M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing children for Ya‘akov, she envied her sister and said to Ya‘akov, “Give me children, or I will die!” ² This made Ya‘akov angry at Rachel; he answered, “Am I in God’s place? He’s the one who is denying you children.” ³ She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Go, sleep with her, and let her give birth to a child that will be laid on my knees, so that through her I too can build a family.” ⁴ So she gave him Bilhah her slave-girl as his wife, and Ya‘akov went in and slept with her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Ya‘akov a son. ⁶ Rachel said, “God has judged in my favor; indeed he has heard me and given me a son.” Therefore she called him Dan [he judged].

⁷ Bilhah Rachel’s slave-girl conceived again and bore Ya‘akov a second son. ⁸ Rachel said, “I have wrestled mightily with my sister and won,” and called him Naftali [my wrestling].

⁹ When Le’ah saw that she had stopped having children, she took Zilpah her slave-girl and gave her to Ya‘akov as his wife. ¹⁰ Zilpah Le’ah’s slave-girl bore Ya‘akov a son; ¹¹ and Le’ah said, “Good fortune has come,” calling him Gad [good fortune].

¹² Zilpah Le’ah’s slave-girl bore Ya‘akov a second son; ¹³ and Le’ah said, “How happy I am! Women will say I am happy!” and called him Asher [happy].

(iv) ¹⁴ During the wheat harvest season Re’uven went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Le’ah. Rachel said to Le’ah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes [so that I can be fertile].” ¹⁵ She answered, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken away my husband? Do you have to take my son’s mandrakes too?” Rachel said, “Very well; in exchange for your son’s mandrakes, sleep with him tonight.” ¹⁶ When Ya‘akov came in from the field in the evening, Le’ah went out to meet him and said, “You have to come and sleep with me, because I’ve hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Ya‘akov slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Le’ah, and she conceived and bore Ya‘akov a fifth son. ¹⁸ Le’ah said, “God has given me my hire, because I gave my slave-girl to my husband.” So she called him Yissakhar [hire, reward].

¹⁹ Le’ah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Ya‘akov. ²⁰ Le’ah said, “God has given me a wonderful gift. Now at last my husband will live with me, since I have borne him six sons.” And she called him Z’vulun [living together].

²¹ After this, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah [controversy over rights].

²² Then God took note of Rachel, heeded her prayer and made her fertile. ²³ She conceived, had a son and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She called him Yosef [may he add], saying, “May Adonai add to me another son.”

²⁵ After Rachel had given birth to Yosef, Ya‘akov said to Lavan, “Send me on my way, so that I can return to my own place, to my own country. ²⁶ Let me take my wives, for whom I have served you, and my children; and let me go. You know very well how faithfully I have served you.” ²⁷ Lavan answered him, “If you regard me favorably, then please listen: I have observed the signs that Adonai has blessed me on account of you. (v) ²⁸ Name your wages,” he said; “I will pay them.” ²⁹ Ya‘akov replied, “You know how faithfully I have served you and how your livestock have prospered under my care. ³⁰ The few you had before I came have increased substantially; Adonai has blessed you wherever I went. But now, when will I provide for my own household?” ³¹ Lavan said, “What should I give you?” “Nothing,” answered Ya‘akov, “just do this one thing for me: once more I will pasture your flock and take care of it. ³² I will also go through the flock and pick out every speckled, spotted or brown sheep, and every speckled or spotted goat; these and their offspring will be my wages. ³³ And I will let my integrity stand as witness against me in the future: when you come to look over the animals constituting my wages, every goat that isn’t speckled or spotted and every sheep that isn’t brown will count as stolen by me.” ³⁴ Lavan replied, “As you have said, so be it.”

³⁵ That day Lavan removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted and all the female goats that were speckled or spotted, every one with white on it, and all the brown sheep; turned them over to his sons; ³⁶ and put three days’ distance between himself and Ya‘akov. Ya‘akov fed the rest of Lavan’s flocks.

³⁷ Ya‘akov took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white streaks on them by peeling off the bark. ³⁸ Then he set the rods he had peeled upright in the watering troughs, so that the animals would see them when they came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, ³⁹ the animals mated in sight of the rods and gave birth to streaked, speckled and spotted young. ⁴⁰ Ya‘akov divided the lambs and had the animals mate with the streaked and the brown in the flock of Lavan. He also kept his own livestock separate and did not have them mix with Lavan’s flock. ⁴¹ Whenever the hardier animals came into heat, Ya‘akov would set up the rods in the watering troughs; so that the animals would see them and conceive in front of them; ⁴² but he didn’t set up the rods in front of the weaker animals. Thus the more feeble were Lavan’s and the stronger Ya‘akov’s. ⁴³ In this way the man became very rich and had large flocks, along with male and female slaves, camels and donkeys.

1 The beginning of the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of God:

² It is written in the prophet Yesha‘yahu,

⁴ So it was that Yochanan the Immerser appeared in the desert, proclaiming an immersion involving turning to God from sin in order to be forgiven. ⁵ People went out to him from all over Y’hudah, as did all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Yarden River. ⁶ Yochanan wore clothes of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He proclaimed: “After me is coming someone who is more powerful than I — I’m not worthy even to bend down and untie his sandals. ⁸ I have immersed you in water, but he will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh.”

⁹ Shortly thereafter, Yeshua came from Natzeret in the Galil and was immersed in the Yarden by Yochanan. ¹⁰ Immediately upon coming up out of the water, he saw heaven torn open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; ¹¹ then a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with you.”

¹² Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness, ¹³ and he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by the Adversary. He was with the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.

¹⁴ After Yochanan had been arrested, Yeshua came into the Galil proclaiming the Good News from God:

¹⁶ As he walked beside Lake Kinneret, he saw Shim‘on and Andrew, Shim‘on’s brother, casting a net into the lake; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ Yeshua said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you into fishers for men!” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹ Going on a little farther, he saw Ya‘akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan, his brother, in their boat, repairing their nets. ²⁰ Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zavdai in the boat with the hired men and went after Yeshua.

²¹ They entered K’far-Nachum, and on Shabbat Yeshua went into the synagogue and began teaching. ²² They were amazed at the way he taught, for he did not instruct them like the Torah-teachers but as one who had authority himself.

²³ In their synagogue just then was a man with an unclean spirit in him, who shouted, ²⁴ “What do you want with us, Yeshua from Natzeret? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ But Yeshua rebuked the unclean spirit, “Be quiet and come out of him!” ²⁶ Throwing the man into a convulsion, it gave a loud shriek and came out of him. ²⁷ They were all so astounded that they began asking each other, “What is this? A new teaching, one with authority behind it! He gives orders even to the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” ²⁸ And the news about him spread quickly through the whole region of the Galil.

²⁹ They left the synagogue and went with Ya‘akov and Yochanan to the home of Shim‘on and Andrew. ³⁰ Shim‘on’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever, and they told Yeshua about her. ³¹ He came, took her by the hand and lifted her onto her feet. The fever left her, and she began helping them.

³² That evening after sundown, they brought to Yeshua all who were ill or held in the power of demons, ³³ and the whole town came crowding around the door. ³⁴ He healed many who were ill with various diseases and expelled many demons, but he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

³⁵ Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Yeshua got up, left, went away to a lonely spot and stayed there praying. ³⁶ But Shim‘on and those with him went after him; ³⁷ and when they found him, they said, “Everybody is looking for you.” ³⁸ He answered, “Let’s go somewhere else — to the other villages around here. I have to proclaim the message there too — in fact this is why I came out.” ³⁹ So he traveled all through the Galil, preaching in their synagogues and expelling demons.

⁴⁰ A man afflicted with tzara‘at came to Yeshua and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with pity, Yeshua reached out his hand, touched him and said to him, “I am willing! Be cleansed!” ⁴² Instantly the tzara‘at left him, and he was cleansed. ⁴³ Yeshua sent him away with this stern warning: ⁴⁴ “See to it that you tell no one; instead, as a testimony to the people, go and let the cohen examine you, and offer for your cleansing what Moshe commanded.” ⁴⁵ But he went out and began spreading the news, talking freely about it; so that Yeshua could no longer enter a town openly but stayed out in the country, where people continued coming to him from all around.

6 That night, the king couldn’t sleep; so he ordered the records of the daily journal brought, and they were read to the king. ² It was found written that Mordekhai had told about Bigtana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers from the group in charge of the private entryways, who had conspired to assassinate King Achashverosh. ³ The king asked, “What honor or distinction was conferred on Mordekhai for this?” The king’s servants answered, “Nothing was done for him.” ⁴ The king then asked, “Who’s that in the courtyard?” For Haman had come into the outer courtyard of the king’s palace to speak to the king about hanging Mordekhai on the gallows he had prepared for him. ⁵ The king’s servants told him, “It’s Haman standing there in the courtyard.” The king said, “Have him come in.” ⁶ So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What should be done for a man that the king wants to honor?” Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king want to honor more than me?” ⁷ So Haman answered the king, “For a man the king wants to honor, ⁸ have royal robes brought which the king himself wears and the horse the king himself rides, with a royal crown on its head. ⁹ The robes and the horse should be handed over to one of the king’s most respected officials, and they should put the robes on the man the king wants to honor and lead him on horseback through the streets of the city, proclaiming ahead of him, ‘This is what is done for a man whom the king wants to honor.’” ¹⁰ The king said to Haman, “Hurry, and take the robes and the horse, as you said, and do this for Mordekhai the Jew, who sits at the King’s Gate. Don’t leave out anything you mentioned.”

¹¹ So Haman took the robes and the horse, dressed Mordekhai and led him riding through the streets of the city, as he proclaimed ahead of him, “This is what is done for a man whom the king wants to honor.” ¹² Then Mordekhai returned to the King’s Gate; but Haman rushed home with his head covered in mourning.

¹³ After Haman had told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “If Mordekhai, before whom you have begun to fall, is a Jew, you will not get the better of him; on the contrary, your downfall before him is certain.”

¹⁴ While they were still talking with him, the king’s officials came, hurrying to bring Haman to the banquet Ester had prepared.

1 From: Sha’ul, a slave of the Messiah Yeshua, an emissary because I was called and set apart for the Good News of God.

² God promised this Good News in advance through his prophets in the Tanakh. ³ It concerns his Son — he is descended from David physically; ⁴ he was powerfully demonstrated to be Son of God spiritually, set apart by his having been resurrected from the dead; he is Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord. ⁵ Through him we received grace and were given the work of being an emissary on his behalf promoting trust-grounded obedience among all the Gentiles, ⁶ including you, who have been called by Yeshua the Messiah.

⁷ To: All those in Rome whom God loves, who have been called, who have been set apart for him:

Grace to you and shalom from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

⁸ First, I thank my God through Yeshua the Messiah for all of you, because the report of your trust is spreading throughout the whole world. ⁹ For God, whom I serve in my spirit by spreading the Good News about his Son, is my witness that I regularly remember you ¹⁰ in my prayers; and I always pray that somehow, now or in the future, I might, by God’s will, succeed in coming to visit you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, so that I might share with you some spiritual gift that can make you stronger — ¹² or, to put it another way, so that by my being with you, we might, through the faith we share, encourage one another. ¹³ Brothers, I want you to know that although I have been prevented from visiting you until now, I have often planned to do so, in order that I might have some fruit among you, just as I have among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I owe a debt to both civilized Greeks and uncivilized people, to both the educated and the ignorant; ¹⁵ therefore I am eager to proclaim the Good News also to you who live in Rome.

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God’s powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile. ¹⁷ For in it is revealed how God makes people righteous in his sight; and from beginning to end it is through trust — as the Tanakh puts it, “But the person who is righteous will live his life by trust.”^[a]

¹⁸ What is revealed is God’s anger from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who in their wickedness keep suppressing the truth; ¹⁹ because what is known about God is plain to them, since God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities — both his eternal power and his divine nature — have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Therefore, they have no excuse; ²¹ because, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they have become fools! ²³ In fact, they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for mere images, like a mortal human being, or like birds, animals or reptiles!

²⁴ This is why God has given them up to the vileness of their hearts’ lusts, to the shameful misuse of each other’s bodies. ²⁵ They have exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, by worshipping and serving created things, rather than the Creator — praised be he for ever. Amen. ²⁶ This is why God has given them up to degrading passions; so that their women exchange natural sexual relations for unnatural; ²⁷ and likewise the men, giving up natural relations with the opposite sex, burn with passion for one another, men committing shameful acts with other men and receiving in their own persons the penalty appropriate to their perversion. ²⁸ In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. ²⁹ They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarrelling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. ³² They know well enough God’s righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.