that do not grow into strong plants.
15 But some seed fell on good soil. This is like other people that hear the message from God. They understand the message and they keep it in their minds. They are good and honest. They continue to believe. These people are like a good plant that grows well and makes lots of new seeds.’
16 Jesus then said, ‘People do not light a lamp and then cover it. They do not put the lamp under a pot or under a bed. Instead, they put it in a high place. Then other people that come into the room can see the light from the lamp.
17 God hides some things now. But there will be a time when people will see them. God keeps some things secret now. But there will be a time when people will understand those things clearly.
18 So you should think carefully about what you hear. The person who has received some things will receive more. But some other people have nothing. They think that they have a little bit. But they will lose even that.’[a]
The mother and brothers of Jesus come to see him
19 Then Jesus' mother and his brothers came to see him. But they could not reach him because of the large crowd of people who were there. 20 Someone told Jesus, ‘Your mother and brothers are standing outside. They want to see you.’
21 Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers really are. My mother and my brothers are those people who hear God's message and do what he wants.’[b]
Jesus stops a storm
22 One day, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples. He said to them, ‘We should go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they started to cross the lake. 23 While they sailed in the boat, Jesus began to sleep. Then a strong wind started to blow across the lake. Water began to fill the boat and they were in danger. 24 So the disciples went to Jesus and they woke him. ‘Master, master, we will die here in the water!’ they said.
Then Jesus got up and he spoke strongly to the wind and to the water. ‘Stop!’ he said. The wind stopped immediately and the water became flat. 25 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Why do you not believe in me?’
All this frightened the disciples and they were very surprised. They asked each other, ‘Who is this man? He even tells the wind and the water what to do. He speaks and they obey him!’
Jesus makes a man well
26 Jesus and his disciples went to the place where the Gerasene people lived. This place is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus got out of the boat there, a man from the town came towards him. Bad spirits were living inside him. He had not worn any clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house. Instead, he lived outside, among some graves. 28 When he saw Jesus, he screamed. Then he went down on his knees in front of Jesus and said in a loud voice, ‘Jesus, you are the Son of the powerful God who is over all! What are you doing here? Please do not hurt me.’ 29 He said that because Jesus had already said to the bad spirit, ‘Come out of this man.’
The bad spirit had often taken hold of the man, so people watched him carefully. They held his feet with metal chains. But when the bad spirit took hold of him, he often broke the chains. The bad spirit then caused him to go into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked the man, ‘What is your name?’ The man replied, ‘My name is Army.’ He said this because very many bad spirits had gone into him.[c] 31 These bad spirits asked Jesus not to send them away to the world below.[d]
32 There was a large group of pigs there and they were eating on the hill. The bad spirits asked Jesus, ‘Let us go into the pigs.’ Jesus replied, ‘You can go into them.’ 33 So the bad spirits came out of the man and they went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed together down the hill into the lake. They all died there in the water.
34 The men who were taking care of the pigs saw this happen. They ran away. They told the people in the town and in the villages what had happened. 35 So the people went out from these places to see what had happened. They came to Jesus. The man that the bad spirits had come out of was sitting there, beside Jesus' feet. Now he was wearing clothes and his mind was well again. When the people saw this, they were afraid. 36 Some people had seen Jesus make the man well. They told the other people how he had done this. 37 Then all the Gerasene people who lived in that place said to Jesus, ‘Please go away and leave us.’ They said this because they were very afraid. So Jesus got back into the boat to leave that place. 38 Then the man that the bad spirits had gone out from said to Jesus, ‘Please let me come with you.’ But Jesus replied, ‘No. 39 You must return to your home. Tell everyone about all that God has done for you.’
So the man went away. He went everywhere in the town and told all the people, ‘Jesus has done very good things for me.’
Jesus makes a young girl well
40 When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the crowd was very happy to see him. They were all waiting for him to come back. 41 Then a man called Jairus came to see him. He was a leader at the Jewish meeting place. He went down on his knees at the feet of Jesus and said, ‘Please come to my house. 42 I have one daughter. She is 12 years old and she is very ill. She will die very soon.’
So Jesus went along. A crowd of people went with him. They were pushing against him. 43 There was a sick woman in the crowd who had lost blood for 12 years. She had paid all her money to doctors and now she had no money. But nobody could help her to become well again. 44 She came in the crowd behind Jesus and she touched the edge of his coat. Immediately she stopped bleeding. 45 Jesus asked, ‘Who touched me?’
Everyone round him said, ‘It was not me. I did not touch you.’ Then Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, there is a big crowd round you. Many people are pushing against you.’
46 Jesus said, ‘Someone did touch me. I know that something powerful went out from me.’ 47 The woman knew that she could not hide herself. So she was very afraid. She came to Jesus and she went down on the ground in front of him. She spoke so that all the people could hear her. She said, ‘I wanted to be well again, so I touched him. When I did that, I became well immediately.’ 48 Jesus said to her, ‘Young woman, you are well again because you believed in me. Go now and have peace in your mind.’[e]
49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone arrived from Jairus' house. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ he told Jairus. ‘Do not ask the teacher to come now.’
50 Jesus heard what the man said. So he said to Jairus, ‘Do not be afraid. Just believe in me. Then she will become well again.’
51 When they arrived at the house, Jesus would not let everyone go in with him. He took only Peter, John and James. He also let the mother and father of the girl go into the house. 52 All the people there were crying loudly because they were very sad. ‘Do not weep,’ Jesus told them. ‘The child is not dead. She is only asleep.’
53 But the people knew that she had died. So they laughed at him. 54 But Jesus went and held the child's hand. He said to her, ‘My child, get up.’ 55 Then she became alive again. Immediately she stood up. Jesus said to her parents, ‘Give her something to eat.’ 56 They were very surprised. Jesus said to them very strongly, ‘You must not tell anyone about what has happened.’
Eliphaz speaks to Job a third time[a]
22 Then Eliphaz, the man from Teman, replied. This is what he said:
2 ‘Nothing that a man can do will help God.
Even a wise man cannot help God.
3 If you are a righteous person,
it does nothing to help Almighty God.
If you live a completely good life,
it still does not help him.
4 It is not because you respect and obey God
that he punishes you.
It is not because you are a good person
that he accuses you.
5 No! It is because you are a very wicked person.
You have done too many evil things for anyone to count them.
That is why he is punishing you.
6 You took things from your friends when you lent money to them.
You had no reason to do that.
You even took away the only clothes that poor people were wearing.[b]
7 When you met people who were weak and tired,
you did not give them any water to drink.
You refused to feed hungry people.
8 You were a powerful man,
with land that belonged to you.
People respected you.
Your land gave you a good life.
9 But you refused to help widows.
You were cruel to children who have no family.
10 That is why you have so many troubles.
That is why you shake with fear.
11 It seems to you that you are in the dark
and you cannot see.
You feel as if a flood of deep water covers you.
12 God lives high above us in heaven.
Look up at the stars and see how high they are!
13 So you say, “God does not know about us.
He cannot judge us,
because darkness hides us from him.
14 Thick clouds cover him,
so that he does not see us.
He moves around high above the sky.”
15 Job, you must not continue to turn against God.
That is the way that evil people lived long ago.
16 Those people died before they should have done.
A great flood of water took them away.
They had no safe place to stand.[c]
17 They said to God, “Leave us alone!”
They thought that Almighty God could not hurt them.
18 But it was God who gave them many good things to enjoy.
So I cannot accept the ideas of wicked people.
19 God punishes wicked people.
When righteous people see that happen,
they are happy.
Good people then laugh at wicked people.
20 They say, “God has destroyed our enemies.
He has burned all their valuable things in a fire.”
21 So, Job, agree to accept God's ways.
Have peace in your mind about him.
Then you will again have good success.
22 Listen to his teaching.
Remember carefully what he tells you.
23 Turn back to the Almighty God,
so that you become strong again.
Stop all the evil things that happen in your house.
24 Throw away your gold things.
Throw your pure gold among the rocks in the streams.
25 Then the Almighty God will be like gold for you.
He will be like your valuable silver.[d]
26 You will be happy that Almighty God is your friend.
You will look up to him to help you.
27 You will pray to him, and he will answer you.
You will do the things that you have promised to him.
28 You will be able to do everything that you decide to do.
Light from God will show you the right way to go.
29 You will pray for God to help people who are in trouble.
God will save those people who are humble.
30 God will rescue even people who are guilty.
Because you do what is right,
God will save those people.’
Paul's work as an apostle
9 I am a free man. I am an apostle. I have seen Jesus, our Lord. You yourselves are the result of the work that I do to serve the Lord. You know that is all true. 2 Other people may not accept me as a true apostle. But you surely must accept me. As a result of my work, you now belong to the Lord. That shows that I am truly his apostle.
3 Some people do not like what I do. This is my answer to what they say against me: 4 As apostles, Barnabas and I should receive food and drink from the people that we help. 5 If we have a Christian wife, we should take her with us as we travel. The other apostles do this. So do the Lord's brothers, and also Peter. We have the same authority that they have. 6 Barnabas and I seem to be the only leaders who must work at other jobs. We should not need to do that!
7 Think about these examples: A soldier never has to pay for his own food and clothes. A farmer who plants vines will eat some of the grapes. A person who takes care of sheep or goats will drink some of the milk from those animals. You know that is what always happens.
8 I am not just telling you human ideas. God's Law teaches the same thing. 9 God's Law that he gave to Moses says this: ‘Do not tie shut the mouth of your ox while it walks on your grain.’[a]
But God's Law does not teach this only to help bulls. 10 No, God wanted to help us too. That is why he gave this rule to Moses for his people. Any farmer who works hard to grow food should get some of the food for himself. He ploughs his fields and he prepares the seeds because he hopes to eat some of the food. 11 Our spiritual work among you is like we have planted seeds. In return, you should give to us the food and clothes that we need to live. That is like the harvest that we should receive from our work. 12 You agree to help other people who teach God's message to you. So surely we should receive even more help from you!
But Barnabas and I have not used our authority to make you help us like that. Instead, we accept all these difficult things patiently. We want the good news about Christ to go everywhere. We do not want to do anything that might stop it.
13 Think about this: The people who work in the temple get their food from that place. The priests who offer sacrifices on the altar receive part of the animals for themselves. 14 In the same way, the people who tell God's good news to others should receive what they need to live. They should receive it from the people who hear the good news from them.
15 But I have not used my authority as an apostle to demand these things from you. And I am not writing this letter to demand that you help me now. No! It would be better for me to die than to change the way that I live. I can be proud of that and nobody should stop me. 16 I tell God's good news to people. But I have no reason to be proud because of that. It is something that I have to do. If I did not tell the good news, it would bring me great trouble.
17 If I were doing this work because I chose to do it, I would receive my pay. But I myself did not choose to do it. God has given me this work, so I have to do it. 18 So what kind of pay do I receive? It is this: I do not take any money from people when I tell them God's good news. I do not use all the authority that I could use when I tell God's good news to people.
19 Yes, I am a free man. I am not anybody's slave. But I choose to serve everybody like a slave. I do that so that I can help many more people to believe in Christ. 20 When I was among Jews, I lived like they do, because I wanted to bring Jews to Christ. The Law that God gave to Moses no longer has authority over me. But I chose to obey that Law when I was among Jewish people who obey it. I did that so that I could help them to believe in Christ. 21 With Gentile people, who do not have Moses' Law, I lived like they do. I continued to respect God's Law. Yes, I obey Christ's law. But I lived like a Gentile, so that I could help Gentiles to believe in Christ. 22 With weak people, I became like someone who is weak too. I did that so that I could bring weak people to believe in Christ. Whoever I am living among, I live like they do. I want to do everything that I can to save some of them.
23 I want to help people to accept God's good news. That is why I do all these things. I want to share in the good things that the good news gives to believers.
24 Think about how people run in a race. All the runners run, but only one of them receives the prize. You must run like that, to win the race. 25 People who run in races prepare their bodies well. They make themselves work very hard. They do this so that they will win a prize that will quickly become spoiled. But we work hard to receive a prize that will never become spoiled.
26 Because of that, I do not run with no purpose. I do not fight like someone who only hits the air. 27 I make my body do what I want it to do. I make it like my slave. I have told God's message to other people. I do not want to lose the prize myself. So I try very much to obey the rules of the race.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.